Exploration

Chapter 3

Vikings

• Norseman -The first Europeans to impact the North American People

• The Vikings 1000 A.D.: Raiders of North Europe, who would rush in on their unsuspecting victims: they would kill women and children as well as men. What they couldn’t steal, or take with them, they would burn. (Berserk-most fear Viking warrior.)

• Knarrs - Their ships allowed them easy escape and silent attacks. The ships were the best of the times; they had keels that prevented rolling and increased speed and mobility. A warship was equipped with 15 to 30 pairs of oars and had a long-up curving prow that ended with a wood carving prow that ended with a carving of a dragon or snake.

Leif Erikson: Leif, Tornvald, Thornstein, Freudis (children of Erick by Thjodild)

• Erik the Red- Was kicked out of Iceland because of murder. He and his kinsman sailed for Greenland and settled. About 1000 A.D. Erik’s son Leif led an expedition west to find new territory. Leif landed on the east coast of North America (Newfoundland) and called it “Vinland” because of the grapes they found. Leif returned to Greenland and reported his findings. According to legend, natives pushed the Vikings out of North America, but archeological finds prove the Vikings landed.

• In 1960 – Viking ruins were found proving the sagas were true – Vikings were the first Europeans to settle on North America.

Middle Ages

• Roman Empire declines• Europe breaks into

Manors and function as a Feudal society.

• Exposure to new ideas and goods and the Black Plague change European cultures from agriculture to a trade market

• Crusades – 200 years of religious wars for control of the Holy Land between Christians and Muslims. Cruel and bloody, the theme of movement of ideas and goods were exchanged created a new market for Asian goods and inventions between Europe and Asia.

Why explore?

• Trade (the want and need for goods)

• Fame (drive to be known - $)• Conquest (rule over others –

slave markets)• Gold (money makes people

do things they normally would never do)

• God (to spread religious beliefs or to save souls)

• Safety (to avoid being punished at home)

• A Royal Fifth – the country that sponsored the explorer was to get the profits of the trips. The Spanish Crown demanded 1/5 of all wealth to return to Spain.

• The Catholic Church sent missionaries or priests to ensure the church received its share and the word of god was taken to the natives.

Marco Polo

• 1271, the Italian trading family took 17 year old Marco overland to Cathay to live with the Kahn for 17 years. This opened trading network that became expensive to pay the various kingdoms and groups between Turkey and China to allow passage. Goods were very expensive, but demand was worth the price.

• 1290 – Marco Polo’s book, Description of the World was printed. The world learned of gunpowder, rubies, silk, spices to preserve food, inventions of printing presses and paper and wanted to know more. This started the Renaissance – the rebirth of learning in Europe and provoked travel.

East meets West• Mansa Musa (Mali)– wealthy

Muslim who traveled most of Africa to the Alexandria and the Mediterranean and to Constantinople. He took gold to trade for salt to cure and preserve food. He controlled Timbuktu and western Africa and established universities to spread knowledge and record histories later conquered by Songhai. European contact with African groups expanded trade and navigational knowledge.

• Holy Land – Palestine and Jerusalem, the location of the monotheistic religions: Judaism, Islam, Christianity.

• All three believe in one god and the basic ideals to live a selfless life and serve others and god through prayer and action.

• When Muslims take Jerusalem, the Christians call out for a holy war to reclaim the Holy Land that lasted for 200+ years

• Exposure to new products and ideas – Desire to trade and improve life in Europe occurs.

1350 – Black Death

• Fleas bit rats and cats and dogs – animals inside homes brought the fleas to humans and virus was spread: egg size swelling, rash or hemorrhage encircled the waist, stench from sweat, excrement, breath was horrible.

• Death came within 4 to 6 days of contraction.

• Bodies burned to stop the spread.

• ¼ population died, bringing an end to the Feudal system.

• Most stone masons and architects died leaving Cathedrals unfinished for 100 years.

1400’s- Exploration

• Europeans wanted a trade route between Europe and Asia because Muslim traders were charging very high prices for Far Eastern goods. Portugal searched for a sea route east. Spain searched for a sea route west.

• Prince Henry of Portugal – a sea route with carvel ships “Age of Exploration

• B. Dias – Sailed to Cape Hope, a way around Africa

• Vasco DaGama sailed to India 1497-8 $$$$$

Christopher Columbus 1492

• Real names: Cristofo Colombo (Italy), Cristo’bal Colon (Spain)

• • Myths: -C.C. was not the

first man to discover America;

• -C.C. was not trying to prove the earth was round;

• -C.C. died not knowing he had discovered a new world.

• Why he went: - read about Marco Polo’s adventures in China, and thought he could sail 2,500 miles west and reach the eastern shore of Orient. (It was really 10,000 miles.)

• -father-in-law had many charts and maps he used.

• -Queen Isabella of Spain told him that she would make him viceroy (governor) of any new lands he might acquire for Spain.

The first Voyage: C.C. left Spain Aug.3, 1492

• Land was sighted on October 12, 1492, and he landed on the present day island of San Salvador. He thought he had found the East Indies, so he called the island natives “Indians.”

• Claimed all the lands for Spain as “Asia”

• The Importance: CC set out not knowing where he was going; when he arrived he didn’t know where he was; when he got home, he didn’t know where he had been. But he opened a new continent for trade, increased the knowledge of the world’s geography, and started more voyages of exploration.

John Cabot – 1497

• An Italian who believed Columbus had found the correct route to China, but felt he could shorten the distance by sailing farther north. Cabot left May 1497 on the ship the Mathew with a crew of 18 – land was sighted June 24, 1497.

• Cabot returned to England and reported he had reached northern Asia and the fish so plentiful that all you had to do was lower a basket into the sea to fill it. (The Grande Banks)

• Importance: Cabot’s voyages gave England claim to North America and led to the founding of English colonies in America.

The Line of Demarcation – 1493

• The voyages west brought the vision of larger empires to exploring countries of Portugal and Spain. When CC returned to Spain in 1493, the news of new lands stirred greed; in order to prevent disputes and to find a way to control Christian missionary work, Pope Alexander VI drew an imaginary north-south-line on a map called the “Papal Line of Demarction.” It said that Spain was permitted to have all of the land west of the line and Portugal was given everything to the east of the line.

• Portugal was not happy! In 1494 the line was moved farther west and provided Portugal claim to Brazil.

Exploration – Hey, this can’t be Asia….

• Amerigo Vespucci – 1497-1503 made four voyages to the New World as an Italian explorer for whom America was named 1497 reached the Continental land or mainland and called it a “New World”

• Vespucci was one of the first to realize that the “new lands to the west were not Asia, but a different land. Mapmakers named the new land AMERICA in honor of the Italian explorer.

• Line of Demarcation or misguided find of Pedro Alavares Cabral (1500 was enroute to India and was blown off course by the prevailing winds and landed on the coast of Brazil.) Portuguese claim to Brazil…

• 1513-1521 -Ponce De Leon-Sailed for Spain on Columbus’s 2nd voyage. He conquered Puerto Rico, Granada, and was ordered to conquer Bimini. He set sail toward Bimini in 1513. According to legend, there was a fountain of youth on one of the Bimini, Ponce De Leon coasted the mainland along Florida. He thought it was an island, named it Florida “Flowery Easter”, and claimed it for Spain, conquered the Caribs. He was very old for the time – his age gave the legend of the fountain of youth and most think he was searching for gold.

• In 1521 he attempted to go back to Florida, was shot with an arrow and died, at the age of 61.

Exploration - $, Land, God, Eldorado• Balboa – 1513 he left Spain to

seek his fortune in America; lived on Hispaniola and became deeply in debt and ran away. As a stowaway, he was able to overthrow the commander and take control of the men and explored to find gold. The natives told him that farther south he would find mountain people that ate from golden plates and drank from golden cups near the great sea. The overthrown commander returned to Spain and demanded Balboa’s death.

• Balboa knew his only defense was to find gold and on September 25, 1513, he went in search of the legend. He reached the highest point in Panama and saw the Pacific Ocean. He called it the “South Sea” and claimed it and all the land it touched for the King of Spain. In 1517, Balboa was captured and executed for treason.

Ferdinand Magellan- Portuguese navigator

• 1509-sailed east as far as Singapore

• 1510-helped conquer Goa, India

• 1510-18- wanted to get involved in Spice trade and felt that there was a southern passage around South America. He also thought the “South Sea” was a small body.

• September 20, 1519- Magellan sailed for Spain toward South America with 5 ships and 240 men. Sailed along the eastern coast of South America, found the strait of “Magellan” and sailed into the Pacific Ocean (Peaceful) *The huge ocean caused the men to run short of food and water and to suffer from scurvy. Landed in the Philippines and was killed April 1521. Cano took command of the one remaining ship and a crew of 18 men, found Singapore, sailed to Spain (Sept. 6, 1522) to complete the first voyage around the world (3 years).

Conquest of the Aztec and Inca• Cortez – 1519, led and expedition to

the Yucatan Peninsula to verify rumors of riches. He took: 500 men, 16 horses, armor, swords, and match-lock muskets (all were magical to the natives) The year of the reed was 1519 on the Aztec calendar and the year the white god of learning, Quetzacoatl, was to return seek vengeance upon the Aztecs. Cortez used this legend to his favor, the enemies of the Aztecs as allies, destroyed the Aztec gods without repercussion, and conquered Tenochtitlan by 1521. He as named the Royal Governor of Mexico and brought Spain $$$$$$$$$$$

• Pizarro – 1531-41, served with Balboa and explored Central America

• Built ships on the south side of Panama isthmus and sailed toward Peru, with 180 men, horses, cannons, and guns in 1532

• Found Atahaulpa at Cajamarca, captured and held the Inca for ransom of a room 17”x19” filled once with gold and twice with silver

• Each low soldier was paid 40 pounds gold and 90 pounds in silver

• 1535 Lima made the capital to send the royal fifth and the church fifth to Europe

• 1541 Pizarro assassinated, Spain claim most of South America

• 40year fight to control Inca empire

French enter exploration• Verrazano- (1524) led a French

expedition to the New World to find riches and to locate a western passage to Asia. He sailed along the eastern coast of the U.S.A. and into N.Y. Bay and then as far north as Nova Scotia. France used his voyage as claim to the New World and used his description to map the coast for North America from North Carolina to Maine. He pirated Spanish ships for France later on.

• Cartier – 1534-42 sailed up the St. Lawrence River claiming it for France, set up fur trade with Native Americans

• Samuel de Champlain Father of New France, explored the Great Lakes and befriended the Indians 1603-1615

• Louis Joliet (Fur Trader) and Jacque Marquette (priest) explore Mississippi

• Robert de LaSalle Followed the Mississippi to its mouth and claimed all the lands of the Mississippi Valley drainage and named it Louisianna in honor of the king

One golden city, must be more…

• Cabeza DeVaca – 1528, sent to colonize Florida, shipwrecked off of the Texas coast and was captured by the Indians. He escaped walked to Mexico where he told stories of golden cities to the north of Mexico. These reports provoked many Spanish expeditions to the north!

• Pizarro 1531-33: Served with Balboa and know of the legend of riches to the south. He found the Inca in a civil war and captured the Inca ruler, Atahualpa, and held him for ransom. Once the ransom was paid, Atahualpa was killed in 1535 near present day Lima, Peru. Jealous partners of Pizarro assassinated him in 1541.

Eldorado• Hernan DeSoto – Cruel

conquistador, former partner of Pizarro, left retirement to lead a group of nobles to Florida searching for a golden city.

• Traveled FL, GA, SC, AL, MS, LA, TX – destroying native villages and leaving disease that decimated the population – Spain claimed Southeastern part of USA

• Coronado 1540 -1544: Searched North into Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, and Arizona for the Seven Cities of Gold (Cibolia). He found the Zuni pueblos that were rich with food storage, but not gold. He found the Grand Canyon and brought Spanish settlement to the Southwest with a brutality the Indians had never seen before.

Exploration- “Searching for a Passage West” Move over Spain, the rest of the world wants part of the wealth…..

• Jacques Cartier (1524-35) No one knew how big North America was, so the King of France sent Cartier to find the “Northwest Passage” to Asia. Cartier’s voyages were the beginning of the French empire in North America. Cartier explored the coast of the Newfoundland, found and sailed up the St. Lawrence River, and founded the settlement that is now Montreal.

• Sir Francis Drake (1572-1580) Worked in the West Indies as a trading ship captain, the fleet was attacked by the Spanish and Drake wanted revenge upon the Spanish. England wanted in on the “goods” and “secretly” backed Drake’s attack on the Spanish. In 1572, Drake landed in Panama and captured 30 tons of silver that was headed for Spain. In 1577, with the ship the Golden Hind, Drake got the queen’s permission to sail to the Pacific Ocean and attack the Spanish settlements long the western coast of South America. He continued to sail north searching for the western outlet of the “Northwest Passage” and got as far north as Vancouver Island (claimed by England).

• Henry Hudson – 1607-1611 He as sent to find the Northwest Passage by way of the North Pole. He found Hudson Bay and Strait, corrected many maps of the area. In 1611 Hudson’s ship and crew were frozen-in the Hudson Bay area, the crew mutinied and set Hudson and his son adrift. England claimed all of the Hudson Bay area.

• Where they went, when they landed, and the people they met would never be the same. The claiming of the land had to be done by people. You had to get your country on the map – how to get them to pay their own way and stay had to be difficult task. But the Europeans had their way and the “New World” would be competed for by anyone who could get here.

They tried to Help

• Barholome de Las Casas –”the protector of the Indians” came with Columbus and saw the horrible things the Spaniards did to the natives.

• -recorded the suicides and drop in population

• Appealed to the crown for laws to help

• Laws were passed, but not enforced

• Juanna Ines de la Cruz is the example of the limits placed on women

• 2 choices: to marry and become the property of their husbands with no legal rights or to join a convent and serve the church with one advantage to learn to read and write

• She wrote poetry about women’s rights, shunned

• Considered America’s first great poet