Exploration and Expansion

1. Exploration and Expansion World History I

2. Map of the known world - 1280

3. Motives for Exploration • Why did European Countries begin exploring overseas in the 15th century? • Conquests by the Ottoman Turks reduced the ability of Europeans to travel to Asia by land. • Motives for Exploration • Economic Wealth • Countries wanted to expand trade. • Spices to flavor and preserve food, precious metals • Religion • Convert natives to Christianity. • Glory • Explorers thirsted for fame and glory. • Spirit of adventure. “God, Glory, and Gold”

4. The first trading empire - Portugal • Portugal took the lead in European exploration. • 1420 – Discovered gold on Africa’s west coast. • This became known as “the Gold Coast” • Vasco da Gama went around the Cape of Good Hope and to India in 1498. • He brought spices back to Portugal. • Portuguese returned to the area and took over trade by destroying Muslim shipping. • Portugal continued East and arrived in China and the Spice Islands. • Established a treaty with local rulers to export cloves to Europe. • The Portuguese didn’t have the power or money to colonize Asia.

6. Voyages to the Americas • Spain thought they could reach the spice islands by traveling west. • Christopher Columbus was hired to go to Asia by going west, but reached the Americas in October, 1492. • He explored Cuba and Hispaniola, calling these islands “the Indies.” • Spain and Portugal divided the world for exploration. • The Treaty of Tordesillasestablished a line running from north to south through the Atlantic Ocean. • Unexplored territories east of the line belonged to Portugal (Africa) and unexplored territories west belonged to Spain (the Americas).

7. Portugal Spain

8. Map of the world - 1513

10. Voyages to the Americas • When European countries realized that Columbus discovered a new territory, they began sending explorers west to explore these new lands. • John Cabot (England) – Explored the New England Coastline. • Pedro Cabral (Portugal) – Arrived in South America in 1500. • Amerigo Vespucci (Italy) – Made several voyages and wrote letters about what he saw. • The name America comes from Vespucci. • European countries saw an immediate opportunity for conquest and expansion.

11. The Spanish Empire • The Spanish conquerors of America were known as Conquistadors. • Used guns to dominate native population. • Cortes defeated the Aztec empire in only 3 years. • By 1550, Spain gained control of Northern Mexico. • Pizarro took control of the Incan Empire. • Within 30 years, Mexico, Central America, and South America were under Spanish control. • Native Americans were forced to work on plantations by the Spanish. • Forced labor, starvation, and disease wiped out native American populations.

13. Impact on Native Americans • Native American populations were destroyed after their encounters with the Spanish. • Smallpox, measles, and typhus killed natives rapidly. • Their immune systems had no natural resistance to these diseases. • Hispaniola - 250,000 people to less than 500. • Mexico 25 million to one million in just over 100 years. • Many native Americans were now forced to live under European systems of religion, government, language, and culture.

14. 1651 World Map

15. Economic Impact and Competition • Exploration and colonization led to the beginnings of a global economy. • The Colombian Exchange, the exchange of plants and animals between the old and new worlds transformed economic activity.

16. New rivals were competing for trade throughout Europe. • Spain, England, the Netherlands, and France set up trade empires throughout the world. • The Dutch trade empire in North America was taken over by the English, allowing them to establish the “thirteen colonies.”

18. Colonization and Mercantilism • European countries established colonies throughout the Americas. • colony - a settlement of people living in a new territory, linked with the parent country by trade and government control. • Colonization led to mercantilism, an economic philosophy that stated that a nation’s prosperity depended on their amount of gold and silver. • Nations tried to export more than they imported. • Balance of trade is the difference in value of what a nation imports and exports over time.