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 describe how trade and political centralization transformed West Africa before the advent of the Atlantic Slave
Trade.
describe the role the Columbian
Exchange played in the formation of the Atlantic world.
identify and explain the difference between the various colonial footholds in North America (Spanish, French,
English, and Dutch)

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The confluence of African, Asian, and
European people since ancient times
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West African gold; European guns; Indian spices
Med. Commerce was closely intertwined with religion and politics
Christians felt hemmed in by Muslims who possessed superior wealth, power, and technology

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Crusaders had suffered bloody and humiliating loses in attempts to capture
Jerusalem
Europe felt the Muslim power came from their control of lucrative trade routes
Europeans sought a way around the
Muslim merchants and Turkish tax collectors
The development of the printing press expanded reading and also the stories of exploration (Marco Polo)

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And after Isabella and Ferdinand completed the reconquista by seizing Granada in 1492 they began to look westward
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This also opened the western mouth of the Mediterranean

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The major arena of long-distant travel and trade was the trans-
Saharan caravan trade
Gold became the standard for nearly all European currencies
New African states emerged to take advantage of exporting gold

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By 1500 accumulated wealth was able to pay for magnificent architecture, paintings, etc., all commissioned by government
Strong national monarchs in France,
England, and Spain
However, most Europeans (75%) were peasants
Doubling of the population: From 55 mil. In 1450 to 100 mil. In 1600
Enclosure movement converted land to private property, created wonderers

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European towns were numerous yet small – around a few thousand
The joint-stock company was formed – the ancestor to the modern corporation – and a new economic outlook of profit and acquisition of wealth (unimpeded)
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This replace the old form of reciprocity: a just price and a reasonable profit
 This had been important in the business relationship

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The chief economic entity was the family
The nuclear family served as a
“little commonwealth”
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With specific ideas of sovereignty and roles
People not with their families were viewed with suspicion

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Europe was recovering from the
Black Death which had killed 1/3 of the population

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Most of 16 th Century Europe adhered to Christianity
However, there were fears of witches and magic
The Catholic Church wielded awesome spiritual power and offered indulgences
This provoked challenges, especially
Martin Luther and John Calvin
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Luther stressed faith and Calvin insisted upon Predestination

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Luther’s “priesthood of all believers” insisted on the importance of the layperson and reading

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Henry VIII desire for a male heir
Creation of the Church of England, which then for the next 100 yrs. struggles between degrees of
“Catholicism” and acceptance of
Puritan views.
These Puritans (both Separatists and
Non-Separatists) become influential in the settling of America

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The first out of the gate, the first to overcome impediments to longdistant trade
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Adoption of the triangular Arab sail
Create the caravel – more maneuverable against the wind
Mastering the compass and astrolabe
Renaissance scholars search more accurate readings of ancient texts

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The goal was to circumvent the
Moroccan control of the African gold trade topple Muslim power
Discovering the Canaries, Azores, and Madeiras was the first step
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A place to test weapons, settlement and slavery
As well, the first example of pestilence
Assimilation and intermarriage enveloped the few survivors
The colonists cleared the forests
(domesticated plants and animals) for profitable export

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By the time of Prince Henry the
Navigator died in 1460 Portugal had established itself in Arguin and south of the Sahara (modern day Mauritania), established through treaties with
African rulers
In 1488, Bartolomeu Dias had reached the Cape of Good Hope
A decade later da Gama had reached
India
The profits keep rolling in and the expeditions continue

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The conquest and transformation of the Atlantic islands prepared for the discovery, invasion, and remaking of the Americas.
Both Portuguese and the Spanish learned how to organize and sustain prolonged oceanic voyages.
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Weapons, mounted men, war dogs, exploitation of indigenous rivalries, disease, slave usage
It was their first profitable exploitation

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Institution took two basic forms
Ten to fifteen slaves given for a
Berber horse
Guns traded to the Africans exacerbated conflict amongst
Africans
Differences in this New Slavery
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Magnitude
Dehumanization
Race as a factor

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Coupled with Columbus’s religious fervor and ambition for wealth and glory, Ferdinand and Isabella sought to break the Portuguese monopoly on direct trade with Asia
What had deterred Europeans was not “falling off the Earth,” it was the inability to carry supplies; however
Columbus underestimated the voyage to Indian
Three ships, about 90 men and 33 days later Columbus hits the
Bahamas

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Thanks to the new printing press, the word of Columbus’s discovery spread rapidly
Columbus was offered a tenth of the profits and a goal to convert the
Indians
This success also brought about the
Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494
Upon his second voyage he found the
Taino had killed the 39 men that were left
This was pretext for war, captives, and slaves

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Hispaniola
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2/3 of the colonists died in the first decade
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But the Taino suffered far worse
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From 300,000 in 1492
To 33,000 in 1510
To 500 in 1548
Although not genocidal in intent- the
Spanish actually wanted the Taino for slaves- the colonization was genocidal in effect

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Ignoring the Treaty, Henry VII sent
John Cabot (Italian) to explore the north Atlantic in 1497
1500 – Portuguese claim Brazil
America is named
1513 – Balboa crosses the Isthmus to see the Pacific
1519 – Magellan makes it to the
Philippines

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These hit every region from the
American southwest, Pacific
Northwest to eastern Canada and
New England
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In 1793 beaches of the PNW were littered with skulls and bones and saw the faces of survivors pocked with scars
Repeated and diverse epidemics provided little opportunity for natives to repopulate

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Between 2-10 million Native
Americans in the future U.S. and
Canada in 1492
It was an uneven exchange
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Europeans got venereal syphilis
The Europeans died in far greater numbers when they tried to colonize sub-Saharan Africa
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Yellow fever and malaria
Why did the Native Americans not have these types of diseases?
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Subarctic trek
Scattered population

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All in a village got sick at the same time, and therefore no one could care for the sick
Smallpox
New diseases also sapped morale
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Leaders were no match for the outsiders
It destroyed kinship
Many turned to the God of those that brought the disease

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Three factors helped develop powerful pathogens in the Old
World
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Long-distance trade and invasions
 Larger pool of potential hosts and constant exchange and mutation
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Urbanization
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Crowded population kept diseases cycling
More garbage and excrement
More vermin
Living among domesticated animals
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Cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, horses
Natives only domesticated the dog (which rarely shares diseases with humans)

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The colonizers did not necessarily champion the death; they needed the natives for labor
Beginning in 1518, slaves begin to be transported in larger numbers to Hispaniola
Prior to 1820, at least 2/3 of the 12 million emigrants (Old to the New
World)were slaves

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From 1492 to 1800: proportion of the world’s population
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European: 11% to 20%
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Native America: 7% to 1%
Contrast this with Africa
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African tropical diseases actually harmed the Europeans
European colonists took over, but only amidst conquered minorities

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By 1800 in America
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Indians – 600,000
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Euro-Americans – 5 million
African-Americans– 1 million

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European population surges due to an increased supply of nutrients
Comparison of the indigenous crops
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Average yield in calories per hectare (2.5 acres)
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New World: Cassava 9.9; maize 7.3; potatoes 7.5
Old World: wheat 4.2; barley 5.1; oats 5.5
In Europe it had taken five acres of grain to support one family; with potatoes five acres supported three families

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What the exchange meant for
Europeans.
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Expanded food supply permitted reproduction at a unprecedented rate
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Acquisition of fertile and extensive new lands
Outlet for surplus population that flowed to the New World

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Determined to farm in a European manner, they introduced their domesticated livestock and plants
Livestock
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Honeybees, pigs, horses, mules, sheep, cattle
(rats)
Plants
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Wheat, barley, rye, oats, grasses, grapevines
(weeds)
Ranging cattle and pigs wreaked havoc on the America landscape
258 of the approximately 500 weeds species in the U.S. originated in the Old
World

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Encomiendas – grants awarding Indian land, labor, and tribute to wealthy colonists
Cortes + Pizarro = death

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De Leon looks for gold and slaves in Florida
De Soto tours the Gulf; even makes it into the Southern Appalachians
Coronado scours the SW for the “Seven
Cities of Cibola”
Royal Colony of New Mexico established in
1598