Consequences of Exploration

• Definition: The transfer of goods and ideas initiated by Columbus's voyage in 1492.

• Key Components of the Exchange:

  • Exchange of livestock, crops, and technology between the New World and Old World.

The Impact of Disease

• Diseases:

  • Most diseases spread through air or touch.

  • Illness in Europe often attributed to sin.

  • Native Americans lacked natural immunity to diseases brought by Europeans, leading to population declines over centuries.

Cycle of Conquest & Colonization

• Process:

  • Involved various groups:

    • Explorers

    • Conquistadores

    • Official European Colonies

    • Permanent Settlers

    • Missionaries

Treasures from the Americas

• Economic Context:

  • Gold and silver were significant exports.

  • Data on the value of gold and silver from Spanish America:

    • Millions of Pesos accumulated between 1516-1660, showing rising values over decades.

    • Economic impact directly tied to Spanish exploratory activities in the Americas.

Silver Mines of Potosi

• Significance:

  • Estimated eight million deaths of workers, primarily natives and African slaves.

  • Working conditions: trapped underground for six months at a time, working 20 hours a day.

Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

• Visual Framework: Maps depicting the flow of enslaved individuals across the Atlantic:

  • Regions:

    • 5% to United States

    • 60% to West Indies

    • 35% to Brazil

    • 0% Through Central America

  • Origin of Slaves: Primarily sourced from West Africa, highlighted by current political boundaries including Mali, Niger, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Benin, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Ghana.

The Slave Trade: History and Statistics

• Pre-European Existence: Slavery existed in Africa before European involvement.

• Portuguese Influence: Shift from European slaves to African slaves for plantation work.

• First Introduction: First boatload of African slaves transported by the Spanish in 1518.

• Overall Numbers: Approx. 10 million Africans transported to the Americas between 1500-1800.

Description of Slave Ships

• Middle Passage: Refers to the oceanic voyage of enslaved individuals from West Africa to the New World, under horrific conditions.

  • Coffin Position: A term used to describe the cramped, horrific position in which enslaved individuals were kept during transport.

Overthrowing the Aztecs

• Timeline of Events:

  • 1515: Spanish controlled Caribbean islands, establishing a base in Cuba for further exploration.

  • 1519: Hernán Cortés lands on the Yucatan Peninsula with 500 soldiers.

  • Cortés’s Strategy: Cortés tricked Aztec leader Montezuma into captivity, leading to control over the city.

  • 1520: Aztec rebellion occurred, resulting in the death of Montezuma and the temporary retreat of the Spanish.

  • 1521: Cortés returned with reinforcements, decisively defeated the Aztecs, and founded Mexico City.

Overthrowing the Incas

• Conquistador Francisco Pizarro: Critical figure in the conquest of the Inca Empire.

• Founding of the Capitol in 1531: Historical context of Spanish ambitions in the Inca region.

• Civil War Within the Empire: Breakdown of social order due to disease and civil strife, paving the way for Spanish conquest.

• Cajamarca Massacre: Approx. 2,000 Incas were killed by Pizarro’s forces between Sept.-Nov. 1532.

• Capture and Execution of Atahualpa:

  • Captured in November 1532, he offered gold for freedom but was ultimately executed in July 1533.

Impact of European Expansion

• Consequences:

  • Native populations decimated by introduced diseases.

  • Influx of gold and silver led to economic inflation known as the 'Price Revolution'.

  • New products exchanged between continents via the 'Columbian Exchange'.

  • Intensification of colonial rivalries across European powers.

  • Established new patterns of world trade with emerging networks connecting different continents.