European Exploration and Colonization

Factors Preventing European Exploration

  • Fear of the unknown.

  • Lack of technological advancements.

  • Problems in accurate navigation.

  • Knowledge limited and influenced by the Middle Ages.

Motives for European Exploration

  • Crusades: Increased interest in other lands and peoples.

  • Renaissance: Sparked curiosity about the world.

  • Reformation: Led to the dispersal of refugees and missionaries.

  • Accounts of Marco Polo: Inspired interest in far-off lands.

  • Monarchs seeking new revenue sources: Desire for wealth and power.

  • Technological advances: Facilitated exploration.

  • Fame and fortune (the "3 Gs"): Glory, God, and Gold.

Mercantilist Argument for Colonial Expansion

  • Mother Country: Extracts gold, silver, raw materials, and foodstuffs from colonies.

  • Colony: Provides resources to the mother country.

New Maritime Technologies

  • Better Maps: More accurate cartography, including portulan charts.

  • Astrolabe: Used for determining latitude (Hartman Astrolabe, 1532).

  • Mariner's Compass: Enabled accurate direction finding.

  • Sextant: Improved angle measurement for navigation.

Caravel Ship

  • Caravel: A ship design used by Portuguese navigators in the 1400s.

    • Featured a lateen sail and square topsail.

New Weapons Technology

  • Wheel-lock Pistol: An early firearm.

    • Components included a wheel, barrel, trigger, wooden ramrod, iron pyrites, and stock; powder and bullet were front-loaded.

Prince Henry's School for Navigation (1419)

  • Prince Henry the Navigator established a school to improve navigation skills.

Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)

  • Division: Divided newly discovered lands between Spain and Portugal.

  • Pope's Line of Demarcation: Established in 1493, modified by the treaty in 1494.

  • Spain got the majority of the Americas while Portugal got a piece of Brazil and influence in Africa

Portuguese Maritime Exploration

  • West Coast of Africa: Exploration and establishment of trading posts.

  • Bartholomew Diaz (1487): Sailed around the Cape of Good Hope.

  • Vasco da Gama (1498): Reached India by sea, opening a new trade route.

Spanish Maritime Exploration

  • Christopher Columbus led Spanish voyages to the Americas.

Atlantic Explorations

  • Key Explorers: Included Cabot, Cartier, Hudson, Champlain, La Salle, Coronado, de Soto, and others.

  • Territories Explored: North America, including Canada, the Mississippi River, and the Southwest.

The First Spanish Conquests: The Aztecs

  • Fernando Cortez: Led the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire.

  • Montezuma II: The Aztec ruler during the Spanish conquest.

The Death of Montezuma II

  • Montezuma II died during the Spanish conquest of Tenochtitlan.

Mexico Surrenders to Cortez

  • The final surrendering of the Aztec Empire to Spanish rule.

The First Spanish Conquests: The Incas

  • Francisco Pizarro: Led the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire.

  • Atahualpa: The Inca ruler during the Spanish conquest.

The "Columbian Exchange"

  • From the Americas to Europe, Africa, and Asia: Squash, avocado, peppers, sweet potatoes, turkey, pumpkin, tobacco, quinine, cocoa, pineapple, cassava, potato, peanut, tomato, vanilla, maize, syphilis.

  • From Europe, Africa, and Asia to the Americas: Olive, coffee bean, banana, rice, onion, turnip, honeybee, barley, grape, peach, sugar cane, oats, citrus fruits, pear, wheat, horse, cattle, sheep, pigs, smallpox, flu, typhus, measles, malaria, diphtheria, whooping cough, trinkets, liquor, guns.

Cycle of Conquest & Colonization

  • Explorers -> Conquistadores -> Missionaries -> Permanent Settlers -> Official European Colony!

Treasures from the Americas

  • Influx of gold and silver into Europe from Spanish America.

  • Graph showing the value of gold and silver from Spanish America over time.

    • Illustrates the increase in the millions of pesos from 1516-1660.

Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

  • Destinations: United States (5%), West Indies (60%), Brazil (35%).

  • Sources: West Africa (Mali, Niger, Senegal, Gambia, etc.).

  • About 10 million Africans were shipped to the Americas between the 16th and 19th centuries

The Slave Trade

  • Portuguese Role: Replaced European slaves with Africans for sugar cane plantations.

  • First Boatload: Brought by the Spaniards in 1518.

  • 275,000275,000 enslaved Africans were exported to other countries.

Slave Ship

  • Diagrams and descriptions of a slave ship, including the "Middle Passage" and "coffin" position below deck.

African Captives Thrown Overboard

  • Sharks followed the slave ships.

Slaves Working in a Brazilian Sugar Mill

  • Visual depiction of the harsh conditions of slave labor in sugar production.

European Empires in the Americas

  • Territories: New Spain, New Netherlands, Massachusetts Bay Company, New France, Brazil, etc.

  • Colonial Powers: Dutch, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish.

The Colonial Class System

  • Hierarchy: Peninsulares -> Creoles -> Mestizos -> Mulattos -> Native Indians -> Black Slaves.

The Influence of the Colonial Catholic Church

  • Examples include the Guadalajara Cathedral, Our Lady of Guadalupe, and Spanish Missions.

Impact of European Expansion

  • Disease: Native populations ravaged by disease.

  • Price Revolution: Influx of gold and silver into Europe created an inflationary economic climate.

  • Commercial Revolution: Shift in European economies due to trade and colonization.

  • Columbian Exchange: Introduction of new products across continents.

  • Colonial Rivalries: Deepened conflicts among European powers.