EXPLORING THE AMERICAS
SECTION 1: A CHANGING WORLD
MARCO POLO BIO
MARCO POLO JOURNEY
EXPANDING HORIZONS
• Merchants could make a fortune selling
goods from the Orient
• Wealthy Europeans wanted cinnamon,
pepper, cloves, silks, perfumes, and precious
stones
• Goods were bought from Arab traders in the
Middle East and sent by caravan back to
Italian ports
• Arab merchants charged very high prices
• As demand for Asian goods increased,
Europeans looked for their routes to the East
that bypassed expensive Arab merchants
• If Europeans could buy spices and silks from
the East directly, without going through Arab
cities, they could earn huge profits
• They looked for alternatives to the overland
route through the Middle East
TECHNOLOGY’S IMPACT
Better Maps
• Most maps were inaccurate because they were
drawn from the impressions of traders and
travelers
• Cartographers, or mapmakers, gradually
improved their skills
• Better instruments were developed for
navigating the oceans
• Sailors could determine their latitude while at
sea with an astrolabe, an instrument that
measure the position of stars.
• Acquired the magnetic compass, a Chinese
invention that allowed sailors to determine their
direction when they were far from land
• Parts of an Astrolabe
Better Ships
• The stern rudder and the triangular sail made it
possible for ships to sail into the wind.
• The Portuguese developed the three-masted
caravel which sailed faster and carried more
cargo and food supplies.
• Could also float in shallow water allowing sailors
to explore inlets and to sail their ships up to the
beach
OTHER IMPORTANT WORLD POWERS- AFRICA
Mali
Ghana
• Located between the
salt mines of the Sahara
and gold mines of the
south, this empire
prospered
• Became Muslim as a
result of their trading
with North Africans
•
NA traded salt, cloth,
and brass for Ghana’s
gold and salt
• Almoravids attacked
Ghana and people
found alternate trade
routes to avoid
violence- Ghana
declined without trade
Songhai
• Developed their own
trade routes to the
North Africans
• Lived along the Niger
River and overcame the
Mali empire
• Their greatest king,
Mansa Musa, made a
pilgrimage to Mecca
• Built a navy to control
the Niger River and took
over major trading city
of Timbuktu
•
Pilgrimage is a journey to
a holy place
•
Returned to Mali with an
architect who built great
mosques- Muslim
houses of worship
• Mali became an
important center of
Islamic art and learning
• Askiya Muhammad
brought this empire to
its height
•
Strengthened his country
and made it the largest
in the history of West
Africa
•
Built many schools and
encouraged European
trade
BOOK JACKETS!
• Use information in this
section to design a book
jacket for Marco Polo’s book
Travels. You will need to
complete the following tasks:
• Design front cover (must
include an appropriate
illustration and the title)
• Write front flap copy about
the author
• Write back cover about the
book
EXPLORING THE AMERICAS
SECTION 2: EARLY EXPLORATION
SEEKING NEW TRADE ROUTES
Voyagers
Bartholomeu Dias
Portugal
• Did not have access
to a Mediterranean
port, so wanted to
find alternate route
to China and India
* Explored southern Africa
* Went around southern tip
of Africa
* was renamed “Cape
of Good Hope”
• Also hoped to a
more direct way
to get West
African gold
Bartholomeu Dias
Vasco de Gama
* First Portuguese
explorer to reach
India by going
around Cape of
Good Hope
Spain (aka King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella) is jealous of Portugal and wants
to get in on the exploration game
+
Christopher Columbus needs money to sponsor his rather expensive voyage
Columbus’ First Voyage
COLUMBUS’ FIRST VOYAGE
1492
• In
, Columbus set out on
his first voyage with 3 ships: the
Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa
Maria and a crew of about 90 men
• For Columbus to sail westward was
for his fleet to sail into the
unknown- after a month, crew
began to worry
• Tensions were rising and mutiny
began to settle on the minds of
many crew members
• Scared of being overthrown,
Columbus altered the ship’s log to
convince the crew they had not
traveled that far from home
LAND!!!!!!
• Two months after departure from Spain, the
ship’s lookout shouted, “Tierra! Tierra!” (Land!
Land!)
• They came upon an island (modern day
Bahamas) and claimed it for Spain, naming it
San Salvador
• Columbus and his crew believed that they
were in the Indies and therefore named the
natives they encountered “Indians”.
• Once returned to Spain, he was received as a
hero and given the title “Admiral of the Ocean
Sea.”
COLUMBUS SAILS AGAIN
• Makes 3 more voyages from Spainone to the islands of Hispaniola
(present day Dominican Republic and
Haiti), one to Cuba and Jamaica, and
one along the coasts of Central and
South America
•
Originally thought he was in Asia,
but realized late he had found an
unknown part of the globe
• In the years following Columbus’
voyages, Spain explored most of the
Caribbean region
•
Subsequent explorations established
the Spanish Empire in the Americans
AROUND THE WORLD
EXPLORING AMERICA
• Ferdinand Magellan: hired to find a
way around South America and to Asia
• Amerigo Vespucci: explored the
coastline of South America and
determined that it was a continent,
NOT part of Asia
• Vasco Nunez de Balboa: governor of
Panama and first man to climb the
mountains and see the waters of the
Pacific Ocean (from the Americas)
• Led an expedition around South
America
•
• Took four months to cross the
Pacific Ocean and reach Asia
• Magellan was killed in a small battle
in the Philippines, but remaining
members of crew continued on
• Only one of the five original ships
and 18 of the original 200 crew
members returned 3 years later
•
1st men to circumnavigate the
world
Discovered a strait at the tip of South
America that is now named for him,
The Strait of Magellan
DIFFERING PERSPECTIVES
In your notebooks, please write two short stories in response to this prompt:
1. Imagine that you are an explorer who arrived in America with Columbus.
Describe the people and climate you encounter in America. Compare the
way people live in America to your way of life in Europe.
2. Imagine that you are an American native. Describe the people you see as
Columbus and his crew arrive. What do you see? How are they dressed?
What did they bring with them? Compare the way these men live to your
way of life in America.
3. On the back of your paper, create a Venn diagram which compares and
contrasts the two ways of living- European and American
Each response should be ½- ¾ a page long. Please include one visual per response.
EXPLORING THE AMERICAS
SECTION 3: SPAIN IN AMERICA
SPANISH CONQUISTADORS
• Spanish explorers in America were known as conquistadors
•
Explored and established settlements in the Americas in exchange for
giving Spain 1/5 of any gold or treasure they discovered
• Hernan Cortes landed on the coast of what is now known as Mexico
looking for gold and glory
•
Soon ran into the great Aztec Empire and its capital of Tenochtitlan
•
Was welcomed by Aztec emperor, Montezuma and given food and shelter
•
Cortes took advantage of hospitality and took Montezuma as his prisoner
•
After many long and bloody battles, the Spanish eventually seized control
and the Aztec empire disintegrated
• Francisco Pizarro sailed down Pacific coast of South America, found
the Inca Empire, quickly captured its ruler, Atahualpa, and destroyed
much of their army
• Falsely accused Atahualpa of crimes and executed him
• Without a leader, the Inca were not able to fight effectively
• Within only a few years, Pizarro had gained control of the vast Inca Empire
WHY WAS SPAIN SO SUCCESSFUL?!?!
1. The Spanish arrived with strange and
advanced weapons- guns and
cannons
• Also rode horses and had huge
ferocious dogs
2. Many Native Americans hated their
Aztec overlords and assisted the
conquistadors in overthrowing them
3. Disease played an extremely large
role in the Spanish conquest
• Native Americans had no immunity to
the diseases Europeans had brought
with them
• Epidemics of smallpox and other
diseases wiped out entire
communities and did much to weaken
the resistance
SPAIN IN NORTH AMERICA
• Juan Ponce de Leon made the first Spanish landing on the mainland of North America, arriving on the
coast of present-day Florida
•
He hoped to find not only gold and riches, but the legendary fountain of youth, “a spring of running water of
such marvelous virtue” that drinking it “make old men young again”
•
His exploration led to the establishment of the first Spanish settlement in what is now the United States, Saint
Augustine
• Hernando de Soto led an expedition to explore Florida in search of the legendary “The Seven Cities of
Cibola”- seven cities with walls of emerald and streets of gold
•
•
As they traveled, they took advantage of the natives, usually taking the chief hostage and demanding food and
supplies
Francicsco Vasquez de Coronado also led an expedition in search of the seven cities
• Traveled through present-day Arizona and New Mexico
• Never found any gold, but discovered strange “shaggy cows” (buffalo)
THE PLANTATION
SYSTEM
SPANISH RULE
• Spaniards established three kinds of
settlements:
• To raise the main exports, tobacco
and sugar cane, the Spanish
developed the plantation system
1. Pueblos (towns)
SOCIAL CLASS
2. Missions (religious communities
that usually included a small town,
surrounding farmland, and a
church)
3. Presidio (fort, usually built near a
mission)
• Upper class (peninsulares)- consisted
of people who had been born in Spain
•
Owned the land, served in the
Catholic Church, ran the local
government
• Creoles- people born in the Americas
to Spanish parents
• Mestizos- people with Spanish and
Native American parents
• Native Americans- most lived in
poverty
• Enslaved Africans
• A Spanish priest, Bartolome de Las
Casas suggested replacing Native
American workers with Africans
•
Soon the Spanish were bringing
thousands from West Africa
•
Plantation slave labor eventually
became an essential part of the
economy
EXPLORING THE AMERICAS
SECTION 4: EXPLORING NORTH AMERICA
A DIVIDED CHURCH
• Martin Luther, a German priest, broke away from Catholicism to begin his own Christian Church
•
His protests were the beginning of a great religious and historical movement known as the Protestant
Reformation
• John Calvin, a French religious thinker, also broke away from the Catholic Church
•
Rejected the idea that good works would ensure a person’s salvation
• King Henry VIII also left the Catholic Church as Pope Clement VII had refused his request to declare his
first marriage invalid
• Denied the authority of the pope and recognized the king as the head of the Church of England
• The promise of great wealth was another
factor pushing European nations across the
Atlantic Ocean
• According to the economic theory of
mercantilism, a nation’s power was based on
its wealth
• Increased rivalry between nations
• Several countries in Europe competed for
overseas territory that could produce wealth
• Wanted to acquire colonies in the Americas
that could provide valuable resources, such as
gold and silver, or other materials
• The voyages of Columbus and other explorers
brought two parts of the globe together that
had previously not had any contact
• This contact led to the exchange of plants,
animals, and diseases and is known as the
Columbian Exchange
ECONOMIC RIVALRY
A NORTHWEST PASSAGE
• Because the voyage to Asia (either around the southern tip of Africa
or around South America) was long and difficult, England, France,
and the Netherlands hoped to discover a quicker way
• The three countries searched for a Northwest Passage to Asia- a more
direct water route through the Americas
• England sent John Cabot (an Italian) to look for a northern route to
Asia
• Probably landed on present-day Newfoundland
• France Giovanni da Verrazano (an Italian) to look for their northern
route
• He explored the coast of North America from present-day Nova Scotia
down to the Carolinas
• France also sent Jacques Cartier (an actual Frenchman) who sailed
up the St. Lawrence River hoping it would lead to the Pacific
• Voyage got as far as Hochelaga and named the mountain MontRoyal, which is now the city of Montreal
THE MAN, THE MYTH, THE LEGEND….
HENRY HUDSON
• The Netherlands wanted in on the action
too and thus sent Henry Hudson (an
Englishman) to the Americas
• On his first voyage, he discovered the river
that is now named after him, the Hudson
River
• On his second voyage (this time sailing for
England), he discovered a huge bay of
water, also now named after him, the
Hudson Bay
• At first, Hudson and crew thought they had
reached the Pacific Ocean
• Spent months trying to find an outlet and
crew finally mutinied against him
• Crew put Hudson, his son, and few of his
supporters adrift in a small boat, never to be
seen again
HUDSON’S MUTINY
FRANCE TRADES FURS
• France had enough troubles at home that they did
not desire settlement in the Americas, but rather a
place to make money from the business of trade
• In 1608, sent Samuel de Champlain to establish a
settlement in Quebec and trade fur with the Native
Americans
• From there, the French moved to other parts of Canada,
where they built trading posts to collect furs from Native
Americans and French trappers
• Trappers were called coureurs de bois, meaning “runners of
the woods”
DUTCH SETTLEMENTS
• Henry Hudson’s voyage became the
start for Dutch claims on the continent
• In 1621, the Dutch West India Company
set up a trading colony- New
Netherland- in the area Hudson had
explored
• In 1624, the company sent 30 more
families to settle the area
• The center of this new colony was New
Amsterdam, located on the tip of
Manhattan Island
• In 1626, they purchased the island and
its surrounding areas for 60 Dutch
guilders
•
This area is now known as New York
City