The Age of Exploration

The Value of Spices• Pepper and other spices

(like cinnamon, cloves, & nutmeg) were extremely expensive in Europe

• Spices were used for flavoring food, but also as a preservative (to slow the rotting process)

• Spices came mostly from the “Spice Islands” (modern-day Indonesia)

The Quest for Cheaper Spices• The spice trade was controlled

by the Muslims (remember, they were between Europe and Indonesia), so Europeans needed to find a way to “cut out the middleman” and bypass Muslim traders

• Europeans (especially Spain and Portugal) began to explore Africa’s Atlantic coastline to see if they could go around Africa to reach Indonesia

Spice Trade Routes

Why Now and Not Sooner?• Sea exploration had

became possible thanks to new inventions:– Improved map-making

methods– The astrolabe, an

instrument (invented by a Muslim) for determining latitude

– Better ship designs– Better weapons for

defense (naval cannons)

Portuguese Exploration• Portugal went east

– 1415-1460: Prince Henry the Navigator sent ships to explore along African coast

– 1488: Portuguese reached Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa

– 1497: Vasco de Gama sailed around the Cape of Good Hope and reached India; trip to India took 10 months but returned a profit of 3000%

– Beginning in 1502, Portuguese captured several port cities in Asia to use as trading outposts

What Did They Find in Asia?• A heavy trade network

already existed between China, Southeast Asia, India, and East Africa

• Cultures that were heavily dominated by Chinese and Indian influences

• Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam were already strongly rooted in the area, little interest in Christianity

European Successes in Asia• The Portuguese

– 1511: Portugal captured the Strait of Malacca, giving them control of the spice trade

– Focused on controlling ports so that ships could sail from Europe to Indonesia in short legs; they did not move inland to create colonies

• The Dutch– Challenged the Portuguese spice

monopoly; captured Strait of Malacca in 1641

– The Dutch East India Company was formed by a group of wealthy investors to control the spice trade

• The Spanish– 1521: Spain claimed the Philippines and

quickly colonized and converted the natives to Catholicism

European Failures in Asia• India: Mughal Dynasty was too strong

for Europeans to conquer until the 1750s

• China– China was so advanced that

Europeans had little to offer in trade that they wanted; Chinese only wanted gold or silver

– Strictly limited European access to China until well into the 1800s

• Japan– At first, welcomed Europeans and

traded heavily with them– The shoguns became suspicious of

Europeans’ intentions, however, and banned them from Japan in 1638

Spanish Exploration• Spain went west• In 1492, Christopher

Columbus convinced Spain to back his effort to reach Asia by sailing west across the Atlantic

• He discovered the Americas and established Spain’s claim to two “new” continents; Portugal would claim part of South America (modern day Brazil) under the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1500

Christopher Columbus• In Oct. 1492, Columbus landed in

West Indies• Enslaved and tortured the natives

and made them mine for gold• Named governor by the Spanish

king, Columbus would later be removed from office due to corruption and abuse of power charges

• Within 50 years of his arrival, 90% of the native Carib population had died from exposure to European diseases like smallpox, measles, and influenza

Hernán Cortés• Arrived in Mexico in

1519 to open diplomatic relations with the Aztec Empire

• By 1521, had destroyed Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, killed the Aztec emperor Montezuma, and broken Aztec power

Francisco Pizarro• Sent to explore Peru in

1532• Captured the Incan

emperor Atahualpa and held him for ransom; the Inca paid the ransom but Pizarro killed Atahualpa anyway

• War that followed resulted in the destruction of the Incan Empire

Spanish Advantages Over Natives

• So how did a few hundred Spaniards defeat millions of natives?– superior military technology

• horses• armor• Guns & cannons

– rivalries between native groups kept them from cooperating

– disease decimated the native population and destroyed their religious faith systems

The Spanish Empire• Spain developed an

American empire stretching from Northern California to South America

• Managing the Empire– Split empire into

provinces, each governed by a viceroy

– Council of the Indies set up in Spain to oversee the viceroys

Spain Gets RICH!• Spain limited colonists to

trading only with Spanish merchants

• Colonists traded raw materials for Spanish manufactured goods

• Spanish wealth came from exploiting American gold, silver, & sugar resources using slave labor

Slavery Under Spanish• Encomienda system: viceroys were

empowered by the king of Spain to enslave natives in order to “save their souls” through Christianity

• In 1542, Spain outlawed enslavement of natives, but it was too late – many had already died and the abuses continued anyway

• Natives were forced into a form of serfdom after 1542

• By the 1530s, Spanish had begun importing African slaves to replace native ones

The Catholic Church in America• The Catholic Church’s

Jesuit priests helped control the native population– Forcibly converted

natives to Christianity– Worked to destroy

native cultures and religious practices and replace it with Spanish

Beyond the Americas• The Americas, however, still blocked

Europeans from reaching Asia by sailing west

• How to get around the Americas?– Go North?

• English, Dutch and French looked for a “Northwest Passage” around Canada, but never found one

– Go South?• In 1520, Spaniard Ferdinand

Magellan sailed around the southern tip of South America and into the Pacific

Ferdinand Magellan• Magellan’s fleet would

go on to be the first to circumnavigate (or sail completely around) the globe (although it would take 3 years to do it, Magellan was killed along the way, and only 18 sailors and 1 ship would complete the voyage)

Magellan’s Route