Age of Exploration

4 Key States Finance Exploration

-Portugal—Prince Henry—leaders in navigation

-Spain—Spread Catholicism & seek wealth

-England—Sir Francis Drake—Sea Dogs

-France—Cartier, Champlain

Christopher Columbus

-Grew up in Genoa, coastal town on west side of Italy

-Skilled at both sailing & navigation

-Studied geography & concluded that trading cities in Asia were 2400 miles west of Europe

-The Far East (Japan & China) were 10,000 miles west of Europe

Persistence & Major Miscalculation

-Columbus approached different monarchs to finance his voyage

-In 1492 he went to Spain a 2nd time & king Ferdinand & queen Isabella agreed

-Columbus voted to take the Catholic faith to people & this appealed to queen Isabella

Persistence & Miscalculation II

-Columbus sailed w/ 3 ships & a crew of 90 sailors

-Left Spain on August 3—sailed 800 miles to Canary Islands

-Sail on west - after a month at sea many sailors wanted to turn back

New World

-Columbus believed that he was in India & thus called the natives Indians

-Natives were Taino’s & lived in villages of 100-300 people

-Columbus believed it would be easy both to convert them & force them to work

Return to Spain

-Columbus’ first settlement was established on island of Hispaniola (modern Haiti & Dominican Republic)

-Sailed back to Spain in January of 1493 w/ 2 dozen captured natives

-Despite having little gold, Columbus was hailed as great success w/ the court of Spain

Columbus as Governor

-Columbus 2nd voyage to New World—Captain of 17 ships & 1,500 men

-Native resistance to the Spaniards continued & despite Columbus returning w/ greater numbers, settlements, did not prosper. He made 4 voyages in all

Legacy of Columbus

-Despite the view that he discovered (as the first European) in America, he never set foot on territory that is today the U.S.

-The view of Columbus as a great explorer peaked in the late 1800s to early 1900s

The Downside of Columbus

Naval historian & Harvard professor, Samuel Eliot Morrison, wrote a famous biography of Columbus. Published in 1941 the book praised the explorer’s abilities as a sailor, navigator, & captain

-It only gave slight attention to the fact that Columbus’ cruel policies towards the natives resulted in genocide. European diseases devastated the native populations

Columbus Today

-Columbus Day became an official U.S. holiday in 1971. Prior to this it was celebrated both as a patriotic day & a celebration of Italian-American heritage

-By the end of the 20th century, the celebration was in decline & states such as Colorado, Hawaii, Alaska, Minnesota, South Dakota, New Mexico, Vermont, & Maine have replaced it with/ Indigenous People Day

Other Explorers

-Ponce de Leon was the 1st explorer to step foot in what is today the U.S.

-He arrived in 1513 after a successful expedition to Puerto Rico 5 years earlier