• How did European exploration affect the Americas?a. Land was conquered;b. They exploited their wealth;c. And, convert its people to

Christianity

• Why was Spain eager to find a new route across the Atlantic Ocean?a. Spain took interest from profitable

discovery and exploitation earlier in the century of islands in the Atlantic. Perhaps, they thought, similar islands could be found across the Atlantic

• Portuguese:a. Sought a route around Africa’s

southern tip into the Indian Ocean;b. Search for India, East Indies, and

Chinac. Dominated the trade routes south

and east around Africa

• Spain and Portugal Divide the Americas:a. Treaty of Tordesillas (1494): Split

the world of new discoveries by drawing a north-south boundary line through the mid-Atlantic west of the Azores

• The Conquistadors March On:a. Spain extended their empire deep into

North and South America b. Francisco Pizarro conquered the Incas

of Peruc. Aside from wealth, conquistadors

were motivated by their religious faith (Christianity) and loyalty to their king;

• Strengths of the Conquistadors:a. Superior weapons;b. Guns gave the Spanish a

psychological advantage;c. Had horsesd. Disease carried by

conquistadors

• Devastation of Disease:a. Smallpox, typhus, bubonic plague,

and cholera;b. These diseases existed in Europe

for centuries; as a result, the Europeans developed natural defenses against these diseases

c. The Native Americans did not have this “natural defense” so their population dramatically decreased in numbers.

• MAJOR EFFECT OF DISEASE:a. Because of the death of so

many Native Americans the Spanish turned to importing Africans as slaves to work the new sugar plantations on the tropical coasts.

• The Transatlantic Exchange: the dispersion of so many of the world’s plants, animals, and microorganisms been so mixed