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European Colonisations in the Americas. Major phases of colonisation 16c: Spanish and Portuguese 17c: Dutch, French, English 18c: Russian. Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta. Genesis: The Search for the Indies Europeans in Asia: the spice routes Travels of Niccolo and Matteo Polo, 1256
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European Colonisations in the Americas Major phases of colonisation • 16c: Spanish and Portuguese • 17c: Dutch, French, English • 18c: Russian
Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta • Genesis: The Search for the Indies • Europeans in Asia: the spice routes • Travels of Niccolo and Matteo Polo, 1256 • Marco Polo, 1275 • Closure of land routes in 14c: Black Death; end of Tartar empire; conversion of Ottoman Turks
Europeans in Africa • Portuguese explorations in 15c: • myth of Prester John • gold and slaves; • conquest in North Africa)
Exploration into the Atlantic • Portugal and Castille (Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands) • Why Spanish and Portuguese Expansion? • Westward route to the Indies: the voyages of Columbus
Spain and America • Columbus’s ‘Discovery of America’ • Columbus’s Aims • Columbus’s Ideas about the Indies • First Settlements: Hispaniola and Cuba • Role of the Spanish Crown • Significance of Spanish settlements in Caribbean • Impact on ‘Indians’
Explorations and discoveries on the American continents • Expeditions in the Caribbean and circum-Caribbean • Towards the Pacific and South America • Towards Mexico: the Yucatán Peninsula and beyond • Impulses behind exploration • Conquest of Aztecs, 1519-21 • Conquest of Incas, 1533-36
Spaniards and settlement • Organisation of the conquering bands • Social composition: who were the ‘conquistadores’? • Motives of conquistadores • Role of religion • Connections with Reconquista in Spain?
Conquest of Mexico • Aztec Civilisation: Strengths and Weaknesses. • Spanish Encounter with Mexicans, 1519 • Victory at Tenochtitlan, 1521 • Establishment of Spanish Dominance • The conundrum of conquest: explanations
Native American responses to European contact • Why were the Aztec and Inca empires vulnerable to Spanish conquest? • Technology • Disease • Cultural differences • Political divisions among native peoples
The Portuguese in America • Discovery of the ‘land of the true cross’: Cabral (1500) • Portuguese and Indians: brasil wood; Indian enslavement; sugar. • Differences between Spanish and Portuguese settlements • Why Portuguese neglect of America in first half of 16c?