Spanish Exploration and Colombian Exchange

What was the treaty of Tordesillas?

Divided New World between Spain and Portugal by the Pope

How did the concept of heathen lands play into the creation and implementation of the treaty?

Pope didn’t respect the land ownership of non Christians

What does the term conquistador mean?

conqueror

What are the main motivations behind Spanish exploration? Explain what they mean?

God - spread Christianity

Gold - fund mercantilism

Glory - personal and empire achievements

Vasco Nunez Balboa

Discovers Pacific and coast of Panama

Ferdinand Magellan

Tip of S. America, crew circumnavigated the globe

Juan Ponce de Leon

Florida (fountain of youth), killed by Natives

Francisco Coronado

Grand Canyon, found bison, looking for gold cities

Hernando de Soto

Miss River and West Florida

Francisco Pizarro

Conquered the Incas in Peru, lots of wealth and silver

Hernan Cortes

Conquered Aztecs Mexico

 What impact did the influx of “Spanish” New World silver have on the global economy?

Stimulated commercial capitalism, manufacturing and the banking systems

What was the importance of the West Indies in the Spanish empire?

Storage, supplies, and acclimation before the main land, test area for ways to subdue the Natives

 What was the Encomienda system? What was its goal?

Gives Natives to colonists as workers if they promise to Christianize them, beginnings of slavery

Who is Bartolome de Las Cases and what was his importance?

Spanish missionary who opposed the Encomienda system and spoke out against it

What factors enabled Cortes to have ease in taking over the major empire of the Aztecs and the land of Mexico?

Capitalized on Aztec unrest, alliances with Natives, understood Native language (interpreters), Montezuma (Aztec leader) thought he was a god

Into OLD World

• Animals

• Plants 

  • tobacco, maize, beans, tomatoes, potato

• Revolutionized European economy and diet

• Diseases

  • Syphilis

Into NEW World

• Animals 

  • Cows, pigs, horses 

• Plants 

  • sugar cane

  • Sugar revolution

• Diseases 

  • Smallpox, yellow fever, malaria

  • Estimated 90% perished
    

Horse

It was not until the 17th century that the American Indians acquired these animals from the Spanish

disease

When Europeans came to America they brought smallpox and measles to which the natives had no resistance. Millions of American Indians died from these diseases

Smallpox, measles

Disease that was brought by Europeans. Caused for the native population to decline rapidly in the first century after contact. In Mexico the native population decline from 22 million in 1492 to 4 million by the mid-16th century

capitalism

Economic system characterized by private property, generally free trade, and open and accessible markets. European colonization of the Americas, and in particular, the discovery of vast bullion deposits, helped bring about Europe's transition to capitalism.

Joint-stock company

Forerunner of the modern corporation that enabled investors to pool financial capital for colonial ventures.

Encomienda

Labor system implemented by King of Spain that granted conquerors land and native slaves in exchange for protection and Catholic conversion

asiento

A tax that colonist had to pay for every enslaved person they imported to the Americas, to the Spanish king

slavery

As far back as the 1500s the Spanish brought captured Africans to America to provide free labor.

Conquistadores

These Spanish explorers and conquerors of the Americas sent ships loaded with gold and silver back to Spain making it the richest and most powerful nation in Europe.

Hernan Cortes

He conquered the Aztecs in Mexico.

Francisco Pizarro

He conquered the Incas in Peru.

Slave trade

Ended in the late 1800s, slave traders sent 10 million to 15 million enslaved people from Africa through the Middle Passage to North America.

Middle Passage

A voyage across the Atlantic Ocean that slaves traveled to get traded and sold in North America

New Laws of 1542

These laws ended Indian slavery, started to end the enomienda system but kept the Indians in serfdom. Conservative Spaniards wanted to keep the enomidena, successfully pushed the king to appeal.

Bartolomé de Las Casas

(1474–1566), a Dominican friar dedicated to reform, wrote The Destruction of the Indies in 1542 to document the tragic suffering of the Native Americans and to oppose Spanish policies in the New World. He was particularly appalled by the devastating impact of disease on the indigenous populations.

Valladolid Debate

1550-1551, Formal discussion in Spanish city, concerning the role of American Indians in the Spanish colonies and use of the encomienda system.

Juan Gines de Sepulveda

Spaniard who argued that the Native Americans were less than human and that harsh treatment was necessary.