Chapter 14
Europe and the New World:
New Encounters, 1500 – 1800
On the Brink of a New World
Motives
Fantastic lands
• The Travels of John Mandeville (14th century)
 Told tales of mythical lands filled with treasure
Economic motives
• Access to the East
 Search for precious metals and new trade routes
• The Polos
 Marco Polo’s Travels inspired travelers to seek the riches of Asia
Religious Zeal
• Missionaries spreading the word of God
Means
Centralization of political authority
Monarchies had the resources & authority to finance these expenditures
Maps
Ptolemy’s Geography (printed editions 1477)
Written in 2nd Century A.D.
Depicted a round earth, 3 continents, two oceans
Circumference of Earth was dramatically undersized
Columbus and other explorers thought they could easily circumnavigate
the globe
Ships and Sailing
Previous sailors used the Pole Star for navigation
But it was useless south of the equator
Naval technology
• Axial rudder, lateen sails, compass, astrolabe
Knowledge of wind patterns
Ptolemy’s World Map
Possible Test Question
The primary motive for European exploration
during the Renaissance was
social, to relieve the population pressure on Europe.
religious, to spread the Gospel
psychological, the quest for new experiences to
transform a dull existence.
military, to provide new bases for an army.
economic, the desire for precious metals and new
areas for trade.
The Development of a
Portuguese Maritime Empire
Prince Henry the Navigator (1394 – 1460)
Founded a school for navigators
During his reign, Portuguese sailors explored the west
coast of Africa
The Portuguese in India
Bartholomeu Dias (c. 1450 – 1500)
• Rounded Cape of Good Hope
Vasco da Gama (c. 1460 – 1524)
• Reaches India by rounding Cape of Good Hope
• Returned with spices such as ginger and cinnamon
Alfonso d’Albuquerque (1462 – 1515)
• Commercial – Military bases (Goa)
In Search of Spices
Portuguese expansion
• Set up trading posts in India & China, established
spice trade
• Used military and naval advantage to seize control
of spice trade from Muslim traders
Reasons for Portuguese success
• Guns & Seamanship
Map 14.1: Discoveries and Possessions in the
Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries
Voyages to the New World
Christopher Columbus (1451 – 1506)
Knowledgeable Europeans knew the Earth was round
but it was smaller than it actually is
Tried to reach Asia by sailing west
Reached the Bahamas (Oct. 12, 1492)
Additional voyages (1493, 1498, and 1502)
Carried with him a copy of Marco Polo’s Travels
Additional Discoveries
John Cabot – explored New England coastline (Henry VII)
Pedro Cabral – (Portuguese) discovered South American coastline
Amerigo Vespucci – accompanied several voyages
• wrote letters describing new world
• Name “America” come from his name
Treaty of Tordesillas
1494 – divided up the newly discovered
world between the Spanish and the
Portuguese
Dividing line gave all of the New World to
Spain except Brazil.
The Portuguese got Brazil and everything
east
Possible Test Question
When he began to envision his voyage
across the Atlantic, Columbus had a copy
of
The Travels of John Mandeville.
Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince.
Ptolemy’s Portolani.
Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe.
Marco Polo’s Travels.
Possible Test Question
During the lifetime of Prince Henry the
Navigator, Portuguese sailors
began to explore the west African coast.
were the first to round the Cape of Good
Hope.
discovered the Spice Islands.
discovered the island of Madagascar.
landed in India in 1498.
Possible Test Question
The Treaty of Tordesillas divided
The Spice Islands between Portugal and the Dutch
Republic.
South Africa between the English and the Dutch.
The New World between Spain and Portugal.
The North Atlantic between England and France.
The South Pacific between Spain and the Dutch
Republic.
The Spanish Empire in the New
World
Early Civilizations in Mesoamerica
The Maya (300 A.D.-800 A.D.)
The Aztecs (1200 A.D.-1500s A.D.)
The Spanish Conquest of the Aztec Empire
Hernan Cortés (1485 – 1547)
• Marched to Tenochtitlan making alliances
Moctezuma (Montezuma)
• Initially thought Cortes was a God
Aztec Empire overthrown
• Small pox and allies
Slaughter of the Natives
The Spanish Empire, Continued
The Inca and the Spanish
Pachakuti – Incan ruler conquered region
Inca buildings and roads – 24,800 roads and suspension
bridges
Francisco Pizarro (c. 1475 – 1541)
• Landed during a civil war between two brothers
Smallpox had recently ravaged their civilization
Incas overthrown (1535) by Pizarro
Administration of the Spanish Empire
Encomienda – system of tribute and labor for
Spaniards
• Made the Indians basically slaves to the Spanish
Dominican friars began to voice their concern
over the harsh treatment of the Indians
• Bartolome de Las Casas was the most vocal
opponent of the encomienda system
Viceroys – King’s chief military & civil officer
The Church – mass conversions
Possible Test Question
The major critic of the Spanish treatment of
the American natives was
Bartolome de Las Casas.
Hernan Cortez.
Alfonso de Albuquerque.
Ignatius Loyala.
Pope Paul III.
Possible Test Question
The Mesoamerica civilization which existed
at the time of European exploration was the
Maya.
Inca.
Toltec.
Aztec.
Zapotec.
Africa: The Slave Trade
New Rivals
European powers began establishing forts in Africa to dominate the trade
in gold
The Dutch Republic began to take over the spice trade from Portugal
Origins of the Slave Trade
Sugar cane and slavery
• Indian population was decimated by disease
African climate and soil weren’t suited to grow sugar cane
Growth of the Slave Trade
Up to 10,000,000 African slaves taken to the Americas between the
Sixteenth and Nineteenth Centuries
The Middle Passage (trip across the Atlantic): high death rate during
transit
• 300 to 450 slaves per ship (loose pack or tight pack)
• Trip took a little over 3 months
• Approx. 10% of slaves died on voyage
Prisoners of war (Slave trade increased wars between African tribes)
Triangle Trade – Europe to Africa to Americas, then back to Europe
• Europeans traded goods for slaves, sold the slaves, kept some profit, bought
more goods and started the cycle over again
Effects of the Slave Trade
Depopulation of African kingdoms
Political effects of slave trade
• Increased warfare between African tribes
Criticism of slavery
• Critics saw the decline in African civilization
Abolition and the Quakers
• First religious group to ban slave traders from their
church
The Sale of Slaves
A Sugar Mill in the West Indies
Map 14.2: Triangular Trade Route in the Atlantic
Economy
The triangular trade connected
Europe, South Asia, and the Pacific.
Northern Europe, Southern Europe, Africa.
The Spice Islands, India, and South Africa.
The Americas, Europe, and South Asia.
The Americas, Europe, and Africa.
Between the sixteenth and the nineteenth centuries,
the number of African slaves shipped to the New
World is estimated at
One million.
Two million.
Five million.
Ten million.
Twenty-five million.
The African slave trade
Had little impact upon the number of wars in Africa.
Reduced the number of wars in Africa because all the
African states united against the European slavers.
Increased the number of wars in Africa because of the
increasing demand for prisoners who could be sold as
slaves.
Died out with the discovery of the South Asian Spice
Islands.
Was carried out peacefully was wars or violence
would reduce the number of slaves and thus profits.
The West in Southeast Asia
Portugal
Spain
The Dutch and the English
Local Kingdoms (Burma, Siam, and
Vietnam)
The asiento
Were advisors to the Spanish viceroys in
Mexico and Peru.
Was a new mapping technique which replaced
the portolani.
Gave Britain the right to transport slaves to
Spanish Latin America.
Was resolved by the Treaty of Tordesillas.
Were Portuguese merchants in the Spice
Islands.
The French and the British in India
The Mughal Empire
The Impact of the Western Powers
Portugal
England
The Dutch and the French
Sir Robert Clive
The East India Company
Battle of Plassey (1757)
China & Japan
China
Ming Dynasty (1369 – 1644)
Qing Dynasty
Western inroads
• Russia
• England
• Limited contact
Japan
Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543 – 1616)
Opening to the West
•
•
•
•
The Portuguese
Initially visitors welcomed
Catholic missionaries
The Dutch
The Americas
Spain and Portugal
The West Indies
The British and the French
The “Sugar Factories”
North America
The Dutch
• New Netherlands
The English
• Jamestown (1607)
• Thirteen Colonies
The French
• Canada
Toward a World Economy
Economic Conditions in the Sixteenth Century
Inflation
• Decline in standard of living for wage earners & those living
on a fixed income
The Growth of Commercial Capitalism
Joint stock trading companies
• Private investment in public companies
New economic institutions
• The Bank of Amsterdam (financial center of Europe)
Agriculture
One of the major economic problems of
the sixteenth century in Europe was
Deflation.
Inflation.
Stagflation.
Depression.
A population decline which led to massive
unemployment.
The inflation of the sixteenth and
early seventeenth centuries
Severely hampered commercial expansion.
Caused a shift in industry to urban locales.
Caused a decline in the standard of living for
wage earners and those on fixed incomes.
Was caused largely by a declining labor force.
Was the result of too little money in
circulation.
Which of the following statements best
applies to the economy of sixteenth-and
seventeenth-century Europe?
The joint stock company enabled the raising of
spectacular sums of capital for world trading
ventures.
The early seventeenth century saw a general
stagnation in the areas of mining and metallurgy.
Technological innovations made the lives of peasants
improve dramatically.
The population explosion made for urban growth and
more social equality in cities.
An economic depression occurred because of a lack
of specie.
The financial center of Europe in the
seventeenth century was
Paris.
London.
Rome.
Vienna.
Amsterdam.
Mercantilism
Mercantilism is a set of economic principles that came to
dominate economic practices in the 17th century
Belief that the total volume of trade unchangeable
Economic activity = war through peaceful means
One nation could expand its trade at the expense of another nation
Importance of bullion (gold & silver) and favorable
balance of trade
Export valuable goods to New World
Import Bullion to European states
State Intervention in the economy was desirable for the
sake of the national good.
Mercantilism includes all of the
following ideas except:
Economic activity was war carried on by peaceful
means.
The prosperity of a nation depended upon its gold and
silver reserves.
Colonies were not desirable because they consumed
too many natural resources.
Colonies were desirable because they provided raw
materials and natural resources.
Government should stimulate trade through high
tariffs and subsidizing industry.
Overseas Trade and Colonies:
Movement Toward Globalization
Transoceanic trade very valuable
Intra-European Trade
Trade patterns interlocked Europe, Africa,
the East, and the Americas
By the end of the seventeenth
century,
International trade was much greater than intraEuropean trade.
Wealth was being transferred back to the New World
from Europe in the form of raw materials.
Local, regional, and intra-European trade was
considerably greater than international trade.
Slavery was in decline in both Africa and the New
World.
European imperialism had come to an end.
The Impact of European
Expansion: The Conquered
Devastating effects to local populations in
America and Africa
Less impact in Asia
Multiracial society in Latin America
Ecology
Catholic Missionaries
Conversion of native populations
Hospitals, orphanages and schools
The Jesuits in Asia
Conversions in China
Japan
The Impact of European
Expansion: The Conquerors
Opportunities for women
Economic Effects
Gold and silver
Exchange of plants and animals
Impact on European Lifestyle
Chocolate, coffee and tea
European Rivalries
New Views of the World
Gerardus Mercator (1512 – 1594) and his map
Psychological Impact
A Seventeenth-Century World Map (1630)
The most famous map projection in
history is
The potolani.
Ptolemy’s Geography.
That of Gerardus Mercator.
Galileo’s The Starry Messenger.
Dead-reckoning.
Map 14.3: The Columbian Exchange
What was not part of the Columbian
exchange?
Potatoes from Europe and olive trees from the New
World.
Horses and cattle from Europe and corn from the
New World.
Gunpowder from Europe and tobacco from the New
World.
Smallpox from Europe and gold and silver from the
New World.
Wheat from Europe and tomatoes from World the
New
Discussion Questions
Why were the Portuguese so well positioned for overseas
exploration?
How were the Spanish able to defeat the Aztecs and the
Incas?
What social and economic forces drove the Slave Trade?
How were the British able to achieve such a dominant
position in Asia?
What impact did European colonization have on the
colonized?
What economic changes occurred in Europe as a result of
Mercantilism and Capitalism?
How did European expansion affect Europe?
Web Links
The Slave Trade
European Voyages of Exploration
The Mariner’s Museum – The Age of Exploration
Digital South Asia Library
Around the Indus in 90 Slides
Internet East Asian History Sourcebook
The East India Company
Virtual Jamestown