The Opening of the Atlantic Section 3.11 The Opening of the Atlantic

What was the impact of the Age of Exploration? Growth of capitalism global trade Columbian Exchange new products Depopulation of Native Americans and Africans Destruction of cultures huge population growth New commercial class New emphasis on naval power cultural relativism

Why did Europeans Explore? Motives Gold, God, Glory Conquistadores Cortes, Pizarro Fall of Constantinople (1454) Eastern Mediterranean trade cut off Desire for new trade routes New Technologies Astrolabe/quadrant, compass, dead reckoning, caravel, lateen sail

Significance of Constantinople’s Fall The East The Orient How are Europeans going to get the Stuff? Constantinople

Portuguese Ceuta

Portuguese Eastern Goods Sugar, silk, nutmeg, rugs, medicines, porcelain Henry the Navigator/Ceuta Old Land Routes Silk road= slow and unreliable Sahara= Ditto New Routes Water is now a bridge Da Gama Machiavellian Reaches Calicut in 1494 Torches cities, prisoners butchered Portuguese concentrate on the East (Africa and Asia)

Spanish Empire in America Encomienda System Colonial feudal system Catholicism forced on native populations Natives die at incredible rate Leads to renewal of African Slave Trade 9-11 mil Black Legend Belief that Spanish conquistadores were extremely cruel Less cruel than Aztecs Established universities Lima (1551), Mexico (1553) Potosi Silver Mines (Bolivia) 500 thousand lbs of silver, 10 lbs of gold annually Finances Counter Reformation Where’s England, Germany, France?

Why did the Europeans win? Better weapons Guns, horse Alliances Aztecs hated by Toltec and others Quetzalcoatl Were the Europeans gods? Machiavellian Pizarro’s ransom of Altahualpa Disease smallpox

Middle Passage

Treaty of Tordesillas Rivalry between Spain and Portugal settled by pope Divided world in half East – Portugal West – Spain