MU #4 - Age of Exploration

Who stumbled onto the Americas, and how?

While searching for a route to join the lucrative Indian Ocean Trade Network, the Europeans stumbled onto the Americas.

When did the Europeans stumble onto the Americas?

late 1400s

Who were the first to initiate large scale exploration?

Spanish and Portugal

What did the Portuguese focus on?

Setting up trade posts in Africa & South/East Asia

What did the Spanish focus on?

Conquering the Amercias, Carribean, and Pacific by forming colonies

Spain

• its’ vast silver mining would make it the most powerful European state up until the end of the Thirty Years War (1648)

What were some travel technologies used in the European exploration and conquests?

• lateen salts, stern-post rudder, and the caravel (allowed for better transport & travel)

• understanding of wind patterns (trade winds and westerflies)

• compass, astrolabe, and portolan maps (for navigation)

• royal patronage & joint-stock investment funded it

• guns & cannons (for easy conquest)

What was the Columbian Exchange? 

vasts and complex exchange between Old World and New World

What was a part of the Old World?

(Europe, Asia, and Africa)

What was a part of the New World?

The Americas

What was brought to the New World?

• cattle

• horses

• pigs

• smallpox

• measles

• rice

• wheat

What was brought to the Old World?

• tomatoes

• potatoes

• corn

• tobacco

• turkey

• syphillis

What was the Impact on the Old World?

• massive population growth due to calorie-dense foods

• accumulation of wealth due to increase in trade

• the Atlantic states now had the economic power (not the Italian city-states anymore)

What was the impact on the New World?

• massive population loss due to the spread of the Old World disease

• oppression due to plantations, mines, and slavery

• forced conversion due to Christianity

England, France, & The Netherlands

These 3 entered the exploration scene late and they attempted to obtain profit-making colonies in other areas.

Where did England start to establish a colony?

India

Where did the French start to establish a colony?

India

Where did the Dutch (The Netherlands) establish a colony?

Indonesia

Who dominated world trade and for how long?

Spain, Portugal, England, Netherlands, France & for the next 2 centuries

What was the relationship between these 5?

They fought in Europe and competed for colonies and resources in the world. 

Who created mercantilism, what is it and why?

• Dutch and English

• it is when you maximize exports, decrease imports, and disrupt trade of other states by privateering and pirating

• the Dutch and English did this to compete with other European countries together

What was the primary motivation for Catholic explorers?

to convert (in some cases by force) Natives to Catholicism

What was the nature of these missionaries?

• Some were kind, many were violent

How did they convert them?

• Many natives who worked for colonial rulers were often required to practice Christianity

How did Spanish and Portuguese rulers view Natives?

• barbaric and inferior

• requiring civilizing and enlightment through Christianity

Who was Bartolome de las Casas?

• one of the rare Europeans that opposed Native treatment by saying it was non-Christian

What were 2 main consquences of exploration?

1. harmed American Indians forced to work under the encomienda

2. quickly worsened the pre-existing slave markets in Africa as well

What was the Atlantic Slave trade?

when Europeans brought Slaves from the West African kingdoms

Why did it begin?

Because Europeans were in need of cheap/free labour

What is the Triangular Trade System?

under this sytem, goods from the New World came to Europe and were either sold or used for light manufacturing

• then, the profits/goods were used to purchase more slaves from West Africa, which were then transported to Americas

Africans and Triangular Trade System

• they were forced to endure the grueling Middle Passage Trip from Africa