European Exploration:New Encounters

Creation of a World Market

European Exploration

Why Not Italy?

Why Not Italy?• The Italian city-states of northern Italy

(Venice, Genoa, Milan and Florence) traded with Muslims

• They had no incentive to look to the Atlantic for trade due to the system of alliances they built with the Muslims due to their monopoly on Asian goods

• Italian ships were built for the calmer waters of the Mediterranean, not the Atlantic

• The Atlantic kingdoms of Europe looked to the Atlantic for Asian trade

Iberian Kingdoms• The 3 G’s• Seeking of profit was the

primary motivator• Christian conversion

– legacy of the Reconquista motivated the Christian monarchs not only to seek out an ally against Islam but also to find vast populations to convert to the Christian faith.

Iberian kingdoms• The kingdoms of Spain and Portugal

were the first to sponsor voyages; their motives for “exploration” were

1. Desire to break the stranglehold of the Italian trade monopolies by finding an Atlantic route to the east• Search for direct contact

2. Alliance between monarchs and merchants• Adventurous personalities of their leaders • Monarchies began to take a more active

interest in exploration and financed their own expeditions

3. New technologies• Shipbuilding• Cannon technology• Navigation tools

Monarchs & Merchants• Prince Henry (“the

Navigator”) sponsored research and navigation

• Sent expeditions to the African lands south of North Africa

• Desired – Goods and spices– Expansion of Christianity– Hope to reach India directly

Technologies - Caravel • A new vessel, small

size, shallow draft, combination of square and lateen sails, and cannon made it well suited for the task of exploration

• Had great maneuverability, speed and surprising strength against ocean storms

Technologies - Astrolabe

• A historical astronomical instrument used by classical astronomers, navigators, and astrologers.

• Used to measure the height above the horizon of celestial bodies

Technologies - Cannon• Allowed sail-

powered wooden naval warships dominated the high seas from the 1570’s-1860’s

Portugal – 1st to succeed

• Began to produce a financial return, first from trade in slaves, and then from the gold trade in Africa

• By 1488 they reached the tip of Africa (Bartholomew Dias)– Within 10 years they will reach

India directly

Spain plays catch up

• Determined not to allow Portugal to monopolize overseas trade the Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, looked to invest in overseas trade

• Turned to Columbus who would look for an westward Atlantic route to India and China

Columbus

• Which event or development was the most important reason for Columbus’ voyages

1.The fall of the Constantinople

2.The defeat of the Moors in Spain

3. Improved sailing technology

Causation vs.Facilitation The CAUSE of his voyages was the Fall of Constantinople

Who are these people?

Columbus’

► Did he discover the new world?► Well, he did:

Lay Spain’s colonial powers in the New World Growth of a new trading network Transfer of new crops Enslavement and death of natives from disease Act as a catalyst spurring Europe as the dominating

world power

achievements

Vasco da Gama• First explorer to round the tip

of Africa and reach India– 1498

• Opened first of what kind of trade between a European and Asian country?

• Portugal hits the jackpot in terms of trade

• Did you ever wonder why the official language of many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean is Spanish, but in Brazil--the largest country-- the official language is Portuguese?

Treaty of Tordesillas

• After Columbus' voyages to the New World there was a concern that Spain and Portugal would have conflicting territorial claims, so a treaty was proposed in which Spain would claim lands to the west of a north-south trending meridian, and Portugal could claim lands to the east.

Ferdinand Magellan• Tried to complete

Columbus’ attempt at a direct route to West Indies

• First to circumnavigate the world– But did he, he died?– Actually in a way yes!

• Laid beginnings of Spain in Philippines

• Shows how large the Pacific Ocean was

Other Explorers• Amerigo Vespucci

– That the New World was not Asia but a previously-unknown land mass

– First to document this on a map – mapmakers convinced him to use his name for this

• Balboa - crossed Panama--saw Pacific Ocean

Encounters with the Europeans

What TWO regions do you think will have cataclysmic encounters with the Europeans?

AFRICA EASTERN HEMISPHERE

NEW WORLD

Africa

Benin• One of the largest coastal

kingdoms in West Africa• After the initial search for gold what

other TWO items were very sought after by Portuguese

• Ivory & Pepper• Benin showed early interest in, but

ultimately refused, Christianity• Soon closed doors to trade

Kongo• Had little pepper and ivory,

so what did they sell instead?• Slaves• King began to lose his power

– Takes a Christian name Afonso I

– Writes to Portugal to ask to end the slave trade and exploitation of his country… King never answered the letter

Indian Ocean

• Arab seafarers used the regular pattern of the monsoon winds to establish trade routes in the Indian Ocean.

• These trade routes flourished when the rise of Islam created new markets and new networks of Muslim traders.

Coming of the Portuguese • Engaged already existing trade

networks, could gain wealth without conquering territory

• Portuguese were determined to control the Indian Ocean

• Portuguese never gained complete control of the Indian Ocean trade – Dominated – profit and broke the

Italian city-states’ monopoly on pepper

Americas

The Americas• Portuguese built a maritime trading empire• Spanish built a territorial empire due to

isolation of Amerindian communities & lack of resistance of disease

• The peoples of the New World are often referred to as Pre-Colombian – meaning the cultures of the Americas before the coming of the Europeans

• The two largest empires in the Americas was the Aztec and the Inca – both of which will fall to the Europeans by the hands of quite small conquering forces.

Conquistadors • Freelance conquerors who

served their own greed, their countries motives, and Christian missionaries

• These soldiers, explorers, & adventurers brought much of the new world under colonial rule

Reasons for Success

• Natives had no resistance to disease

• Military tech• Ability to apply pattern of:

–Conquest–forced labor–forced conversion

Aztec Empire

• Largest empire in Central America

• Built upon existing peoples and cultures in the area

• Controlled many other groups around them thru tributary system

• Ruled from Tenochtitlan under Moctezuma II

Conquest of the Aztecs• Conquistador – Hernan Cortes

caused the fall of the Aztec empire and brought large part of New World under Spain’s control

• Sought gold in the Aztec Empire

• Aztecs initially believed he was a mythical ruler Quetzalcoatl

Conquest of the Aztecs•Arriving on the continent Cortés executed a successful strategy of allying with some indigenous peoples against others. •Cortes use of native allies + cavalry and steel swords intimidates the Aztecs•Spaniards loots the treasury and are defeated in battle only to return later to defeat the Aztecs with more firepower and affects of European diseases had taken a serious toll

Conquest of the Aztecs• Seen as the most important

campaigns in the Spanish colonization of the Americas since the Aztecs were the central power and all others peoples were either allies or tributary states

• After their fall the rest of the central and N. America will be relatively easy to colonize

Inca Empire

Inca• Largest empire in Pre-

Columbian America, and one of the largest empires in the world at the time of its collapse

• Conquistadors attracted by the news of a rich and fabulous kingdom

• the Inca Empire was in a five year civil war between two princes (brothers). – Atahualpa wins

Francisco Pizzaro

• Wealthy landowner who sought more fortune and adventure

• Given license from king of Spain

• Encounters the Inca with 180 men, horses and cannon

Collision At Cajamarca

• While the natives were in a celebration in, the Spanish Pizarro took the Inca Atahualpa prisoner by surprise, causing a battle in which only 160 Spaniards defeated the entire empire with 80,000 troops camped nearby. – Battle had 6,000 Inca deaths – 0

Spanish deaths• Why did Jared Diamond focus

on this event?