Early Exploration

Viking Voyages 100’s of years B4 Columbus Scandinavians called Vikings sailed west reaching NA 800’s and 900’s CE visited Iceland and Greenland Established settlements 1000 CE- Leif Eriksson (son of Eric the Red) attempted to create settlement in “Vinland” Now Newfoundland

Growth of Trade Traders could make a fortune selling these goods Rich Europeans wanted these spices, perfumes, silks and stones Cost was high because of “middlemen” Travel over land was expensive and dangerous Thieves waited along “Silk Road” Began to look for all-water route to bypass Arab merchants and thieves by road 2 Options Around Africa Sailing West to get East Earth is a sphere

Slowly but Surely Neither had been done B4; no one even seen open ocean or coastline of Africa Portugal leads the charge Prince Henry the Navigator Sets up school for navigators and sailors Info they share greatly helps his ship captains Armed w/ info and $$$ from Henry set out to explore Africa and possible water route to Asia Dinis Dias Dinis Dias reaches “Western Bulge” 1470’s- cross Equator Bartolommeo Dias Bartolommeo Dias sails around southern tip… turns around b/c crew scared Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama sails around tip all the way to India

Early Ideas of Exploration By 1400’s- few believe world is flat But… Did not know there was land b/t Europe and East Asia Most estimate over 10,000 miles to sail from Europe to East Asia No ship could carry enough food and water to make such long journey

Cristoforo Colombo Disagreed w/ distance estimates; thought less than half that Italian guy but… Was turned down by Italy Approached several other countries to find backers for trip ($$$) All turned him down until… King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain

Friday, August 3, 1492 Niña, Pinta, and Santa Maria set sail After not seeing land for 3 weeks… Crew gets scared and begs to turn back Continue on for 2 months and 8 days B4 signs begin to appear By moonlight around 2 am on October 12 th the Pinta’s spotter cries, “Tierra, Tierra!” (Land, Land!)

1 st Impressions in Americas Landed on small island in Bahamas (believed he was in Indies) He explored for months but… He found no spices, rugs, silks Claimed land for Spain Named it San Salvador Natives approached them bearing gifts Columbus gave them bells, beads, and bits of cloth

Communicating with Natives With hand gestures, natives spoke of other islands Columbus moved on Found many new plants and animals never B4 seen by them Reaches Cuba… Always expecting to see India trading post… DUH!

“Gold in ‘dem dare hills!” Locals told him gold could be found in Cubanacan middle of Cuba he thought they said, “El Gran Khan” the Great Khan Columbus tells Spain there to visit China’s emperor Kublai Khan to get gold

Hispaniola December They land on present-day Haiti / Dominican Republic Hispaniola He names Hispaniola (Spanish Isle) Finds natives here have great amount of gold, but they could not find source

Santa Maria Wrecks Hits bottom of coast… is abandoned Columbus orders crew to stay on island Built fort with timbers and remnants of ship He leaves on the Niña for Spain Believes triumphant!!!

March 15 th, 1493 Columbus returns to Spain w/ crowds waiting to honor him People stared at Natives, birds, animals, and plants he brought back Viceroy Ferdinand and Isabella name him Viceroy, or Lord to the Indies No one sure where new territories were, but Columbus claimed for Spain

Territories Divided Portugal claimed all land west of Africa was theirs’ Big Big Problems NOW Pope Alexander VI divides ocean at 400 miles west of Azore Islands West of line… Spain East of line… Portugal Line of Demarcation Lined named… Line of Demarcation

Treaty of Tordesillas line moved in agreement to new “Treaty” 700 miles further west when realized how much more land there was Columbus makes 3 more trips claiming land for Spain

Columbus Kicks the Bucket He gains some wealth, but not much Most power later taken away by King Died almost forgotten in 1506 He never accepted the fact that he was not in India

Exploring America Amerigo Vespucci Amerigo Vespucci began mapping SA coastline Concluded this was new continent not Asia By 1500’s European map makers begin calling land America Vasco Núñez de Balboa Vasco Núñez de Balboa Governor of Panama to Spain Heard stories of “great waters” beyond mts forms a party to hike through the jungles After weeks, sees Pacific Ocean 1 st European to do so!!!

Sailing Around the World Spanish wanted to find sea route through or around SA to Asia hire Ferdinand Magellan, actually Portuguese though 5 ships Sail across Atlantic then down east coast of SA November 1520 finds and sails through a narrow strait (now bares his name) Names the ocean on other side Pacific, meaning peaceful Expects trip across Pacific just a few weeks Lasted 4 months Crew ran out of food Ate sawdust, rats, and leather to survive Magellan dies in the Philippines Crew continued Trip took 3 years Only 1 of 5 ships Only 18 of 200+ crew members 1 st to circumnavigate, or sail around the world