Exploring ‘New’ Worlds and Lands Imperialism. European Knowledge of the World 950 CE

Exploring ‘New’ Worldsand Lands

Imperialism

European Knowledge of the World 950 CE

Renaissance Continued?

How might Renaissance Spirit have contributed to Exploration..?– Classical Learning- Renaissance society had

wanted to learn more– Worldly Pleasures- Focused on living in this

world; enjoying what the world had to offer was a way to accomplish this

– Celebration of the Individual- Glory for explorers (& eventually nations)

Why by sea?

No longer wanted to go over ground– Mongols– Spices – Arabs and Italians controlled most of the route

Trade routes before Renaissance

How explore? New TechnologiesCaravel:– constructed frame-

first and covered with planks fitted flush to one another.

– carried three or even four masts with lateen (square or triangle) sails.

Astrolabe: used to determine latitude of a ship at sea by measuring the noon altitude of the sun

Compass: used to indicate direction

Motivations

3 G’s of Exploration:

Gold: Spices and Profits– Increase in demand due to Crusades– Italian monopoly

Glory– Have one’s name remembered forever…

eventually turned into a source of national pride

God: Spread Christianity– Sacred duty to convert all non-believers

Exploration

Portuguese

Prince Henry– School of navigation– Quest for $$$ Riches and Christian Kingdom– Wanted another route to the East

Africa (1441)– Gold & Ivory– Slaves: new labor source after plague

• 60 years—50,000 African Slaves

– Gold Coast & Western Africa trading posts

Portuguese Explorers

Bartholomew Dias– Hits the tip of Africa – (Cape of Good Hope)

Vasco da Gama– July 8, 1494 leave for India– 10 months later arrives Calicut, India– Returns with cinnamon & pepper in 1499 to hero’s

welcome– Leads to agreement with Arabs for exclusive trade thru

Indian Ocean, China, and the Spice Islands

Vasco d

a Gam

a’s voyages

The World in 1482

The World After:

Spanish Explorers (aka Sailors)Columbus– Isabella and Ferdinand to Spain– The good– The bad– The ugly – The interesting

Amerigo VespucciVasco Nunez de Balboa– Claims Pacific Ocean for Spain

Magellan– 1519-1522 Travel around the world– Proves world was bigger than thought; Americas a

separate continent

Columbus’ Voyages

Rivalries on the High Seas

Spain vs. Portugal– Pope Alexander VI and later Julius II demands

both countries sign Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)

• Line of Demarcation define what territories was Spanish and Portuguese in the New World• West= Spain• East= Portugal

Spanish vs. Portuguese

Both have territory in the Americas, “claim happy”

Need to draw a line- Pope Alexander VI (1493) created the Line of Demarcation– West of this line is Spain’s, East is Portugal’s– Treaty of Tordesillas pushed the line a bit

farther West

Northwest Passage

Many explorers (Columbus incl.) were trying to find an alternate route to Asia (China/India)

– Instead of going East, we can go West to get to Asia.

Explorers believed there was water way that led to Asia. Named The Northwest Passage, this mythical body of water was believed to:

1. Go directly from Europe to Asia

and then later2. Connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans

– Unfortunately, it did not exist, and North America stood in their way

Your favorite foodsOn a piece of paper, list three of your favorite foods. Leave lots of space between the 3 items you list. (Hint: it can be manufactured food or fruit/vegetable/fish/meat)

If a made food (such as pizza), list the main ingredients.

Write down if you know where the main ingredients originally grew.

Origin of the species

Potatoes – Andes of S. America

Corn – The Americas

Wheat – SW Asia

Sugar – SE Asia

Tomatoes – S. America

Movement of goods across oceans

Traders had brought spices from Asia.

Now brought new crops from the Americas to Europe.

Europe was the center of a triangular trade.

Europe-Africa-The Americas.

Why European countries?

Working with a one partner next to you, brainstorm what would be needed to conduct a major exploration trip. Make your list as inclusive as possible on the key things you would need.

Who is paying for the exploration?

Exploration in Africa

We’ve discussed life in Africa before contact, what do we remember..?

Exploration to Africa begins with Dias and De Gama

Search for profit: Africa was a country rich in resources

Establishment of plantations and Slave Trade

Atlantic slave trade

Many conquered people were forced to work in mines, plantations– Governors of colonies had incredible power

New diseases and brutal work conditions killed millions– Europeans needed more workers

Started buying slaves from Africa– There was already a slave trade in Africa!

What’s new = taking them to the Americas

Atlantic Slave Trade

Europeans needed cheap labor for farms (the British and Spanish) and silver mines (Spanish)

10-12 million Africans forced come to America– Mostly to South America, esp Brazil for the

sugar plantations

Slaves in all 13 British colonies

The triangle trade -- simplified

The triangle trade -- detailed

Latin American Colonial Life

Spanish-Dominated colonial structure (why would they do this?)– Peninsulares– Creoles– Mestizoes– Mulatoes

Spread of Christianity

CONSEQUENCES OF CONTACT/EXPLORATION

Negative Impacts of Exploration

Epidemics - Diseases that spread quicker than they can be cured: – Small Pox– Influenza.

Indigenous (Native) population had not yet built immunities to the diseases. – Indigenous Pop. in 1492: 54-100 million.

Indigenous Pop. in 1750: Less than 500,000

Columbian Exchange

Columbian Exchange – the global exchange of goods, ideas, plants and animals, and disease that began with Columbus’s exploration of the new world.

Name some of your favorite foods! – Look at the charts on pages 496-497 and see where

the foods came from. – How would your diet be different without the

Columbian Exchange?

CE Continued…

Continue looking at the charts and pictures on pages 496-497– Which foods that originated in the Western Hemisphere are important

staples in Africa today? – How might a continent like Africa – which in some places suffer from

frequent droughts and malnutrition – be different without such foods.?– What were three major impacts of the Columbian exchange and

explain why they were so important?

What were some of the unmentioned costs of the Columbian Exchange?

The Causes and Effects of the Columbian Exchange

Consequences of Contact – Commercial Revolution

What factors contributed to Europe’s shift from local economies to an international trading system?

What is a guild how does it compare to the “putting out” system?

Why did entrepreneurs want to bypass the guilds?

What does the word “mercantilism” mean?

How did mercantilist nations strengthen their economies?

The Causes and Effects of the Commercial Revolution

Consequences of Contact/Exploration

Summary of European influences: – Europe dominates much of the world from 1500-1900

– Connection of Africa, American and European economies and politics

– Trade (sharing of ideas), different foods introduced (Corn/maize, Fruits, Potato) helped end famine in both ends of the world.

– Advancement of Western Civilization – precursor to the United States.

CONSEQUENCES OF CONTACT/EXPLORATION

Europe dominates much of the world from 1500 to 1900Connection of Africa, America, and Europe’s economies and politicsTrade (sharing of ideas), Different foods introduced (Corn/Maize, Fruits, Potato) helped end famine in both ends of the world.Advancement of Western Civilization, precursor to the United States

Colonies in the Americas

How did Spain and Portugal build colonies in the Americas? Write a diary entry from the perspective of one of the groups in the colonies. Describe what a typical day for you might have been like. What factors contributed to Europe’s shift from local economies to an international trading system?