Transcript The Explorers

Age of Exploration
Portuguese & Spanish
Explorers
Mercantilism
• The economic theory that a country’s
wealth should be measured in bullion
(gold and silver)
• European nations got bullion by
establishing colonies in Africa, the
Americas, and Asia
Portugal
• Prince Henry the Navigator: 1420-1430
– Goal was to find gold for Portugal
– Sailed along the west coast of Africa
– Traded for gold, slaves and ivory
Portugal
• Bartholomew Diaz: 1487-1488
– Sailed around the Cape of Good Hope
(southern tip of Africa)
– Found a route to the Indian Ocean
Portugal
• Vasco de Gama: 1497-1499
– Went further into the Indian Ocean
– First to trade with India by sea
– Easier and cheaper to go by sea than by
land
Spain
• Reconquista: 1492
– King Ferdinand & Queen Isabella drove all
the Muslim Moors out of Spain
– Began the Spanish Inquisition
– Reconquista = “Reconquer”
Spain
• Treaty of Tordesillas: 1493
– Pope draws a north-south line in South
America
– Spain got territory west of the line
– Portugal got territory east of the line
• WHO GOT THE BETTER DEAL?
Spain
• Christopher Columbus: 1492-1504
– Wanted to find a westward route to India
– Landed on Hispaniola (Haiti/DR)
– Named it “West Indies” thinking he was in
India
– Died thinking he went to India
– Columbian Exchange: Trade of products,
plants, animals & disease between Europe
and the “New World”
Spain
• Amerigo Vespucci: 1497-1504
– Didn’t think Columbus was in Asia
– First to call it the “New World”
– Both North and South America are named
for him
Spain
• Ponce de Leon: 1513
– Explored into Florida
– Looking for the “Fountain of Youth”—one
drink and you remain young forever
Spain
• Ferdinand Magellan: 1519-1522
– Proved the New World was not part of
Asia
– Circumnavigated the globe
– Named the Pacific Ocean “Pacificus”
meaning “calm”
– Killed in the Philippines
Spain
• Hernan Cortez: 1519
– Invaded Mexico
– Seized and destroyed the Aztec capital of
Tenochtitlan
– Killed King Montezuma II
– Introduced horses and smallpox into
Mesoamerica
Spain
• Francisco Pizarro: 1530
– Invaded Cusco, capital of the Incan
empire in Peru
– Captured and killed king Atahualpa
– Destroyed the Incan empire
– Introduced smallpox into South America