Transcript The Age of Exploration

Renaissance on the High
Seas?

How might the ideals of the Renaissance
contribute to Exploration?
 Classical Learning- Renaissance society had
wanted to learn more
 Worldly Pleasures- Focused on living in this
world; enjoying what the world had to offer was a
way to accomplish this
 Celebration of the Individual- Glory for explorers
(& eventually nations)
Why Explore the Sea?
The Motivations

 The “3 G’s” of Exploration:
 Gold: Search for Profits
 Begins with the search for Spices and grows to
other elements (gold/silver, cotton, coffee, etc.)
 Cut out Arab/Turkish middlemen by going
straight to the source
 Could make a lot of $$$ Exploring the Seas
 Glory
 Have one’s name remembered forever…
eventually turned into a source of national pride
 God: Spread Christianity
 Sacred duty to convert all non-believers
How to Explore?
New Technologies

Caravel: A Faster Ship
 constructed framefirst and covered
with planks fitted
flush to one another.
 carried three or even
four masts with
lateen (square or
triangle) sails
More New Technology!

 Astrolabe: ancient
astronomy tool used
to map stars and
planets. Renaissance
seamen used it for
navigation by
measuring the angle
of the sun or stars.
Wait, There’s More!

 Magnetic compass:
aligns with the Earth’s
magnetic north-south
poles. Mariners used it
(and still do to today)
to chart their courses
and indicate direction.
First Nautical Explorers

Portuguese:
Prince Henry
 Sponsored school of navigation
 Expand his Christian Kingdom
 Quest for wealth
Africa (mid 1400’s)
 Gold & Ivory
 Established trading ports on Gold Coast & West
Africa
 African Slaves: ideal source of labor after plague
 60 years—50,000 African Slaves
Portuguese Explorers

 Bartholomew Dias (1488)
 Navigates the southern tip of Africa;
Cape of Good Hope
 Vasco da Gama
 July 8, 1494 leave for India
 10 months later arrives Calicut,
India
 Returns with cinnamon & pepper in
1499 to heroes welcome—gets $$$
 Leads to agreement with Arabs for
exclusive trade rights in Indian
Ocean, China, and the Spice Islands
(Indonesia)
Spanish Explorers

Christopher Columbus
 Helped to propel Spain into the forefront of
European exploration, conquest, & settlement
Amerigo Vespucci
 North & South America named after him
Vasco Nunez de Balboa
 Claims Pacific Ocean for Spain
Ferdinand Magellan
 1519-1522 Travels around the world
 Proves globe was bigger than thought; Americas
are separate continents
Northwest Passage

 Many explorers (Columbus incl.) were trying to
find an alternate route to Asia (China/India)
 Instead of going East, we can go West to get to
Asia.
 Explorers believed there was a water way that
led to Asia. Named The Northwest Passage,
this mythical body of water was believed to:
1. Go directly from Europe to Asia
later, after Americas discovered…
2. Connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans
–
Unfortunately, it did not exist, and North
America stood in their way…what links the
Atlantic and Pacific Oceans today?
Who Get’s What?

Spain vs. Portugal

Pope Alexander VI and later Julius II demands
both countries sign Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)
 Line of Demarcation
defined what territories was
Spanish and Portuguese in
the New World
 West= Spain
 East= Portugal
…Not So Fast!

 Following Treaty of Tordesillas, other European
nations race to cash in on the New World
 In defiance of Spanish/Portuguese monopoly
 England & France explore North America in search
of NW Passage, spices, and gold…later furs, fishing,
& to convert the Indians to Christianity
 John Cabot (1497) claims island of Newfoundland
(east coast of Canada) for England
 Jacques Cartier (1534) claims St. Lawrence River and
surrounding areas (Quebec/Great Lakes) for France
Where Did European’s
Explore?

Exploration of Africa

Exploration of Africa begins with Dias and
De Gama
Search for profit: Africa was a region rich in
resources (gold, ivory, salt, etc.)
16th century: Establishment of plantations
and Slave Trade
What was the effect on the African continent?
Exploration of Americas

Columbus begins in 1492: Search for route to
India and eventually the NW Passage
Establishment of Spanish and Portuguese
colonies
Conquest of ancient Indigenous American
civilizations
 Aztecs (Cortes)
 Inca (Pizarro)
Latin American Colonial Life

Spanish-Dominated colonial
structure/Hierarchy of Power (why would
they do this?)
 Peninsulares – people born in Spain
 Creoles – American-born descendants of Spanish
settlers
 Mestizos – Native/European descendants
 Mulattoes – African/European descendants
Treatment of Indigenous Population
Spread of Christianity
Consequences of Euro
Exploration

Europe dominates much of the world from
1500 to 1900
Connection of African, American, Asian, and
European economies and politics
Trade (sharing of ideas), Different foods
introduced to Europe (Corn/Maize, Fruits,
Potato) helped end famine in both ends of the
world.
Advancement of Western Civilization…
precursor to the United States.
Consequences of Euro Contact
with Native Americans

Epidemics (Diseases that spread quicker than
they can be cured): Small Pox, Influenza.
These diseases were devastating to the
people of the Americas because the
Indigenous (Native) population had not yet
built immunities to the diseases.
Indigenous Population of the Americas in
1492: 54-100 million. Indigenous Population
of the Americas in 1750: Less than 500,000
Social and Economic
Consequences

Encomiendas: System of forced labor
indigenous Americans had to
endure…horrible working conditions
Atlantic Slave Trade:
 Triangular Trade between Europe, Africa,
Americas
 Middle Passage (2 million die in transit)
 9-11 Million Africans Come to Americas
