Transcript The Age of Exploration

The Age of Exploration
The Creation of the Atlantic System
and the Eurocentric World
1433-1650
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Three broad issues 1433-1650:
I. Expansion and impact on Europe
II. Impact on non-European
civilizations Europe bumps into
III. Impact on world as a whole and
worldwide system
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In the 200 years between the 1430’s
and the 1630’s Europeans learned
that all seas are one; that seamen,
given adequate ships and supplies,
skill and courage, could in time reach
any country in the world which had
an ocean coast, and—what was more
important—return home.
No other period in Western history
equals this time in significance or
dramatic interest.
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Unfortunately, few actual accounts of
early voyages exist because most
expedition leaders were men who saw
no reason to write and potentially give
away valuable information (except to
their employers).
The employers wanted to monopolize
the profits of the new-found lands.
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Travel before this period was nothing
new…what was new was once rulers
and financiers understood that more
efficient ships, more accurate
instruments and better methods of
cartography and navigation had
made long ocean voyages possible,
they invested in exploring.
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Their object was not discovery for its
own sake—that was incidental—but
the opening of ocean routes to
distant India, China, and Japan,
countries known to exist and
believed to be of commercial
importance.
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The men who did the work were
tough professionals, willing to serve
any ruler who would employ them,
ready to go anywhere and
investigate anything if they were
suitably rewarded.
Skillful, imaginative and bold, and
often ruthless, they drew the map of
the world we know.
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By the end of the 15th Century,
trade relationships with the rest of
the world were starting to be
dominated by Europe (China had
withdrawn).
Europe had traded with Asia for
centuries through the long and
dangerous overland routes (the Silk
Road) or through the Middle East.
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The Silk Road.
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The Middle East (the Ottomans) put
taxes/duties on goods bound for
Europe, making the Middle East
wealthy and angering the Europeans.
Europe looked for way to “cut-out”
the Middle Eastern “middlemen.”
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Even though the medieval European’s
knowledge of Asia and Africa was
vague, they were fascinated by these
continents.
The Bible had made Asia, home of the
three Magi, and Africa, legendary
source of King Solomon’s wealth part
of the background of every Christian.
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Medieval storytellers made Asia and
Africa “Lands of Marvels.” For instance,
it was believed that somewhere in Africa
there was a river of gold that emptied
into a seething tropical sea no man
could reach and still live.
Somewhere in Africa (or in Asia?) was a
land filled with treasure guarded by
dragons and hovered over by legless
birds who spent their whole lives in the
air.
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Somewhere there were
sheep the size of oxen;
giants who could wade
into the ocean and
grab a ship with one
hand; women whose
eyes were made of
precious stones that
could slay a man with
one glance; and
headless men whose
faces were in their
chests.
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Starting in the
1430’s, Portugal
started exploring
the West coast of
Africa, initially
searching for a
faster route to
China, India, and
“Spice” Islands.
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The Portuguese wanted easier access
to the luxury fabrics (cotton/linen/silk)
and spices of Asia.
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Financed by Prince Henry (the
Navigator), Portugal pressed further
and further southward along the
African coast.
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Henry had set two goals: to trace the
source of the trade in gold, ivory,
slaves and pepper, and to get in
touch with Prester John, with whom
he hoped to plan a crusade that
would clear the Muslims from North
Africa and the Holy Lands once and
for all.
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To accomplish these goals, Henry
established a community of scholars
dedicated to geographical studies.
The knowledge they accumulated was
to be used by the captains of his
expeditions.
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The fabled Christian
kingdom of a priest turned
king, Prester John.
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This kingdom (believed to be
somewhere in eastern Africa or Asia)
was supposedly lost among the
Muslims and “pagans” of the East.
Europeans believed it had wealth
beyond measure, monsters and
magical plants, living jewels and
extraordinary beasts.
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The exploration of the west coast of
Africa didn’t present physical
difficulties for Portuguese seamen, it
caused psychological ones.
It was widely believed that life was
unsupportable near the Equator and
that monsters lurked beneath the
seas.
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Cape Nun, on the northwestern coast
of Africa was so named because of
the legend that none of the seamen
that ventured past it returned;
beyond Cape Nun, it was rumored,
the boiling sea destroyed all who
were not already burned black by the
vertical sun.
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Further down the coast lay the
Antipodes, where according to the
Church, only monsters lived.
A final deterrent was that many
believed that Africa could not be
circumnavigated.
But with Henry’s urging and support,
Portuguese seamen slowly began
moving down the west coast of
Africa.
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Cape Nun was passed in 1434. In
1441, an expedition returned from
the Rio de Ouro region with a cargo
of slaves, beginning the European
slave trade.
By 1473 the Equator had been
crossed without anyone bursting into
flames or turning black.
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The Portuguese (and other Europeans)
sailed in small, maneuverable ships
called caravels.
A technological advantage was that
they were fast and used triangular
lateen sails (an idea borrowed from
Arab sailors).
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Caravels were round hulled and
deep-drafted (they sat lower in the
water so they could carry more
cargo/provisions + weapons).
The compass and astrolabe improved
navigation and allowed for better
map making.
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But the main difference was made
with gunpowder weaponry (like
cannons).
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Conditions on board ships was appalling,
even by the standards of their time: all
ships leaked and even with pumps,
water was always sloshing around below
decks which was polluted by the casual
sanitary habits of the age.
Roaches and rats swarmed everywhere.
No specific sleeping quarters were
provided except for the captain and pilot
of the ship.
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Ordinary seamen slept on or below
deck wherever they could find room.
Food not only ran short, but quickly
went bad. Shipboard menus
consisted of dried and salted meat,
salted fish, biscuit, rice, dried peas,
cheese, garlic, onions, oil, vinegar,
water, beer, and wine.
After a few days, the salted foods
often turned to a slimy, mealy mess.
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“We ate only old biscuit reduced to
powder, and full of grubs, and stinking
from the dirt which the rats had made
on it when eating the good biscuit, and
we drank water that was yellow and
stinking. We also ate the ox-hides
(leather)…also the sawdust of wood,
and rats.”
• From the chronicle of Magellan’s Pacific
crossing.
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Disease was very common on long
voyages, especially since sailors ate
few fresh fruits or vegetables, slept in
cramped quarters infested with fleas
and lice, and were often drenched for
days on end.
Fevers and the plague were common,
but the worst was scurvy. A voyage
was considered successful if 20% or
less died of scurvy along the way.
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Scurvy (vitamin
C deficiency)
rotted away a
sailors gums
causing teeth to
fall out or
abscess.
Blood poisoning
followed, then
usually death.
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On long voyages it was common to
lose 3-4 sailors a day to scurvy…they
were usually just thrown overboard
into the sea.
When a Scottish doctor discovered in
1747 that citrus cured scurvy, the
British Royal Navy ordered sailors to
eat limes…this is why Americans
began calling the British “limeys.”
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Under the best of circumstances it
was hard to predict the length of a
voyage…Columbus on his fourth
voyage took 21 days to go 3,000
miles (and he had good weather).
Magellan crossed the Pacific going
west in 98 days. The eastward
crossing could take over six months.
The average trip from Lisbon to India
took seven months.
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A ship’s speed was calculated by
tossing a wood chip off the bow
(front) and timing it to the stern
(back).
Then the wood chip was tied to a
knotted line and thrown over.
Relating the knots that slipped
through his fingers to elapsed time
gave the sailor the ship’s speed—in
knots. 1 knot = approx 1.15 mph
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It took over 50 years
for the Portuguese to
reach the tip of
Africa (the Cape of
Good Hope in 1487).
Rather than round
the Cape, the weary
sailors forced their
expedition back up
the coast of Africa
towards home.
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It would take
another ten years
before Vasco da
Gama would be
appointed by the
Portuguese king to
open the sea route
to India.
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Da Gama and his fleet left Lisbon on
July 8, 1497.
After three months and a voyage of
nearly 4,000 miles, da Gama’s four
ships circumnavigated the Cape of
Good Hope and Mossel Bay and
became the first Europeans to sail
into the Indian Ocean.
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As the Portuguese moved northward
along the east coast of Africa (the
Swahili Coast), they found a
community of Hindus living in Malindi
(modern Kenya).
Da Gama was convinced they were
Christians—a sign that the elusive
Prester John was not far away.
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Da Gama’s four small ships made their
way to India (1498) with the help of a
Hindu pilot they picked up in Malindi.
As the Portuguese approached the west
coast of India (known as the Malabar
Coast), they mistakenly thought the
Hindus were Christians because they
thought Hindu temples were churches.
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When they dropped anchor, the
Portuguese had landed at the famous
trading city of Calicut.
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To the Arabs and Persians who
dominated the trade between India and
Africa, the Portuguese represented a
threat.
Unfortunately for da Gama, no one
wanted what the Portuguese brought to
sell…they only had crude items like iron
pots.
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Fortunately, they also had some gold so
they were able to purchase spices and
Chinese porcelains.
After an unsuccessful attempt on his
life, da Gama decided it was time to
return to Portugal.
The stretch across the Indian Ocean to
Africa took three months, and so many
men died of scurvy that da Gama had
to destroy one of his ships because
there weren’t enough men to sail it.
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When da Gama
sailed into Lisbon
harbor in September
1499, he had been
away for more than
two years and had
sailed over 24,000
nautical miles.
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Of the 170 men who sailed with da
Gama, only 44 returned.
He brought back a few place settings
of Chinese porcelain which set off the
craze for “china” and he made an
incredible profit.
He was given the title Admiral of the
Ocean Seas by the king of Portugal.
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As the Portuguese
made more trips to
India (about once a
year), they
substituted violence
for their lack of
attractive goods to
trade.
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Da Gama used guns and cannons to
intimidate, and his sailors killed or
tortured many Indian merchants to set
an example.
By 1514, the Portuguese had reached
the Spice Islands (Indonesia) and
China.
By 1517, Portugal had forts
throughout eastern Africa and India.
By 1542, they had reached Japan.
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Portugal dominated parts of Africa
(starting in 1433) and the Indian
Ocean (starting in 1498) while Spain
dominated the Americas (starting in
1492).
Increasing tension between Portugal
and Spain over land rights caused
the Pope to intervene and create the
Treaty of Tordesillas (1494).
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The Treaty of Tordesillas divided the
Atlantic world between the two
monarchies.
Portugal got Brazil (decided in 1500),
West Africa, and the eastern trade
routes to India while Spain got the
oceans and lands to the west (meaning
North and South America, over to
Asia).
A miscalculation of the location of
South America allowed Portugal to
claim Brazil.
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In 1512 another sailor from Portugal (but
sailing for Spain), Ferdinand Magellan
(Magalhaes), set sail looking for a shorter
route to Asia and the Spice Islands.
He convinced the king of Spain(Charles I)
that if Spanish ships could slip under the
southernmost point of the American
barrier, they could have as easy access
as the Portuguese found rounding Africa.
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Unfortunately, Magellan received only
half-hearted support when it came to
outfitting the expedition…five aged
ships manned by old and ragged
sailors.
Even if Magellan reached the Spice
Islands there was no guarantee that
Spain could claim them because no
was sure if they were in the Spanish
zone.
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Magellan’s five ships left Spain in late
September, 1519 sailing west across
the Atlantic. When he reached Brazil
they sailed south reaching Patagonia
as winter was setting in.
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Magellan and his crews spent the
next five months in a Patagonian
bay.
During that time, he lost one ship to
a shipwreck, another by desertion,
and was almost forced to turn back
because of a mutiny.
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Magellan did not set sail again until
the summer of 1520. When he
reached 52 degrees 30 minutes south
he found the strait that would bear
his name.
In a masterly piece of seamanship,
he guided his ships through a rockstrewn and stormy passageway filled
with cliffs and zigzag turns.
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The 320 mile-long strait took 38
days but when they emerged, his
theory was confirmed…there was a
southwest passage to the Pacific.
America did have a southern tip and
did not, as many cartographers
believed, form a part of the still
unexplored Antarctic continent of
Terra Australis Incognita.
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Magellan’s ships were now the first
European ships to sail into the Pacific
Ocean (and named it Mar Pacifico).
Magellan turned north and followed
the coast for 1,000 miles enabling
chart-makers to gauge the width and
shape of South America.
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Desperately short of provisions, and
with no idea how far he would have to
sail before reaching his goal, he
forbade his men, under pain of death,
to discuss the uncertainties that lay
ahead.
Unfortunately his course was all open
sea, and the only group of islands
they encountered was so barren, he
named them the Unfortunate Isles.
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Magellan finally reached Guam in
early March 1521 after his men
suffered through three months of
disease and near starvation.
After replenishing their food and
water, they continued, landing in the
Philippines 10 days later.
Seeing natives with gold ornaments
caused Magellan to believe that he
was near his goal and that wealth
was within his grasp.
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Magellan got
involved in a local
skirmish between
tribes and was killed
by natives in the
Philippines.
For the remaining
members of the
expedition, the
nightmare wasn’t
over.
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So few men were left to operate the
three remaining ships that one ship was
burned and her crew split between the
other two.
One ship was in such bad shape her
captain was afraid it wouldn’t make it
around the Cape of Good Hope so he
sailed east towards South America only
to be turned around by unfavorable
winds and land in the Moluccas (modern
day Indonesia).
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This ship was captured and the crew
imprisoned by the Portuguese (who
had controlled the area since 1512).
The remaining ship picked up a cargo
of cloves and spices and limped back
to Spain, arriving in September
1522…three years after setting sail.
Of his five ships and over 280 sailors,
only one ship and 31 men made it
back to Spain alive.
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By the middle of the 16th century,
the fabulous wealth Spain and
Portugal generated caused other
nations to get into the game (Britain,
France, Netherlands)…
Britain in India and North America.
France in Canada (Quebec) and other
parts of NA;
Netherlands in South Africa and
Indonesia (Malacca & Spice Islands)
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The traditional story of Columbus
(known as the Columbian Era
1492-1800):
Spanish and Portuguese were few
but successful in conquering the
savages.
British, French, and Dutch soldiers
and settlers did the same.
History focused on the struggle
between Europeans to dominate
the land.
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Natives were seen as
unimportant—only enemies in the
fight over their lands.
History written (mostly in 19th
century) showed rampant
nationalism, elitism, and racism.
History ignored women, nonChristians, and non-whites; it
reinforced European ethnocentrism.
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No one knew in 1405 that the huge
armada under Zheng He’s command
would be recalled in 1433, never to
sail again.
No one knew in 1492 that Columbus’
tiny fleet of three ships would utterly
transform the world, bringing the
peoples of two “old worlds” and two
hemispheres permanently together.
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The consequences set in motion by
those three small ships included the
Atlantic slave trade, the decimation
of the native population of the
Americas, the massive growth of
world population, the Industrial
Revolution, and the growing
prominence of Europeans on the
world stage.
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As the Portuguese charted the African
coast, to the west, there were only
myths and some fragmentary reports
concerning a few islands in the Atlantic.
Several 15th Century maps showed a
large, legendary island called Antillia far
west of Portugal at the same latitude as
Lisbon.
Other maps showed a more northerly
island called Vinlanda.
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Only the Madeiras and the Azores,
discovered in the 14th Century and
the Canaries, discovered in 1402
were known during Columbus’ time.
It was believed that somewhere
further out was the legendary land of
Atlantis, seat of a vanished
civilization mentioned by Plato and
kept alive by medieval geographers
(actually believed to have been
“found” in southern Spain in 2011).
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Columbus, an experienced mariner,
believed he could improve on the
laborious Portuguese efforts to work
down the African coast in search of the
way around to “the Indies” –a term
that included all of eastern Asia.
Columbus was convinced that he could
reach “the Indies” first by going
directly west over the open sea.
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Columbus had studied The Travels of
Marco Polo and the maps of Ibn al
Idrisi and the ancient geographer
Ptolemy.
Based on his calculations, the
distance between Europe and Asia
was a mere 5,000 nautical miles (the
real distance is nearly 12,000 miles).
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He first made his case to the king of
Portugal, who after careful
consideration, turned him down.
Columbus then appealed to Ferdinand
and Isabella who agreed only after
years of debate (they were tired of
Portugal’s success along the coast of
Africa).
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Columbus set sail
going West (instead
of East) on August
4, 1492.
He had two 70 ft.
caravels (the Nina
and the Pinta) and
his flagship, the
Santa Maria, was
slightly larger.
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After 33 days, he landed in the
Bahamas (on the island of
Guanahani—which he renamed San
Salvador).
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To give you a sense of scale,
Columbus captained three ships with
a crew of about 90.
da Gama captained four ships with a
crew of about 170.
Zheng He’s fleet had hundreds of
ships and a crew of about 30,000.
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According to recent scholarship,
“All the ships of Columbus and da
Gama combined could have been
stored on a single deck of a single
vessel in the fleet that set sail
under Zheng He.”
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As he sailed, Columbus kept two
records of the distance covered…one
which he kept to himself, and the other
which was a deliberate underestimate
he announced to the crew (hoping to
prevent panic from being so far into
the unknown).
After the men had been at sea longer
than their previous experiences, they
were seized with one fear after
another.
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After 30 days of sailing on the Santa
Maria, the crew demanded that
Columbus turn back, and he
promised to do so if they didn’t see
land within two or three days.
Two days later, October 12 at 2
a.m., under a full moon, land was
sighted by the Pinta (which was in
the lead).
The next day, Columbus and a small
party went ashore.
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Because of the small
gold ornaments the
natives wore in their
noses, Columbus
thought he landed in
the Indies (why he
named the
indigenous peoples
“Indians”) and he
was surprised that
the natives didn’t
speak Arabic.
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When Columbus first encountered the
inhabitants of San Salvador, the gentle
Arawak Taino Indians, he noted in his journal
how they greeted the Europeans with friendly
courtesy and they eagerly exchanged gifts
with the crew.
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Writing in his journal the day he
landed in the ‘New World,’ Columbus
was certain that once he sailed
through the outer islands of the
Indies, he would reach the vast
riches of China and Japan.
He believed it was a short journey of
less than an additional 1000 miles.
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Columbus was convinced that once he
reached China, he would be
welcomed by the Great Khan, an
emperor of incredible wealth who
spoke Arabic and ruled over lands of
gold, silver, gems, silks, spices, and
valuable medicines.
But Columbus never found India or
China, and never found vast wealth in
the ‘New World.’
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So after a few days, He wrote in his
journal: “I intend to go and see if I
can now find the Island of Japan.”
So he left San Salvador, sailing for
15 days until he “discovered”
Cuba…certain he had found Marco
Polo’s Cipangu (Japan).
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But there were no silk-clad sages or
palaces tiled with solid gold.
He sent an expedition into the interior
looking for an imperial city.
The only thing of interest they found was
some Indians smoking cigars, making
this the first European encounter with
tobacco.
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Columbus calculated that he wasn’t in
Japan after all; by his estimate he
had sailed too far from Europe for
that.
No, this must be China.
For three months his tiny fleet sailed
through the uncharted and often
dangerous waters of the Bahamas,
Cuba, and Hispaniola.
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On Hispaniola, Columbus was elated by
the gold ornaments worn by the natives
and by a hammered gold mask he
received as a gift.
In a classic case of miscommunication,
Columbus ordered his sailors to dance
to the rhythm of a drum in order to
attract some Indians who were lying
some way off the ship in a canoe. The
Indians thought it was a war dance and
started shooting arrows.
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Then he lost his flagship (the Santa
Maria) when she ran aground late one
night.
Her timbers were salvaged to make the
first European settlement in the ‘New
World’, a fort which Columbus
garrisoned with 40 men.
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He then decided it was time to sail
home to give Ferdinand and Isabella
the great news that their venture had
been no mere vision, that contact had
been made with Cathay (India).
After three months of bad weather,
his two ships limped into Lisbon
harbor.
He immediately dispatched a letter to
Ferdinand and Isabella talking about
his exploits.
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Describing the mountains of
Hispaniola, Columbus wrote
“All are most beautiful, of a thousand
shapes, and all accessible, and filled with
trees of a thousand kinds and tall, and they
seem to touch the sky…And there were
singing the nightingale and other little
birds of a thousand kinds in the month of
November.”
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Like most things Columbus said, this
was a wild exaggeration.
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When Columbus arrived at the court
of Ferdinand and Isabella in
Barcelona (April 1493), he was
addressed as “Don Cristobal
Colon…Admiral of the Ocean Sea,
Viceroy and Governor of the Islands
he hath discovered in the Indies.”
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After Columbus’ first trans-Atlantic
voyage in 1492, a return expedition the
next year established a colony on the
island of Santo Domingo (Hispaniola).
Hispaniola became the Spanish base of
operations for further discoveries in the
‘New World’ (so named for the first
time in 1494).
The Age of Exploration


Columbus then went on the “first
West Indies cruise.” His sailors saw
their first hammock and ate their
first yams.
Columbus’ doctor wrote with
amazement about “trees bearing wool,
cotton trees as large as peach trees,
trees producing wax as good as bees-wax,
and wild fruits, some of which caused great
heat and pain, driving the men mad.”
The Age of Exploration



Columbus “discovered” Jamaica and
stopped, certain he had found the
base of the Malay Peninsula.
He was convinced that he would
meet the Great Khan on another trip.
When he returned to Spain, the
colonists Columbus left behind from
his second voyage were massacred
by the natives.
The Age of Exploration



His third voyage was in the spring of
1496.
He first landed in Trinidad, and then
a few days later his crew landed on a
beach near the delta of the Orinoco
River.
At first he thought he had reached
an unknown continent (actually
South America), then he believed he
was on the threshold of Earthly
Paradise—that blessed domain.
The Age of Exploration


He wanted to enter but his sailors
threatened mutiny so he set sail for
Spain, so the exploration of south
America was left to other men.
On this voyage, Columbus, who had
been made governor of Hispaniola,
was sent back to Spain in chains
because he was a cruel and
ineffective administrator.
The Age of Exploration


Columbus’s own sailors slandered him
on their return to Spain, saying he
withheld gold from the king.
King Ferdinand began to realize he
didn’t need Columbus to conduct his
explorations.
The Age of Exploration

Columbus emphasized to Ferdinand
and Isabella that Cathay (India) was
within their grasp and how easy it
would be to make the “savages” –
who had been seen eating spiders
and worms—into pious and noble
Christians.
The Age of Exploration


Returning to Spain he faced charges of
illegally executing Spaniards and
brutalizing natives.
But by May 1502, Columbus (who was
cleared of the charges against him) set
sail on his fourth, and final voyage to the
New World.
The Age of Exploration



He had four ships and his mission was
to explore uncharted areas to the west
of the Caribbean, hopefully finding a
passage west to the Orient.
In the summer of 1502, Columbus
“discovered” Central America, first
reaching Honduras and then Panama.
By now, Vasco da Gama had reached
India, putting Portugal far ahead of
Spain in the race to the Orient.
The Age of Exploration



So it was crucial that Columbus find
the passage way that would give
Spain equal access.
But his ships were damaged by a
hurricane and termites, and they fell
apart while he was exploring.
Columbus and his men were
stranded on Jamaica for about a year
before being rescued.
The Age of Exploration


They returned to
Spain in late 1504.
Unsuccessful in his
previous missions,
Columbus, the
Admiral of the
Ocean Sea, died at
55, an exhausted,
broken man in
political obscurity.
The Age of Exploration


The conquest of the New World was
not a unified movement…but rather a
series of individual initiatives that
usually operated with government
(Spanish or Portuguese) approval.
The conquest of the Americas was
two pronged: one directed towards
Mexico and the other one aimed at
South America.
Cortes and the Aztec


In 1519 Hernando
Cortes led an expedition
of 11 ships, 553 men,
and 16 horses from the
Spanish colony of Cuba
to the coast of Mexico.
Cortes once remarked
“We Spaniards suffer
from a disease that only
gold can cure.”
Cortes and the Aztec

In 1519
Moctezuma II
was nearly 40
years old and
had skillfully
ruled for 17
years.
Cortes and the Aztec


But recently his personality had
changed; gone was his ability in war
and diplomacy, replaced with
uncertainty accompanied with spells
of brooding.
He secluded himself in his palace and
was rarely seen in public, consulting
with priests and soothsayers, or
meditating alone.
Cortes and the Aztec

Aztec legend talked
of a famous ruler
who was associated
with the god
Quetzalcoatl (god of
wind and father to
humans), who was
forced into exile in
the east, “the land of
the rising sun.”
Cortes and the Aztec



Moctezuma II was particularly
concerned about the exiled god
Quetzalcoatl and his promise to
return.
That had been more than 500 years
earlier, and the year the god said
he’d return was almost at hand.
Then news came of strange men
riding in white-winged ships on the
eastern sea.
Cortes and the Aztec



Along the coast before arriving at
Veracruz, Cortes acquired an invaluable
asset: an extremely intelligent native
girl who not only knew the local dialects
but also the Aztec language.
She learned Spanish so easily and
quickly that she became Cortes’
interpreter, closest adviser (and
mistress). She was totally loyal to
Cortes.
She also converted to Christianity.
Cortes and the Aztec


Cortes named her
Dona Marina (or
Malinche).
When the Spaniards
arrived, Moctezuma
controlled an area
nearly twice the size
of Pennsylvania with
over 11 million
people.
Cortes and the Aztec

After hearing
rumors of a
great kingdom
in the interior,
the Spanish set
off, fighting
Aztec allied
towns along the
way.
Cortes and the Aztec


When word reached Moctezuma of the
light skinned Europeans, he seems to
have been uncertain whether to
welcome them with reverence as
gods, or with violence, as invaders.
Cortes, hearing from Malinche that
Moctezuma considered him a god,
dispatched a message asking
permission to visit the capital.
Cortes and the Aztec


A week later, Aztec nobles arrived in
Cortes’ camp with magnificent
offerings including large discs of gold
and silver (representing the sun and
moon) and 20 golden ducks, golden
monkeys, and pumas.
Some of the food he sent had been
ceremonially doused with the blood of
a sacrificial victim as was the Aztec
custom.
Cortes and the Aztec


The Aztec nobles then politely asked
Cortes to leave Mexico.
When Moctezuma heard that Cortes
rejected the Aztec envoys (and their
food), he changed his mind about
the Spaniards intentions and had
sorcerers cast spells on the Spanish
to keep them away.
Cortes and the Aztec


However, the Spanish proved
resistant to Aztec magic and Cortes
moved his troops towards the Aztec
capital.
As they pushed further into the
interior, the Spanish allied
themselves with Aztec enemies and
as they moved closer to
Tenochtitlan.
Cortes and the Aztec

From a cold mountain pass between
the awe-inspiring snow-capped peaks
of Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl, the
nervous Spanish looked down on a
remarkable series of interconnected
lakes in the Valley, with well-ordered
towns and raised fields on the shores,
and a great city built on islands and
causeways towards the western edge
of the largest of the lakes.
Cortes and the Aztec

Cortes, with Indian allies who hated the
Aztec, eventually reached the island
capital city of Tenochtitlan (tay-nawchtee-Tlan).
Cortes and the Aztec


According to Aztec legend, they built
their main city, Tenochtitlan (tay
nawch tee Tlan – “Place of the Prickly
Pear Cactus”) in a place identified by
an eagle perched on a pear cactus
with a snake in its mouth.
It is believed that the city had
300,000 people (double the largest
city in Europe at the time—Paris).
Cortes and the Aztec


As the Spaniards marched down on to
the plain and neared the city, they
went across one (of the three)
causeways linking the island
metropolis to the mainland and were
astounded by Tenochtitlan’s size and
beauty.
The great temples and palaces rose
from the water like a vision.
Cortes and the Aztec

One member of the Spanish force
later likened it to a city from a
fairytale, a vision of enchantment.
Cortes and the Aztec

When the Spanish force and its allies
came into Tenochtitlan, Moctezuma
met Cortes on the causeway atop a
palanquin carried by four nobles and
greeted him with the utmost respect.
Cortes and the Aztec

A conquistador said of Moctezuma II:
“many great lords walked before the
great Moctezuma sweeping the
ground on which he was to tread and
laying down cloaks so that his feet
should not touch the earth. Not one
of these great chieftains dared look
him in the face”
Cortes and the Aztec

Cortes and his men were greeted as
gods (the Aztec had never seen
horses and thought they were gods
too).
Cortes and the Aztec

The emperor was tall and thin and had
a sparse black beard, and on his head
he wore a plume of long green feathers
that floated down his back.
Cortes and the Aztec

Moctezuma gave
Cortes a necklace of
snail shells and
shrimps fashioned
from solid gold and a
quetzal feather
headdress, and in
return was presented
a string of Venetian
glass beads.
Cortes and the Aztec


Then in a fateful
moment,
Moctezuma invited
the Spanish into
his capital.
The Spanish were
quartered in the
palace of Axayacatl
(named after
Moctezuma II’s
father) near the
heart of the city.
Cortes and the Aztec



Once the Spanish were settled,
Moctezuma came and visited Cortes.
Through Dona Marina, the two men
discussed their respective countries,
and Cortes tried (but failed) to
convert the Emperor to Christianity.
An uneasy friendship developed.
Cortes and the Aztec


Cortes was invited to the emperor’s
palace where he saw hordes of
courtiers and over a thousand wives
and concubines.
Cortes and his men were then given
a tour of Tenochtitlan, where they
saw the grisly temples and the
bloody remnants of sacrifices.
Cortes and the Aztec

Aztec society was
patriarchal, but
women received high
honor for bearing
warrior sons, and the
spirits of women who
died in childbirth
were believed to help
the sun god in his
journey through the
sky each day.
Cortes and the Aztec


The Aztecs also had
a large and powerful
group of priests.
They served as
advisors to the king
and his officials, and
they conducted the
elaborate religious
rituals that were
central to Aztec
society.
Cortes and the Aztec


The chief god, Huitzilopochtli, ruled
from the position of the sun at noon,
and in order to keep him in his proper
place in the sky, the Aztecs believed
he must be fed human blood.
This blood came from frequent human
sacrifices on altars that lined the main
streets of Tenochtitlan.
Cortes and the Aztec


The Spanish were particularly
horrified by these Aztec blood rituals.
Aztec blood rituals were particularly
messy, with thousands of victims
taken as war captives or tribute just
for that purpose.
Cortes and the Aztec
Cortes and the Aztec

A special part of the ritual was cutting the
heart from the live victims chest, and the
heart was then eaten by the Aztec
nobility.
Cortes and the Aztec

Priests used large obsidian (stone)
knives.
Cortes and the Aztec


Sacrifices were carried out in front of
large crowds that included the leaders
from enemy and subject states,
sending the clear message of the
power of the Aztec elite.
The political message was equally
clear: rebellion, deviancy, and
opposition were very dangerous.
Cortes and the Aztec



Cortes didn’t trust the unpredictable
Moctezuma.
Fearing attempts on their lives, Cortes
and 30 armed Spanish soldiers acted
swiftly and with audacity by capturing
Moctezuma in his own palace.
Cortes had the emperor placed in his
royal litter and carried back to their
palace.
Cortes and the Aztec


Moctezuma did not resist, and as the
royal cortege made its way through
the streets, the people stood watching
silently, paralyzed in their belief in the
legend of Quetzalcoatl.
The ancient god had returned, they
told each other, to rule over their
nation in the guise of the
blackbearded Spaniards.
Cortes and the Aztec



Now in control of the city, Cortes
rushed back to the coast, where he
met 900 additional Spanish troops
from Cuba.
While he was away, Cortes’ second in
command invited 600 Aztec nobles to
a temple to celebrate one of their
religious festivals.
While they danced, the Spanish
slaughtered all of them and stripped
their bodies of their gold.
Cortes and the Aztec



When this atrocity became known,
the city exploded in anger.
Moctezuma climbed to the palace
roof and called for calm, but his
warriors jeered him and then in a
storm of arrows and stones, severely
injured their emperor.
He refused to be tended to.
Cortes and the Aztec

He later died from these injuries (or
secretly strangled by the Spanish—
according to differing accounts).
Cortes and the Aztec


The Spaniards, led by the just
returned Cortes, then stormed the
Great Pyramid, set fire to the shrines,
and ripped down sacred Aztec idols.
Soon, the once invincible city was
sacked and on fire.
Cortes and the Aztec


The siege would last 93 days (of often
brutal and bloody fighting).
By the time it ended, 2/3 of the
Spaniards had been killed or dragged
off for sacrifice and those that were
left were wounded.
Cortes and the Aztec



But Cortes was able to maneuver his
remaining troops across the lake and
into allied territory.
From there, Cortes was able to
encourage revolt among those
oppressed by the Aztecs.
About this time Cortes received 600
well-armed Spanish reinforcements
(including 40 cavalrymen) from Cuba.
Cortes and the Aztec



At the end of December 1520, Cortes
set out again to take Tenochtitlan.
This time he entered the city with
over 100,000 Indian allies seeking
revenge on their Aztec oppressors.
The city was already being ravaged
by smallpox (it had killed
Moctezuma’s successor, his brother
Cuitlahua) and thousands of Aztecs.
Cortes and the Aztec



Cortes had Tenochtitlan’s aqueducts
and chinampas destroyed (no fresh
water or food) and access to the city
cut off.
Weakened by hunger and disease, the
Aztec warriors fought on to the bitter
end as their corpses piled up in the
streets and clogged the canals.
The fighting stopped when the last
emperor, Moctezuma’s 25 year old
nephew Cuauhtemoc, was captured.
Cortes and the Aztec

When the mighty Aztec capital fell in
1521, Aztec poets wrote:
“We are crushed to the ground,
we lie in ruins.
There is nothing but grief and suffering
in Mexico and Tlatelolco,
where once we saw beauty and valor.”
The Age of Exploration


By 1535, most of central Mexico had
been brought under Spanish control
as the kingdom of New Spain.
From there, the Spanish pushed their
conquest southward into Central
America and northward into the area
of north central Mexico.
Pizarro and the Inca


The second wave of
conquest led the
Spaniards to northern
South America and
Panama.
In 1532, Francisco
Pizarro led his men to
the conquest of the
Inca Empire, which
was already
weakened by a long
civil war.
Pizarro and the Inca


By the early 1500’s, the Inca ruled
all the “civilized” peoples of South
America.
The Incan empire stretched from the
modern borders of Ecuador and
Colombia to more than half-way
down the coast of modern Chile–
2600 miles (roughly the distance
from Boston to LA or Madrid to
Moscow).
Pizarro and the Inca

Using treachery
and deceit,
fewer than 200
Spaniards were
able to bring
down the great
empire.
Pizarro and the Inca


The twelfth emperor,
Huayna Capac (14931526) ruled a stable,
and expanding, empire.
He went to the northern
provinces to quell an
outbreak of rebellion (in
today’s Ecuador) when
he died of a mysterious
disease (smallpox).
Pizarro and the Inca

The Spanish had introduced smallpox
into Mesoamerica and it quickly
spread south, devastating all natives
in its path (since they had no
resistance to it).
Pizarro and the Inca




The disease also killed his chosen heir.
The deaths of the emperor and his heir
immediately destabilized the empire.
During Huayna Capac’s illness, traders from
the northern regions reported the appearance
of bearded strangers in strange ships.
These men (the Spanish) who were immune
to the disease caused Huayna Capac to
believe his disease was divine wrath and had
been prophesized.
Pizarro and the Inca

General religious belief among
Andean peoples stressed the
arbitrary nature and power of the
gods, and the death of the emperor
and his heir by a mysterious disease,
and the ensuring civil war, must
have been seen as divine retribution
for something they had done.
Pizarro and the Inca


Without a living designated heir, the
imperial household was thrown into
confusion.
Huayna Capac had over 20 sons, so
members of the imperial family split
into factions lining up behind the two
major contenders, Huascar and
Atahualpa.
Pizarro and the Inca


Huascar was the governor of Cuzco and
controlled the largest part of the
Empire (a son to Huanyna’s sisterwife), and his half brother Atahaulpa
controlled the Kingdom of Quito (who
was his son by his favorite concubine).
Huascar
Atahualpa:
Pizarro and the Inca


Huascar seized the throne and initially
Atahualpa supported his claim, but
rumors spread that Atahualpa was
plotting a coup so Huascar declared
him an enemy, a traitor, and an
outlaw.
Civil war ensued, but Atahualpa (the
more able leader) had with him in the
north the bulk of his father’s veteran
soldiers.
Pizarro and the Inca


The civil war lasted six years with
Atahualpa eventually victorious when
his armies took Huascar prisoner and
they captured Cuzco (Huascar would
eventually be murdered).
This civil war ended just before the
Spaniards landed in Peru.
Pizarro and the Inca


There had actually been a prophesy that
Huayna Capac was to be the last Inca and
that the demise of the empire would come
with the arrival of powerful foreigners.
Incan priests saw omens of doom when a
full moon had three halos (which they said
represented the death of Inti, the sun god;
war among Capac’s descendents; and the
break-up of the empire).
Pizarro and the Inca


Many historians believe that by 1526
the empire was so big, the Inca
couldn’t control it and it was already
beginning to fall apart.
Even though Atahualpa won the civil
war (after six years of turmoil) and
controlled the army, he was disliked
and distrusted by many Inca nobles.
Pizarro and the Inca


Trying to consolidate his
power when he occupied
Cuzco, he ordered the
provincial governors and
chief administrators to
attend him in the capital.
Since many were of
Huascar’s lineage or loyal
to Huascar, Atahualpa
ordered them put to
death.
Pizarro and the Inca



He then ordered the burning of the mummy of
his grandfather (the predecessor of Huayna
Capac—Tupac Yupanqui-the 11th Inca
emperor) which the Inca considered a major
sacrilegious offense.
Atahualpa now claimed his lineage was the
only legitimate one to the imperial throne.
To the Inca, it must have seemed that
Huayna Capac’s prophesy of their doom was
coming true.
Pizarro and the Inca



The conquest of Peru by the Spanish
(Pizarro) required three expeditions over
nine years.
The first (1524) ended in failure because of
storms, the second (1526-7) was recalled
by Spanish officials after Pizarro sailed to
the Incan city of Tumbez.
The hospitable people of Tumbez welcomed
the Spaniards and showed them their
temple, which was decorated with sheets of
gold.
Pizarro and the Inca



Under strict orders from Pizarro, the
Spaniards pretended not to notice the
gold and they treated the Peruvians with
consideration and respect.
The time for conquest and plunder had
not come (yet).
But Pizarro had a glimpse of the Inca at
their peak of order and prosperity.
Pizarro and the Inca


Had he attacked now, the Spanish
would have met overwhelming forces
that were organized and determined.
It was Pizarro’s good fortune that the
weakness of his forces compelled
him to delay his assault on Peru until
the Inca were distracted and
weakened by civil war.
Pizarro and the Inca

So Pizarro returned to
Spain in 1528 to visit
King Charles V. He
showed the king gold
drinking cups acquired
at Tumbez as well as
live llama and two
young Inca he was
training as
interpreters.
Pizarro and the Inca


Charles V was impressed and gave
Pizarro a royal charter to conquer
this “land of gold,” making Pizarro
Governor and Captain-General of the
lands he had yet to win.
When he returned to Panama in the
spring of 1531, he set sail for
Tumbez with three ships, 180 men,
and 27 horses.
Pizarro and the Inca



Before he reached Tumbez, Pizarro
was reinforced by 130 additional men
and horses from Panama.
When he reached Tumbez, he found
the city almost deserted and largely
destroyed.
As the Spanish went down the coast,
whole valleys were without men of
military age, all of them conscripted
by Atahualpa’s armies.
Pizarro and the Inca



Learning that Atahualpa was camped
near Cajamarca in the Andes, Pizarro left
a garrison on the coast (110 men) and
turned eastward into the mountains,
following a narrow but well-paved road.
The Inca were noted road builders, with
roads varying from fully constructed
paved roads to narrow paths.
Road widths varied from 3ft to over 80ft.
Pizarro and the Inca


No Inca opposed him;
the fortresses that
watched the road
were empty and
silent, the bridges
across mountain
chasms undestroyed,
the narrow passes
unguarded.
Pizarro had less than
200 men.
Pizarro and the Inca


Up into the mountains they went, the
horses having to be led.
They were met by a high-ranking Inca
noble envoy from Atahualpa who said
the Inca wanted to be friends with the
Spanish and that Atahualpa was
awaiting them in peace at Cajamarca.
Pizarro and the Inca



Pizarro and his men marched into
Cajamarca and saw it deserted,
thinking it was a trap.
Once Pizarro secured the town, he
sent Hernando De Soto (later the
“discoverer” of the Mississippi River)
and 15 horsemen to visit the Inca.
Inca soldiers and noblemen, adorned
in gleaming golden ornaments,
surrounded Atahualpa, who sat on a
low stool.
Pizarro and the Inca



Even though Atahualpa had never seen
a horse or the bright steel armor the
Spanish wore, he gave no hint that he
was impressed.
The Spaniards rode up to him, bowed
politely without dismounting and
announced (through an interpreter)
that their commander invited the
emperor to visit him at his quarters.
At first Atahualpa did not reply; then
he smiled.
Pizarro and the Inca


“Tell your commander that I am keeping
a fast that will end tomorrow. Then I
will visit him with my chieftains.”
De Soto noticed that the emperor was
fascinated by the horses, so digging his
spurs into his he gave a brilliant display
of horsemanship, dashing away at a
gallop, rearing, wheeling.
Pizarro and the Inca

Then he rode full
speed at
Atahualpa,
stopping the
horse so close
that flecks of
foam fell on the
emperor’s
clothing.
Pizarro and the Inca



Not a tremor of expression crossed
Atahualpa’s face.
Deeply affected by this display of
fortitude (and also the hundreds of
well-disciplined soldiers), the Spanish
returned to Pizarro in low spirits.
Atahualpa was obviously no weakling
like Moctezuma, who was paralyzed
by religious doubts and fear.
Pizarro and the Inca


De Soto’s report caused panic in the
Spanish camp, but Pizarro was
pleased, for only desperate men
would be willing to risk the bold
scheme he proposed…he convinced
his men that their only hope of
survival was to capture Atahualpa
within the sight of his powerful army.
Anything less would mean the
destruction of the tiny band of
Spaniards.
Pizarro and the Inca


At dawn, Pizarro positioned his men
around the town’s plaza, and when
the signal was given (the firing of a
rifle), his men were to emerge and
slaughter the emperor’s followers and
seize the emperor.
Shortly after midday the emperor’s
procession moved slowly along the
city’s avenue…first came attendants to
sweep the ground followed by nobles
whose golden jewelry blazed in the
sun.
Pizarro and the Inca

Then came Atahualpa riding in a
golden litter carried on the shoulders
of his highest-ranking noblemen.
Pizarro and the Inca


A half-mile from the city’s plaza,
Pizarro relayed a message to
Atahualpa that he was providing
entertainment and he expected the
emperor to join him for dinner.
The emperor replied that he accepted
the invitation and that he would leave
most of his warriors behind, and those
he brought would be unarmed.
Pizarro and the Inca


To Pizarro, this was a sign that God
was on the side of the Spanish.
Historians believe that it never
occurred to Atahualpa that the
Spaniards might attack him…the
power of the Inca was so absolute
that any such action was
unthinkable.
Pizarro and the Inca



When Atahualpa entered the plaza no
Spaniard was in sight. “Where are
the strangers?” he said.
Pizarro’s chaplain came forward and
after a long discourse in Christian
theology (that the Inca didn’t
understand) he told Atahualpa that he
must change his religion and become
a vassal of Charles V of Spain.
Atahualpa was not pleased.
Pizarro and the Inca


Atahualpa said “I will be no man’s
vassal. I am greater than any prince
on earth. As for my religion, I will not
change it. You say your God was put
to death, but mine” –and he pointed
to the sun— “still lives.”
The priest handed Atahualpa his Bible
and the emperor threw it down.
Pizarro and the Inca


The priest screamed at Pizarro “While
we are arguing with this arrogant dog
the fields are filling with Indians. Set on
him! I absolve you.”
Pizarro waved a white scarf, a gun
thundered, and the slaughter began.
Pizarro and the Inca



Atahualpa’s retainers desperately
crowded around the royal litter but
they had no weapons.
They clung to the horses so
Atahualpa wouldn’t be injured until
the Spaniards cut them away with
their swords.
Fearing that the emperor might be
injured, Pizarro shouted that any
soldier that harmed him would be put
to death.
Pizarro and the Inca

Pizarro was slightly cut on the hand
(by one of his own men) and that was
the only Spanish injury that day.
Pizarro and the Inca


Atahualpa was captured and dragged
to a nearby building.
Panic spread through the Inca
warriors left behind and they fled…
ending all resistance to the Spanish.
Pizarro and the Inca



The massacre had lasted little more
than half an hour, but at least 2,000—
some reports say 10,000—Inca were
killed, including the key nobles which
were the Empire’s administrative core.
When all was quiet, Pizarro invited
Atahualpa to dinner as promised.
The banquet was held near the plaza
in a building still carpeted with the
dead.
Pizarro and the Inca



Pizarro sat next to his captive who
showed remarkable composure.
“It is the way of war,” the Emperor
remarked with dignity, “to conquer or
be conquered.”
Pizarro ordered that Atahualpa’s court
be brought to Cajamarca, including
his favorite concubines, his cooks and
other servants, and young girls who
waited on him hand and foot.
Pizarro and the Inca


Even though he was a prisoner,
Atahualpa continued to live as the
Emperor (including dining off of solid
gold plates)…but all orders given in
his name were from Pizarro.
The people of the Empire, accustomed
to obeying the Emperor’s every wish
did not question the stranger through
whom they believed their ruler was
speaking.
Pizarro and the Inca


For the next nine months
(while Pizarro waited for
reinforcements),
Atahualpa lived in
captivity.
He noticed the
extraordinary effect gold
had on the Spaniards
and this gave him an
idea to escape captivity.
Pizarro and the Inca

To Atahualpa, gold was a decorative
material; since the Inca didn’t use
money, he couldn’t understand its
importance as a medium of
exchange…but he saw that the
Spanish craved it above all else.
Pizarro and the Inca


One day, Atahualpa and Pizarro were
in a building and the Emperor offered
to cover the floor in gold if Pizarro
released him.
The Spaniards present were
dumbfounded by this proposal and
couldn’t speak, so Atahualpa
increased his offer.
Pizarro and the Inca


He stood on his tiptoes, reached as
high as he could, and offered to fill
the room (17 x 22ft) with gold to
that point. Pizarro drew a red line.
Pizarro then demanded the adjoining
two rooms be filled with silver.
Pizarro and the Inca

Atahualpa agreed,
asked for two months
to accomplish the
task, and ordered the
collection of gold and
silver objects from
around the empire.
Pizarro and the Inca



To the Inca, gold and silver
represented the essence of the sun
and the moon.
The importance of objects lay in the
imagery of the gods they represented.
To the Spanish, their interest was
purely monetary…they cared neither
for Incan artistry nor for the religious
value a piece carried.
Pizarro and the Inca
Pizarro and the Inca



Fearing that once the rooms were filled
with treasure the Inca would attack the
Spanish, Pizarro sent three of his men
to Cuzco (600 miles away) to
determine the state of the Inca.
On Atahualpa’s orders, they were to be
carried on litters by troops of bearers,
and during their journey they were
greeted with reverence, not hostility.
They reported back that Peru was
peaceful.
Pizarro and the Inca



When at last Pizarro declared the
ransom paid, he ordered that all the
gold be melted down to ingots except
for a few objects of artistic interest.
The ransom has been estimated to
have been worth $30+ million.
Charles V was to receive 20% of the
gold, the remainder divided up
between Pizarro and his men.
Pizarro and the Inca



Pizarro’s share of the loot was over
$2,000,000. Each foot soldier got
about $75,000, and every cavalry
man about $175,000.
Atahualpa then demanded his
freedom.
De Soto and a minority agreed and
said it was a matter of honor.
Pizarro and the Inca



But the majority of Spaniards, fearing
for their safety if the Emperor lived,
disagreed and put him on trial
charged with idolatry, polygamy, and
incestuous marriage.
He was also charged with usurping
the throne and having his half-brother
(Huascar) murdered.
He was pronounced guilty and
condemned to death by burning at the
stake.
Pizarro and the Inca


A stake was set up in the city plaza,
Atahualpa was bound to it, and
bundles of sticks were set around.
The priest approached Atahualpa
with his crucifix and told him that if
he converted to Christianity, he
would be strangled instead of burned
alive.
Pizarro and the Inca


Atahualpa agreed, was immediately
baptized under the name Juan de
Atahualpa, then garroted (strangled)
by a cord around his neck.
So died the last of the ruling Incan
emperors, and the Empire died with
him.
Pizarro and the Inca


It shattered into helpless fragments
which passively accepted Spanish
control.
To the common people, the
Spaniards were merely a new class
of rulers, just as remote and
probably no worse than the Inca had
been.
The Legacy of Cortes and Pizarro

The Inca were as wrong in their
trusting passivity as the Mexicans had
been in actively aiding the invaders
against the Aztec oppressors, but
nothing that either people could have
done would have delayed the outcome
by more than a few years. The
Spaniards brought more than
conquest to the isolated civilizations
of the ancient Americas; they also
brought contact with the outside
world, and that proved disastrous.
The Age of Exploration


Conquest involved violence, domination,
and theft. The Spanish conquest of the
Americas created a series of important
philosophical and moral questions for the
Europeans.
Theologians and lawyers asked “Who
were the Indians? Were they fully
human? Was it proper to convert them
to Christianity? Could conversion by
force or the conquest of their lands be
justified?”
The Age of Exploration


Driven by greed, the conquistadors
argued that conquest was necessary to
spread the gospel and that control of
Indian labor was essential to Spanish
rule.
In 1548, Juan de Sepulveda, a noted
Spanish scholar, published a book
claiming the conquests were fully
justified.
The Age of Exploration


The Spaniards had come to free the
Indians from their unjust overlords
and to bring them “the light of
salvation.”
Most importantly, he argued, the
Indians were not fully human, and
some peoples “were born to serve.”
The Age of Exploration

In 1550, Bishop Bartolome de Las
Casas presented the king an opposing
view.
The Age of Exploration

Before the king
(Charles V),
Bishop de Las
Casas said that
the Indians were a
rational people,
who, unlike the
Muslims, had
never done harm
to Christians.
The Age of Exploration


Therefore the
conquest of their
lands was
unjustified.
The court was
horrified as de Las
Casas related his A
Short Account of
the Destruction of
the Indies (written
1542).
The Age of Exploration


He argued that “the
Indians are our
brothers and Christ
has given his life for
them.”
Spanish rule to spread
Christianity was
justified, but
conversion should
take place only by
peaceful means.
The Age of Exploration


Bishop de Las Casas was such an
advocate of the natives he famously
refused to administer “last rites” to
Spaniards who confessed to
brutalizing them.
But he also assumed, as Aristotle
said, that some men were ‘by nature’
slaves (he had African slaves of his
own) but he denied that the Indians
were among them.
The Age of Exploration



In the end, the Spanish crown ruled
that the Indians must be treated
better.
Unfortunately, it was too little too
late and since the New World was far
from Spain, change came very
slowly.
The great conquests were essentially
over by the 1570’s.
The Age of Exploration
It was not
courage or better
weapons that
defeated the
indigenous
peoples of the
Americas; it was
disease (mostly
smallpox).
The Age of Exploration


Fifteen major epidemics raged
through the Americas in the century
after Columbus.
Many historians consider this to be
the single greatest tragedy in the
history of the human species, as
an estimated 25-50 million
natives died within 100 years
(equal to ½ billion people today).
The Age of Exploration


Enslavement of Africans is
considered by many historians to
be the second greatest tragedy.
By 1650, the European conquest
of the Americas was fairly
complete and the Americas were
driven by a plantation and mining
export economy of raw materials
sent back to Europe.
The Age of Exploration


Natives were used
as slave labor in
mining gold and
silver and on
plantations.
In the Potosi mines
of Bolivia, by 1650
an estimated 8
million natives had
died.
The Age of Exploration


Brazilian and Caribbean export
economies by the 17th century were
based on plantations which produced
sugar, coffee, cocoa, tobacco, rice.
As natives died, European plantation
and mine owners needed workers,
spawning the Atlantic slave trade.
The Atlantic System



The relationship between Africa—
Europe—the Americas in the 17th
century is called the Plantation
Complex or the Atlantic System.
The Atlantic System initially
combined two institutions in new
ways: sugar production and slavery.
Slavery was a fundamental, basic
institution in nearly all pre-modern
societies.
The Atlantic System

Up to the 14th century, most
European slaves came from the
Slavic areas around the Black Sea
and were sold/used in the
Mediterranean area. Slave came
from the word Slav.

European slavery had nothing to do
with Africa until the mid-15th
century.
The Atlantic System



Up to this point, European slavery
had nothing to do with RACE
because most slaves were white.
Two events changed the relationship:
1). 1453 Muslim Turks captured
Constantinople (and changed the
name to Istanbul) and sealed off the Black
Sea to the slave trade.
2). 1433 Portugal made its way down the
West coast of Africa, making first contact
with the Sub-Saharan African slave trade
that already existed.
The Atlantic System





Sugar:
Until the 11th century Europe’s only
sweetener was honey.
As a result of the Crusades, Europe
came into contact with sugar cane
in the Middle East.
Sugar cane was brought to Caribbean
islands and fertile South American
soils to be cultivated.
It is very labor intensive.
The Atlantic System



Sugar became the most
dominant, most
lucrative cash crop in
the New World.
Sugar was not only
used as a sweetener but
also to make rum.
By 1700, even though it
was still expensive,
sugar was a European
necessity.
The Atlantic System


Long before oil had international
consequences, it was the production of
sugar to make rum that dominated
trade between the Americas, Europe,
and Africa.
For a century (1570-1670) the
northeast coast of Brazil dominated the
world market in sugar production.
The Atlantic System

Then the British, French, and Dutch
turned their Caribbean colonies to sugar
production, trying to break the
Portuguese/Brazilian monopoly.
The Atlantic System


Sugar transformed
Brazil and the
Caribbean.
Its production, which
involved both the
growing of sugarcane
and processing it into
usable sugar,
occurred in largescale, industrial type
plantations.
The Atlantic System

The slaves worked
in horrendous
conditions. The
heat and fire from
the cauldrons
(turning sugarcane
into crystallized
sugar) reminded
many visitors of
scenes from Hell.
The Atlantic System


The origin of the word rum is
unclear. A common claim is that the
name was derived from rumbullion
meaning "a great tumult or uproar".
Another claim is that the name is
from the large drinking glasses used
by Dutch seamen known as
rummers, from the Dutch word
roemer, a drinking glass.
The Atlantic System


By the 17th century, the islands of
the Caribbean were nearly empty or
had isolated populations that died.
Initially plantations were worked by
natives, but as they died, the New
World turned to their home countries
to find workers through persuasion,
propaganda, coercion, kidnapping.
The Atlantic System


Thousands of Europeans came to the
New World seeking a new life…but
millions were needed.
Many died of malaria or yellow fever—
they had no immunities.
The Atlantic System

With millions of
natives dead/dying,
and European
workers dying, the
European
plantation/mine
owners began to
import slaves from
Africa (partially
because of de Las
Casas).
The Atlantic System

By the end of 16th century, the labor
force of coerced Africans had replaced
the coerced Native Americans.
The Atlantic System



By the 16th century, Africa had become
a commercially active area with the
Middle East and Asia, and this included
the slave trade.
Portugal had been taking slaves back to
Europe since the 1430’s.
By the early 1500’s, there were over
35,000 Africans (mostly slaves, but also
freedmen) living in Portugal.
The Atlantic System
The Atlantic System





Who were the slaves?
Professional slave dealers brought slaves to
the coasts to be bought by the Europeans
(Europeans didn’t travel into the interior of
Africa because of fear of deadly diseases).
Slaves were collected in many ways:
1. most common were prisoners of tribal war
(also seen in India, China). Dealers did not
sell friends or family but did sell enemies,
least desirables of society.
2. sold condemned criminals (no prison costs
+ sale revenue)
The Atlantic System



The African slave trade to the
Americas lasted three centuries.
It began in Brazil in 16th century;
moved to Caribbean by 17th century;
migrated to North America in 18th
century; and Cuba/Puerto Rico in 19th
century.
The slave trade officially ended in U.S.
1808; 55 years later it is abolished.
The Atlantic System

Slavery ended in the U.S. in 1863, in
Brazil in the 1880’s.
The Atlantic System




Until 1840’s, more Africans crossed
the Atlantic than Europeans.
Between 15-19th centuries, an
estimated 10-12 million slaves were
brought to the Americas.
95% were intended for the mines
and plantations of the Caribbean,
Latin and South America…
Only 5% intended for North America.
The Atlantic System


10-12 million is the number which
survived the trip (the Middle
Passage) and actually landed in the
New World…
It is estimated that between 16-30
million Africans were enslaved and
that 1/3 to ½ died in the Middle
Passage.
The Atlantic System



The Middle Passage was a shipping
term referring to the middle leg of
the triangular trade that 1). sent
manufactured goods to Africa from
Europe (guns, cloth)…
2). which sent slaves to the
Americas…
3). which sent raw materials (sugar,
rum, coffee, cocoa, tobacco, indigo,
silver, lumber, etc) back to Europe.
The Atlantic System

The Triangle Trade:
The Atlantic System
The Atlantic System



The slave trade’s long term
impact on Africa:
1). Significant loss of male
population 16-30 years old in their
prime, productive years…they cannot
add value to their economy if they
are gone.
The loss of millions retards African
development, and it does not
recover.
The Atlantic System


2). Polygamy increased because of
the lack of men.
3). The slave trade increased the
level of violence in Africa as wars
were started over slavery…warfare
became more common and more
violent.
The Atlantic System



The impact on the Americas:
African labor was crucial to the
development of the New World.
In North America, Africans faced more
racism because the color line was
greater than in South America (where
several different races had been
created weakening the “color line”).
The Atlantic System


The long-term mix of the population
was changed with the creation of
Mestizos & Mulattos.
Mestizos (or mixed-race) were the
product of unions between Spanish
men and Indian women.
The Atlantic System

Rooted in the sexual imbalance among
Spanish immigrants (7 men to 1 woman
in early colonial Peru), the emergence of
a mestizo population was facilitated by
the desire of many surviving Indian
women for the security of a Spanish
household, where their children wouldn’t
be subjected to the abuse and harsh
demands made on the native peoples.
The Atlantic System


The Spanish Crown encouraged
settlers to marry into elite Indian
families (Cortes fathered children
with two of Moctezuma’s daughters).
Over the 300 years of the colonial
era, mestizo numbers grew
substantially, becoming the majority
of the Mexican population sometime
during the 19th century.
The Atlantic System


Mulattos were a mixed race created
between European men and African
women.
Cross-racial unions accounted for only
about 10% of all marriages, but the
use of mistresses and informal
relationships between Indians,
Africans, and the Europeans created
substantial racial mixing.
The Atlantic System


In Brazil alone, there emerged over
40 separate and racially mixed
groups, each named by the amount
of racial mixing contained.
The English colonies of North
America/the Caribbean were much
more racially conscious than the
Spanish/Portuguese colonies so there
was much less racial mixing (the
“color line” was much more distinct
making racism a bigger issue).
The Atlantic System


But the Spanish minority in the
Caribbean/Central/South America
(never more than 20% of the
population) was itself a divided
community.
Politically they saw themselves, not as
colonials, but as residents of a Spanish
kingdom, subject to the Spanish king,
yet separate and distinct from Spain
and deserving of a large measure of
self- government.
The Atlantic System

Descendants of the original
conquistadores tried to protect their
privileges from immigrant
newcomers; Spaniards born in the
Americas were known as creoles and
they resented the pretensions to
superiority of those born in Spain
(peninsulares).