From the Crusades to Columbus
The Crusades
 Although the Crusades were a
time of conflict between
Christians and Muslims, in the
time between conflicts, trade
increased dramatically.
 Spices, sugar, melons, tapestries,
and silk were only a few of the
luxuries sought out by
Europeans.
 Because they were adept at
shipbuilding, navigation and
trade, Italian merchants profited
from the trade with “East Asia.”
Western European Nation States:
Portugal, Spain, France and England would not emerge as separate nation states
until the 1400s. Prior to that, they were disjointed kingdoms, as in the map above
from the 12th Century.
The Renaissance
The Renaissance was originally a
rediscovery of ancient poets, artists,
geographer, mathematicians, and
scientists. Soon, however, using
ration though and scientific inquiry
in the present became a priority.
Improved maps and compasses, the
astrolabe, and the improvement of
ship design – particularly the threesail caravel – were all important
developments to encourage
European exploration.
Henry “the Navigator”

 Henry “the Navigator” was
the Prince of Portugal. He
correctly deduced that by
investing time and energy
into the study of
shipbuilding and
navigation, his nation would
benefit. Mapmakers had
soon mapped out the
Mediterranean and West
Africa, and, although it took
decades to complete, the
Portuguese were on their
way to dominating trade in
the Atlantic World.
The Portuguese Explorers

Bartholomeu Dias
 As the first European explorer
to reach the Cape of Good
Hope – the southernmost
point in Africa – Dias tested
the limits of the known world
in 1487. The mysterious
currents of the region where
three ocean met – the Atlantic,
Indian, and Southern,
required Dias to return home
by the same route.
Vasco de Gama
 Ten years later – and five
years after Columbus had
sailed across the Atlantic to
encounter the “New World”
– Vasco de Gama made his
way to India by going
around the tip of Africa.
Thus, de Gama actually
achieved what Columbus
perceived that he had
accomplished: he discovered
a route to the Indies.
African Kingdoms

 400 A.D. The Empire of Ghana – This kingdom, which
had converted to Islam when encountered by Arab
traders, accumulated great wealth by taxing the salt and
gold trade.
 1200 A.D. The Empire of Mali – Again founded on the salt
and gold trade, Mali rose to prominence under the famed
leader Mansa Musa. The capital, Timbuktu, became a
center of trade and Islamic scholarship
 In the 1460s A.D., the Kingdom of Songhai emerged and
conquered Mali militarily. Songhai would continue to
dominate West African trade until the late 1500s, when
Moroccan troops crushed the nation militarily.
Slavery in Africa

 It is frequently noted that slavery existed in Africa long before
it existed in the Americas. This is undoubtedly true.
 Slavery existed in China, India, Greece, and Rome; indeed, it
even existed in Native American communities.
 In Africa, slaves were taken in warfare and eight ransomed, or
made a part of their new society.
 Arab traders and Europeans changed the nature of slavery by
purchasing slaves in exchange for commodities.
 Portuguese plantation owners began using slaves for the brutal
labor required on sugar plantations, resulting in high mortality
rates.
 Slavery in the United States was unique because it was both
race-based and hereditary. That is, if your mother was an
enslaved person, you would inherit her condition of servitude.
No.
Virtually no one who had a rudimentary education believed that the world was flat
during the late 15th Century. Columbus himself was quite certain the world was
round. He thought it was much small than it actually is, though.
The Spanish Monarchs: Ferdinand & Isabella
The funding which Columbus received for his voyage of exploration was not
excessive. Ferdinand and Isabella viewed his attempt to discover a new route to the
Indies as a longshot bet. It paid off.
Columbus enslaved the Taino people.
In order to collect as much gold as possible from Hispaniola – and plant crops to
support the large colony of settlers his second venture West brought – Columbus
enslaved Native Americans. Disease and hard labor soon resulted in genocide.
Amerigo Vespucci
The Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci actually mapped out the coastline of South
America in 1499, confirming that what Columbus had discovered was not the
Indies at all. Rather, it was a heretofore unknown continent to Europeans.
Ponce de Leon
Reportedly searching for the
Fountain of Youth, Juan Ponce de
Leon was the Spanish conquistador
who explored Florida and claimed
it for Spain.
Vasco de Balboa
Balboa crossed Central America
from north to south near the
present day isthmus of Panama.
He was the first conquistador to set
foot in the Pacific Ocean. He did
not, however, have the distinction
of naming the ocean. That honor
would go to Ferdinand Magellan.
Ferdinand Magellan
Magellan was the leader of the
expedition which would cross
through what we call the Straits of
Magellan today – at the southern
most point in South America.
Magellan and his crew would
continue across the Pacific Ocean –
which Magellan named – to the
Philippine Islands. Magellan
perished there.
So, technically, Ferdinand Magellan
did not circumnavigate the Earth. His
crew did, becoming the first men in
recorded history to do so.
Hernan Cortes
The advantages of the Spanish in
Tenochtitlan – capital of the Aztec
Empire – were many. Most
notably:
 Disease
 Steel Weapons
 Armor
 Horses
 Mastiffs
 Written Communication
 Crossbows, guns, and cannons
 Quetzalcoatl?
Smallpox

Francisco Pizarro

Pizarro and his men would conquer the Incans in 1532.
Coronado

Francisco Vasquez de
Coronado and his men
explored much of the
Southwest during the
1540s. Reportedly
seeking out the riches
of the Seven Cities of
Cibola, Coronado and
his men are presumed
to be the first
Europeans to see the
Grand Canyon and the
Great Plains.
Hernando de Soto

Junipero Serro and
the Spanish
Conquest of
California
California was settled by the
Spanish, as well, as we can tell from
the names of the cities along the
coast of our nation’s largest state.
The Spanish claims to California
would be maintained all the way
up to the Mexican-American War
in the 1840s, although they were
not considered legitimate by
anyone in North America at that
point.
Popé

The Encomienda System

 The Spanish encomienda
system formalized the
enslavement of Native
American peoples. The
Spanish were obliged to
attempt to Christianize all
Native Americans and to
pay some minimal wages
to those who worked on
the plantations or in the
mines.
The French Explorers

 Giovanni da Verrazano – Verrazano explored the
east coast of North America from Newfoundland to
present day New York city. Fruitlessly, he sought
the Northwest Passage.
 Jacques Cartier – Cartier was the founder of the city
of Montreal – in 1534. He made three return visits to
explore the St. Lawrence seaway, seeking the
Northwest Passage each time.
 Samuel de Champlain – established Quebec in 1608,
which would become the center of New France in
Canada.
The Fur Trade
The French colonization patterns in the New World were almost polar opposites of the Spanish.
While the Spanish gave lip service to the ideas of proselytization by creating Las Leyes Nuevas and
adopting fair rules with the encomienda system, the French actually lived by these ideals. Jesuit
priests attempted to live among Native American societies and were far more patient and
accepting of the unique interpretations of the Catholic faith which Native Americans articulated.
Moreover, the French did not seek to establish large populations in their settlements. They were
more concerned with trade and the acquisition of resources.
The French Mississippi

 Louis Joliet & Jacques Marquette – more fur traders than
explorers originally, Joliet and Marquette eventually
discovered the source of the Mississippi River. The men
claimed the Mississippi River Valley for France.
 Robert de la Salle sailed the length of the Mississippi
River all the way to the river delta where New Orleans
would eventually be established.
 By the end of the 17th Century the French had recognized
the value of the farmland and the potential of the region
for plantation agricultures. Soon, enslaved Africans were
brought to the region to cultivate rice, indigo, and sugar
cane.