1. Exploration and Colonization
Chapter 3
Exploration and Colonization

2. Section 1
An Era of Exploration

3. Objectives 1. Identify the impact of Columbus’ voyage.
Describe how Spanish explorers found a route across the
Pacific Ocean.
3. Explain how exploration set off a global exchange of goods
and services.

4. Early Voyages to the Americas
1. Vikings from Scandinavia were probably the first to sail to the Americas.
In 1001 Leif Ericson led an expedition to what is today Newfoundland in Canada.
3. The Vikings did not stay in Vinland, their settlement, very long.
4. They fought with the native Inuit people, whom they called Skraelings.

5. Columbus Reaches the Americas
Europeans who took part in the Asian spice trade grew rich, but the land route to Asia was long, difficult, and dangerous.
Portuguese sailors found water routes around Africa in the late 1400’s, but the trip was still long and dangerous.
Blue = spice route
Red = silk road

6. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain wanted a share of the spice trade and the wealth it brought.
They financed Christopher Columbus, an Italian sea captain, to sail west across the Atlantic until he reached Asia.
Columbus set out with 90 sailors and three ships, the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. Navigational tools such as the astrolabe enabled Columbus to cross the Atlantic.
On October 12, 1492 Columbus landed on an island in the Caribbean Sea, thinking he had reached Asia. Today these islands are called the West Indies.

7. Columbus explored for three months and returned to Spain with brilliantly colored parrots and pink pearls, describing things the Europeans had never seen; tobacco, pineapples, and hammocks for sleeping. He had also found signs of gold on the islands.

8. The natives Columbus encountered were called Tainos
The natives Columbus encountered were called Tainos. They had their own culture, ways of life, and artwork.
Columbus thought they could be converted to Christianity and used as slaves.

9. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella were pleased with Columbus and gave him the name “Admiral of the Ocean Sea.” They agreed to finance future voyages.
Columbus founded the first Spanish colony in the Americas in 1493 on an island he called Hispaniola (today this island is shared by the nations of Haiti and the Dominican Republic.)
A colony is a group of people who settle in a distant land but are still ruled by the government of their native land.
Columbus explored Cuba and Jamaica and sailed along the coasts of Central America and northern South America, claiming all of the land for Spain.
He was not a very competent governor, however. The colonists complained about his harsh rule and he was eventually taken back to Spain in chains. He was pardoned by Queen Isabella, but never regained his former honors.

10. A Lasting Impact
Columbus did not truly “discover” America. The natives living there had discovered and settled these lands long before But the daring voyage of Columbus did begin interaction between the people of Europe and Asia with the people of the Americas.
The coming of the European settlers proved disastrous for the native tribes. The Europeans thought their own culture was superior. Natives were forced off their land and made to work in gold mines, on ranches, and in Spanish households. Many died from harsh conditions.
The Europeans also brought diseases for which the natives had no resistance or immunity, such as smallpox, typhus, and influenza. Within 100 years of colonization by the Europeans, the Taino population was almost wiped out.
This time was a turning point, a “moment in history that marks a decisive change,” for the Americas.

11. The Spanish Cross the Pacific
By 1511 the Spanish had conquered Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and Cuba. They continued to look for a water route west to Asia.
Vasco Nunez de Balboa trudged across the Isthmus of Panama for 25 days in 1513 after hearing the natives tell of a large body of water to the west. He was the first to reach the Pacific Ocean and he claimed it for Spain.

12. In 1519 Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese captain sailing for Spain, left Seville searching for a passage through the American continent.
Five ships and 250 crew members started the voyage.
Fifteen months later, three ships rounded the tip of South America and entered the ocean Magellan would name the “Pacific” because the waters were so still and peaceful.
Magellan would die in a battle with natives in the Philippines, but 18 crew members in one ship returned to Spain in 1522 – the first people to circumnavigate (or sail completely around) the world. The true size of the Earth was now known to Europeans.

13. A Global Cultural Exchange
The voyage of Columbus began an exchange of plants, animals, culture, ideas, technology, government, language and art between the people of Europe and Asia and the people of the Americas.

14. The Columbian Exchange was both to the Americas and from the Americas.
Things Europeans brought to the Americas
Wheat
Sugar
Bananas
Rice
Grapes (wine)
Olive oil
Dandelion
Horses
Pigs
Cows
Goats
Chickens
Oranges
Lemons
Figs
Bluegrass
Daisy
Smallpox
Typhus
Things the Americas gave to the Europeans
Maize
Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes
Beans
Peanuts
Squash
Pumpkins
Peppers
Pineapple
Tomatoes
Blueberries
Cocoa
Snowshoes
Fur trapping
Canoes
GovernmentOrganization
“Today, almost half the world’s food crops come from plants that were first grown in the Americas.

15. Questions Explain how Columbus’ voyage was a turning point in history.
Why did Spain wish to find a water route to Asia? When, how and by whom was it discovered?
Analyze the impact of the Columbian Exchange on the continents of Europe, Asia and the Americas.