THE AGE OF
EXPLORATION
Do Now: What might cause people to
explore?
Earlier Explorations
1. Islam & the Spice Trade  Silk
Road
2. New Player  Europe
Nicolo, Maffeo, & Marco Polo,
1271
Expansion becomes a state
enterprise  monarchs had the
authority & the resources.
Better seaworthy ships.
Motives for European
Exploration
1. Crusades  by-pass intermediaries
to get to Asia.
2. Renaissance  curiosity about other
lands and peoples.
3. Reformation  refugees &
missionaries.
4. Monarchs seeking new sources of
revenue.
5. Technological advances.
6. Fame and fortune.
Setting the Stage
1.
a.
b.
c.
Europeans had been exploring via the Crusades and with
people like Marco Polo
For the most part, Europeans had no interest or ability to
explore foreign lands
By 1400s, a desire for wealth coupled with advanced
sailing techniques sparked exploration.
THE THREE G’S of
Exploration
• GOLD
• GLORY
• GOD
A Map of the Known World,
pre- 1492
New Maritime Technologies
Better Maps
[Portulan]
Hartman Astrolabe
(1532)
Mariner’s Compass
Sextant
New Weapons and Technology
Portugal
Portugal Leads the Way
4.
a.
b.
c.
d.
Portugal led the way in sailing innovations
First country to establish trading outposts on
west coast of Africa
Prince Henry, son of the king, was Portugal’s
most enthusiastic exploration explorer
Prince Henry wanted to reach treasures of the
east and spread Christianity
Portugal Leads the Way
4.
e.
Vasco da Gama sailed to the eastern side of
Africa and reached SW India
f.
da Gama and crew were astonished by spices, silks,
and gems found in India
g.
da Gama’s remarkable 27,000 mile journey
was worth 60 times the cost of the trip and
provided Portugal with a direct sea route to
India
Vasco da Gama’s Route
The Chronicle of the
Discovery
• What is the difference between a
rationale and a reason?
• Describe the reasons for exploration
mentioned in this document? Are
they more rationale or reason
based? Explain
Christopher Columbus
[1451-1506]
• Made 4 voyages - 1st in
1492
• Sailor and explorer, not
a good navigator and
administrator
• Spanish know how much
new land is available
there
• Believed he was sailing
around the islands of
Asia
Columbus’ Four Voyages
• Columbus makes contact with the
Taino people
• Initially it isnt a bad relationship
• 16th century - arrived in large
How does
Columbus view
Native People?
numbers
for the
conquest
What was Columbus most concerned with?
Explain
how this letter
reflects Columbus’s
motives
• Settle
in Cuba,
Hispaniola
and Puerto
Rico
• Cuba will be jumping off point for
expedition
• Subjugated Native Americans
⬜
The result: The Treaty of Tordesilla of 1494: Line that
divided Spain and Portugal’s claims. Spain got land west of
the line, which included most of the Americas, Portugal got
lands to the east which included parts of modern-day Brazil
Other Voyages of Exploration
• Spanish soldiers
• Came to conquer!
• Accompanied by members of
the Catholic Church to
convert Native Americans
Were Conquistadors motivated by
Gold, Glory, or God? Explain your
choice.
Spanish
Aztecs
• 1510 - 1515 Presence in the
Caribbean
firmly
established
• Moved on to
conquer Aztec
and Inca
Empires
• Dominated central
Mexican plain
• Subjugated many of the
peoples of the region
• Keep them for sacrifice
• Resentment of Aztec
Power - Spain will use
that to advantage
The First Spanish Conquests:
The Aztecs
vs.
Hernando Cortes
Montezuma
• 1519 - left Cuba with 550 men, 16
horses
• Landed on the gulf coast of Mexico
and burned ships when he got there
as a sign they would retreat
• Advantages: Horses, Technology,
Gunpowder and steel
• Spanish and Aztec relationship is
peaceful at first
Tenochtitlan
•
•
•
•
Capital of the Aztec Empire
Hernando Cortes finds it in 1520’s
Montezuma thinks Cortes is a God and gives him gold
Cortes – 500 soldiers
Aztecs – 150,000 –
300,000 people….How did they lose?
The Death of Montezuma
Mexico Surrenders to Cortez
!
• Europeans brought
smallpox,
tuberculosis and
measles
• Unintentional
• Natives had no
resistance
• Millions died
– 80% - 90% of
the Native
population
The First Spanish Conquests:
The Incas
vs.
Francisco Pizarro
Atahualpa
• Left Mexico and traveled to Peru - 10 years after
Aztec conquest
• Carried out similar conquest of Incas
• Arrived as civil War was happening so he will use
that to help conquer them
• Pizarro’s advantages
– Local political rivalries, civil war
– Spanish technology
• Pizarro inserted himself into Inca Capital
– Abducted Inca Ruler
– Within 2 years - control much of the empire
• Conquests aided by
– Rivalries among the Native Americans
– Disease
– Spanish Weaponry
Spanish Pattern of Conquest
• Step 1: Live among the people
• Step 2: Impose upon them your
culture
• Step 3: Marry their women
• Step 4: Force your religion on them
• Step 5: Make them work for you
(Ecomienda)
• Ecomienda was eventually abolished
by Spanish Government in 1542.
Cycle of Conquest & Colonization
Explorers
Official
European
Colony!
The Colonial Class System
Peninsulares
(Spanish Born)
Mestizos
(Mix of
Spanish/Indian)
Native Indians
Creoles
(White Person
born in New
World – Spanish
Descent)
Mulattos
(Mix of
Spanish and
Black)
Black Slaves
European Empires in the Americas
• Portuguese Activates
– 15th - 16th Centuries - Active in Spice Trade in
Asia
– Established a presence in the Western
Hemisphere
– 1500: Pedro Cabral discovered coast of Brazil
– Amerigo Vespucci is sent to map out Brazil
• 1494: Treaty of Tordesillas
– Separated Spanish and Portuguese rights
– Established sphere of influence in Brazil
• Americo Vespucci
– Laid groundwork for Portuguese exploration of
Brazil
• Jesuits
– Engaged in missionary activity in interior of
country
– Defended Brazilian interior against incursion
– Most of the Portuguese settlers stayed in the
coast, didnt go into the island
– 17th Century - conflict between Jesuits and
Portuguese settlers
• Agriculture
– Based near coast
– Brazilwood - Source of dye - Main export
– Plantations (Fazendas) - Cattle, sugar cane
– Resulted in the complex ethnic of make of Brazil
(Portuguese, African, and NAtive American)
Bartolome de las Casas – First Defender of
Native Americans
•
•
Rushed to see Columbus
when he was 9 years old
Conquistador
–
–
•
Voyaged to Americas (Haiti
and Dominican Republic)
Managed slaves and trained to
be a priest to convert Native
Americans and earned wealth
Change of Heart
–
–
–
–
1513 Cuban Massacre: Saw
Spanish massacre Native
Americans that welcomed
them
Urged people to give up Indian
Slaves and pay back money
1537 – Pope wrote Native
Americans are free humans
1542 – Charles V banned
Indian Slavery
Impact of European Expansion
1. Native populations ravaged by
disease.
2. Influx of gold
3. New products introduced across
the continents
4. Deepened colonial rivalries.