C. Pre-Columbian EUROPE1.Medieval Europe (Dark Ages) – small isolated kingdoms with strict

rules separating nobles from peasants (rigid class system)2.Conditions changed in Europe that led to exploration of far-away

placesa. Crusades – 1096-1270 – Christian effort to force Muslims out of the

“Holy Land” (FAILED)1. Sparked increase in trade between Europe and Asia2. Weakened social hierarchy in Europe as many nobles died at war

– surviving monarchs expanded their power and empire

http://www.lookandlearn.com/history-images/B002684

b. Trade and Commerce – 1. Marco Polo to China in 1200s2. Europeans developed taste for Asia stuff – silk, porcelain,

tea, rugs…opium 3. Italy (Venice) became the crossroads between Asia and

Europe – center of trade (the “Middle Man”)4. The rise of a new “Merchant Class” (middle class)

c. Population growth – 1. the end of the Bubonic Plague (“Black Death”) by

15002. People lived longer, and began moving to towns and

cities3. cities were place to get Asian goods – centers of trade

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d. Rise of powerful Nation-States – 1. Monarchs expanded power (fewer left after Crusades)2. raised taxes, raised armies, created strong central govts.3. Portugal, Spain, France, and England (Great Britain)4. saw new merchants as source of5. funded exploration to expand trade and wealth

e. The Renaissance – “Rebirth”1. rebirth in interest in physical world (science and nature)2. rebirth in curiosity – “noble spirit” – age of scientific discovery and innovation3. celebrated individual achievement (vs. fate) = “GLORY”

f. Technological improvements – Prince Henry of Portugal1. Caravel (ship) – Spain and Portugal – lighter, faster, more mobile = Spanish Armada2. Compass and Astrolabe improved navigation3. Mercator Map – charted shipping routes to Asia and the “New World”

C. European Arrivals1. 1000 CE - Norse Vikings (Erik the Red, Leif Erikson) in Newfoundland

(Canada)2. 1492 CE – Christopher Columbus (Spain) “discovered” island of Hispaniola –

mistakenly called people “Indians”Jimmy Kimmel on Columbus

3. 1497 CE – John Cabot (England) explored northern America (Newfoundland) 4. 1499 CE – Amerigo Vespucci (Spain) mapped east coast of South America5. 1500 CE – Pedro Cabral claimed Brazil for Portugal6. 1507 CE – Juan Ponce de Leon (Spain) Puerto Rico; 1513 – Florida searching

for “Fountain of Youth”7. 1513 CE – Vasco de Balboa (Spain) – first European to see Pacific Ocean8. 1519 CE – Ferdinand Magellan (Spain) – first to sail around S. America9. Spain was first to seek empire – “God, Gold, and Glory”

Voyages of European Exploration

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D. Treaty of Tordesillas – 1494 1. decision by Pope to settle

disputed claims of Portugal and Spain

2. divided Spanish and Portuguese territory in “New World” North-South by 46th meridian

3. Portugal got land east of line – Brazil and African islands

4. Spain got land west of line – everything else

E. New Spain – (“Crash Course”)1. Spanish explorers – Conquistadors and Missionaries conquered Caribbean, C.

& S. Americaa. 1519 – Hernan Cortes conquered Aztecs (Chief Montezuma) in

Tenochtitlan; est. Mexico Cityb. 1535 – Francisco Pizarro conquered Incas in Peru, est. city of Limac. 1539-1542—de Soto explored Southeast (U.S.)d. 1540-1542—Coronado explored Southwest (U.S.)

2. Spain est. Encomienda System of govt. in New Spaina. Large tracts of land given to Spanish conquerorsb. Indigenous inhabitants became property of conquerors;

forced labor on sugar plantations; to be converted to Catholicism

c. Considered inhumane/slavery by church; replaced by Repartimiento system

d. Conquistadores inter-married w/Indian women – “new race” called mestizos – cultural and biological bridge between Spain and indigenous Americans

3. Columbian Exchange transforms life on 3 continentsa. From the New World (America) to the Old – corn, potatoes, tobacco, beans, peppers,

manioc, pumpkin, squash, tomato, wild rice, etc.b. From the Old World to the New

1. cows, pigs, horses, wheat, sugar cane, apples, cabbage, citrus, carrots, Kentucky bluegrass, etc.

2. devastating diseases (smallpox, yellow fever, malaria), as Indians had no immunities – An estimated 90% of all pre-Columbus Indians died, mostly due to disease.

c. From Africa to New World – slave labor to work sugar plantations with loss of Indian population

“The Black Legend, Native Americans and Spaniards”

1. According to this painting, DESCRIBE the relationship between Spanish colonists in America and the American Indians.

2. IDENTIFY specific examples from the painting that illustrate the nature of this relationship.

4. Other Europeans threaten Spanish dominancea. England (1497): John Cabot (an Italian who sailed for England) touched

the coast of the current day U.S.b. France (1524): Giovanni de Verrazano also touched on the North

American seaboard.c. France (1535): Jacques Cartier went into mouth of St. Lawrence River

(Canada).d. France (1608) —Samuel de Champlain founded Québece. France (1679): Robert de LaSalle sailed down the Mississippi River

claiming the whole region for their King Louis and naming the area "Louisiana" after his king.

f. French empire included St. Lawrence River, Great Lakes, Mississippi1. Very few permanent settlements – only fur trading posts2. Fur trade with Indian trading partners very profitable

SPANISH FRENCH DUTCH

5. To oppose threats, Spain set up forts (presidios) up California coast, and St. Augustine, Florida (1565) – the oldest continually inhabited European settlement in the U.S.

This fanciful artist's rendition of St. Augustine, pioneer Spanish settlement, is of interest despite its historical inaccuracies. The Castillo de San Marcos at no time resembled the fort as portrayed. The artist probably included the high hills because he mistook the Spanish word for thick forests to mean hills. From the 1671 engraving "Pagus Hispanorum," by an unknown artist, probably prepared in Amsterdam. (Courtesy, Chicago Historical

Society.)

6. Black Legend: the false notion that Spaniards only brought bad things (murder, disease, slavery); though true, they also brought good things: legal systems, architecture,Christianity, language, civilization

Crash Course - The Black Legend, Native Americans, and Spaniards