#2 (9/25 Gold, God, and Cod: European Expansion and the Reasons for It)

Internal Factors for European Expansion

Political competition: Land claimed, military competition within emerging European kingdoms.

Economic issues lack of specie (coin, gold and silver - kings can’t pay debts to merchants), resources depletion (wood and fish - due to overfishing)

External Factors for European Expansion

Economic desire for luxury goods (silks and spices) on the silkroad but lack of trade due to lack of specie and political concerns regarding the Ottoman Empire (Islamic) conquering Christian areas - wanted to find other Chrisitan empires to fight Ottoman instead of uniting Europe

Ottoman Empire's Role

The Ottomans controlled trade routes after invading Byzantine territory, raising European concerns about potential threats.

Pioneering Portuguese Exploration

Portugal aimed to bypass middlemen in luxury trade, like Italian merchants who often raised their price by directly exploring sea routes to Asia with their own merchant fleet.

Old world’s pathway to India Impact

The Portuguese try to go to India for spices and silk by going around Africa, they take a century to get to the tip of Africa. Different European kingdoms now want to look for different ways to India. They also find that Africa has merchants willing to trade, this tells them exploration = profit, so other European kingdoms look into travel.

Isabella and Ferdinand context for Spain

Isabella and Ferdinand married. Believed marriage was an act of god to finish kicking out muslims and conquer Grenada. They build an army taking loans from Jewish merchants and after conquering Grenada instead of paying their loans they pass a decree expelling Jewish merchants justifying by wanting to make it Christian world.

Columbus's Voyage

Columbus goes to the Spanish court (Isabella and Ferdiand’’s court) and says he believes sailing west would lead to Asia, courts send him to priests to interrogate him, priests despite not believing him, Spain funds the voyage, leading to the Spanish conquest of the Americas.

Encounter + Consequences for Native Americans

Columbus depicts the Native Americans as enslavable because they are not Christian. The arrival of Europeans led to violence, exploitation, and diseases, causing severe population decline among indigenous peoples.

Hernan Cortez

Many people believe this ‘new land’ isn’t true and Hernan Cortez created an illegal expedition which is where they encounter Mexico and Aztecs. Many Natives were angry with Aztec rule, so he recruited them and overthrew the Aztec empire.

Potosi

Spanish encounter mount Potosi and are finally able to get specie (wealth). All the silver is making Spain the most powerful kingdom in Europe causing places like England, & France, to want to emulate.

Europe is not going to leave the Americas

Spain establish small colonies in north America but lose interest their big focus is in south America. North America becomes a free for all for other Europeans. Europeans go to find fish, timber, and encounter natives. They also encounter cod - a type of fish.

Role of Cod Fish in Trade

Cod became crucial in trade for its high value, equivalent to the silver Spain took out of the America’s, and initiated European interest in North American resources.

Working with natives

Natives don't work with metals too heavily so they wanted europeans knives, buckets and metal things. So they started trading. Merchants joined on voyages to trade with natives for fur and metal tools. Native Americans had some conflicts/change as one group sees trade and another wants to trade as well.

The Columbian Exchange

A transfer of plants, animals, and diseases between the Old World and New World, significantly impacting both environments and societies. Spanish left pigs and in the americas there isn't a preadator for them. Theres an exponential increase in pigs in the area eating natives plants. Europeans continue bringing dieases and continued to kill 75-90% of native americans. Europeans continue putting stress on native communities like enslavement which inhibits their ability to develop immunity