Unit 3: Age of Exploration

1. Unit 3: Age of Exploration 1492-1660

2. Goals of this unit: To understand why Spain and Portugal were the leaders in early European Exploration. To develop an understanding of the Iberian system and its impact upon the social, economic, political, and religious developments in the New World. To gain an understanding of the Columbian Exchange and the African slave trade. To understand the changes in motivation and power as the Age of Exploration progressed.

3. The Iberian Golden Age • Conditions Favored Iberian Expansion • Muslim control of routes • Prices rising in Europe • Portuguese and Spanish mastered new technology and techniques • Compasses, astrolabe (navigation aid to determine distance) • Produced more accurate maps, charts • Built bigger ships to sail stormy Atlantic • Lateen sails AKA caravels • Brass cannons to attack enemies from afar • Benefited from immunities to diseases that devastated native populations in conquered areas

4. Iberian Golden Age Motives: • Growing population called for more wealth • Spain: Reconquista – period of 600 years (9th-15th centuries) of Spanish crusade against Muslim presence in Iberian peninsula • Provided fighting spirit, hoped to unite and fight alongside Prester John in Ethiopian against the Muslim • Fueled by both war and economic goals • Portugal: Avis Dynasty fueled by commerce

5. Portugal vs. Spain • Portugal gained lead on Spain in 1400s • Claims along coast of West Africa • Led by Prince Henry the Navigator and Diaz • Took Cueta, later reached tip of Africa by 1488 • Spain began to challenge Portuguese claims • Conflict resolved in Treaty of Alcacovas (1479) • Columbus lobbied to both Portugal and Spain for financial support of his West Indies trip (1492) • Queen Isabella (Spain) would his patron • Portugal saw trip as threat to their Atlantic monopoly

6. Compromise – Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) • Line drawn by Pope Alexander VI to distribute land in New World

7. Iberian Conquest of America GOAL OF TODAY: To develop an understanding of how and why the Portuguese and Spanish were able to conquer the natives of the Americas.

8. Portuguese Empire • World empire, commercial supremacy by 1550 • Posts around Africa, Southeast Asia • Vasco de Gama (1460-1524) • Voyage to India very lucrative • Pedro Cabral (1468-1520) • Stumbled onto Brazil • Portuguese in Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia • Alfonso de Albuquerque dominated eastern African regions, fortified trading posts • Goa 1510, Malacca in 1511, less success in China

9. Growth of New Spain • 1500s – Spain sets up American empire • Begin in West Indies, conquers – “conquistadores” • “Vice-royalties” of New Spain • Aztec Empire declining • Hernando Cortes arrives (1519) with army of 600, horses, crossbows, muskets, cannons • Montezuma (Aztec leader) welcomes Cortes • War breaks out, Spanish defeat Aztecs after struggle • Tenochtitlan (Mexico City), becomes capital of Spanish Empire

10. Spanish in South America • Francisco Pizarro (1470-1541) • Conquered Inca state with 200 men • Bold, brutal, treacherous treatment of Incas • 20 years of anarchy ensue • Conquistadores took, plundered South America • Vice-royalties in decline by mid 1600s

11. Growth of New Spain • Notable ventures: • Hernando de Soto (1500-1542) explored area of U.S. southeast • Francisco de Coronado (1510-1554) explored area of U.S. southwest • First colony established in St. Augustine, FL (1565) • Vasco de Balboa (1479-1519) discovered the Pacific • Francisco Magellan (1480-1521) expedition first to circumnavigate globe, Magellan killed in Philippines

12. Cycle of Conquest & Colonization Explorers Conquistadores OfficialEuropeanColony! Missionaries PermanentSettlers

13. The Columbian Exchange & African Slave Trade GOAL OF TODAY: To gain an understanding of the impacts of the Columbian Exchange and the African Slave Trade

14. The Columbian Exchange • Massive movement and interaction of biological organisms after Columbus • People, plants, animals, diseases • Between Europe, Americas, Africa

15. The “Columbian Exchange”

16. Effects of Columbus’ Journey • Exploration became journeys of conquest • Three centuries of Spanish dominance • Largest and longest-surviving trading bloc • Financed Spain’s commanding role • Spurred other European nations to explore • Virtual destruction of American societies • Warfare, diseases, exploitation of labor • Spanish Catholicism, economic dependency, hierarchical social structure

17. Need For Labor • Native populations in America dying off fast • Cultivation of sugar led to spread of slavery in Brazil and West Indies • Only slavery provided enough workers for profitable slave plantations • By 1600 the slave population exceeded the white population in the West Indies

18. Majority of Africa Slave trade based out of West Africa

19. Middle Passage – journey from Africa to New World

20. Slave Ship “Middle Passage”

21. “Coffin” Position Below Deck

22. African CaptivesThrown Overboard Sharks followed the slave ships

23. Many slaves die during Middle Passage

24. Plantation Slavery • Plantations drew Africans into the heart of transatlantic economy • West and central Africa – center for slaves • Economic needs of colonial powers • Willingness to exploit weaker peoples • Built on racist notion that non-European, non-white tribal peoples were subhuman

25. Slave Life • Daily life of most slaves consisted of • Hard agricultural labor • Poor diet and clothing • Inadequate housing • Death rate among slaves was high

26. Effects of Slave Trade on Africa • Measurably changed patterns of life and balances of power • By stimulating trade or warfare • By disrupting previous market and political structures • By substantially increasing slavery inside Africa • By disrupting the male-female ratio • Important regional variations in impact

27. Effects of Slave Trade • Greatest active period for slave trade • 1701–1810 – 60% of total • Total numbers still debated • Number who died along the way unknown • “Middle Passage” • Best estimates: • “Occidental trade” – at least 11 million • Between Africa and New World • “Oriental trade” – at least 5 million • Between Africa and Islamic lands • Enslaved within African – 15 million

28. Iberian Systems in the New World GOAL OF TODAY: To develop an understanding of the Iberian system and its impact upon the social, economic, political, and religious developments in the New World.

29. Iberian Systems in New World • Devastation from violence, disease, slavery • Iberian period pre-1600s: • Inhumane treatment, ruthless, populations wiped out • Native Americans lost 90% of population • Demographic mix from immigration, African slaves • Iberian Economies in America • Plantations began to develop • Encomienda – system of distributing grants, allowing buyer to take land or people living on that land • Forces those natives into labor • Brought horrendous abuses

30. Treasuresfrom the Americas!

31. Iberian Systems in New World • Initially used Amerindian labor, imported African slaves after epidemics • Slaves worked on mines, plantations • Suppression of native religions • Conversion to Christianity the moral justification of colonization • Priests report back atrocities to Spain, Rome • Charles V tries to intervene but is legally powerless • Bartoleme de Las Casas (1474-1506) Dominican Friar who decried system, helped phase it out in favor of contract labor

32. The Colonial Class System Peninsulares Creoles • Full-blooded Spanish population 2nd Generation Full-blooded Spanish Mestizos Mulattos Spanish-Indian population • Spanish-African • population Native Indians Black Slaves

33. Northern European Exploration GOAL OF TODAY: To understand the changes in motivation and power as the Age of Exploration progressed

34. The Commercial Revolution • (Mid 1500s – mid 1700s) – period of economic expansion, colonialism, and mercantilism • Mercantilism: a collection of governmental policies for the regulation of economic activities, especially commercial activities, by and for the state • A nation’s international power was thought to be based on its wealth, specifically gold supply • To accumulate gold, a country always had to sell more goods abroad than it bought • Utilize expansion and land overseas • Create a self-sufficient economy

35. Northern European Expansion • The Commercial Revolution shifts power • Iberian states declining, northern states emerging • Dutch, French, British • New products, foreign trade, bullion (gold, silver) • Spain and Portugal lacked structure to absorb precious metals • European markets become swamped with • New products: silks, furs, ivory, carpets • New foods: potatoes, peanuts, maize, tomatoes • Also: spices, sugar, coffee, tobacco

36. Northern European Expansion • Economic power spreads to English, Dutch, French, then Italians, Germans • In search of “the Northwest Passage” to Asia • Northern European capitalism flourishes • Joint-stock companies (monopolies) form • Agricultural practices and technology changes

37. The Dutch Empire • By 1650, Dutch dominated south Asia, Atlantic • Commercial empire, overpowered and captured Iberian holdings in Africa, West Indies, Brazil • Dutch East India Company • Chartered company, monopoly, dominated Asian trade in 1600s • Pepper, cinnamon, sugar, tea, tobacco, coffee • Dutch West India Company • Settled in Hudson River region, profited from fur trapping • Founded New Amsterdam, would become NYC

38. The French Empire • Starting colonizing in North America in 1600s • French based claims to North America from past voyages of Verrazzano (1524) and Cartier (1530s) • Samuel de Champlain (1567-1635) • Founded Quebec, fur trade is main industry • Took advantage of declining Iberian empire • Overtook Iberian stakes, set up new trading posts • Santo Domingo (Haiti) – maintained slave labor • Became largest sugar and coffee producer in 1700s

39. The English Empire • Pre-1650, English expansion not large • Internal conflicts, restricted expansion • Population growth, religious persecution, entrepreneurship led to growth • Influx of families led to stable development of colonies • 1500s – British voyages: • John Cabot to North America in 1497 • Francis Drake – first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe in 1580

40. The British Empire • Jamestown (Virginia) – 1607 • Became first permanent settlement in North America • Faced numerous hardships (winter, disease, drought, Native American attacks) • Persevered, established English culture, political institutions • More colonies founded • Plymouth (1620) • Massachusetts Bay (1629) • Maryland (1632) • English commercial gains fared better in India (East India Company)

41. Conclusion • Europeans initiated new age of oceanic expansion • Spain, Portugal led explorations in 15th, 16th centuries • Spain declined due to lack of economic development at home, inflation, too large an empire • Iberian domination gave way to north European expansion • Dutch, English, French gained new vitality through financial organization, shipbuilding, metalworking, manufacturing • Europeans encountered many societies around the world • Interacted with establish governments; respected their domains • Intervened more directly in smaller, less organized areas • Spanish, Portuguese expansion brought drastic change • Disease drastically reduced indigenous population • Iberians generated new cultural fusion in America • Atlantic slave trade brought disastrous consequences