Settling of the New World

Pangaea  225 million years ago, it is believed the Earth consisted of one single super continent  Due to land shifts, oceans were formed and the continents as we know them today

Great Ice Age  2 million years ago, the Great Ice Age allowed for thick sheets of ice to expand over the Americas, as well as Europe and Asia  Due to the ice age, the ocean levels dropped & allowed for the emergence of of a land bridge connecting Eurasia to North America  This is believed to have allowed for the first human inhabitants of the American continents for over 250 centuries

The Earliest Americans

Viking Explorers  As the Ice Age ended & sea levels rose, the American continents re-entered a time of isolation for the rest of the world  Until about the year 1000, a Scandinavian explorer by the name of Leif(v) Erikson explored what is now today Nova Scotia

The Crusades  The Crusades (11 th to 14 th centuries) also had an indirect influence on the founding of the New World  Christian crusaders from Europe traveled to the holy land to defeat the Muslims  On these conquests, the Europeans acquired a taste for the goods from this region (sugar, silk, drugs, perfumes, etc.)  This would then foster the exploration of Europeans to the East to acquire these goods

Rivalry  Due to the desire to travel East, the Portuguese were innovators & developed the caravel ship  This allowed the Europeans to travel along the forbidden African coast  The sea fearing Portuguese pushed even farther, and Vasco de Gama reached India by 1498  The successes of Portuguese discovery fueled rivalry with Spain, who would pursue their own discovery, conquest, & colonization

Columbus & the New World  Christopher Columbus persuaded the Spanish monarchs to support his sea adventure to the “Indies”  October 12, 1492-Columbus sighted an island in the Bahamas, accidentally  This discovery initiated an explosion in international commerce and globalization with the Columbian Exchange

Spanish Conquistadors  Spain became the dominating power of the New World by the 1500s  Conquistadors, conquerors, spanned across the Caribbean and onto the mainland of the American continents seeking gold and fortune  Were the conquistadors immoral?  Read pages in text & discuss

The Spread of Spanish America  Within half a century since Columbus’ arrival, the Spanish Catholic empire extended from Colorado from Argentina  However, other European powers were eager to place their mark on the map as well  This fueled the Spanish to further secure their empire and North American lands. Mainly through the conversion of the natives to Christianity.