Europeans Claim
America!
American History
Chapter 2: Sections 1 and 2 recap
Mrs. Cady
Wait a second….
Before we get started with this
chapter we have to get something
straight.
Who were the first people
to discover America?
CORRECT!
The Paleo-Indians discovered
America (unknowingly) when they
crossed over the Bering Land Bridge
during the last ice age.
THIS CONTINENT
Ok, so if a
nomadic tribe
discovered
America
somewhere
between 38,000
and 10,000 BC,
who was next to
step foot on this
continent?
CORRECT!
It was
the……
VIKINGS!!
Vikings were skilled
sailors, and they were
the first Europeans to
reach North America.
Viking Voyages
Vikings came
from
Scandinavia.
Scandanavia?!? Where is that?
Present-day
Norway,
Sweden,
Finland,
Denmark and
Iceland
The Vikings were skilled sailors and
developed a new style of ship called a
longship.
They raided
countries
throughout
Europe and
developed
large trading
networks.
In 1000 Leif Eriksson
sailed from Norway to
the North American
coast after having been
blown off course by a
storm.
They landed on and
explored present-day
Canada,
Newfoundland and
maybe even as far
south as where?
New
England!
They created a North American
settlement, but attacks by Native
Americans and the area’s isolation
prompted the Vikings to return to
Europe.
Meanwhile,
back in
Europe……
Motivations for Exploration
• Prince Henry the Navigator was responsible for
advances that would make exploration more
successful (though he never set out on a voyage
himself)
– He built an observatory.
– He founded a school of navigation to teach better
methods of sailing
– He financed research by mapmakers and
shipbuilders.
– He paid for expeditions to explore western Africa.
Motivations for Exploration
• To find sea routes to develop
additional trade routes with Asia
• To spread Christianity
– Christians wanted to convert more
people to their faith.
• To learn more about Asia and its
culture.
Why did people start to explore
the world by sea?
•God
•Gold
I have made
my country
proud!
•Glory
Technological Advances
• Better instruments made it
possible for sailors to travel
the open seas.
• The astrolabe enabled
navigators to use the stars to
chart location.
Astrolabe
MORE Technological Advances
• The Portuguese began designing
ships that were smaller, lighter,
and easier to steer.
• New ships called caravels used
triangular sails that allowed
ships to sail against the wind.
Eventually, these Portuguese learn so
much at Prince Henry’s school that
they:
Sailed around Africa
and found a sea route
to Asia.
In 1488, some guy led an
exploration from Portugal
southward along African
coast, discovering the
southern tip of Africa, the
Cape of Good Hope.
Who was he?
BARTOLOMEU
DIAS
In 1497, Vasco da Gama
sailed around the Cape
of Good Hope and
landed in India, winning
the European race for a
sea route to Asia.
VASCO
DE
GAMA
Results of Exploration
• As Portuguese sailors explored
the west coast of Africa, they
negotiated for gold, ivory, and
slaves.
QUESTION: What effect did
slavery have on African
communities?
Portuguese sailors
bargained with African
rulers for gold, ivory and
slaves, establishing the slave
trade. The slave trade
broke up families and
increased warfare among
kingdoms in Africa.
Results of Exploration
Slaves were sent to Europe and to
islands in the Atlantic where they
endured brutal living conditions.
Other nations saw how wealthy and
powerful Portugal was becoming,
so they launched their own voyages
of exploration.
EUROPEANS
REACH THE
AMERICAS
Christopher Columbus sailed across the
Atlantic Ocean…
• Christopher Columbus, a sailor
from Genoa, Italy, heard stories
of great wealth in Asia.
• He persuaded King Ferdinand
and Queen Isabella of Spain to
pay for an expedition across the
Atlantic.
…and reached a continent that was
previously unknown to him.
• On August 3, 1492,
Columbus set sail across the
Atlantic with three ships.
• On October 12, 1492, he
reached the Americas.
Hey, is that
why October 12
is Columbus
Day?
YES!
CHRISTOPHER
COLUMUBS
Columbus in the Americas
Columbus and his crew
landed in the Bahamas, on an
island he named San
Salvador.
He called the native people Indians
because he thought he was in the
Indies.
They were the tribe known as
the Tiano.
Columbus was interested in
gold, not the culture of the
native people.
He made three more voyages to the
Americas.
The impact of Columbus’s voyages on
the world was not realized until years
after his death.
Impact of Columbus
– Changed view of the world
• Interaction with Native Americans
– Conflict between Spain and Portugal over land
claims
• Pope ordered Line of Demarcation divided the
Atlantic Ocean Spain claimed all the land west
of the line
–Treaty of Tordesillas – moved line 800 miles
further west
So…why did the Pope create the Line of
Demarcation?
• Up to this time the two major powers exploring the world
were Spain and Portugal.
• These nations worried that their new territories would be
taken by each other, or by others.
• In order to protect their new empires, these nations looked
to the Pope for help.
• In 1493, the Pope drew a line on the globe cutting the new
world in half. This line was known as the line of
demarcation.
• Any territory discovered on the east side of the line was to
be controlled by Portugal, while any lands found on the
west side of the line were to be ruled over by Spain.
Line of Demarcation (moved 800 miles
west after the Treaty of Tordesillas)
Tor duh what?!
Treaty of
Tour- de- see- ahs
After Columbus’s voyages, other
explorers sailed to the Americas.
Vespucci
•America was named for
Amerigo Vespucci, who
sailed to South America in
1501.
•The new world was
named after him
Balboa
•Vasco Núñez de Balboa
crossed Central America
to discover the Pacific
Ocean.
Magellan
•Ferdinand Magellan headed
an expedition in 1519 that
eventually circumnavigated, or
sailed around, the world.
FERDINAND
MAGELLAN
The Columbian Exchange
•Explorers brought plants, animals, and
diseases to the “New World” of the
Americas and brought back plants and
animals to the “Old World”—Europe, Asia,
and Africa.
•The Columbian Exchange is the name
given to this transfer of plants, animals,
and diseases between Europe and the
Americas.
•Explorers brought horses, cattle,
pigs, and grains such as barley
and wheat to the Americas.
•Europeans took back such
American plants as corn,
tomatoes, tobacco, and cocoa.
The Columbian Exchange