The Age of Exploration
As trade with Africa and Asia increased the era of exploration began. European
searched for quicker trade routes to hasten arrival of Asian goods, which were just
as much desired as gold.
Who was first?
Leif Erickson and 35 others sailed from a colony on Greenland and arrived in 1001
A.D. They spent the winter in a place they named Vinland on North America.
This legend became lost for the next 500 years. It is unknown whether Christopher
Columbus ever heard this legend. He believed that he could sail west and reach Asia
thus establishing a direct trade route, which would make him rich. He did not know
that an entire continent stood in his way.
Columbus- Grew up in Genoa. In the 1470’s he moved to Portugal, which was the
leading seafaring nation at the time. He sailed on Portuguese ships, studied their
maps and charts, and learned about the world beyond Europe. It was during this
time he developed his westward theory to Asia. The King of Portugal showed little
interest in his plan and denied his request. He wanted to keep using the route
around the horn of Africa. The King also believed that the Earth was larger then
Columbus predicted and that the voyage would take much longer then Columbus
had predicted.
This rejection prompted Columbus to move to Spain. Here he brought his
proposition in front of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. They liked his plan but
did not agree to provide him ships and pay for the voyage for another 6 years. This
was because they were at war with England and felt they couldn’t risk a huge some
of money.
Columbus set sail in August 1492 with 90 men. His ships were the Nina, the
Pinta, and the Santa Maria. They were smaller ships, which meant they were limited
as to the amount of supplies they could carry. But being smaller had its advantages.
When they were sailing with the wind they could cover 170 miles a day. Columbus
had predicted that they would reach Asia in just 21 days.
After a month at sea, and there had been no sight of land, the men began to get
restless. There was talk of mutiny but Columbus convinced them to be patient.
Finally, on October 12th a sailor spotted land. They lowered the anchors and
Columbus rowed ashore and claimed the land for Spain. He believed that he was in
the Indies so he named the natives Indians. He then set out to find the Island of
Japan. He then sailed southwest to a larger Island, which actually was Cuba. He
then sailed to another Island, which was Hispaniola. He then returned to Spain in
1493.
When he arrived back in Spain, Columbus reported that there were huge
amounts of gold in the lands he referred to as the West Indies. The king and queen
made him governor of all the lands which he had claimed for Spain. In September
1493, Columbus set sail again. This time he had 17 ships filled with 1,500 soldiers,
settlers, and priests. This was part of a colonization plan, where the Spanish
planned to set up camp and rule over their new lands. Part of their plan was to
convert the native people to Christianity.
The second voyage ended up in Puerto Rico. He had returned to Hispaniola and
found that the men, he had left behind, had been killed by the natives. He built
another settlement nearby and then enslaved the natives. He used them a laborers
to dig for gold. Within a year 12 ships returned to Spain with gold trinkets and
captives.
On his third voyage, in 1498, Columbus finally reached the Northern coast of
South America and decided it was the Asian mainland. He attempted to prove his
claims in his last voyage in 1502. When he died in 1506 he still thought that he had
reached Asia.
Continued Search
In 1510, Vasco Nunez de Balboa explored the Caribbean cost of what is now
Panama. He cut his way through the jungle and became the first European to see the
Pacific Ocean.
!519, Ferdinand Magellan set out to find an Atlantic Pacific passage. His fleet took
more than a yea to move down the South American Coast. They were looking for a
strait, or a narrow passage that connects two bodies of water together. As they
moved further south they encountered animals that no European had ever seen
before, like penguins. Finally, he found a narrow passage near the southern tip of
Argentina and attempted to pass through. It took 38 days due to winds, tides, and
currents. He finally made it through to the Pacific Ocean and that passage is forever
know as the Strait of Magellan.
The Columbian Exchange
The early Spanish voyages set up an exchange between the Western and Eastern
hemispheres. People moved from one hemisphere to the other which led way to
interactions and exchanges of people, products, diseases, and ideas. This was
known as the Columbian Exchange. Most of the exchanges were good, however,
the Europeans brought with them disease and weapons which forever changed the
Lives of the Native Americans. Probably the most important items exchanged were
the crops which the natives taught the Europeans how to cultivate. Today these
crops make up one third of the World’s food supply.
The Columbian Exchange (also sometimes known as The Great Exchange) has been
one of the most significant events in the history of world ecology, agriculture, and
culture. The term is used to describe the enormous widespread exchange of plants,
animals, foods, human populations (including slaves), communicable diseases, and
ideas between the Eastern and Western hemispheres that occurred after 1492.
Many new and different goods were exchanged between the two hemispheres of the
Earth, and it began a new revolution in the Americas and in Europe. In 1492,
Christopher Columbus' first voyage launched an era of large-scale contact between
the Old and the New World that resulted in this ecological revolution: hence the
name "Columbian" Exchange.
The Columbian Exchange greatly affected almost every society on earth, bringing
destructive diseases that depopulated many cultures, and also circulating a wide
variety of new crops and livestock that, in the long term, increased rather than
diminished the world human population. Maize and potatoes became very
important crops in Eurasia by the 1700s. Peanuts and manioc flourished in tropical
Southeast Asian and West African soils that otherwise would not produce large
yields or support large populations.
This exchange of plants and animals transformed European, American, African, and
Asian ways of life. Foods that had never been seen before by people became staples
of their diets, as new growing regions opened up for crops. For example, before AD
1000, potatoes were not grown outside of South America. By the 1840s, Ireland was
so dependent on the potato that a diseased crop led to the devastating Irish Potato
Famine. The first European import, the horse, changed the lives of many Native
American tribes on the Great Plains, allowing them to shift to a nomadic lifestyle
based on hunting bison on horseback. Tomato sauce, made from New World
tomatoes, became an Italian trademark, while coffee from Africa and sugar cane
from Asia became the main crops of extensive Latin American plantations. Also the
chili / Paprika from South America was introduced in India by the Portuguese and it
is today an inseparable part of Indian cuisine.
Before the Columbian Exchange, there were no oranges in Florida, no bananas in
Ecuador, no paprika in Hungary, no tomatoes in Italy, no pineapples in Hawaii, no
rubber trees in Africa, no cattle in Texas, no burros in Mexico, no chili peppers in
Thailand and India, no cigarettes in France and no chocolate in Switzerland. Even
the dandelion was brought to America by Europeans for use as an herb.
Before regular communication had been established between the two hemispheres,
the varieties of domesticated animals and infectious diseases were strikingly larger
in the Old World than in the New. This led, in part, to the devastating effects of Old
World diseases on Native American populations. The smallpox epidemics probably
resulted in the largest death toll for Native Americans. Scarcely any society on earth
remained unaffected by this global ecological exchange.
Type of
organism
Old World list (what they had)
camel
cattle
donkey
fowl (several species including
chickens)
goat
horse
pig
rabbit
sheep





fowl (a few species)
guinea pig
raccoon
llama
turkey




















bananas
barley
beans
black pepper
cabbage
coffee
cotton (short staple "Egyptian"
variety)
citrus
garlic
hemp
lettuce
oats
onion
peach
pear
rice
rye
sugarcane
turnip
wheat
















avocado
beans
cashew
chicle (chewing gum base)
chili pepper (includes the bell pepper)
cocoa
cotton (long staple variety, 90% of
modern cultivation)
huckleberry
maize (corn)
manioc (cassava)
papaya
peanut
pecan
pineapple
potato
rubber
squash (incl. pumpkin)
sunflower
strawberry
sweet potato
tobacco
tomato
vanilla






bubonic plague
cholera
influenza
malaria
measles
scarlet fever


syphilis (possibly)
yellow fever (American strains)




Domesticated
animals












Domesticated
plants
Infectious
diseases
New World list (what they had)





sleeping sickness
smallpox
tuberculosis
typhoid
yellow fever
The Conquistadors
By the early 1500’s, the Spain had a strong foothold in the Southern Islands of the
Americas. Soldier-adventurers called conquistadors set out to explore the areas
around the islands to expand the Spanish Empire.
Hernando Cortez
In 1519 he sailed from Cuba to Mexico with more then 500 soldiers. The first
natives they met gave him gifts of gold because they thought the Spanish to be gods.
On November 8th, 1519, Cortes marched into the Aztec capital city of Tenochtitlan.
As the Spanish forces moved closer to the capital city many of the Aztec enemies
joined the Spanish forces. They did this because they did not like living under harsh
Aztec rule where they had to pay taxes. These tribes had been conquered by the
Aztecs years earlier and saw this as a chance to exact revenge.
Cortez met with the Aztec king Montezuma. The king offered him a bunch of gold to
leave. This had the opposite effect. Cortez now believed that the Aztecs had a huge
stockpile of gold and he took Montezuma hostage and claimed all of Mexico for
Spain.
He returned a year later with a larger force and destroyed Tenochtitlan. He then
built Mexico City, which became the capital of the Spanish colony of new Spain.
Francisco Pizarro
Pizarro landed on the coast of Peru in 1531. He was specifically there in search of
the Incas whom he had heard had large amounts of gold. In September 1532, he led
170 soldiers through the jungle into the heart of the Incan Empire. Pizarro isolated
and kidnapped the Incan ruler Atahualpa. The Incan people paid a huge ransom, to
free their ruler, Pizarro executed him anyways.
Why the Spanish were victorious.
Technology was superior. Armor, weapons, muskets, and cannons.
They had horses, and the Native Americans were divided and waged their own wars.
Of Course, plague wiped out many of the natives thinning their forces.
Ponce de Leon
What was in the Book: In 1513, Juan Ponce de Leon sailed north from Puerto Rico
to investigate reports of a large island. He landed and found beautiful flowers there
and named the land La Florida. Ponce de Leon became the first Spaniard to set foot
on North America.
Class Research:
1.) His full name was Juan Ponce de Leon. He was born and raised Santervas de Campos,
Spain in 1460. He was born in a poor but noble family.
2.) He is believed to be the first person to set foot in North America. He also discovered
and named Florida.
4.) He was supposedly searching for a fountain of youth, a love potion and gold.
5.) Ponce de Leon conquered Puerto Rico and established a settlement there.
6.) N/A
7.) Ponce de Leon found an island which he renamed Puerto Rico after Borinquen. He
was the governor for two years then was was kicked out for brutality to the natives and
was then replaced by Christopher Columbus's son. Three years later he decided to set out
from Puerto Rico to find the fountain of youth which was believed to be on a Caribbean
island called Bimini.
8.) Ponce de Leon and more than 200 men ended up landing on the east coast of Florida
instead of Bimini. They thought they landed on another island. They named it Florida
meaning flowery. They found it at Easter time. He was not the first European to explore
the area. For years Spanish slave expeditions had raided the Bahamas on a regular basis
and there is some proof that they made it to Florida.
9.) In 1493 he set out on his first voyage which was Christopher Columbus’ second
voyage who was his cousin. He stayed in hispaniola and later set out to puerto rico where
he became governor. Then he was later replaced by Christopher Columbus's son due to
extreme brutality to native americans. This was in 1513. on March 3rd 1513 he set out to
find land north of hispaniola he found what he named Florida which means flowery land.
10.) Ponce De Leon was viciously attacked by natives and murdered by a poison arrow to
the knee. He was also removed from the title of governor of Puerto Rico and replaced by
Christopher Columbus's’ son.
11.) He never did find a fountain of youth, but he did discover Florida.
12.)Ponce de Leon died July 1521 in Havara, Cuba. He was shot by poison arrow to the
thigh when he arrived at Florida for a second exploration. Native American warriors
attacked him.
Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca
What was in the book: Exploration of the Florida West Coast began in 1528. 400
Spaniards landed in what is now St. Petersburg. They marched north when they did
not find gold. When they reached North Florida they were attacked by Native
Americans. They had considerable losses and the survivors built 5 crude boats and
set out to sea to escape the Indian attackers. Their leader was Cabeza de Vaca.
They were out in the gulf moving along the coast when they finally reached what is
now Galveston Island on the Texas coast. They were reduced to 15 men due to
starvation and disease. They then were captured and enslaved by the Indians. In
the end only four men were left. After six years in captivity, they escaped and spent
two more years finding their way to Mexico City. In 1536, eight years after they
originally landed in Florida, the last four men reached Spanish controlled land.
When they reached Mexico City they told tales which they heard from their native
captives. The natives spoke of cities filled with gold located in what is now western
New Mexico.
Class Research:
Cabeza De Vaca was born in 1490 into Spanish nobility. He had started his career in
the military and in early 1527 was part of an expedition. To the mainland of North
America.
•
•
•
•
Cabeza de Vaca discovered Texas on his journey.
He had discovered the Tampa Bay area.
Arizona and New Mexico.
All these while on his way to Mexico in 1528.
Looking for fame and glory, on his expedition Cabeza de Vaca almost got the
complete opposite.
After hurricanes and shipwrecks, Cabeza de Vaca finally got to land, only to be
encountered by natives. They took them in but did not feed them well enough, so
little in fact that his crew were left to commit cannibalism, the natives then thought
they were crazy and had started to kill them! They all ran and some found refuge in
caves, only to be found and killed by the natives. The survivors were so desperate to
the point of running to the beach and literally gathering as many sticks as possible
and putting them together to make rafts just to escape! All could’ve been avoided
but due to a bad call by a general this all happened.
The survivors that had escaped went to find some Spanish settlements. After a while
some started to think of going another way instead. So they split into two groups of
four. Cabeza de Vaca and his group went West while the others went East, only for
them to run into the same natives again and killed. It seemed like Cabeza de Vaca
finally managed to catch a break, as he found a Spanish settlement. He told them his
stories of what happened. Then to his surprise, the Spanish thought he was crazy
and had kicked him out of there settlement. Leaving Cabeza de Vaca to walk miles
and miles again. Imagine running through swamps, plains, forests and more with the
mosquitos while natives are chasing you wanting your head for years, then finding
refuged only to be kicked out because they thought you were insane. Also knowing
the fact that out of 300 people and your journey, you and three more were the only
survivors.
He had finally found a settlement that had accepted him in 1536, and in 1537 he had
went back to Spain. Later on in life he died while being a judge because of natural
causes
The Good things he did:
1. He discovered many states.
2. Had found a lot of gold.
3. That’s it.
The Bad things that Happened:
1. Hurricane.
2. Shipwreck.
3. Instead of conquering, he got conquered by the natives.
4. Enslavement.
5. Cannibalism.
6. Getting killed by the natives.
7. Trauma.
8. Running for years for his life.
9. Getting kicked once he found safety.
10. He accomplished almost nothing
11. His ENTIRE life
Francisco Coronado
Coronado set out with 1100 men including some Native Americans to find the Cities
of Gold. He never found the city of gold but he did explore what is now New Mexico,
Arizona, Texas, and Kansas.
Hernando de Soto
What was in the Book: Traveled as far north as the Carolinas and as far west as
what is now Oklahoma. He died in what is now Louisiana, in 1542, having found the
Mississippi River.
Class Research: Hernando DeSoto’s full name is Hernando DeSoto. He was born in
Jerez de los Caballeros, Spain, in 1496. Hernando DeSoto was one the the more
important explorers in the age of exploration. We’re learning about him today
because of his conquest of Florida.
DeSoto was looking for glory and gold. On his first expedition he landed on the West
Indies. Hernando DeSoto made a fortune of the slave trade on this trip. In 1538
Hernando DeSoto was sent by the Queen to conquer Florida. On this trip Hernando
DeSoto was the first European to discover and cross the Mississippi River. DeSoto
eventually conquered Florida for spain. This was accomplished by guns, spears,
horses, coughing and the occasional sneeze.
DeSoto’s family wanted him to be a lawyer. He had a generous scholarship yet he
had a different plan for his life. At the age of 15 he left to get a job on an expedition.
DeSoto was appointed captain of the calvary because of his amazing horsemanship.
On his trip to Central America he proved his worth by his excellent slave trading
skill. He had another expedition and conquered florida and discovered the
Mississippi River. Both his trips were pretty good and nothing went wrong until he
got shot with an arrow. Although he might have had some help from diseases,
DeSoto was successful in conquering Florida with more horses and guns, and
explored a bit more land around it, including the Mississippi River. DeSoto died
after he crossed the Mississippi River, going down to fever on May 21st, 1542.
For him, he may or may not have been successful. On his first expedition, he was
shot by an arrow, yet he was successful there. On this expedition to and for Florida,
he was also successful. The Queen sent him to conquer Florida, and conquer Florida
he did, along with exploring several other areas. And while DeSoto may have made a
fortune in the slave trade on his trip to the West Indies, he didn’t make much in
Florida, and even if he would have made more money, he died too soon to make use
of it.
Colonizing Spanish America
Allowing the conquistadors to govern and rule over the lands that they conquered
did not work out so well because they turned into warlords. To take care of this
Spain came up with a formal system of government to rule over the new colonies.
Harsh Life for Native Americans
Native Americans were just a source of labor for the Spaniards. They were believed
to be incapable of much else. Government officials gave out huge land grants to
people to start mines, plantations, and ranches. To make sure that these areas had a
supply of workers the Spanish government granted encomiendas. These were
large land grants that included the right to demand labor or taxes from the
Native Americans. Here the natives were forced to work in gold and silver mines.
This resulted in many deaths do to the horrible conditions. There were some people
that did not like this cruel system and their protests led to a reform of this type of
system in the mid 1500’s.
Along with the forced labor the natives were subjected to religious persecution.
Like other European countries, the Spanish believed that it was their duty to convert
the Native Americans to Christianity. So they took it upon themselves to save these
poor people. To do this they set up missions, which are religious settlements.
These were run by Catholic priests and friars. Many cities in North America got
their start this way. Examples would be San Francisco, San Diego, and San Antonio.
As the death toll from the natives in the Americas rose, the Spanish needed to find
another for of labor to work their properties. They looked to Africa to provide this
labor. The Spanish were the first to import slaves in 1517. They brought about
4,000 Africans to the Caribbean Islands that year and forced them into slave labor.
By the middle of the 1500’s the Spanish were shipping about 2,000 African slaves
each year to the Americas.