Europeans have always had wanderlust.
Because food surpluses had existed since before the ancient Greeks,
Europeans had been able to devote time to pursuits other than finding, or producing food…war, the arts, war, building, war…
The Greeks had their triremes in which they explored the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean sea.
The Greeks set up colonies, all around the
Mediterranean…they exported their culture, religion, and political system…tyranny, democracy, totalitarianism.

The geography of Greece is rugged, and mountainous.
Geography played a huge role in determining the Greek culture and, by extension, ours.
Here is a map of Ancient Greek cities
Athens invented DEMOCRACY
(demos=people and cracy=government) where the individual’s rights were the most important thing…if you were a
The cities are spread out. The mountains make it hard to go from one to another
The separation of these cities led to them being fiercely independent and competitive man!
They developed governments that were very
Sparta invented a system that put the state before the different from each other… individual…the individual was only important in how he, or she, could help the state…TOTALITARIANISM

From the Greeks it is merely a matter of centuries before we get to the largest Mediterranean empire…the Romans
Here is a map of the Roman Empire at its greatest extent.
So far we have seen one theme of European history…exploration

We will leap ahead 500 years to Marco Polo Marco Polo, in September 1254?…we are not sure exactly, a Venetian trader and explorer gained fame for his worldwide travels in his book…The Travels
Of Marco Polo.
Polo, together with his father Niccolò and his uncle
Maffeo, were the first Westerners to travel the Silk
Road to China (which was then called Cathay) and visit the great Khan of the Mongol Empire…Kublai
Khan (grandson of Genghis Khan).
Marco
Polo

Marco Polo told such wonderful tales about far off and exotic places…China, India, Arabia…
If we look at Europe at the beginning of the 1300’s we see feudalism, the Black Death is around the corner, the 100 years war is ongoing, and the church has instituted another Inquisition…how different the tales of Marco Polo must have seemed
Since the fall of the Roman Empire, the succeeding Dark Ages had brought instability to Western
Europe and a near collapse of the trade network .
Nevertheless, some trade did occur. For instance, Jewish merchants…forbidden from owning land, farming, or joining guilds…traded between the Christians in Europe and the Muslims of the Near
East…especially SPICES.
Spices were among the most luxurious products available in the Middle Ages, the most common being black pepper, cinnamon, cumin, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves.
They were all imported from plantations in Asia and Africa which made them extremely expensive. cinnamon pepper mace with nutmeg fruit

• The control of trade routes and the spice-producing regions were the main reasons that
Portuguese…under the leadership of Henry the Navigator…in the late 1400s started a new era of
European exploration.
• In 1488 Bartholomew Diaz reached the southern tip of Africa…the Cape of Good Hope
• Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama, rounded the Cape of Good Hope and sailed on to India in
1497/8. He returned with a cargo worth 60 times the cost of the voyage!!!
• It was Afonso de Albuquerque who allowed the Portuguese to take control of the sea routes to
India. He set up a series of Portuguese colonies/ports/forts/ all the way to Goa, in India.
• The Portuguese could now trade directly with Siam, China, and the Spice Islands.
• The Silk Road complemented the Portuguese sea routes, and brought the treasures of the Orient to Europe via Lisbon, many of which were the coveted spices.
Henry the Navigator
Monument to Prince Henry in Lisbon…today

Hartman Astrolabe
Mariner’s Compass
Sextant
The Fra Mauro map (1459) Venetian provided the first practical descriptions of Europe, Africa, and Asia

A caravel is a small, highly maneuverable, two or three-mast ship used by the Portuguese and
Spaniards for long voyages of exploration beginning in the 15th century .

Because of its smaller size, the caravel was able to explore upriver in shallow coastal waters.
With the lateen sails affixed, it was able to go speedily over shallow water and take deep wind, while with the square Atlantic-type sails attached, the caravel was very fast.
Its economy, speed, agility, and power made the caravel esteemed as the best sailing vessel of its time.
It generally carried two or three masts with lateen sails, while later types had four masts.
The Nina The Pinta
The Santa Maria

1.
Europeans, during the Middle Ages, had a meager knowledge of geography…limited to
Europe, Northern Africa, and Western Asia
2.
Substantial trade between Europe and the East (Asia) began during the
Crusades…very profitable, but, in the hands of Asians
3.
Italian merchants from Italian city-states also started shipping products from the eastern
Mediterranean area to Western Europe.
4.
In the 15 th century this lucrative trade attracted the attention of 2 newly developed nations…Portugal and Spain.
5.
To smash the monopoly of the Asian traders, and Italian merchants, Portugal and
Spain, financed expeditions seeking a water route to the Far East.
6.
There was a curiosity of the far east since Marco Polo’s reports which fed into the
Renaissance spirit of inquiry
7.
By the 16 th century a number of west European nations possessed sufficient wealth to fund expensive voyages of exploration
8.
The rising middle classes desired increased trade and their absolute monarchs sought colonial empires
9.
Because of scientific progress sea travel was less hazardous

• They had rediscovered the earth was round!
• They had improved maps, a better compass and astrolabe.
Portugal’s empire

Isabella I was Queen of Castile and Leon…she and her husband, Ferdinand of Aragon, laid the foundation for the political unification of Spain when in 1492 they expelled the last of the Moors (muslims) in the Reconquista.
Spain would consolidate, and expand under Isabella and Ferdinand's grandson, Carlos I, (Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor).
In 1492 the Spanish monarchs funded Columbus’s voyages to find a westerly route to Asia
They also gave the Jews of
Spain a choice…Either, convert to Catholicism or leave
Spain!
Jews had lived in Spain since the times of the Roman
Empire…over a 1000 years!
They set up the Inquisition to make sure the conversos were genuine…hundreds of thousands were falsely accused and murdered.

Queen Isabella
The monarchs funded Columbus, an Italian, navigator.
He planned to reach the Spice Islands, in the east, by sailing westward across the Atlantic Ocean.
He failed because his ships were blocked by 2 continents hitherto unknown to Europe
Twit!
Formation of the
Atlantic
King Ferdinand
Was Columbus a converso?

He never ever admitted that he had discovered a new world…he thought he was in Asia, in the Indies which is why he called them the West
Indies! And, the inhabitants
Indians!
Columbus’ Four Voyages

Other Voyages of Exploration

I have a serious problem with this whole notion of the first to circumnavigate the globe!
I think the very least expectation we should have is LIFE!
When they got home
Magellan had been dead since the
Philippines…pew!!
So, should he be considered the first…he was DEAD?
I think he should be considered the first corpse, or the most smelly, or the first dead
Portuguese explorer in a Spanish ship!
Ferdinand Magellan & the First Circumnavigation of the
World…Early 16 th Century (1522)
What do you think?

Spurred by the discoveries; other West European nations sent explorers to the New World and Far East.
They sought a “Northwest Passage” through, or around, North America to the Far East.
To secure gold , silver, gems, spices, and other valuable goods.
Convert the natives to Christianity
( God )
Establish claims to these new lands for their Kings
And, for personal Glory.
Where do the Dutch come from?
Why does it say England and not Britain?
As dangerous as it was would you have left all you know to brave the unknown?

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Squash
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Avocado
Turkey
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Pumpkin
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Cocoa
Peanut
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Peppers
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Sweet Potatoes
Tobacco
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Quinine
Pineapple
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Cassava
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POTATO
TOMATO
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Vanilla
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MAIZE
Syphilis
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Trinkets
Liquor
GUNS
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Olive
Onion
Grape
Citrus Fruits
Cattle
Flu
Diptheria
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COFFEE BEAN
Turnip
Peach
Pear
Sheep
Typhus
Whooping Cough
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Banana
Honeybee
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Rice
Barley
SUGAR CANE
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Oats
Wheat
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HORSE
Pigs
Measles
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Smallpox
Malaria

Explorers
Official
European
Colony!

1.
Existed in Africa long before the coming of the
Europeans.
2.
Portuguese replaced European slaves with
Africans.
Sugar cane & sugar plantations.
First boatload of African slaves brought by the Spanish in 1518.
275,000 enslaved Africans exported to other countries.
3.
Between the 16 th & 19 th centuries, approximately
10 million Africans were shipped to the Americas.

Tight pack meant you could “squeeze” more in, but more would die
Loose pack meant you would start off with less, but more would be alive at journeys end
Motive was ‘PROFIT’

What was New York called before it became
NY?

Your status was decided partly by race!

The Treaty of Tordesillas was signed in Tordesillas, (in Spain), in 1494.
It divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe into an exclusive duopoly between the Spanish and the Portuguese along a north-south meridian 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands…off the west coast of Africa. (The league most frequently expresses the distance a person, or a horse, can walk in 1 hour…usually about
3.5 miles or 5.5 kilometers).
This was about halfway between the Cape Verde Islands (already Portuguese) and the islands discovered by Columbus on his first voyage (claimed for Spain), named
Cuba or Hispaniola.
The lands to the east would belong to Portugal and the lands to the west to Spain.
The treaty was ratified by Spain July 2, 1494 and by Portugal, September 5, 1494.
The other side of the world would be divided a few decades later by the Treaty of
Saragossa or Treaty of Zaragoza.
Portugal gained control of all lands and seas east of the demarcation line, including all of
Asia and its neighboring islands so far "discovered," leaving Spain most of the Pacific Ocean.
Besides Brazil and the Moluccas, Portugal would eventually control Angola,
Mozambique, in Africa; Goa in India; and East Timor and Macau and in the Far East.

The Portuguese Empire
The Spanish Empire

The British,
Dutch, French, etc…had different ideas about the
Spanish
Portuguese duopoly!
In fact, the Brits raided Spanish colonies and treasure ships… stealing Spanish booty.
The Brits stole the Dutch New
World colonies and fought the
French in 4 major colonial wars!
Those Brits are sure aggressive…so, watch it!!

• The term COMMERCIAL REVOLUTION summarizes the effects that overseas expansion had on both western Europe and the rest of the world.
• There was an increase in imports and world trade
• A) western Europe imported many commodities from the new world and far east: potatoes, corn (maize), tobacco, chocolate, cane sugar, tea, and quinine.
• Their availability helped improve the European living standard…they became plentiful and cheaper
• B) large quantities of gold and silver affected Europe's economy …as they served as currency consumers had more money to spend on goods…the prices went up, which caused INFLATION .
• Landlords demanded higher rents; workers demanded higher wages; governments demanded higher taxes.
• C) to reduce the risk of losing ships and piracy… insurance was born.
• D) Western Europe’s major trade routes shifted from the Mediterranean to the
Atlantic…Italian city states declined in importance…countries bordering the Atlantic increased their commerce, wealth, and power
• E) The nation-state became preeminent in world affairs
• F) Western Europe’s population increased, in part due to the availability of additional food… “fat and happy people have babies…”
• G) Western Europe’s middle class – bankers, merchants, capitalists – grew in number

affairs.
• Mercantilists argued that a nation must (1) attract the maximum amount of gold and silver, since wealth is measured in these metals.
• (2) export more than import, thereby achieving a favorable trade balance
• (3) increase exports by giving subsidies (money) to domestic businesses and industries
• (4) discourage imports by imposing tariffs (import taxes)
• (5) acquire colonies to assure markets for your manufactured goods and guarantee your
• raw materials
• (6) forbid colonies from trading with any other country
• Mercantilists held that colonies were set up to benefit the mother country.
oriented system called CAPITALISM.
• ENTREPRENEURS engaged in business enterprises, taking risks and facing competition, in the hope of making profits.
• Prices of goods and wages were determined largely by supply and demand!
or to improve their economic position
• Trade and emigration spread European civilization throughout the world.

• During the Renaissance America began.
• Christopher Columbus was a great navigator who discovered America while cursing about the Atlantic.
• His ships were called the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Fe.
Pilgrim’s Progress.
• When they landed at Plymouth Rock, they were greeted by Indians, who came down the hill rolling their hula hoops before them.
• The Indian squabs carried porposies on their back.
proved very fatal to them.
• The winter of 1620 was a hard one for the settlers. Many people died all this.
• Magellan was the first man to circumcise the globe with a giant clipper