1. AP EUROPEAN HISTORY: A HISTORY OF WESTERN SOCIETY. 11TH EDITION
Ch. 14
European Exploration & Conquest,

2. Learning Objectives
Describe the Afro-Eurasian trading world before Columbus.
Explain how & why Europeans undertook ambitious voyages of expansion.
Analyze the impact of European conquest on the people’s & ecologies of the New World
Describe how the era of global contact was shaped by new commodities, commercial empires, & forced migrations.
Analyze how new ideas about race & the works of Montaigne & Shakespeare reflected the encounter with new peoples & places.

3. I. World Contacts Before Columbus (pgs
I. World Contacts Before Columbus (pgs ) - Describe the Afro-Eurasian trading world before Columbus.
AfroEurasian trade world linked the products & people of Asia, Africa, & Europe in the 15th C.
The West was the #1 player before Columbus & European voyages derived from a desire to share in & control the wealth coming from the Indian Ocean.
A. The Trade World of the Indian Ocean
Location of Indian Ocean makes it a crossroads for commercial & cultural exchange among China, India, the Middle East, Africa, & Europe
Trading increases as merchants congregated in cosmopolitan port cities around the Indian Ocean, most of which had some form of autonomous self-government
Most developed area was in South China Sea – port of Malacca becomes great trading post
Mongol emperors open doors of China to the West, encouraging Europeans like Marco Polo to travel & do business there.
Marco Polo’s tales of his Eastern travels fueled Western fantasy about the exotic Orient.
After Mongols fall to Ming Dynasty(1368), China enters into period of economic expansion, population growth, & urbanization

4. Nanjing, China becomes largest city in world
China takes lead in exploration
Admiral Zheng He goes on his seven expeditions ( ) involving hundreds of ships & tens of thousands of men sailing thousands of miles to reach as far as west Egypt.
Court conflicts & the need to defend against Mongol encroachment led to the abandonment of maritime expeditions
Turn away from external trade, opening opportunities for European states to claim decisive role in world trade.
India is a crucial link between the Persian Gulf & the South China Sea trade networks
Also contributor of goods to the world trading system, especially pepper & cotton textiles
B. The Trading States of Africa
1450 – Africa had a few large & developed empires along with hundreds of smaller states
Cairo, capital of Mamluk Egyptian empire, is center of Islamic learning & religious authority & hub for Indian Ocean trade goods.
Ethiopia & the Christian Kingdom share in Cairo’s prosperity

5. Cities like Mogadishu & Mombasa, are confident & urbane merchants engage in Indian Ocean trade were known for their prosperity & culture
Gold from W. Africa & the Akan is transported by camel across the Sahara & sold in ports of N. Africa
Mali emerges as an important player on the overland trade route, gaining prestige from its ruler Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324 – 1325
Slaves are another important object of trade
Arabic & African merchants took W. African slaves to the Mediterranean to be sold in European, Egyptian, & Middle Eastern markets & also brought E. Europeans to W. Africa as slaves
Indian & Arabic merchants also trade slaves in the coastal regions of E. Africa

6. C. The Ottoman & Persian Empires
Middle East serves as an intermediary for trade among Asia, Africa, & Europe & as an important supplier of silk & cotton.
Two great rivals, the Persian Safavids & the Turkish Ottomans, dominate the region
Economically the two compete over western trade routes to the East
Under Sultan Mohammed II (1451 – 1481), the Ottomans capture Constantinople, Europe’s largest city
May 1453 – city is renamed Istanbul
Soon control the sea trade in the E. Mediterranean
Ottoman expansion frightened Europeans
Ottoman armies seem invincible & its desire for expansion limitless
Eastern trade routes are dominated by Ottomans so Europeans seek routes free of Ottoman control

7. Genoese & Venetian Middlemen
Europeans produced few products to rival the fine wares & coveted spices of Asia, & constituted a minor outpost of the world trading system
1304 – Venice est. formal relations with the sultan of Mamluk Egypt, opening operations in Cairo, the gateway to Asian trade
Venetian merchants specialized in luxury goods like spices, silks, & carpets obtained from middlemen in the eastern Mediterranean & Asia Minor
Demand for European products of wool & metal goods are low so Venetians earn currency in the shipping industry & through trade in firearms, slaves, & precious metals
Genoa dominated the Northern route to Asia through the Black Sea
1291 – sponsored expedition into the Atlantic in search of India, which never returned
15th C – Venice claims victory in spice trade so the Genoese shift focus from trade to finance
Spanish & Portuguese voyages begin to explore the Western Atlantic, Genoese merchants, navigators, & financiers provided their skills to the Iberian Monarchs.

8. Genoese merchants help finance Spanish colonization of the New world.
Major element of Italian trade was slavery
Merchants bought slaves in the Balkans & sold them in various Mediterranean ports
After loss of the Black Sea to the Ottomans (source of slaves), the Genoese sought new supplies of slaves in the West
Take indigenous peoples from Canary Islands, Muslim prisoners & Jewish refugees from Spain
Early 1500s – take both black & Berber Africans
Genoese & Venetian merchants become important players in Atlantic Salve Trade
Mariners, merchants, & financers from Venice & Genoa, including Christopher Columbus, brought their experience to the Iberian states & the New World

9. The European Voyages of Discovery (pgs 432 – 445)
A. Causes of European Expansion