THE AGE OF EXPLORATION
I.
Exploration and Expansion
A. Motives and Means
1. to get to Asia
2. expanding trade, especially for the spices of the east and precious metals
3. religious zeal
4. glory and adventure
5. technology
a. charts that Arab navigators and mathematicians—coastal waters only
b. cartography had reached a point where charts of the areas they had
explored were very accurate
c. compass, invented by the Arabs, could tell them which direction they
were going without having to see land or the North Star
d. astrolabe, perfected by the Arabs, used the sun or a star to ascertain a
ship’s latitude
e. triangular sails, developed by the Arabs, which made ships more
maneuverable and able to carry heavier loads
B. The Portuguese Trading Empire
1. Prince Henry, the Navigator
2. Dias was the first to sail around the Cape of Good Hope
3. da Gama rounded the Cape, sailed across the Indian Ocean, and arrived on the
coast of India in 1498—made a profit of several thousand percent on the spices
he got there
4. Portuguese destroyed Muslim shipping and gained control of the spice trade in India
5. Portuguese captured Melaka on the Malay Peninsula
6. treaty with China and the Spice Islands gave Portugal control of the spice trade
7. Portuguese trading empire consisted of a series of trading posts
C. Voyages to the Americas
1. Christopher Columbus, an Italian, persuaded Queen Isabella of Spain to finance an
exploratory expedition to reach the spice trade by sailing west across the Atlantic
2. In 1492, Columbus explored Cuba and Hispaniola. Believing he had reached Asia,
Columbus named the Caribbean islands the Indies. He made four voyages and
never realized he had arrived in the Americas, not Asia.
3. The Treaty of Tordesillas created a line of demarcation between the spheres of
influence of Spain and Portugal. Unexplored territories to the east of the line would
be controlled by Portugal (its route around Africa and the easternmost part of South
America—Brazil). It gave Spain most of the Americas.
4. John Cabot explored the New England Coastline of the Americas for England
5. Portuguese sea captain Pedro Cabral landed in South America in 1500.
6. Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine, went along on several voyages and wrote letters
about the new lands. America (after Amerigo) became the name used for the new
land.
D.
The Spanish Empire
i. The conquistadors used guns and determination to conquer the Americas
1. Hernan Cortes took only 3 years to overthrow the mighty Aztec Empire
in central Mexico.
2. Francisco Pizarro took control of the Incan Empire high in the Peruvian
Andes Mountains.
ii. The Spanish were supposed to protect Native Americans. They didn’t
1. Forced labor, starvation, and especially disease took fearful toll on
II.
Native American lives.
2. Native American social and political structures were torn apart and
replaced by European systems of religion, language, culture, and
government.
E. Economic Impact and Competition
1. The Columbian Exchange transformed economic activities in both the Old and New
Worlds.
a. Colonists established plantations and ranches to raise sugar, cotton,
vanilla, livestock, and other products introduced to the Americas
for export to Europe.
b. Agricultural products native to the Americas, such as potatoes, corn,
cocoa, and tobacco were also shipped to Europe.
2. New Rivals Enter the Scene
a. The Spanish established themselves in the Philippine Islands.
b. An English fleet landed on the northwestern coast of India and
established trade.
c. Shortly afterward, the Dutch arrived in India.
d. The English seized the colony of New Netherland (Amsterdam) and named it
New York.
e. The French colonized parts of what is now Canada and Louisiana.
f. By 1700, the English had established a colonial empire along the
Eastern Seaboard of North America
3. Trade, Colonies, and Mercantilism
a. With the development of colonies and trading posts, Europeans entered
an age of increased international trade.
b. Mercantilists wanted their nation to have a large supply of gold and
silver. They wanted to export more goods for gold and silver payments
than they imported so they wouldn’t have to pay out gold and silver.
They wanted a favorable balance of trade.
c. Colonies were considered important both as sources of raw materials
markets for finished good.
Africa in An Age of Transition
A. The Slave Trade
1. Growing sugarcane on plantations demanded much labor. The small Native
American population could not provide the labor needed. Thus, African
slaves were sent to Brazil and the Caribbean to work on these plantations.
2. The pattern of triangular trade connected Europe, Africa, and the American
continents. European merchant ships carried European manufactured goods,
such as guns and cloth, to Africa, where they were traded for a cargo of slaves.
The slaves were then shipped to the Americas and sold. European merchants
then bought tobacco, molasses, sugar, and raw cotton and shipped them back
to European markets.
3. The journey from Africa to the Americas became known as the Middle Passage.
Many slaves died on the journey. Altogether, as many as 10,000,000 African
slaves were brought to the Americas between the early 16th and late 19th centuries.
4. African slave traders had to go farther and farther inland to supply the huge
demand for slaves. The slave trade led the depopulation of some areas.
Coastal or near coastal African leaders increased their wars on neighboring
people to find more slaves to sell to the Europeans.