The Age of Exploration

1. The Age of Exploration 1450-1780

2. Reasons for Exploration • Competition for wealth among Europeans • Trade and product rarity/availability/trade rate control had made Italians rich and Muslims had monopoly as well. • Trade with Orient was overland and people sought a quicker water route. • Knowledge of the unknown – curiosity for what lay beyond the known boundaries of the world, and the Renaissance spirit for knowledge.

3. Reasons for Exploration • Religious Reasons – Desire to spread Christian faith. • “Reconquest of Spain” gave impetus for Portuguese and Spanish to continue to drive Muslims out. Would also like to take over Muslim trade routes. • Felt that it was their “divine duty” to convert peoples of Africa and Asia (and get rich at the same time) • God, Gold, and Glory

4. Reasons for Exploration • Technology improvements – Better maps and navigation equipment allowed going farther away (no more coast hugging); better built ships

5. Factors contributing to the European discovery of lands in the Western Hemisphere • Demand for gold, spices, and natural resources in Europe • Support for the diffusion of Christianity • Political and economic competition between European empires • Innovations in navigational arts (European and Islamic origins) – printing press, astrolabe, and Mercator projection • Pioneering role of Prince Henry the Navigator

6. New Maritime Technologies Better Maps [Portulan] Hartman Astrolabe(1532) Mariner’s Compass Sextant

7. New Weapons Technology

8. Portuguese • First to send out exploratory voyages hoping for an economic gain on their expenditures. • Henry the Navigator – explored West African coast in 1430s-1480s. He made no voyages, just financed them. • Collected scientific data of nautical type (e.g. tides, currents, winds, stars) • Made maps out of data which were kept secure

9. Prince Henry, the Navigator • School for Navigation, 1419

10. Portuguese • Portuguese were able to start trading centers on West Africa. • Central distributors, points for goods storage and shipment • Slave trade started • Portuguese forced local rulers to trade only with them (monopoly) Plantations – produced highly profitable Also, expanded slave trade to work plantations

11. Other Portuguese Explorers • Bartolomeu Dias discovered route around Africa by accident into Indian Ocean(1487). • Proved India could be reached by direct water route. • In 1497, Vasco da Gama was sent to explore east coast of Africa and go to India to open trade with them. • This opening allowed Portugal the riches of the Spice trade.

12. Other Portuguese Explorers • Spice trade cont. – • This water route cut costs by 80% over the land route and allowed more Europeans to have access to these goods, and a greater demand for them. • Portuguese were now outpacing the Italians in economic prestige.

13. Columbus • The Vikings landed in Newfoundland 500 years before Columbus. (Leif Ericsson) • Columbus decided to look for a westward route to Asia • Portuguese and Italians wouldn’t fund trip • King and Queen of Spain did after years of asking them over and over

14. ChristoforoColon [1451-1506]

15. Columbus • He landed in Caribbean and was convinced it was the Indies with China close by • Disappointed in his quest, he returned with proof of his discovery of a western land (Discovery called West Indies) • Returned many times to colonize, Christianize and search for riches. • Indians exploited, forced labor, died of disease

16. Columbus • Columbus was arrested after his 3rd voyage for inappropriate administration. • His voyages initiated a flood of Spanish explorers to exploit his finds. • This posed a problem with Portuguese

17. Columbus’ Four Voyages

19. Line of Demarcation • Set down by Pope in Atlantic • Spain got all lands to west of line (discovered and undiscovered) • Portugal go all lands east • Portuguese unhappy, threatened war with Spain • This led to Treaty of Tordesillas which moved L.O. Demarcation farther west. Portugal gained Brazil (not yet discovered)

20. The Treaty of Tordesillas, 1494 & The Pope’s Line of Demarcation

21. Spanish Explorers • New World claims had to be enforced by exploration and then colonization. Year after year Spain established more colonies. • Amerigo Vespucci – discovered South American mainland and whole hemisphere became the Americas (1499) • Ponce de Leon – discovers and colonizes Puerto Rico and the Florida peninsula

22. Spanish Explorers • Francisco Balboa – a fortune seeker who was the first to see the Pacific Ocean and established a colony on the Isthmus of Panama. • Ferdinand Magellan – conducted the most ambitious exploration from 1519-1522 • Explored Pacific Ocean and circumnavigated the world • Died in a fight with natives in Philippines • Only 1 of 5 ships made it back with 18 of 250 men alive

23. Magellan

24. Results from Magellan • Demonstrated that all oceans are connected • Ocean winds and currents follow consistent patterns • Pacific Ocean was largest ocean

25. Ferdinand Magellan & the First Circumnavigation of the World:Early 16c

26. Other Voyages of Exploration

27. Conquest of the Americas • Spanish explores began to move from Caribbean back into Central and South America primarily for gold (conquistadores) as well as adventure • Hernando Cortez invaded Mexico at the time Magellan was leaving Spain. • Had a large force of 500 heavily armored men bent on conquest

28. Conquest of Americas • Aztecs had watched their progress and sent gifts and ambassadors • Gifts only emboldened Cortez • He ordered ships sunk to avoid mutiny, so the only way was to go forward • Aztecs attacked Spaniards first • Cortez lay siege to their capital and won

29. The First Spanish Conquests:The Aztecs vs. Fernando Cortez Montezuma II

30. Conquest of Americas • The Inca empire in South America fell to Spain as well but more quickly • Francisco Pizarro came with just that in mind • They won the war but greed got the better of them and they killed each other over the spoils. • Pizzaro assassinated

31. The First Spanish Conquests:The Incas vs. Francisco Pizarro Atahualpa

33. Conquest of Americas • Portuguese settled Brazil @ 1500 by Pedro Cabral and became a prosperous colony and large missionary effort. • The stage is now set for other Europeans to get involved.

34. The “Columbian Exchange”

36. Impact of the Columbian Exchange • Shortage of labor to grow cash crops led to the use of African slaves. • Slavery was based on race. • European plantation system in the Caribbean and the Americas destroyed indigenous economics and damaged the environment. • The triangular trade linked Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Slaves, sugar, and rum were traded.

37. English, French, Dutch Explorers • Compared with Spain and Portugal, the other countries were small time explorers. • They ignored the Treaty of Tordesillas and explored Spain’s lands anyway. • Like Columbus, they believed in a quicker way to Asia • They had a belief in a Northwest Passage (that is a waterway through North America to Asia)

38. English, French, Dutch Explorers • Italian John Cabot – sailed for England in trying to find N.W. Passage but explored only Newfoundland • Henry Hudson – made 4 voyages looking for N.W. Passage for Dutch and went far up the Hudson River in N.Y. and into Hudson Bay. • Claimed area for Netherland (set adrift after 4th voyage) • Dutch set up colony of New Amsterdam • Also, colonized some island in Caribbean

39. Dutch • In mid 16th century they took over Portuguese trade routes to East India and India and installed the Dutch East India Company • Gained monopoly there and with Japan • By 1621 they controlled most trade to West India, including the slave trade • Unlike Spaniards, they didn’t enlist missionaries; profit was their goal

40. English • English followed Dutch lead and developed trade • Used Privateers to raid opposition and then protect English trade interests (e.g. Sir Francis Drake) • Privateer– a ship which is authorized by a government to attack enemy shipping, but is not a naval vessel

41. Atlantic Explorations Looking for “El Dorado”

42. English • English Puritans established colonies in New England • Puritans were at odds (disagreed) with Church of England • Quakers founded Pennsylvania, Catholics went to Maryland for refuge.

43. English • Virginia started by fortune hunting Englishmen at Jamestown. • Failure, many starved or gave up and went back • Wealth was the land, not gold. Fortunes made in agriculture on the backs of slave labor over time.

44. French • Sought territory for national pride, a check on the English, and for profit. • Jacques Cartier – sought NW Passage also and explored St. Lawrence Seaway. • Samuel de Champlain – explored coast of Maine and established colony of Quebec as part of New France

45. French • As New France grew, France sent new expeditions into interior. • La Salle – Mississippi Valley (Louisiana) 1682 • Jacques Marquette – Great Lakes • New France remained Catholic as Louis XIV didn’t want Protestants moving in. • Many went to North Carolina

46. French • France/England fought over control of eastern part of North America • Four different wars between 1689-1763 • French & Indian War ended in France’s defeat and cost her nearly all its North American colonies. Kept only Caribbean holdings, lost Canada and Louisiana territories.

47. Impact of European Expansion Native populations ravaged by disease. Influx of gold, and especially silver, into Europe created an inflationary economic climate.[“Price Revolution”] New products introduced across the continents [“Columbian Exchange”]. Deepened colonial rivalries.

48. The Slave Trade • Slavery is not a new issue. It still exists today. • Slavery has existed since the first civilizations. Slaves treated differently among them. • Reasons for slavery: • Labor in manpower intensive jobs (plantations) • Punishment • Economic savings • Cultural differences

49. Slave Trade • Slavery existed in Africa among Africans long before the Europeans engaged in the practice. • Criminals, prisoners of war, debtors were often most common slave types • North Africa was the center of African Slave Trade. • Muslims had been involved for centuries too.

50. Slave Trade • Portuguese first became engaged in slavery during early years of setting up trading posts along Africa’s coast. • African kings would offer to pay in slaves if they had no gold, silver or marketable commodities. • They were sent to Portugal as house servants