Columbus and Columbian Exchange

1. Columbus and Columbian Exchange Chapter Two, Section 2.5

2. Why Explore the New World? • People in Europe were fond of silks, spices, porcelain, ivory, glass, and carpets from Asia. • The trip from Asia to Europe was long and oftentimes consisted of trips across the Arabian Desert and then a sail across the Mediterranean Sea. • This trip was EXPENSIVE!!

3. Columbus’s Journey • Explorers began to search for a new way to obtain these popular goods. • Christopher Columbus was an Italian sailor who made the first attempt. • He believed that China and the Indies could be reached by sailing west across the Atlantic Ocean. • He had studied maps and globes that showed the earth to be smaller than it actually is.

4. Claiming Land for Spain • King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella agreed to pay for Columbus’s expedition. • After six weeks at sea, Columbus’s crew spotted land. • Since he thought that he had landed in the Indies, Columbus called these people Indians. • Columbus traveled back to Spain promising riches.

5. The Tainos • On his second trip back to the New World, Columbus realized that he would not find the riches he promised. • Instead, he kidnapped hundreds of the Tainos tribe and sold them into slavery. • On his return voyages, he enslaved thousands more natives.

6. Two Cultures Meet • Columbus proved that the world was a much bigger place than originally thought. • He found two new continents inhabited by millions of people the Europeans did not know existed. • Columbus opened the way for others to come to America.

7. Two Cultures Meet • The Europeans brought horses, metal tools, weapons, wheat, and Sugar to the native Americans. • Priests brought Christianity. • The Indians showed Europeans things like tomatoes, potatoes, and corn. • Trade items started to go back and forth across the Atlantic. This became known as the Columbian Exchange.

8. The Columbian Exchange