Standard:European Exploration & Colonization of the

Americas

Chapter 2

Please as soon as the

bell rings start answering the warm-up questions individually and in complete sentences. Thanks!

Warm – up

What do you think led Europeans

to explore distant lands? What reasons would make you

want to join a voyage of exploration?

What reasons would keep you from joining such a voyage?

Warm - up

How did European ideas affected colonial America?

Essential Question

Many different European countries paid for explorations for many different reasons. Some of the reasons that they explored were:

Sea route - To find a sea route to the spices of Asia Wealth - To find gold, silver, and precious stones Learning - To expand their knowledge of the world Expansion - To control a larger empire Religion / Faith - To expand Christianity Business - To find animal furs

So why did Europeans explore the world during the Age of

Exploration? 

Causes Effects

European desired for new trade routes

European Exploration New knowledge of Africa , Asia & the Americas

New spirit of adventure

Adventure Clash of Europeans & Native American cultures

Desired for Power & wealth of European nations

Curiosity about the world

Transportation and Enslavement of Africans

Competition among nations

Learning New plants & animals in Europe & the Americas

Spread of Christianity

Rivalry/ competition of European nations in the Americas

Age of Exploration

1400s - no refrigeration

Needed salt & spices to prevent meat from spoiling & to cover up the taste of the salted or spoiled meat.

Spices not grown in Europe only in Asia ( China, Japan, India) It was very difficult and dangerous to get the spices from Asia to Europe. Dangerous : Bandits, mountains, deserts, storms Very expensive

New Routes to Asia

In 1453 –land route from Asia to Europe was

cut-off by the Turkish Empire

Spices became even more expensive and difficult to find in Europe

European nations decided to try to find a route around the Turkish Empire. If a country could find a way to get these valuable spices to Europe, the rulers would be very rich.

New routes to Asia

While Portugal began the Age of Exploration, England, France and Spain dominated the New World.

Late 1400s, Europeans did not know much

about the world Most of them had never been outside of Europe. The European map of the world included only

Europe, Asia, and the top of Africa. They thought there was only one ocean, the

Ocean Sea. Most thought the world was flat, educated

Europeans knew that it was round. The problem was they had no idea how large the world was.

Expand Knowledge& Adventure

Some European rulers, especially the King of Spain and the King of Portugal, wanted to claim as much land as they could. They wanted to take all of the natural resources from this land and use the people that lived there as slaves to do their work. Treaty of Tordesillas – Line of Demarcation

Larger Empires

Christianity - In the late 1400s, only religion in

Europe.

Religious conflicts England/ Protestant Spain / Catholic

The European rulers were very religious. They wanted to convert everyone to Christianity.

Missionaries / missions Native Americans

Spread of Christianity

European nations fought many wars

against each other and against the Turkish Empire

Wars were very expensive so they needed to find lots of gold, silver, and

precious stones to pay for them. They believed that Asia was loaded with gold, silver, and precious stones, so they decided to find it and bring it back.

Looking for gold - wealth

By increasing their wealth, European countries could

gain power and security. European nations created colonies in the new discover

land Colony / Colonies – a region or people that is politically and

economically controlled by another country ( like in a landlord /tenant situation)

Plantations – Large cash crops farms (Spain/ Native Ameri) Cash crops – crops grown for profit $$$

Columbian Exchange Mercantilism

Economics

Columbian ExchangeTransfer of plants, animals, & diseases from European, Asia & Africa into the Americas.

Mercantilism: is an economic policy…Wealth is

power, key to wealth is export more than importEuropean countries competed for world power and

needed colonies to provide necessary raw materials.

Colonies’ role: provide raw materials (so mother country does not have to import from other

nations) and markets for exportsFavorable balance of trade for England

Mercantilism

Economic system in which a nation increases

its wealth by exporting more than it imports.

Mercantilism

For sell ( going out)To buy ( in)

Triangular Trade

Mercantilism & Triangular Trade

British mercantilism manifested itself in the form of the triangular trade. Trade routes linked the American colonies, West Indies, Africa and England.

Triangular Trade - goods

Triangular Trade & slavery

Trading people Africans had

traditions of slavery Europeans started

trading goods for slaves

European brought slaves to their colonies in America for labor

Middle Passage

Voyage across the Atlantic Ocean

From Africa to America

Slave Trade Took Months – harsh

conditions Slaves brought to

America

Summary

CAUSE / Why Effects / Results

National Competition

Desired for Wealth

Spread Cristianity

European Exploration of the Americas

Destruction of Aztecs & Incan

Columbian Exchange

European Colonies in

America

Slavery