Transcript Exploration and Colonization

Western Exploration and
Colonization
Snapshot of Europe in 1500
 Humanism
 Technological adoptions/advances
 Change in the nature of war
 Need for money
 Armies and arms
 Closing of the silk road
 Conquest of Contantinople (1453)
 Need for new route to the East
Early Modern Exploration
Columbus (1451-1506)
Shorter route to the Orient
Misjudged the distance by
400%
1492 landed in the
Bahamas
Cuba
1493: Hispaniola
(DR/Haiti
1494 Treaty of
Tordesillas
Columbus’ Voyages
The Treaty of Tordesillas 1494 and the
Treaty of Saragossa 1529
Spain
Portugal
Cantino Planisphere (1502)
Hernando Cortés (1485-1547)
 Hernando Cortés (1485-1547)
 Conquest of the Aztec Empire: 1519
 Supported by native peoples who were enemies of
the Aztec empire
 Establishment of a feudal kingdom in the new world
 encomienda system
 Francisco Pizarro (ca. 1475-1541)
 Conquest of the Incan Empire: 1531
New World Technology
Moray, Old Incan Empire
Mayan Glyphs
European
Exploration
and
Colonization of
North America
What are the purposes of
colonization?
Purposes of Colonization
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God?
Gold
silver
Glory?
Territory
Slaves
Consequences of Colonization
 Decimation of Native Population
 Aztec Empire population declined from 25
million to 2 million in 30 years
 Measles
 Influenza
 Smallpox
Codex Florentinus (ca 1545-1580)
Consequences of Colonization
 Widespread belief of European
superiority
 Wanton destruction of native cultures
 Continued need for a source of cheap labour
to work mines and sugar plantations
 African Atlantic Slave Trade
The Expanding Slave Trade
Consequences of Colonization
 Sharing of Cultures and Knowledge
 African slaves work in New World mines
 African and Native American slaves work in
Europe
 European men and women find homes in the
New World
Consequences of Colonization
 New World products available in Europe
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SUGAR
Rum
Cocoa beans
Vanilla
Tomatoes
Potatoes
Consequences of Colonization
 Emergence of a Global Marketplace
 Triangular trade
 The Asian triangle
 South American silver to Europe and then to Asia for
spices, silk, coffee, jewels, jade, porcelain, dyes, fabrics
 Tea
 By the end of the 18th century,15 million pounds of
tea imported annually to England
 Dramatic increase in demand for sugar
Triangular Trade
Global Trade Networks