Final Notes

Atlantic Worlds Term Sheet

15/1 - Europe in the Age of Marco Polo

• World Island: The region of the world before America was discovered, composed of Europe and Asia. Asia was seen as the most important part, while Europe was treated merely as a peninsula.

• Feudalism: A hierarchical system where ordinary people provided services (monetary or labor) to a lord, who in turn owed allegiance to a higher lord, ultimately reaching the king.

• The Great Khan: Title used by Mongol rulers, particularly referring to Kublai Khan, the emperor who hosted Marco Polo.

• Cosmopolitanism: The impulse to explore and engage with different parts of the world.

• Venice: A powerful trading city with strategic maritime connections.

• Genoa: A rival city to Venice, known for its strong trading position; imprisoned Marco Polo, where he met Rustichello da Pisa.

• Crusades: Religious wars between Christians and Muslims over control of the Holy Land.

• Louis IX: King of France known for leading the Seventh and Eighth Crusades.

• Convivencia: The coexistence of Christians, Muslims, and Jews in medieval Spain before the Reconquista.

• Reconquista: The Christian effort to reclaim Spain from Muslim rule, culminating in 1492.

• Ferdinand and Isabella: Monarchs who unified Spain and financed Columbus’s voyage.

• Rustichello of Pisa: Writer who co-authored The Travels of Marco Polo while in prison with him.

• John Mandeville: Author of The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, a widely read medieval travelogue.

• Ottoman Empire: A powerful empire that controlled trade routes between Europe and Asia, prompting European exploration.

22/1 - Encounters With Africa

• Dark Continent: A Eurocentric stereotype depicting Africa as primitive and uncivilized.

• Sub-Saharan Africa: Region below the Sahara, with limited European interaction until the Age of Exploration.

• Dualism: The division of the world into opposing forces, such as good vs. evil.

• Timbuktu: A key center of trade and Islamic learning in West Africa.

• Prester John: A mythical Christian king believed to rule a wealthy African kingdom.

• Ethiopia: A Christian kingdom that engaged with European explorers.

• Songhai Empire: A powerful West African empire known for its wealth and trade networks.

• Leo Africanus: A North African traveler who temporarily converted to Christianity and documented his journeys.

• Dom Henrique (Henry the Navigator): Portuguese prince who funded early voyages of exploration.

• Gil Eanes: Portuguese explorer searching for gold and involved in the early slave trade.

• Nuno Tristão: Attempted to conquer parts of Africa but shifted to trade relations.

• San Jorge da Mina: A Portuguese trading post in modern-day Ghana, later involved in the slave trade.

• Kingdom of Kongo: A powerful African kingdom that established diplomatic and religious ties with Portugal.

• Diogo Cão: Portuguese explorer who established contact with the Kingdom of Kongo.

• Manikongo Nzinga a Nkuwu: King of Kongo who converted to Christianity.

• Prince Kasuta: Kongo prince taken hostage to Portugal, where he converted to Christianity.

• Syncretism: The blending of religious traditions, such as African beliefs with Catholicism.

• Trans-Saharan Slave Trade: A pre-existing African slave trade system before European involvement.

• Canary Islands: Early site of European colonization and experimentation with plantation economies.

27/1 - America on the Eve of Contact

• Pre-Columbian America: The Americas before European contact, often misrepresented as primitive societies.

• Coastal Route Theory: Hypothesis that early Americans migrated along the Pacific coast.

• Olmecs: Early Mesoamerican civilization (2500 BCE–100 BCE) known for religious and military influence.

• Teotihuacan: A major city in Mesoamerica, predating the Aztecs.

• Tenochtitlan: The capital of the Aztec Empire, known for its advanced infrastructure.

• Inca Empire: South American empire centered in Cuzco, known for engineering and communication systems like quipu.

• Chaco Canyon: A major Ancestral Puebloan settlement in North America.

• Cahokia: A large Mississippian city that was a trade and agricultural hub.

• Leif Erikson: Norse explorer believed to have reached North America around 1000 CE.

29/1 - The Spanish Conquest

• Great Man Theory: The idea that history is shaped by exceptional individuals, such as Columbus and Cortés.

• Christopher Columbus: Italian navigator funded by Spain, landed in the Caribbean in 1492.

• Taino Indians: Indigenous people of the Caribbean, encountered by Columbus.

• Encomienda System: Spanish labor system exploiting Indigenous people.

• Hernán Cortés: Conqueror of the Aztec Empire.

• Malintzin (Doña Marina): Indigenous woman who served as an interpreter for Cortés.

• Tlaxcala: Indigenous allies of the Spanish against the Aztecs.

• Moctezuma II: Aztec emperor during the Spanish conquest.

• La Noche Triste: Night when the Spanish were driven out of Tenochtitlan.

• Francisco Pizarro: Conqueror of the Inca Empire.

• Atahualpa: Last Inca emperor, captured and executed by the Spanish.

• Technology, Religion, Alliances, Disease: Key factors in Spanish victories.

3/2 - Death and Disease

• Virgin Soil Epidemics: Indigenous populations lacked immunity to European diseases.

• Smallpox: Most devastating disease, killing millions of Indigenous people.

• Wayna Qhapaq: Inca ruler who died of smallpox, leading to civil war.

• Tisquantum (Squanto): Indigenous man who assisted the Pilgrims after surviving European enslavement.

5/2 - Indian Labor and Global Trade

• Silver and Gold: Primary motivations for Spanish colonization.

• Zacatecas & Potosí: Major silver mining centers.

• Mita System: Adapted from Inca labor practices for Spanish mining.

• Treasure Fleet: Spanish ships transporting wealth to Europe.

• Quinta Royal: Spain’s 20% tax on colonial wealth.

10/2 - The Atlantic Renaissance

• Humanism: Intellectual movement emphasizing classical texts and empirical observation.

• Johann Gutenberg: Invented the printing press, facilitating knowledge dissemination.

• Michel de Montaigne: Philosopher who examined European perceptions of Indigenous people.

• Amerigo Vespucci: Explorer whose accounts led to the naming of America.

• Cannibalism Myth: European stereotype depicting Indigenous people as savages.

Timeline of Key Events

Before 1492: Pre-Columbian Era

• 2500 BCE–100 BCE → Olmec civilization develops in Mesoamerica, pioneering religious and military traditions.

• 100 BCE–750 CE → Teotihuacan flourishes as a major Mesoamerican city.

• 1253 → Aztecs arrive in the Valley of Mexico.

• 1471 → Pachakuti dies, and Thupa Inka inherits the Inca Empire.

Europe in the Age of Marco Polo (15/1)

• 13th Century → Marco Polo travels to the court of the Great Khan.

• 1298 → Marco Polo meets Rustichello da Pisa in a Genoese prison and dictates his travels.

• 1492 → The Reconquista concludes with the fall of Granada; Ferdinand and Isabella fund Columbus’s voyage.

Encounters With Africa (22/1)

• 1400s → Dom Henrique (Henry the Navigator) funds voyages along the African coast.

• 1482 → Portuguese establish the San Jorge da Mina trading post in modern Ghana.

• 1480s → Portuguese explorers, including Diogo Cão, contact the Kingdom of Kongo.

America on the Eve of Contact (27/1)

• 12,000–20,000 years ago → First Americans migrate from Asia.

• 1491 → Complex societies like the Aztecs, Incas, Cahokia, and Chaco Canyon thrive.

The Spanish Conquest (29/1)

• 1492 → Columbus lands in the Caribbean, encountering the Taino.

• 1493 → Columbus establishes a settlement on Hispaniola.

• 1519 → Hernán Cortés arrives in Mexico; the conquest of the Aztecs begins.

• 1521 → Tenochtitlan falls to Spanish forces.

• 1532 → Francisco Pizarro begins the conquest of the Inca Empire.

• 1533 → Atahualpa is executed; Spanish rule expands in Peru.

Death and Disease (3/2)

• 1518 → First smallpox epidemic in the Caribbean.

• 1520 → Smallpox devastates Tenochtitlan after “La Noche Triste.”

• 1535 → Native population of Hispaniola nearly wiped out.

• 1593 → Mexico’s Indigenous population drops from 25 million to 2 million.

Indian Labor and Global Trade (5/2)

• 1500s → Encomienda system implemented in Spanish colonies.

• 1545 → Potosí silver mines discovered in modern Bolivia.

• 1600 → Potosí’s population reaches 150,000.

• 1628 → Piet Heyn captures the Spanish Treasure Fleet.

The Atlantic Renaissance (10/2)

• 1450s → Johann Gutenberg’s printing press revolutionizes knowledge distribution.

• 1493 → Columbus’s letters published across Europe.

• 1600s → Renaissance humanism influences European views on the Americas.

The Age of Exploration: From Marco Polo to the Atlantic Renaissance

In the 13th century, Europe was just a peninsula of the vast World Island, overshadowed by the wealth and sophistication of Asia. Trade routes linked Europe to the East, and the Mongol Empire, under The Great Khan (Kublai Khan), controlled much of this exchange. The Italian city-states of Venice and Genoa competed fiercely for dominance in Mediterranean trade, driven by an impulse of cosmopolitanism—a desire to explore and engage with distant lands. This spirit of adventure led Marco Polo to the court of Kublai Khan. After returning to Europe, he was imprisoned in Genoa in 1298, where he met Rustichello of Pisa, who helped him document his travels. These accounts, along with the tales of John Mandeville, fueled European curiosity about lands beyond their own.

While trade flourished, medieval Europe was also shaped by religious conflicts. The Crusades, particularly under figures like Louis IX, were wars fought between Christians and Muslims over the Holy Land. In Spain, the period of convivencia—a fragile coexistence of Christians, Muslims, and Jews—was coming to an end with the Reconquista, a campaign culminating in 1492 when Ferdinand and Isabella took Granada. That same year, they financed Christopher Columbus’s voyage westward, unknowingly setting in motion the events that would create the Atlantic World.

Encounters With Africa: Trade, Myth, and Empire

Even before Columbus, the Portuguese were leading the way in exploration. Dom Henrique (Henry the Navigator) funded expeditions along the African coast in the 15th century, driven by a mix of curiosity, economic ambition, and religious zeal. The myth of Prester John, a supposed Christian king ruling a wealthy African kingdom, fueled their determination to explore. Meanwhile, kingdoms like Ethiopia already had Christian traditions and engaged with European powers.

African societies were far from the "Dark Continent" stereotype. The Songhai Empire controlled vast trade networks, and Timbuktu was a center of Islamic learning. The Portuguese made contact with the Kingdom of Kongo in the 1480s, where Diogo Cão established relations, and King Nzinga a Nkuwu later converted to Christianity. His son, Prince Kasuta, was even taken to Portugal as a diplomatic hostage.

Portuguese explorers such as Gil Eanes and Nuno Tristão initially sought gold but soon became involved in the Trans-Saharan Slave Trade, eventually establishing San Jorge da Mina in 1482 as a major trading post. The Canary Islands, colonized early on, became a testing ground for plantation economies and forced labor systems—models that would later shape the Atlantic slave trade.

The Americas Before Contact

While Europe and Africa were deeply interconnected, the Pre-Columbian Americas thrived in their own right. Long before Columbus, the Coastal Route Theory suggests that the first Americans arrived by sea 12,000–20,000 years ago. By 1491, complex civilizations like the Olmecs, Teotihuacan, the Aztec Empire (Tenochtitlan), and the Inca Empire (Cuzco) flourished. In North America, Cahokia and Chaco Canyon were major trade and political centers.

Yet, Europeans had briefly set foot in the Americas before Columbus. Around 1000 CE, Leif Erikson, a Norse explorer, reached North America, but Norse settlements in Vinland did not last.

The Spanish Conquest: The Fall of Empires

When Columbus landed in the Caribbean in 1492, he encountered the Taino Indians, marking the beginning of European colonization. The Spanish implemented the Encomienda System, forcing Indigenous labor in exchange for supposed protection and conversion to Christianity. In 1519, Hernán Cortés arrived in Mexico, aided by his interpreter Malintzin (Doña Marina) and the Indigenous Tlaxcala, who resented Moctezuma II’s rule. After an initial alliance, tensions erupted, leading to La Noche Triste in 1520, when the Spanish were temporarily expelled from Tenochtitlan. However, a devastating smallpox epidemic weakened the Aztecs, allowing the Spanish to conquer the city in 1521.

Meanwhile, Francisco Pizarro set his sights on the Inca Empire. When Wayna Qhapaq died of smallpox in 1520, a civil war between his sons, including Atahualpa, left the empire vulnerable. In 1532, Pizarro captured Atahualpa and later executed him, cementing Spanish control over Peru.

Death, Disease, and the Global Economy

As European conquest continued, Indigenous populations suffered from Virgin Soil Epidemics—diseases like smallpox that they had no immunity against. By 1593, Mexico’s Indigenous population had plummeted from 25 million to 2 million.

The Spanish exploited native labor for wealth, particularly through silver and gold mining. The Mita System, adapted from Inca practices, forced Indigenous people to work in mines like Potosí and Zacatecas. The wealth extracted was transported by the Treasure Fleet, with Spain taking its Quinta Royal (20% tax). However, piracy, such as the 1628 capture of the fleet by Piet Heyn, posed constant threats.

The Atlantic Renaissance: A New Worldview

While conquest reshaped the Atlantic, intellectual transformations in Europe influenced perceptions of the new world. The Renaissance encouraged humanism, emphasizing classical knowledge and empirical observation. The invention of the printing press by Johann Gutenberg in the 1450s allowed for the rapid spread of ideas, including Columbus’s letters, which were widely published in 1493.

Scholars like Michel de Montaigne critically examined European views of Indigenous people, questioning myths such as cannibalism. Meanwhile, Amerigo Vespucci’s accounts helped define the newly discovered lands, leading to the name America.

By the 1600s, the Atlantic had become a connected world, shaped by exploration, trade, conquest, and intellectual exchange. The interactions between Europe, Africa, and the Americas laid the foundations for a global system that would continue to evolve for centuries.