Contributed by

Suzanne Nichols and Lisa Arrell

Chapter 13

Europeans were looking for new sea routes to the Asia as overland trade

became more difficult

Europeans willing to risk exploration because:

• They wanted to halt the expansion of Islam

• Spread Christianity

• Find the Northwest passage

• Find a shorter trade route to the east• Later, discover land & wealth

* Europeans had acquired much technology from the Arabs

European Exploration

• Individuals were motivated by:

• Gold

• Glory

• Religious Freedom

• Find a better a life

• “God, Glory, and Gold”

Looking Back (Chapter 12)

Protestant Reformation led to a Economic Revolution

• The Age of Exploration expanded their economy

• Search for wealth led to Free Enterprise (Modern Capitalism)

• Nations replaced the city & village as Europe’s basic economic unit.

Looking Back (Chapter 12)

Protestant Reformation led to a Economic Revolution

• New business institutions such as joint-stock companies & banks opened opportunities for investment

• The roots of modern business methods can by traced to this Age

New Technology Learned from Arabs

• How to make better maps and charts

• Astrolabe ( showed latitude)

• Sails that could go into the wind (Triangular Lateen sails)

• Compass (Chinese invention, but Europeans gained knowledge through the Arabs)

16th Century Astrolabe

This map, made by Arab

geographer al-Idrisi, was one

of the most accurate world

maps prior to the age of European

exploration

Portugal Lead the Way

• Portugal took the lead in European Exploration

• Prince Henry (the Navigator) sponsored Portuguese fleets and had a school for sailors and cartographers

• Portugal was interested in finding routes around Africa to get to India

Portugal Lead the Way

• Dias- 1488 rounded the tip of Africa

• Da Gama – 1498 made it to Calcutta in India and returned with spices, the route became well traveled

• De Albuquerque set up a port at Goa and then sailed to Melaka on the Malay Peninsula

Portugal continued:

• Portugal also made expeditions to China & the Moluccas (Spice Islands) to export cloves

• However, Portugal did not have the power or people to colonize Asian regions

• Later they were pushed out by more powerful European nations

Spain• The newly united nation Spain’s

rulers Queen Isabella & Ferdinand financed Columbus’s (Cristóbal Colón) famous trip across the Atlantic

• In 1492 he reached the coastline of Cuba, thinking it was an island off the coast of India.

• Hence, Native Americans were miscalled Indians

• Spain sponsored Columbus on 4 journeys

Voyage One

Three ships, the Santa Maria, Nina, and Pinta.

Voyage Two

The main objective of Columbus' journey had been gold. To further this goal, he imposed a system on the natives in, whereby all those above fourteen years of age had to find a certain quota of gold, to be signified by a token placed around their necks. Those who failed to reach their quota would have their hands chopped off

Voyage Three

Voyage Four

• Later, Spain and other countries realized Columbus had discovered a new Frontier

Spain

Europeans called these lands the New World, but in fact they had had flourishing civilizations for centuries before

Europeans arrived

The Columbian Exchange

• The Americas• Corn• Potatoes• Beans• Chocolate• Coffee• Tobacco• Dramatic decrease in population• Syphilis

• Europe & Africa• Horses • Pigs• Goats• Chickens• Donkeys• Wheat• Grapes• Bananas• Coconut• Sugar Cane• Disease (Smallpox, measles,• Influenza• Slave Trade• Dramatic Increase in population

GRAPH

Spanish Empire• Spain created a system of colonial

administration (Native Americans were considered Spanish subjects)

• Catholic missionaries converted & baptized thousands of native peoples. European religion, culture, language, and govt. replaced the Native American social & political structures.

• The Spanish were supposed to protect Native Americans, but it rarely happened.

• European diseases ravaged native populations. (Hispaniola had 250,000 when Columbus arrived & by 1538 only 500 survived)

Economic Impact & Competition• Europeans sought silver & gold

when they went to the Americas

• Colonists set up plantations (sugar, cotton, vanilla, & livestock)

• Mediterranean trade became less important and Europeans sought Asian markets via the sea. (spice trade)

• Several rivals entered the trading scene and competed like rival siblings. (France, England, the Dutch)

Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)

• The Pope made the Line of Demarcation to stop conflicts between Spain & Portugal.

• The 2 countries agreed on the imaginary line. All the land to the west of the land was to be given to Spain and the land east of the line was to be controlled by Portugal.

• Later, the line was moved further to the west because Portugal felt they had been cheated.

SPAIN PORTUGAL

Economic Impact continued• Countries sponsored exploration ventures for a

percentage of the profits.

• Later, countries allowed Stock Companies to trade as virtual monopolies. (ex. Dutch East India Company)

• European nations in the 1500’s & 1600’s established many colonies in the Americas & the east.

• Colonies & trading posts greatly increased international trade

• Mercantilism was a set of principles that dominated 17th century economic thought. A nation’s prosperity depended on a large supply of bullion (gold & silver) because it gave a country a favorable balance of trade.

• Governments stimulated export industries & trade by granting subsidies to new industries, improving transportation systems, & placing high tariffs (taxes) on foreign goods to keep them out of the parent country.

• Colonies were an important source of raw materials for the parent country & markets for their finished goods.

Economic Impact continued

Slave Trade• In the 15th century the primary market for slaves was S.W.

Asia where they were used as domestic servants. However, the demand for slaves rose dramatically with sugar cane plantations. (growing cane is labor intensive and the small native population could not hold up under the strain)

• A Spanish ship carried the 1st African slaves to the Americas in 1518. The trade grew tremendously in the next 2 centuries

• Triangular trade – connected Europe/Africa/America (European merchants carried goods to Africa, where they traded for slaves. Then the slaves were shipped to & sold in the Americas. European merchants then bought tobacco, molasses, sugar, & cotton for sale in Europe

• Up to ten million slaves in all were shipped from Africa to the Americas beginning in the 15th century and not ended until the 18th century.

• Many slaves died on the “Middle Passage”

Slave Trade continued

From The Americas to

EuropeFrom Europe to the Africa

From Africa to the Americas

Slave Trade continued

• The slave trade depopulated & deprived many African communities of their youngest & strongest men & women.

• For example, Benin was effected so dramatically that their people lost faith in their gods, and it became brutal & corrupt. It took years to overcome what slavery had destroyed.

Political and Social Structures influenced in Africa

• Europeans, in general did not start permanent colonies in Africa.

• The exceptions were South Africa & Mozambique

• Europeans did cause some political changes in Africa, Like the Moroccan Dynasty (1591) that controlled the Saharan gold & Salt Trade.