Transcript America

The New World
At a time when the goal in Christopher
European navigation was to
find a route to the riches of
the East the brave Italian
cartographer and sailor
Christopher Columbus had a
bold idea.
o Thinking the world was
smaller than it is Columbus
petitioned the King and Queen
of Spain (after being turned
down by Portugal) for funding
for a journey westward.
o The general consensus of the
day was that the world was
round yet no one knew how
large it was.
o After seven years of
convincing, King Ferdinand
and Queen Isabella finally
agreed to fund half of the
venture while the other half
consisted of private investments.
Columbus
Christopher
Columbus Map
SOL
Creation of empires
and destruction of
native peoples.
Columbus and his
ships made landfall
on the island of San
Salvador after 5
weeks of sailing.
39 men were left
at a fort
settlement after
the Santa Maria
was sunk on a reef.
Rough seas on
his return
voyage forced
Columbus to
land in Lisbon.
Christopher
Columbus stops at
the Canary Islands to
re-supply his before
setting sail out across
the Atlantic.
o Columbus was praised as a hero
when he returned to Spain a
week after arriving in Europe.
o He had abducted 25 natives to
present to the king and queen of
which only 6 survived.
o Columbus would make three
more voyages to the new world
exploring the Island of the “West
Indies” as well as southern North
and Northern South America.
o He died convinced that he had
reached Asia.
o Columbus’ management
methods came under scrutiny in
Spain several times during his
expeditions, many people under
his command complained of his
tyrannical administrative
techniques.
o He was jailed for a time while
waiting for a trial in Spain.
o How did he interact with
natives?
o Amerigo Vespucci was the
son of a Florentine merchant
who eventually moved to
Spain.
o In Spain he had the
opportunity to sail on several
expeditions to the “West Indies”
(2-4).
o During these trips Vespucci
wrote of his encounters with
the foreign land as he also
mapped the stars at night.
o The second expedition he
participated in traveled down
the eastern coast of South
America reporting that the
new lands to the west were
much larger than previously
thought.
o Vespucci correctly
hypothesized that Columbus
had not reached Asia but
instead “new world.”
o His letters were highly
publicized in Europe as one of
the first accounts of the
strange new lands to the
west.
Amerigo Vespucci
o A German map maker
named Martin
Waldseemuller is
thought to have
labeled the new
continents in one of
his atlases America,
after Amerigo
Vespucci.
o The land to the
north of Vespucci’s
travels was deemed
North America.
o Not many true details
are known about
Vespucci’s part in his
explorations, many
letters he supposedly
wrote have proven to
be forgeries, one
describes South
America as being
“populated by giants,
cannibals, and
sexually insatiable
females “
o Hernando Cortez was one SOL
Creation of empires and
of several opportunistic
destruction of native
conquistadors to travel to
the New World in search of peoples (Aztec Empire).
status and fortune.
o Due to his commanding
character and natural
leadership abilities he
eventually climbed to the
position of Mayor of the
capitol of Cuba.
o His was appointed by the
governor of Cuba to lead an
expedition into Mexico to
claim it for the Spanish
crown.
o Once in Mexico Cortez
commanded a force of 600
men which began a march
toward the Aztec capitol of
Tenochtitlan.
o Along the way Cortez
gained allies among tribes
which were subjugated by the
Aztecs.
Hernando Cortez
o By the time Cortez had
reached Tenochtitlan along
with his 600 men 15 horsemen
and 15 cannons he had amassed
a native army of nearly 3000
men.
o Once in the city Cortez took
the Aztec leader Montezuma
hostage realizing he could
not take the capitol city with
such a small force.
o After a time the Aztec rose up
in rebellion and Cortez was
forced to retreat back to the
coast with heavy losses.
o After a year of preparation
Cortez marched on
Tenochtitlan again, this time
with a larger force.
o He took the small pox
infested city after a lengthy
siege and was later made
governor of Mexico.
Artists
Rendering of
the Battle for
Tenochtitlan
Francisco
Pizarro
SOL
Creation of empires and
destruction of native
peoples (Incan Empire).
o Francisco Pizarro was inspired
by stories of Cortez and Aztec
riches to explore the lands south
of Panama.
o After a disastrous first
expedition and a second which
left him with only thirteen loyal
followers Cortez had enough
proof of a powerful rich empire in
the mountains to launch a third
expedition.
o With a little more than 100 men
and 62 horsemen Pizarro sought
out a meeting with the Incan
leader whom he captured after a
rude refusal.
o After executing the Incan
leader Pizarro took the capitol
of the Incan Empire Cuzco one
year later.
o Jacques Cartier was a French
explorer who claimed Canada for
his country.
o During three known expeditions
Cartier sailed down the St.
Lawrence River making friends
with the local Native American
populations.
o He was looking for a water route
to Asia through North America (the
northwest passage) and was
convinced that if he could navigate
the rapids of the St. Lawrence river
he would reach the west.
o On the third trip Cartier
established a French settlement
along the river and searched for
the fabled “Kingdom of Saguenay.”
o The natives would become less
friendly as time wore on and the
SOL
harsh winters were too much for
Creation of empires
the settlers to bear.
and destruction of
o The settlement was eventually
native peoples.
abandoned.
Jacques Cartier
Site of Leif
Ericson’s
settlement.
Cartier gave Canada
its name.