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Early European Exploration
Bell Ringer
• Why did European nations begin exploring the Atlantic and Indian Oceans?• What were some possible consequences of this exploration?
Reasons for Exploration
(talking mainly about Spain and Portugal)
Reason #1: The idea of Reconquista
• Wars in Iberian Peninsula between Christians and Muslims• Outcome: Christians win and
kick Muslims out of Iberian Peninsula• Creates a sense of nationalism
which leads to more and more people with expansionist feelings
Reason #2: Collapse of Pax Mongolica• Muslims took control over the trade routes• Silk roads become a dangerous place to be (especially for Christians)
thus leading to a sharp decrease in trade from it• However, Europeans had gotten used to these items and still wanted
them so desire was still high
Reason #3: Desire and new technology• Improvements to maritime and
military supplies• Sextant, compass, astrolabe,
gunpowder
• Desire to find a new route to trade with Asia• Governments were more willing
to throw money into exploration
Portuguese Exploration
• Made sense for Portugal to explore Atlantic due to geography• Prince Henry the Navigator• Opened a maritime school• Example of government backed
exploration• Studied navigation and cartography• Made improvements on sailing
instruments• Developed the caravel ship
• Not unlike all the other countries, Portugal explored because of their desire for gold
•Main goal of Portuguese exploration was to find alternate trade routes•As they moved down the African coast…•Portugal leased a West African trade port from Songhai and traded for gold & ivory•African rulers wanted guns, cannons, & metal goods•Were NOT strong enough to dominate but did take several seaside towns and set up trading posts
Sugar & Slaves Trade Begins• As Portugal & later Spain moved
into the Atlantic, they encountered tropical islands• Diseases that they brought killed
off the native people and they began using slaves purchased in West Africa to grow sugar• A new “Atlantic System” of trade
develops• At first, Africans controlled slave
trade• Traded POWs for guns
Despite Europeans being the ones that discovered America, Africans had higher
migration numbers there (however it was forced)
Slaves soon became the world’s #1 export and stayed that way for a hundred years
Portuguese Reach the Indian Ocean
• 1497-1498: Vasco da Gama sailed around Africa and reached India• He traded at the port of
Calicut for luxury goods• This wide swing around West
Africa to catch the ocean currents led to the discovery of South America
Changes in IOMS Trade• Before = no central control• Traders operated independently of governments• Portuguese introduced use of organized gov’t military
force to the IOMS of trading • European governments like Portugal & later the
Netherlands invested in the success of trading operations
Portuguese possessions at their height
Red = actual ownership
Pink = areas of influence
Blue = area of first European Exploration
LESSON: EUROPEANS GAINED SMALL “COASTAL ENCLAVES” in the IOMS– THAT’S
IT!
Spanish Exploration
Spanish Exploration
• Spain needed a non-Portuguese-dominated route• Spain’s monarchs purposefully sponsored voyages by
Christopher Columbus• The goal was NOT to find a “New World” or to explore
without purpose. The goal was to get to Asia by going around the other side of the globe• Treaty of Tordesillas (1494): Pope Alexander VI drew an
imaginary line down the middle of the Atlantic Ocean – splitting the world’s territory in “½” between just Spain and Portugal
Spanish Conquests
• Christopher Columbus’s discovery of the Caribbean allowed Spain to expand sugar-growing enterprises• Spain also sent “conquistadors” to
create colonies in the Americas• Aztecs – conquered in 1519• Incas – conquered in 1532
• When conquering Incas and Aztecs, Spain was helped by groups previously conquered by those empires
• Diseases like smallpox helped the small government of Spain conquer these huge empires of millions of people
Spain’s Empire
The Atlantic Trade System
• Also known as the “Triangle of Trade”• After Portugal and Spain’s explorations, Europe finally has a trading
system they can participate in again.• Other European nations like the Netherlands, England, and France
soon get in on the trading game.
