Topic 1.4 Columbian Exchange, Spanish Exploration, and Conquest

Christopher Columbus

• spent 8 years seeking financial support for his plan to sail west from Europe to the “Indies”

• 1492 - got sponsored by Isabella & Ferdinand

• for all the lands he would claim for Spain, Isabella & Ferdinand agreed to outfit 3 ships to make Columbus governor, admiral, and viceroy

Columbian Exchange

• a transfer of plants, animals, and germs from one side of the Atlantic to the other for the first time

Europe side of Columbian Exchange

• Europeans learned about new foods like beans, corn, sweet and white potatoes, tomatoes and tobacco, transforming the diet of people throughout Eurasia

• led to rapid population growth in regions from Ireland to West Africa to eastern China

• contracted syphilis, a new disease for Europeans

Americas side of the Columbian Exchange

• natives learned about sugar cane, bluegrasses, pigs, and horses

• learned abt new technology like the wheel, iron implements, and guns

• declined native population rapidly in the first century after contact due to diseases brought by Europeans like smallpox and measles

  • Native Americans had no immunity to the germs

  • population declined from aprox. 22 million in 1492 to 4 million by mid-16th century

feudalism

• a system in which monarchs granted land to nobles in exchange for military service

• declined after Europe’s new population growth and access to new resources which encouraged trade, led to a rise in capitalism

capitalism

• an economic system in which control of capital (money and machinery) became more important than control of land

• increase in trade — increased importance of commerce

• political power changed from large landowners to wealthy merchants

joint-stock company

• a business owned by a large number of investors

• developed to finance trade voyages more safely, as joint-stock companies would reduce individual risk, and encourage investment and ultimately promote economic growth