Exploration and Expansion

Exploration and Expansion• For thousands of years the major civilizations of

the world thrived in isolation from one another. These civilizations had very little contact with one another, and in many cases had no knowledge of each other.

Exploration and Expansion

• This changed when explorers were sent out from Western Europe and China in an effort to learn about the world around them. Trade routes then opened up where specialized goods were traded between civilizations.

• In 1275 Marco Polo traveled to Asia and sparked interest for wealth and goods in Asia.

Reasons for Exploration“God, Glory, and Gold”

• Spices were in high demand. They were used by Europeans to flavor their food, to preserve their meats, to make medicines, and even used in perfumes. But transportation was costly!

• Nations began to look at other ways of transporting spices into Western Europe. Many adventurous businessmen began to look at the sea. If they could find a way to sail from Europe to Asia by sea, they could make a fortune!

Reasons for Exploration“God, Glory, and Gold”

• Christianity was a large motive in overseas voyages. Many conquistadors felt that they must ensure that natives of the countries they conquered be cured with Catholic faith.

• Explorers gave natives two choices when they arrived: Convert or Die!

Reasons for Exploration“God, Glory, and Gold”

• Greed was a second large motive for European expansion. It’s all about the Benjamins! As Columbus put it, “Gold is most excellent; gold constitutes treasure, and he who has it does all he wants in the world, and can even lift souls up to paradise.”

• Columbus discovers new lands and returns with gold and tales of riches, such as the story of the legendary city of gold known as El Dorado.

• Mercantalism – With increased trade and the developments of colonies (settlements of people living in new territories) the prosperity of nations depended on a large supply of gold. This economic principle assumes the world’s wealth is fixed, and that there is only so much gold to spread among all the nations. Conquistadors thrived on the notion of first come first serve!

• Balance of Trade – the difference in value between what a nation imports and what it exports over time.

• What would make a favorable balance of trade?

Reasons for Exploration“God, Glory, and Gold”

• Glory was a third motive for exploration. Hernando Cortez and Francisco Pizzaro are other conquistadors who followed in an attempt to gain fame and wealth.

• Others such as Ponce de Leon sought to find the Fountain of Youth, an Indian tale of a spring that made all that drank from it feel young and healthy.

What were the three main motives for exploration?

• 1.God

• 2.Glory

• 3.Gold

What made exploration possible?Advances that led to exploration

Caravel : Three sailed sea-going vessels were more maneuverable and could carry heavy cannons and more goods

Compass : Used magnetic north to tell directionAstrolabe : Used stars to determine latitudeGuns, Cannons, Horses : helped conquer nativesJoint Stock Companies and Banks : raised money

for explorationCartography : the art and science of mapmaking,

created fairly accurate maps of the time

Match the following image with the appropriate advancement

• 1.

• 2.

• 3.

• 4.

• 5.

• 6.

Major Accomplishments during the Age of Exploration

• 1497:Vasco da Gama was first to reach India by traveling around Africa.

• 1501: Amerigo Vespucci explored coast of Brazil (Americas named after him)

• 1511: Juan Ponce de Leon was first European sailor to set foot on US soil, did so in the state of Florida.

• 1513: Vasco Nunez de Balboa was first to discover the Pacific ocean.

• 1519-1522:Ferdinand Magellan was credited with being first to circumnavigate the earth. Magellan was killed in the Philippines in 1521, his crew would finish the trip.

Advantages that led to European Colonization of the New World

• European voyagers learned much of their knowledge about exploration from the Arabs.

• Gunpowder : Europeans got it from the Chinese, as did the Arabs. But the Europeans were the first to successfully utilize it as a weapon.

• Iron : Europeans learned how to make weapons of this more durable and hard metal.

• Horses : There were none of these animals in the Americas. Natives mistook them as dragons.

• Dogs : Attack dogs were used to chase down, kill, and terrorize the natives.

• Smallpox : Disease that wiped out 95% of the native population. Indians did not have any biological defenses against it.

What is Smallpox?

• Smallpox is a serious and contagious disease that causes a rash on the skin and causes death in most cases.

• Symptoms appear 12-14 days after infected: Fever, cough, & raised fluid filled blisters appear on the skin

Why should America, in particular those born after 1972, be so fearful of this virus

being used as a biological weapon?• The smallpox virus has not been seen

since 1977.• The United States stopped giving the

smallpox vaccine in 1972.• The only samples of smallpox that still

exist today are in the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, GA and a laboratory in Russia.

Columbus’s voyages led to more Spanish explorations and conquest• Question: How many people in Mexico spoke Spanish in

1516?• Answer: None!• Aztecs: population of 15 million people, ruled by emperor

Montezuma II, were conquered by Hernando Cortez and his 400 men. (equivalent to the 9th grade class at CHS taking over the entire population of NJ!)

• Aztecs thought Cortez was the God Quetzalcoatl who was to return in 1519. They allowed him and his men entrance into the capital.

• Spain gained control of Mexico. Over 95% of Aztec population would die from smallpox by next century.

• What is Montezuma’s Revenge?

Columbus’s voyages led to more Spanish explorations and conquest• Incas : led by Atahualpa and 50,000 Incan

warriors were conquered by Francisco Pizarro and his 180 soldiers!

• Pizarro and Spain gained land that would later become Peru. Atahualpa was killed despite paying a ransom. The Incan Empire had been conquered.

Was Christopher Columbus a Hero or Villain?

• In Europe most uneducated thought the world was flat.

• Christopher Columbus was a mapmaker who thought the world was round.

• It took Columbus 7 years to convince anyone to give him funding, and those people were King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain.

Was Christopher Columbus a Hero or Villain?

• Columbus would sail West from Palos, Spain on August 3rd, 1492 on the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria.

• Columbus’s men were about to form a mutiny against him until they saw land in the distance. Two days later on October 12, 1492 they reached land and met reddish/brown skinned people Columbus would call Indians because he thought he had landed in India.

Reasons Why Columbus is a Hero!

• DARING JOURNEY: 1492 voyage (72 days at sea) was the boldest and most daring journey to date for a European.

• BIRTH OF USA! 1492 voyage led to European colonizing the Americas. His exploration led to other European nations exploring the world.

Reasons Why Columbus is a Hero!

• HELPED START CAPITALISM! Voyages and gold found led to the growth of the world economy.

• COLUMBIAN EXCHANGE: potatoes, corn, tomatoes, cocoa, and tobacco. ½ of all food crops originate from the americas.

Reasons why Columbus is a Villain!

• HE WAS WRONG! When he landed in San Salvador, he thought he had landed in India and went to his grave refusing to believe otherwise. Hence the name the West Indies.

• Question: What got in Columbus’s way? • Answer: North and South America

Reasons why Columbus is a Villain!

• WHAT DISCOVERY? There were already millions of people living in the land he claimed to have discovered. The European Leif Erickson traveled to America hundreds of years before Columbus.

• RACISM: After 1492, Europeans saw themselves as the white race that was superior to all others.

Reasons why Columbus is a Villain!

• GENOCIDE: Native Americans are no longer so native. They become victim to brutal genocide and by 1555 Haiti’s natives were all gone.

• CRUEL! Columbus put natives into slavery to collect gold for him. If they didn’t find enough, their hands would be cut off!

NO

Reasons why Columbus is a Villain!

• Question: How many black people lived in the Caribbean in 1492?

• Answer: None!• Columbus helped start the

Atlantic Slave Trade.

Atlantic Slave Trade The Triangle Trade

The European Slave Trade began when the native population began to die off because of poor working conditions and diseases such as smallpox. Europeans got the idea from existing Arabian/Persian/ and West African slave practices of enslaving prisoners of war. Europeans exploited this practice to barter for POW’s.

Triangular Trade

Europe

Americas

Africa

What were the items being traded along the Triangular Trade?

Silver, gold, rum, sugar, cotton, and tobacco

Guns, Rum, TextilesSlaves

What was the Middle Passage? Slave’s Journey from Africa to the Americas

The Middle Passage 15 million slaves were transported from

Africa to the Americas with 3 million dying during the journey. Disease and starvation due to the length of the passage were the main contributors to the deaths.

Journey took about 2-4 months

The Middle Passage Europeans would rely on other Africans to

enslave their own people to trade for guns and rum.

What were conditions like for slaves on the Middle Passage? Cramped Dirty Slaves were chained

together Forced into 3ft high bunks Given one meal a day of

oatmeal

1 out of every 5 people died during voyage

Depression often led to suicides

Unruly and sick were thrown overboard by captains

Scurvy and Dysentery were common diseases

What would happen to the slaves once they arrived in the Americas? Slaves were greased with animal fat and

sold at public auction. Why were they greased with animal fat and

other oils? Slaves were made to look strong, healthy

and able to work. The stronger they looked, the more money they would sell for.

La Amistad La Amistad was the ship where 38 slaves

revolted against their slave owners and sailed to Long Island, New York. A court case would later deem them free, since slavery was outlawed by Spain at this time. In 1842, the surviving 36 Africans traveled back to Africa to live in Liberia.

What often followed boats along the Middle Passage?

What were the two main locations that slaves were sent to?

05

10152025303540

Percentage of slaves

Caribbean

Brazil

SpanishAmericaBritish NorthAmerica

What often determined if a slave would work in the fields or in the house?

Gender: Women often were required to work inside because they were not as fit for fieldwork.

Color: Racism persisted and the darker skinned slaves were expected to do more physical labor in the fields and the lighter skinned slaves worked in the house.

Who abolished slavery first? European nations abolished slavery in

1808, much due to the Industrial Revolution taking effect first. They realized much earlier that the need for slaves was minimizing as machines were doing more work.

America abolished slavery in 1865

What other illegal trades still exist today? Blood diamonds Organs Drugs Guns – Arms dealing Adoption Human Trafficking for:

Prostitution Labor & servitude