How it all began….Events that led to Exploration

The Late Middle Ages:

The Roman Catholic Church had great power in Europe during the Middle Ages. Daily life revolved around the rituals of the Catholic church. The Catholic Church was also the center for learning. Outside the members of the clergy, few people even among the nobility, were able to read or write.

The Late Middle Ages

The Crusades:In 1095, Pope Urban II declared a crusade, or holy war to win back control of the region known as the Holy Land, the land where Jesus had lived and taught. There were 9 crusades over the next 200 years. In the end, they failed to win permanent control of the Holy Land but the Crusades would help inspire European exploration!

The Crusades:Important Long Term Effects:

Put Europeans in contact with more advanced Muslim civilizations.

Europeans were attracted to the rich goods they saw in the Holy Land

They tasted new things like spices, oranges, peppers, and ginger. They also learned about advanced technology used for navigation. In time, the Crusades would help inspire Europeans to look

overseas for trade.

The Renaissance:

- Beginning in the 1300s, there was a rebirth of learning in Europe called The Renaissance.

- European scholars and artists began to reflect new interests and thinking's.

- Science & invention flourished; in the mid 1500s Gutenberg invented the Printing Press.

- Using movable type the printing press enabled a printer to produce large numbers of identical books in a short amount of time. This helped the ability to read become more widespread.

- Ideas & Learning spread faster then before.

The Reformation:

Not all Europeans were happy with the power of the Catholic Church.

In 1517, a monk named Martin Luther demanded that the church reform. When his demands were rejected, Luther rebelled and he and his followers became known as the Protestants, because they were protesting the Catholic church.

Many new protestant churches emerged. This plunged Europe into a long series of violent wars between the Catholics and Protestants.

Powerful New Monarchies arise:

SpainPortugalFranceEngland

CH 2-1 NotesVOCABULARY

1. navigation: the science of locating the position and plotting the course of ships.

 2. Circumnavigate: to travel around the entire

earth. 3. strait: A narrow passage that connects two

large bodies of water. 4. compass: An instrument that shows

direction. 5. astronomy: The study of stars and planets.

Helped explorers with direction, weather, and keeping track of time of year.

Factors that helped lead to exploration:The Crusade, Renaissance,

Reformation, the rise of European powers and the

expansion of trade

set the stage for an era of exploration!

Factors that helped lead to exploration: EVENT HOW IT LED TO

EXPLORATION

1. The Crusades -Europeans learned about riches and goods in other parts of the world.

2. The Renaissance - Learning and new invention became important to more and more people.

3. The Reformation - Religious wars in Europe between the Catholics and Protestants made people want to look elsewhere for homes.

4. Competing Nations -Spain, Portugal, France, and England began to compete for power.- More land = More $ = More power

5. Trade Expands - Countries began looking for better, faster trading routes.

Goals of exploration: 3 G’s =

1. GOLD

2. GLORY

3. GOD

Early explorers:THE VIKINGS: First to reach North America in 1000 A.D. Vikings sailed from Greenland to North

America led by Leif Erikson

Early explorers: Henry The Navigator : Prince of Portugal. Set up a Navigational School to teach

math, geography, and train sea captains about navigation and mapmaking.

Early explorers:3. Vasco da Gama:Portuguese sailor.Was the first to round the

southern tip of Africa and continue northeast to India.

This route became and important trade route that helped boost Portuguese wealth and power!

Early explorers:4. Christopher Columbus:1492 he accidentally reached North America

while attempting to reach ASIA (The Indies Islands).

He called the natives Indians. He believed he successfully reached Asia!

In 1492, Columbus set off with three ships, the Niña, Pinta, and Santa María.

He had underestimated the distance of his journey.

Two months after setting sail, he and his crew landed in the Bahamas, instead of Asia.

Columbus had a crew of 90 men & boys.

Columbus named the island San Salvador “Holy Savior” and claimed it for SpainThis island is today part of the Bahamas

Columbus believed that he had landed on one of the many islands in the Indies off the coast of mainland China as was described by Marco Polo

Early explorers: 5. Amerigo Vespucci:After sailing twice to the “New World” he realized it

was not Asia.A German mapmaker labled the region: “the Land of

Amerigo” Which would later be shortened to America.

Early explorers:6. Ferdinand Magellan:

Went on the first voyage to circumnavigate the earth.

Searching for a North-West passage.

THE COLUMBIAN EXCHANGE: A transfer of people, products, and ideas between the two

hemispheres.

THE COLUMBIAN EXCHANGE: A transfer of people, products, and ideas between the two

hemispheres.

DANGERS AT SEA:1. Bad Weather /

Storms2. Starvation3. Getting Lost4. Piracy5. Mutiny6. Sea Monsters

CH 2-2 NOTESAge of Exploration Continues…

NEW SPAIN1500-1700

VOCAB:1. charter: an official government document that gives

certain rights to an individual or a group.2. merchant: A person who makes a living by buying

and selling goods.3. colony: A settlement ruled by people from another

land.4. conquistador: a Spanish soldier-adventurer,

conqueror.5. plantations: large farms worked by laborers who live

on the property.6. encomienda: Spanish land grants that included the

right to demand labor or taxes from Native Americans.

NEW SPAIN1500-1700

IMPORTANT PEOPLE:1. Hernando Cortes: Spanish conqueror of the Aztec civilization.2. Francisco Pizarro: Spanish conqueror of the Inca Empire; The largest Native Empire at the time.3. Bartolome de Las Casas: Spanish priest who worked for better treatment for Native Americans

FACTORS THAT LED TO SPANISH VICTORY:1. Better weapons: Spanish had armor,

muskets, and cannons to easily defeat native spears and bow and arrows.

2. Horses: Spaniards brought over from Spain. Native Americans had never seen this animal before.

3. Native American divisions: The Native groups had many rivalries amongst one another, the Spanish learned to use this for an advantage.

SPANISH COLONIES:In order to control it’s new empire, Spain created

a formal system of government to rules it’s colonies.

- Native Americans became a source of labor (slaves) to the Spanish settlers. - They worked in mines, on ranches, and on plantations.

- Native Americans were also forced to attend missions or religious settlements/schools. The Spanish wanted to convert the natives to Christianity.

- When the Native death toll rose, Spanish looked to Africa as a new source of labor. Thus by 1517, the Atlantic Slave Trade had begun.

Spanish Social SystemPeninsular: born in Spain and came to live in the New World

Creole: born in the New World from Peninsular parents.

Mestizos: born of Spanish and Native American blood

Mulattos: born of Spanish and African blood

Spanish Social System:Peninsulares: Held mostly government jobs.Creoles: also help important positions. Many

were wealthy merchants or plantation ownersMestizos: Could achieve economic success as

ranchers, farmers, or lower merchants but could never enter into upper levels of society.

Mulattos: were held at the bottom of society.

CH 2-3 & 2-4 NOTES: EUROPEANS COMPETE

FOR POWER IN NORTH AMERICA

VOCABULARY:

1.MERCANTALISM_: The idea that colonies exist to make the home country wealthy and powerful.

2.North-West Passage_: A waterway through or around North America.

3. Missionary: A person who goes to another land to convert people to a religion.

4. Alliance: An agreement between nations to aid (help) and protect on another.

→► Due to RELIGIOUS tensions/differences in Europe, nations could not count on one another as trading partners.

→► Thus, European nations more then ever looked to set up COLONIES, or settlements in the “New World”. →► They hoped the goods from those colonies would make them wealthy and powerful! (MERCANTALISM)

► Colonies in the “New World” claimed by France were known as New France.

► New France locations:1. French explorers focused on areas of what is today CANADA

in the north. Specifically they settled along the St. Lawrence River.

□ SAMUEL De CHAMPLAIN was the French founder of this colony and called it Quebec.

2. French explorers also discovered and claimed the area all along the MISSISSIPPI RIVER.

□ They named this region LOUISIANA after King Louis XIV (14th).

► Life in New France:

□ French settlers profited from being TRAPPERS (fish & furs).

□ They treated the Native Americans as ALLIES (friends) and trading partners

(unlike the Spanish, who were bad to the natives).

► Dutch land claims in North America were based on HENRY HUDSON’s exploration of the Hudson River. They heard tales of the bountiful natural resources.

►Dutch traders were very successful trading with the NATIVE AMERICANS so they established a permanent colony.

□ They called this colony NEW NETHERLAND (this is what is today New York!)

□ To expand their control of trade in the area, the Dutch governor Peter Minuit purchased the island at the tip of the Hudson from Native Americans, he called this island NEW AMSTERDAM. (what is today NYC / Manhattan!)

► ENGLAND became jealous of the Dutch colony.

In 1664, under the leadership of the King’s brother the DUKE OF YORK, England will seize and take over New Netherland!

□ It was renamed in the Duke’s honor- NEW YORK.

COLONIAL IMPACT ON NATIVE AMERICANS:

1.Diseases spread, killing many of the Native population

2. Sacred Land was taken. Natural resources were taken.

3. Natives were forced to convert to Christianity.