Colonization

With Portugal and Spain competing in colonization, Pope Alexander VI passed the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494 that divided the New World to prevent conflict between these Catholic states.
Ferdinand Magellan was Portuguese but went to Spain in 1517 to get funds for a voyage; he received an armada of five ships and 270 men. He was born in 1480 and studied cartography and astronomy as a member of Portuguese nobility. From 1505-1512, he sailed on expeditions for Portugal. He embarked on his final voyage in 1519 with aims of circumnavigating the globe.
After three years, only one ship, the Victoria, had arrived back in Seville in 1522, and Magellan was not aboard. He had died in a fight earlier that year in the Philippines.
Magellan named the Magellan Strait and named the Philippines after King Philip II.

Hernan Cortez was a Spanish conquistador who led a group out of Cuba and to Mexico in 1519. He led 450 soldiers and hired Malinche, the daughter of a chief, as his translator. He allied with the tributary states against he Aztecs.
The Aztecs were under the leadership of Montezuma II, who at first refused to meet with Cortez and sent him gifts, which only intrigued Cortez more with his wealth. As the Spanish came closer to Tenochtitlan, Montezuma agreed to meet Cortez. When they met, the Aztecs performed a ritual (including human sacrifice) which horrified the Christians. They captured Montezuma and forced his people to listen; since he had been captured, Montezuma no longer had divine right to rule. The people threw rocks and Montezuma, causing him to fall and die.
Cortez fled the city and gathered troops to take down the Aztec empire.

Portugal

They had new technologies, including the rudder, square sail, caravel, lateen, magnetic compass, and astrolabe. They had also figured out the Coriolis effect in the Atlantic Ocean.
Their motives were to spread Christianity, conquer new lands, and trade. New land had a strategic location, more space, and commerce, which gave them money, power, and spices.
They set up trading posts around the world (ex. Vasco de Gama). These included Gao, Hormuz, and Malacca. They controlled all trade that went through their ports. They brought goods to trade and forced people into trading through the use of weapons.
Alfonso de Alboquerque was the architect behind their agressive colonization method.
They were weakened by the 16th century because they were very small and had a weak navy. This was when the Dutch and the English came into play.

Spain

Their motives were to spread Catholocism, become a global superpower, and get money, spices, and power.
Spain used mercantilism, an economic system in which the government regulates the economy for augmenting state power with a positive balance of trade. This included all exports and no imports, and made Spain rich. However, it also led to inflation.
Spain used direct colonization methods in which the Spanish monarch ruled over the colonies and it was very bureaucratic. The monarch appointed a viceroy to stay int he colony and rule in representation of the monarch.
They set up haciendas, which were large estates employed by natives and later African slaves. They had ecomienda, a labor system in which natives were forced to work on mines or haciendas.
The Spanish sailed on galleons.
They took the Philippines and areas in the New World (ex. New Spain). This set up a global trade route called Manila Galleons.
They slaughtered native Filipinos and turned Manila into a cultural and trading center.
China’s population in Manila was attacked in the 1603 Sangley Rebellion. The Spanish revolted against the existing Chinese people and killed 20,000 of them, which was at least 25% of the population living in the Philippines.

Francisco Pizarro was a conquistador went to Peru with 186 soldiers and the Inca had 80,000 soldiers in 1531.
When Pizarro landed in Peru, the Incan leader Atahualpa had just won a five year civil war against his brother, so they were weak.
When Atahualpa and Pizarro met, the Spanish soldiers hid in the forest. The Incan soldiers accompanied their leader to the meeting and showed their immense size and wealth.
A Spanish friar presented Atahualpa with a Bible, but the Inca couldn’t read in, so Atahualpa threw it. This angered the Spanish and they captured Atahualpa, and the Incans fled without their leader.
The Spanish kept Atahualpa and demanded bullion (silver and gold) before they killed him.
The reasons for the Spanish victory included guns, germs, and technology. This included horses and cavalry.

North America

North America consisted of decentralized groups when the colonizers arrived. This included the Iroquois and the Cahokia. The Cahokia were a group of indigenous Americans who were known for building mounds.
The French claimed Quebec, the Dutch took New Amsterdam (NY), and Britain took Bermuda, Canada, and the East Coast.
The reasons that North America was colonized was for fur, and the British and French set up trading ports. The British also went West for relgious reasons, as they were being persecuted for being Puritans in England. The main motive for the French and the Dutch was money.
In North America, the Europeans did not want to interact wiht the natives. They moved there permanently with their families and did not wish to intermingle. They had more women than in South America.
The North developed in separate settlements that grew into plantations.

South America

South America had centralized empires like the Inca and the Aztec when the Europeans arrived.
The motives for their colonization were money, religion, and resources.
In South America, Europeans did not bring their families. There were less European women in South America. Instead, they interacted with the natives and tried to convert them.
They had a strict social heirarchy. There were peninsulars (European born), creoles (European born in America), mestizos (native and European creole born), mulattos (slave and European creole born), and slaves.
South America developed into haciendas and mines, such as Potosi.