The Age of European Explorations & Conquests

Motives for European Exploration Crusades  by-pass intermediaries to get to Asia. Renaissance  curiosity about other lands and peoples. Reformation  refugees & missionaries. Monarchs seeking new sources of revenue. Fame and fortune.

New Maritime Technologies Better Maps - increased safety, Astrolabe – determine what time it was (helped with speed, location) Mariner’s Compass – determine N / S / E / W Sextant – determine latitude (location)

New Weapons Technology

Prince Henry, the Navigator Established a School for Navigation, 1419 Trained sailors, captains in navigation, seamanship Developed caravel Encouraged, sponsored Portuguese explorers

Portuguese Maritime Empire Exploring the west coast of Africa. Bartolomeo Dias, 1487: rounded the Cape of Good Hope (southern tip of Africa) but didn’t make it to India Vasco da Gama, 1498: first European to sail to India Around Africa, across Indian Ocean to Calicut and Goa

Diaz’s Trip to India

Christofo Colon [1451-1506] Goal was to find westward passage to China Christopher Columbus’ early life (Italian; at sea from age 10; to Spain in 1487) Looked for sponsors for voyages (Leaders of Portugal; Genoa; Venice; England; Spain)

Columbus’ Four Voyages When Columbus died, he was convinced that he had discovered a route to China & the Far East

Ferdinand Magellan & the First Circumnavigation of the World: Early 16c

Other Voyages of Exploration Cabot: Italian Working for English Amerigo Vespucci: Italian explored S. America and lent His name to the Continent

Atlantic Explorations Looking for “El Dorado”

The First Spanish Conquests: The Aztecs vs. Fernando Cortez Montezuma II

Mexico Surrenders to Cortez

The First Spanish Conquests: The Incas vs. Francisco Pizarro Atahualpa

The “Columbian Exchange” Squash Avocado Peppers Sweet Potatoes Turkey Pumpkin Quinine TOBACCO Cocoa Pineapple Cassava POTATO Peanut TOMATO Vanilla MAIZE (corn) Syphilis Olive COFFEE BEAN Banana Rice Onion Turnip Honeybee Barley Grape Peach SUGAR CANE Oats Citrus Fruits Pear Wheat HORSE Cattle Sheep Pigs Smallpox Flu Typhus Measles Malaria Diptheria Whooping Cough Trinkets Liquor GUNS

The Potato

Cycle of Conquest & Colonization Official European Colony! Explorers Conquistadores Official European Colony! Missionaries Permanent Settlers

Treasures from the Americas!

Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

The Slave Trade Existed in Africa before the coming of the Europeans. Portuguese replaced European slaves with Africans. Sugar cane & sugar plantations. First boatload of African slaves brought by the Spanish in 1518. 275,000 enslaved Africans exported to other countries. Between 16c & 19c, about 10 million Africans shipped to the Americas.

Slaves Working in a Brazilian Sugar Mill

Slave Ship “Middle Passage”

“Coffin” Position Below Deck

African Captives Thrown Overboard Sharks followed the slave ships!

European Empires in the Americas

The Treaty of Tordesillas, 1494 & The Pope’s Line of Demarcation

New Colonial Rivals Portugal lacked the population and wealth to dominate trade in the Indian Ocean. Spain consolidated its holdings in the Philippines. First English expedition to the Indies in 1591. Surat in NW India in 1608. Dutch arrive in India in 1595.

New Colonial Rivals

Impact of European Expansion Native populations ravaged by disease. Influx of gold, and especially silver, into Europe created an inflationary economic climate. New products introduced across the continents [“Columbian Exchange”]. Deepened colonial rivalries.