The Age of Exploration

Motives &

Means

Motives for European Exploration

• “Gold, God, and Glory were the primary motives of exploration. Trade routes to Asia had been closed due to the conquests of the Ottoman Empire (in the Middle East) and the break-up of the Mongol empire of China.

• With the closing of the overland routes, a number of people in Europe became interested in the possibility of reaching Asia by sea to gain access to spices and other precious items of the region.

New Technologies

• Previously, sailors used a quadrant and their knowledge of the position of the Pole Star to ascertain their latitude. Below the equator, however, this technique was useless. Only with the assistance of new navigational techniques such as the compass and astrolabe were they able to explore the high seas with confidence,

New Maritime TechnologiesNew Maritime Technologies

Hartman Astrolabe

(1532)

Better Maps [Portulan]

Sextant

Mariner’s Compass

Prince Henry + Better Maps• Medieval maps were of little

help to sailors.

• Prince Henry the Navigator used his power to establish a school that built ships, trained sailors, and sent them on missions of exploration.

• Students returned with more detailed maps; which were then studied at the academy.

• Exploration in the 15th century helped cartographers start to use new mapping techniques.

Questions

• Lets stop and reflect under the section labeled Motives and Means and answer the following questions:

1. What were the primary motives of explorers?

2. Why did merchants and governments become interested in reaching Asia by sea?

3. What new technologies were developed that helped explorers move beyond Europe?

4. How did Prince Henry of Portugal contribute to the Age of Exploration?

The Spanish Empire

The Voyages of ColumbusThe Spanish were trying to reach the Indies

by sailing westward across the Atlantic Ocean. An important figure in the history of Spanish exploration was an Italian known as Christopher Columbus (1451-1506).

Knowledgeable Europeans knew that the world was round but had little understanding of its circumference or the extent of the continent of Asia.

Convinced that the circumference of the earth was less than contemporaries believed and that Asia was larger than people thought, Columbus felt Asia could be reached by sailing west instead of around Africa.

The Voyages of Columbus

• Columbus persuaded Queen Isabella of Spain to finance his expedition. Columbus reached the Bahamas and in his four voyages explored Central America, still believing he had reached the Indies in Asia. Although Columbus clung to his belief until his death, other explorers soon discovered a new frontier altogether.

First Map of the America’s

Amerigo Vespucci is given credit for demonstrating that the new world was a new continent; not Asia as Columbus thought.

Fernando CortezFernando Cortez

The First Spanish Conquests:The Aztecs

The First Spanish Conquests:The Aztecs

Montezuma IIMontezuma II

vs.

vs.

Conquistadors• The Spanish conquistadors

were successful due to their superior weapons, organizational skills (particularly horse riding and battle strategies), and greedy determination. They also benefited from rivalries among the native peoples and the decimation of the natives by European diseases.

Spanish Conquest of the Aztec Empire• In 1519, a Spanish army under

the command of Cortes landed in Mexico. He marched to the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan; and made alliances with city-states that had tired of the oppressive rule of the Aztecs. Cortez arrived to a warm welcome from Montezuma II, who believed Cortez was a God.

• The Spanish took Montezuma hostage and pillaged the city. After a year, the locals revolted and drove the invaders from the city. Many of the Spanish were killed, but soon the Aztecs had faced a new problem: disease.

The Devastation of Small Pox• With no natural immunity to the diseases of

Europeans, many Aztecs fell sick and died. Meanwhile, Cortez received fresh soldiers from his new allies. When entering the city four months later with fresh soldiers they saw an appalling seen, as reported by Bernal Diaz, one of Cortez accomplices:

• “We could not walk without treading on the bodies and heads of dead Indians. I have read about the destruction of Jerusalem, but I do not think that the morality was greater there than here in Mexico, where most of the warriors who had crowded in from all the provinces and subject town had died. As I have said, the dry land and the stockades were piled with corpses. Indeed, the stench was so bad that no one could endure it…Even Cortes was ill from the odors which assailed his nostrils.”

Native Populations

• With no natural resistance to European diseases, the natives were ravaged by smallpox, measles, and typhus,, killing an estimated 80-90%. The population of central Mexico, estimated at roughly 11 million in 1519, declined to 6.5 million in 1540 and 2.5 million by the end of the century.

The Influence of the Colonial Catholic

Church

The Influence of the Colonial Catholic

Church

Guadalajara Cathedral

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Spanish Mission

The Influence of the Colonial Catholic Church

• By papal agreement, the Catholic monarchs of Spain were given extensive rights over Church affairs in the New World. They could appoint bishops, clergy, and build churches. • Catholic missionaries- especially Jesuits and Dominicans- fanned out across the Spanish empire, converting thousands of Indians. The mass conversion brought the organizational and institutional structures of Catholicism to the New World- including schools and hospitals.

The Treaty of Tordesillas• Pope Alexander VI used his authority to

divide up the new world between Portugal and Spain. The line drawn gave the majority of the land to Spain but this was not known at the time as what would become America was only thought to be a few small islands not entirely new continents.

Red = Spain Blue = Portugal

Questions• Lets stop and reflect over the section labeled

Spanish Empire and answer the following questions:

1. Why did Columbus set sail across the Atlantic Ocean?

2. How did “America” get its name?3. Explain why the conquistadors were successful

in defeating the natives?4. What was the role of the Catholic church in the

New World?5. What was the Treaty of Tordesillas? Who had

the “authority” to divide up the New World?

The “Columbian Exchange”

The “Columbian Exchange” Squash Avocado Peppers Sweet

Potatoes

Turkey Pumpkin Tobacco Quinine

Cocoa Pineapple

Cassava POTATO

Peanut TOMATO Vanilla MAIZE

Syphilis

Olive COFFEE BEAN Banana Rice

Onion Turnip Honeybee Barley

Grape Peach SUGAR CANE

Oats

Citrus Fruits Pear Wheat HORSES

Cattle Sheep Pigs Smallpox

Flu Typhus Measles Malaria

Diptheria Whooping Cough

SLAVES

Trinkets

RUM

GUNS

Slavery in AfricaSlavery in Africa• Slavery existed in Africa

for thousands of years before the Europeans arrived and began taking people to the New World. Thus, when the European Slave traders arrived in the 1500s, there was already a well established slave trade network in Africa.

Differing Institutions of Slavery

Slavery in Africa:• Africans enslaved

other Africans• Slaves stayed in

Africa • Slaves became

prostitutes, domestic servants( women) and soldiers (men).

• The majority of slaves in Africa were women and children.

• Some of these slaves died of diseases but many were freed.

• Slavery end at death – the slaves children would not continue to be slaves

Slavery in the Old World:• Europeans

enslaved Africans

• African Slaves were taken back to Europe

• These slaves were taken to the houses of wealthy Europeans and worked as either domestic servants or as exotic show pieces in wealthy people’s houses.

• These slaves had hard lives but were not treated as badly as the slaves in the New World

• Race did not determine whether or not you were as slave

Slavery in the New World:• Europeans

enslaved Africans

• African Slaves were taken to the New World

• The majority of slaves taken to the New World were males

• Most slaves worked in Agricultural Fields

• These slaves were treated brutally

• Slaves were in a racial class – these slaves were bonded to the land they worked for generations

The Brutality of the African Slave Trade

The Brutality of the African Slave Trade

• Once Europeans started to export slaves to the New World, the Atlantic slave trade devastated many African societies, particularly in West Africa.

Captives thrown overboard:

Swarms of sharks would follow slave ships, knowing that bodies would be thrown overboard.

The African Slave Trade• African cultures lost many of their young and more able members.• Over a period of 400 years, the Atlantic Slave Trade drained Africa of at least 25 million people.

The African Slave Trade

• During the 17th century, Africans had become part of a transatlantic trading network described as Triangular Trade. This term refers to the trading process in which goods and enslaved people were exchanged across the Atlantic Ocean.

• For example, merchants carrying rum and other goods from the New England colonies exchanged their merchandise for enslaved Africans. Africans were than transported to the West Indies where they were sold for sugar and molasses. These goods were then sold to rum producers in New England and the cycle began again.

The Middle Passage• The Voyage that brought Africans to the West Indies and later to North America was known as the middle passage, after the middle leg of the transatlantic trade triangle. For most Slaves the journey took eight to twelve weeks, but many slaves were loaded on this ship months before they departed. Some slaves were shackled on the ship seven to eight months before they departed waiting for other groups of slaves to be brought on board.

“Black” Gold for Sale!“Black” Gold for Sale!

Slave Ship PlanBrookes Slave Ship, 1788

Slave Ship PlanBrookes Slave Ship, 1788

Slave Ship InteriorSlave Ship Interior

“Coffin” Position: Onboard a Slave Ship

“Coffin” Position: Onboard a Slave Ship

The African Slave Trade

• On board a slave ship, Africans were beaten into submission and often fell victim to disease that spread rapidly. Slaves suffered from diseases such as malaria, yellow fever, measles, small pox, hook worm, scurvy, and dysentery. Some committed suicide by jumping overboard. Nearly 30 percent of the Africans aboard each slave ship perished during the brutal trip to the New World.

Questions• Lets reflect on the section labeled

African Slave Trade by answering the following questions:

1. Define the term Columbian exchange and draw a diagram that includes the items listed in red on the Columbian exchange map.

2. Explain how slavery was more brutal in the New World. Hint: You will need to analyze the Differing Institutions of Slavery Chart

3. Define the term middle passage.4. Describe three different things that happened to

slaves during the “middle passage.”

The Impact of European Expansion

European Empires in the Americas

European Empires in the Americas

Questions• Lets reflect on the section labeled Impact of

European Expansion and answer the following questions:

1. Under Mercantilism, the country with the most colonies will have the most favorable balance of trade and thus be the wealthiest. Which country held the most land? Where are the majority of their possessions?

2. What is one reason why the English may have chose to settle N. America rather than S. America?

The Last Step: Your task is to write a letter to King Ferdinand that includes TEN of the following terms from the Age of Exploration. You must underline the terms in your piece! Your letter should explain your voyage and discoveries. All letters must be 1 page in length. NO EXCEPTIONS!

• Compass• Prince Henry• Columbus• Cortez• Queen Isabella• Aztecs• Montezuma II

• Conquistadors• Small Pox• Missionaries• Slave Trade• Middle Passage• Columbian Exchange• Slave