Transcript Chapter 2: Exploring the Americas

Chapter 2: Exploring the Americas
I. A Changing World
A. Expanding Horizons

Marco Polo and the Crusades: published
Travels after returning 1295
Would inspire Columbus

1. Growing Interest



goods and his book fuel this
2. Growth of Trade





Pope Urban II called a Crusade in 1095
Merchants bringing back spices: cinnamon,
pepper, cloves
Merchant cities of Genoa, Venice, and Pisa
prospered
Called Commercial Rev. to pay for goods,
farmers produced more for a surplus, granted
more liberties by owners
Broke down feudalism
Expanding Horizons Cont.
3. Growth of Ideas and the
Renaissance





Italian city-states wealthy, had
free time, began exploring its
history
New interest in Classics
Humanism: explore and question
ideas.
 Apply many subjects
People think critically about
everything, thirst for knowledge
Paves way for age of exploration
and discovery

It spread to rest of Europe
B. Powerful Nations Emerge
Population increasing
in 1400s
Monarchs also
expanding power and
getting rid of
feudalism
Want to cut out middle
men in trade
Spain, Portugal,
France, and England
C. Technology
Printing press in 1456 gets Polo’s
story out to more people
1. Maps, Navigation Instruments,
and Ships



Improved maps, the astrolabe, improved
compasses, and better and faster ships
allow explorers to travel farther away
from home and shore
Portuguese caravel an excellent ship,
could go in shallow water and handle
rough seas
Spain and Portugal look for sea routes to
Asia
II. Early Exploration: Vikings
Leif Eriksson landed in
Newfoundland, called it Vinland
Founded a colony
Eriksson’s brother Thorvald went
and got in a skirmish with natives
and was killed around 1000
After 1010, voyages stopped, too
many problems with natives
It didn’t last and the legend of the
new land stayed alive only in
Norse sagas
A. Seeking New Trade Routes
Maps only had three continents: Europe,
Asia and Africa

No knowledge of other landmasses or
size of oceans
1. Portuguese Exploration



Took lead to fund voyages to China and
India
Prince Henry the Navigator funded and
center for exploration in 1420
Ships explored west coast of Africa
 Traded for gold, ivory, and slaves

Became known as Gold Coast
Seeking New Trade Routes Cont.
2. Dias and da Gama



Bartholomeau Dias reached
Cape of Good Hope in
1488 but turned around
because of a storm
Vasco da Gama went
around the Cape (1497)
made it to Calicut in 1498
Cabral swung so wide
going around Africa that he
hit Brazil 1500, claimed for
Portugal
B. Christopher Columbus
Born in Genoa, Italy in 1451:
Cristoforo Colombo
Sailed for Portugal early years
Most educated people believed
earth was round
Most underestimated the world
was smaller
He believed Asia was 2,400
miles to the west
1. Spain: Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand
Reconquista over in 1492

They will fund Columbus’
voyage

He tried for years to get money
2. Columbus’s First Voyage

Left Aug. 3, 1492 in the Nina,
Pinta, and Santa Maria with
about 90 sailors

“Tierra! Tierra!” sighted on Oct.
12, 1492 after crew was getting
testy

Landed on San Salvador in the
Bahamas

Claimed land for Spain and
thought he was in the East Indies

Estimated about 50 million
natives in 1400

Returned to Spain a great hero
3. Later Voyages
Went back in 1493, 1498, 1502

Explored the Caribbean and parts
of South and Central America

Died thinking he found the Indies
4. Dividing the World: Line of
Demarcation

1493 Pope Alexander VI drew
line in Atlantic to divide new
lands: Spain west of the line,
Portugal east

Later line mover farther west

By then New World named
America after the explorer
Amerigo Vespucci
5. Exploring the Pacific and the World
Vasco Nunez de Balboa

Saw the Pacific from Panama
Ferdinand Magellan






1519 explored South America,
finally rounds the Tierra del
Fuego to see Pacific
Sailed to Asia
Took four months: ate rats,
sawdust, and leather to survive
Magellan killed in Philippines
Crew finally made it back to
Spain, only one of the five ships
and 18 of the 237 crew members
made it
First crew to circumnavigate the
globe
III. Spain in America
A. Conquistadores: Gold,
Glory, and God



Explorers had right to
explore and establish
settlements in Americas
Had to give 1/5 of gold to
the Spanish crown
Greedy and ruthless, many
times the second and third
sons of estates

Harsher to natives than other
nations
1. Cortes and the Aztecs
Came to Tenochtitlan in 1519
Invited to live there with Montezuma
Cortes took him prisoner when he feared a rebellion
Kicked out, got reinforcements and took the city in
1521 with only 500 men
Reasons why





Allies
Horses
Gunpowder
Aztecs thought he was long lost god Quetzalcoatl
Disease
2. Pizarro Conquers Peru

180 soldiers captured Atahualpa in 1532

Destroyed much of their army and took over the
empire

Moved the capital to Lima
B. Spain in North America
1. Seven Cities of Gold, Garden of
Eden, and the Fountain of Youth
Juan Ponce de Leon


Explored Florida for fountain
His exploration led to first permanent
settlement in 1565, St. Augustine
Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca



Explored Florida, sailed to Texas and
lost most of the expedition
Had to live with Natives to survive
Finally made it to Mexico and told
tales of cities of gold
1. Seven Cities of Gold, Garden of Eden, and
the Fountain of Youth cont.
Hernando de Soto

Explored southeastern
U.S., first to cross the
Mississippi, died of
fever
Francisco Coronado


Explored southwestern
part of U.S
No one ever found the
cities of gold
C. Spanish Rule
Started pueblos, missions, and presidios
Social Classes

Peninsulares: Spanish born, owned land, worked
for church and ran the govt.
Creoles: Spanish descent born in America
Mestizos: Spanish and Indian mix
Mullatoes: African and White mix

Natives: usually slaves, had no rights



Encomiendas


Right to demand taxes and labor from Native
Americans living on the land
Made them slaves
Plantation System



Sugarcane and tobacco huge profits
Indians dying so they’re replaced by Africans
Portuguese do the same thing in Brazil
IV. Exploring North America
A. Divided Church

Martin Luther and 95 Theses
1. Protestant Reformation
and Rivalries



John Calvin, Henry VIII
Nations divided among
Catholics and Protestants
French and Spanish vs. Dutch
and English

Settled different regions
B. Economic Rivalry
Mercantilism



A nation’s power was based
on wealth
Try to increase the amount
of gold and silver in a
country
Compete for overseas
territory
1. Columbian Exchange


European Invasion
Exchange goods, people,
ideas between two
continents
2. Northwest Passage
Look for quicker route to China
England sends John Cabot to explore in
1497

Lands on Newfoundland
1524 France sent Giovanni da Verrazano

Lands in Nova Scotia, Jacques Cartier
explores the St. Lawrence River
Henry Hudson

Sent by Dutch first, finds the Hudson
River

Later English sent him and he finds
Hudson Bay,

Sailors kicked him off, never seen again
Northwest Passage cont.
French Open Trading Post
 Didn’t want an empire, wanted trade
 Set up trading posts for furs
 1608 Quebec founded by Samuel de
Champlain’s group
 Trappers called coureurs de bois
Dutch Settlements
 Big fleet of merchant ships
 Dutch West Indies Co. set up in 1621
and New Netherlands
 New Amsterdam bought in 1624 for
24 dollars in beads, knives, trading
goods for the island
The 13 Colonies Unit
Regions in Review
Main Idea: Each colonial region
had characteristics that made the
area unique when compared to the
other colonies.
NEW
ENGLAND
Climate: Long winters and rocky soil
People: English settlers made up the largest
group in the region’s population
Agriculture: Subsistence Farming
Trade/Industry: Timber and Fishing (part of
the Triangular Trade system) success led to the
Navigation Acts
Slavery: Not economical for the region, but
slaves that did reside in N.E. worked in stables,
as servants, cooks, and gardeners.
Religion: Mainly Puritan/Anglican
Middle Colonies
Climate: Short winters and fertile soil
People: Immigrants from all over Europe (i.e
German, Dutch, English, French, Irish…)
Agriculture: Grew cash crops the “Breadbasket
colonies”
Trade/Industry: Excellent harbors and trade
led to the growth of large coastal cities (Philadelphia and
New York)
Slavery: 7% of enslaved people lived with in the
region- racial tensions led to some problems.
Religion: “Climate of tolerance” no single
religious group dominated another
Southern Colonies (Plantations and
Slavery)
Climate: Warm climate and good soil (year round
growing season)
People: German, English, enslaved Africans
Agriculture: Mass production of indigo, rice,
tobacco, and cotton- on PLANTATIONS
Trade/Industry: Plantation economy- planter
class (white plantation owners) top social latter,
poor whites & enslaved Africans have little
power
Slavery: 85% of enslaved Africans lived in the
region (40% of total population)
Religion: Fairly tolerant
Important Vocab: Words to define and
apply
Subsistence Farming
Navigation Acts
Cash Crops
Conestoga Wagon
Plantation system (define the economic system)
Overseer
Stono Rebellion
Fallline
Piedmont
Clans
Final Thoughts:
Each colonial region was distinct, factors that
influenced their unique development include
the following:
Climate
People
Agriculture
Trade/Industry
Views on and usage of slavery
Religion