The Discovery of the Americas

1. The Discovery of the Americas

2. Who Discovered America? • Archeologists believe that the first Americans were Ice Age nomads from Siberia who crossed the Bering Strait about 10000 years ago. • Over centuries, they migrated south in search of a more hospitable environment, and are believed to be the first Native Americans.

4. The Viking Explorers • Around the year 1000, Vikings from Scandinavia, led by Leif Erikson, established a colony in Greenland and eventually made contact with Newfoundland (Vinland). • At this time, European nations did not have the resources or the desire to compete with the vikings.

6. Explorers and the Age of Exploration • The Age of Exploration occurred from the early 15th to the early 17th Century, as a result of new technologies and ideas growing out of the Renaissance, including advances in cartography, navigation, firepower and shipbuilding. • European ships traveled around the world to search for new trading routes and partners to feed burgeoning capitalism in Europe. • Much of new exploration was rooted in the desire to find a route to Asia through the west of Europe. • Motives for exploration: to expand empires, to make money, and to spread religion.

7. Why Asia? • Luxury goods, such as silk, as well as spices, were wanted for trade; • European monarchs wanted to strengthen and enrich their countries (and expand their empires); • The Roman Catholic Church hoped to bring Christianity to new people.

8. Mercantilism • Beginning in the 1600s, many of the European nations, including England, started to follow a theory of national economic policy called ‘mercantilism’ • This theory believed that a state’s power depended on its wealth • For this reason, colonies became increasingly important to the European powers • Colonies provided raw materials and provided markets for manufactured goods from the parent country

9. Monies received from the colonies could be invested in new business ventures to make more money, and make the mother country less dependent on foreign goods. Additionally, it could be used to build military power. • Eventually, this policy hampered the growth of the colonies, and the colonists had to smuggle and build their own trading fleets to get what they wanted or needed.

10. Portugal was first... • Prince Henry “the navigator” laid the foundation for Portugal’s success in exploration, though he never sailed or explored any new lands himself; • The prince wanted his ships to find a way to India and the Spice Islands; he also wanted to find the source of gold and precious metals brought to Mediterranean ports by the Moors (Arabs from North Africa) • As the expeditions returned, the maps were updated • By 1460, Portuguese ships had reached Cape Verde , the westernmost tip of Africa.

11. Rounding the “Cape of Good Hope” • In 1487, Bartholomeu Dias’ voyages took him down the African coast. • In 1488, Dias accidentally rounded the tip of Africa • King John II named it the Cape of Good Hope, for its promise of a new sea route to India.

12. Vasco da Gama was next… The voyage took over one year Many sailors died of scurvy The profits from his cargo of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, and pepper were worth 60x the cost of his expedition The challenge was made to other European countries to begin exploring

13. Spain jumps to the challenge • Believing that the only thing separating Europe from Japan was the Atlantic Ocean, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus concluded that by catching the westerly winds he would be able to sail directly to the Indies (the land of the spices). • He tried to get financial backing for his proposed voyage, with no success • Finally, he was able to convince King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain that his plan would bring them “wealth, empire, and converts to Catholicism” • The King and Queen not only funded Columbus’ journey, they provided him with three ships – the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria. • Columbus was promised title and wealth if he was successful

14. The Voyages of Christopher Columbus • In 1492, Christopher Columbus began his exploration of the Americas – he became famous when he discovered a new continent and he ignited a competition among many of the other European nations to find new lands • Columbus discovered what is now known as the San Salvador in the Bahamas, but since he believed he had found India, he called the people who greeted him “Indians”.

15. Columbus’ Legacy - The Columbian Exchange • The Columbian Exchange refers to the movement of peoples, cultures, technologies, plants, animals, diseases and other things between Europe and North America in the wake of Columbus’s voyages • This exchange fundamentally changed human life and the environment in both worlds

16. The Columbian Exchange

17. Examples of the Exchange • Potatoes, grown by the Incas, were brought back and introduced to Spain in the early 1500s • Spain introduced the horse to the natives– which assisted them in becoming more efficient in the hunt • Europeans traded alcohol with the natives • Europeans also introduced small pox and tuberculosis

18. Impact of the Columbian Exchange Columbus' voyages of discovery opened the door to further exploration of the Americas by other European nations. The Columbian Legacy is also credited for the following:

19. Positive: • Europeans brought civilization to the relatively small populations living on the American continents; • Contact brought changes in government, religion, and science.

20. Negative: • The Europeans enslaved people and had little regard for the cultural heritage of the peoples they met. • European diseases helped destroy entire civilizations.

21. Spain and Portugal • Spain and Portugal were the major players early on in the search for new lands • This put the two countries in direct competition, which caused Pope Alexander VI to convince the two countries to divide any new overseas trading interests between them

22. The Treaty of Tordesillas • In 1494, “for the sake of peace and concord” Spain and Portugal resolved their differences in the Treaty of Tordesillas • This Treaty established a line at 48 degrees west longitude and extended it around the earth – the “Line of Demarcation” • Any lands to the west (most of the Americas) of this line belonged to Spain, anything to the east (Brazil, Africa, and the east), Portugal

23. America gets a name! • In 1499, a Portuguese expedition captained by an Italian-born navigator named Amerigo Vespucci sailed down the coast of South America • Vespucci believed that this land was a vast new continent and he erroneously received credit for discovering what German mapmakers named “America”

24. What? Another Ocean? • On expeditions to Panama, Vasco Nunez de Balboa learned from the native peoples of a huge body of water called the “great waters” • He led an expedition with the assistance of the native peoples and he was the first European to set his sights on this great new body of water • To Balboa, the water appeared calm and peaceful so he gave it the name ‘Pacifica’ (latin) which later became the Pacific Ocean

25. Other Countries Take Interest • In the early 1500s, Spanish conquistadors busied themselves with conquering South America for its silver and gold. • The farthest north they reached was Florida and the lower Mississippi Valley, however they faced fierce resistance from the Native populations in these areas. • While the Spanish mined silver and tried to convert the Native Americans to Christianity, other nations began to threaten their dominance of the Americas. • The French, Dutch, and British, who had NOT signed the Treaty of Tordesillas, began their exploration of the Americas in the 1500s as well. • Instead of searching for spices and precious metals, these countries found their riches in other commodities: fish and fur.

26. Assignment: • Read pages 48 – 51 of the text. Briefly summarize French and Dutch colonization in North America – where did they colonize, why did they colonize, and what, if any, problems did they face?