Transcript The Maritime Revolution, to 1550

The Maritime Revolution, to
1550
Chapter 15
Masters of the Oceans
• Really this achievement marks a turning point for Europe
• Not so much because of what they got from their initial
exploration of the globe
• But because it marked the end of a long period when Asia
had initiated most overland and maritime expansion
• And Asia was the source of the most useful technologies
and systems of belief
• And Asia had been the home to the most powerful states
and the richest trading networks
• The center of the world’s power, wealth and innovation will
shift to the West
Global Maritime Expansion Before
1450
• In the Pacific the Polynesian developed larger
more sea-worthy canoes—some as long as 120
feet and improved their navigational skills so they
could extend voyages over ever-greater distances
from Asia to the eastern Pacific
• And the extensive travel in the Indian Ocean of
seafaring people on its shores
• Especially Arab traders who shared a common
language, common laws and Islam, although not
a common state, or political entity
The Chinese
• In 1368 the Ming dynasty overthrows the Mongol dynasty (the Yuan) and
wished to reestablish Chinese predominance and prestige abroad
• Between 1405 and 1433 the Ming sent 7 imperial fleets to renew contacts
with the people of the Indian Ocean
• Huge fleets—the first in 1405 sent 62 treasure ships—large junks (150 X
300 feet) with 9 masts and 12 sails. One expedition contained 27,000
people
• Zheng He, a Muslim and an imperial eunuch, commanded the voyages
• The ships were filled with gifts of silk, and other gifts to give the rulers of
the cities they visited, and they returned with gifts for the emperor
• But the main function was diplomatic-to reestablish ties with the diverse
people of the Indian Ocean
• These voyages stopped, most say Imperial authorities wished to
concentrate on internal matters rather than exploration
Comparison
The Vikings
• In the Atlantic Ocean the Vikings were the
great explorers
• Small, open ships that could travel on the
open ocean and up Europe’s rivers
• Colony in Iceland in 770, Greenland 982, saw
the shores of North America, established a
colony in Newfoundland
Also in the Atlantic
• Portuguese and Genoese sailed int othe Atlantic
reaching Madeira, the Azores and the Canary Islands
• There is evidence of Africans exploring the Atlantic as
well—in 1324, Mansa Musa told of an ancestor, Mansa
Muhammad, who had sent 400 vessels into the Atlantic
and ordered them to find the other side of the
Ocean—one canoe returned and said the others had
been lost in a violent current
• And Arawak people of South America colonized the
islands of the Caribbean by the year 1000, and were
followed by the Carib who replaced them in later
centuries
European Expansion 1400-1550
• So nothing new about ocean exploration
• But the Iberian explorations profoundly change World History
• Iberian voyages the result of strong economic, religious and political
motives and also improvements in maritime technologies
• The revival of trade and urban life, alliances between merchants
and rulers, the struggle with Islamic rulers for trade in the Eastern
Mediterranean, and growing curiosity about the rest of the world
• Individual Italians (Columbus was Genoan) explored the Atlantic,
but Italy had its connections to the Indian Ocean
• And powerful religious motives—the text uses the term Christian
militancy
Portuguese Voyages
• Portugal’s decision to invest resources in new exploration
• In 1415 they conquered the rich Moroccan city of Ceuta, which gave them
better intelligence about the gold and slave caravans coming north from
West Africa across the Sahara
• They could not militarily move inland, so they sought an ocean route
• Henry the Navigator 1394-1460 devoted his life to promoting exploration
• First Africa was the goal, and then India
• First he collected maps and information from sailors and travelers
• And to collect and improve navigational instruments from China and the
Islamic world
• And to make better vessels capable of longer distances
• This was the caravel—lateen sails or square ones, small cannon, plenty of
room for cargo
• And over time, they figured out the winds
• 1440’s slaves, and gold
Results
• In 1469 a Lisbon merchant established sugar
plantation using African slaves on the Atlantic
island of Sao Tome, which will be the model
for New World plantations
• And finally, Vasco da Gama reached India by
sailing around the Cape in 1497-8
• In 1500 Portuguese ships reached South
America—and established a claim for Brazil
Spanish Voyages
• Not Portugal’s century long planning and persistence, but blind luck
• Throughout the 15th century Spain was preoccupied with internal
wars and the alliances necessary to unify Spain
• The Spanish crown sponsored 4 voyages by Christopher Columbus
from 1492-1504
• The idea of a New World was resisted, then debated, then named
after a mapmaker, Amerigo Vespucci who explored the New World,
and made a map
• To prevent disputes between Christian nations , Spain and Portugal
agreed to split the world between them in the Treaty of Tordesillas
negotiated by the pope in 1494
• Magellan’s voyage, 1519-21, began to clarify the globe’s size and
the positions of its major land masses
Encounters With Europe
1450-1550
• Europeans evaluated by the people they
encountered as potential allies or enemies
• Europeans attempted to insert themselves into
existing trading structures
• They made very slow progress in establishing
colonies and asserting political influence in Africa
and Asia, although they profited from commercial
ties
• But in the Americas Spain and Portugal, and then
others moved rapidly to establish empires
West Africa
• Initially Africans were interested in the easier ocean routes
the Portuguese offered, and the possibility of new trade
• The establishment of trading posts by Portugal on the West
Coast began slowly and appeared to be beneficial to both
sides
• Initially local rulers appear to have been in control of the
trade and the Portuguese traders
• Interest in and conversion to Christianity, rulers visited
Portugal
• Eventually the trading post in Benin was closed to
Portuguese
• And in the Kongo it appears the ruling family lost control of
the trade, and then lost control of the kingdom
East Africa
• The East Coast of Africa was Muslim, and the
reception Vasco de Gama received was mixed
because of the history of conflict Muslims had
with Christians
• The ruler of Malindi, though gave him a guide
to help him get to India
• 7 years later Portuguese war ships shelled the
Islamic cities of the East Coast, except Malindi,
and then the Indian port of Goa
Indian Ocean States
• The Portuguese meant to conquer the Indian
Ocean, which had been an open sea used by
merchants of al the surrounding coasts
• They were laughed at given the poverty of their
trade goods, but not their cannons and soldiers
• The Portuguese were able to gain control of the
port of Hormuz and 2 ports on India’s West Coast
• They took control of Malacca which was the main
trading city of the Eastern Indian Ocean in 1511
Force Not Always Necessary
• On the China coast, local officials and merchants allowed the
Portuguese to establish a trading post at Macao, from which they
were able to monopolize trade between Japan and China
• The Mughals of India largely ignored Portugal’s ports
• The Ottomans did send ships and men to fight the Portuguese
• But most of the smaller port cities found resistance difficult
• They never gained control of the Indian Ocean, but they were every
to dominate key ports and trade routes during the sixteenth
century
• The Portuguese were able to break monopolies held by Genoa and
Venice, and use profits to finance colonization of Brazil
• Overall, the Portuguese had little impact on the Asian and African
mainlands, in contrast to their impact in the Americas
The Americas
• The Spanish established a vast territorial empire in the Americas in
contrast to the trading empire the Portuguese created
• The difference had little to do with Portugal and Spain, but in the
differences between the New World and the Indian Ocean
• Disease weakened the ability of Amerindians to resist, and seemed
to confirm for the Spanish that this was God’s will
• The Spanish sought to serve God, and become rich in the process
• Both the Aztecs and the Incas fell to small, but ruthless forces
• The Spanish found and took much gold and silver, and their tales of
wealth and conquest encouraged more conquistadors to find their
way to New Spain