The Age of Early European Exploration & Expansion

By Susan M. Pojer, Horace Greeley HS & Laurie Johnson

A Map of the Known World, pre- 1492

Motives for European Exploration

1. Crusades by-pass intermediaries to get to Asia.

2. Renaissance curiosity about other lands and peoples.

3. Reformation refugees & missionaries.

4. Monarchs seeking new sources of revenue.

5. Technological advances.6. Fame and fortune.

New Maritime Technologies

Hartman Astrolabe

(1532)

Better Maps [Portulan]

Sextant

Mariner’s Compass

New Weapons Technology

Prince Henry, the Navigator

School for Navigation, 1419

Museum of Navigationin Lisbon

Portuguese Maritime Empire1. Exploring the west coast

of Africa.2. Bartolomeo Dias, 1487.3. Vasco da Gama, 1498.

Calicut.4. Admiral Alfonso de

Albuquerque (Goa, 1510; Malacca, 1511).

Christofo Colon [1451-1506]

Columbus’ Four Voyages

Other Voyages of Exploration

Ferdinand Magellan & the First

Circumnavigation of the World:Early 16c

Atlantic Explorations

Looking for “El Dorado”

Fernando Cortez

The First Spanish Conquests:The Aztecs

Montezuma II

vs.

The Death of Montezuma II

Mexico Surrenders to Cortez

Francisco Pizarro

The First Spanish Conquests:

The Incas

Atahualpa

vs.

Slaves Working in a Brazilian Sugar Mill

The “Columbian Exchange” Squash Avocado Peppers Sweet

Potatoes Turkey Pumpkin Tobacco Quinine Cocoa

Pineapple Cassava POTATO

Peanut TOMATO Vanilla MAIZE Syphilis

Olive COFFEE BEAN Banana Rice Onion Turnip Honeybee Barley Grape Peach SUGAR

CANE Oats

Citrus Fruits Pear Wheat HORSE Cattle Sheep Pigs

Smallpox Flu Typhus Measles Malaria Diptheria Whooping

Cough

Trinkets Liquor GUNS

Cycle of Conquest & Colonization

Explorers Conquistadores

Mission

aries

PermanentSettlers

OfficialEuropeanColony!

Treasuresfrom the Americas!

Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

The Slave Trade1. Existed in Africa before the

coming of the Europeans.2. Portuguese replaced European

slaves with Africans.Sugar cane & sugar plantations.First boatload of African slaves brought by the Spanish in 1518.275,000 enslaved Africans exportedto other countries.

3. Between 16c & 19c, about 10 million Africans shipped to the Americas.

Slave Ship

“Middle Passage”

“Coffin” Position Below Deck

African CaptivesThrown Overboard

Sharks followed the slave ships!

European Empires in the Americas

Administration of the Spanish Empire in the

New World1. Encomienda

(forced labor)—royal grants of authority over the natives.

2. Estancias—land grants

The Influence of the Colonial Catholic

Church

Guadalajara Cathedral

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Spanish Mission

The Treaty of Tordesillas, 1494 &

The Pope’s Line of Demarcation

Father Bartolome de Las Casas

New Laws 1542

New Colonial Rivals1. Portugal lacked the

numbers and wealth to dominate trade in the Indian Ocean.

2. Spain in Asia consolidated its holdings in the Philippines.

3. First English expedition to the Indies in 1591.

New Colonial Rivals

Impact of European Expansion1. Native populations ravaged

by disease.2. Influx of gold, and

especially silver, into Europe created an inflationary economic climate.[“Price Revolution”]

3. New products introduced across the continents [“Columbian Exchange”].

4. Deepened colonial rivalries.

5. New Patterns of World Trade

The Price RevolutionUnprecedented inflation during

16th centuryCaused by

◦1. Population growth (Europe’s population doubled between 1460 & 1620)

◦2. Flow of silver into Europe from New World

The Effects of the Price Revolution in EnglandAs food prices increased, profit

incentive drove farmers to produce more food

Medieval farming vs. new incentives created by the price revolution

How landowners tried to transform their holdings into commercial agriculture:◦1. enclosure◦2. changed conditions of tenure

from copyhold to leasehold

The Effects of the Price Revolution in the NetherlandsDeveloped a new kind of farming—

convertible husbandry◦Replaced the old three-field system◦Alternated the planting of soil-

depleting cereals with the planting of soil-restoring legumes and grazing. 2 years—cereals, 3rd year—peas or

beans, next 4 or 5 years—pasture for grazing animals whose manure would restore the soil

Greatly increased productivity

The Expansion of Trade & IndustryRising demand stimulated trade

and industry. Demand was caused by◦Population growth◦Growing income of landlords &

merchants led to a demand for meat, cheese, fruit, wine, vegetables, sugar, & spices

◦Growth of the state led to increased demand for supplies

The Effects of the Price Revolution on Trade & Manufacturing

Specialization (Eng-wool, Fr & Neth-linen)Creation of regional or international

markets gave rise to the creation of merchant-capitalists◦ People whose operations extended across local &

national boundaries & whose mobility allowed them to buy or produce where costs were lowest and sell where prices were highest

◦ Example: the cottage industry or ”putting-out” system

◦ Significant step in evolution of capitalism because it bypassed the medieval guild system

Innovations in BusinessMore sophisticated banking operations

Double-entry bookkeepingDevelopment of maritime insurance

Development of joint-stock companies

Patterns of Commercial DevelopmentEngland and Netherlands led commercial

expansion—Why?Netherlands

◦ Dutch feudal culture was weak and commercial values were strong

◦ Small land area◦ Far larger percentage of urban population than

elsewhere◦ Devised a new boat (flyboat) which allowed them to

carry bulky grain shipments for lowest cost◦ Dutch displaced the Portuguese in the spice trade

with East Indies

England◦The landed gentry supported commercial

enterprises and vice versa◦17th century the British established a

colonial empire◦Gov’t economic policies reflected the

interest of big business Navigation Act allowed all English shippers to

carry goods anywhere instead of restricting trade with certain areas to specific traders.

Also gained the carrying trade from the Dutch

France and Spain—neither took advantage of the opportunities presented by the price revolution like England and the Netherlands◦ Why?

Aristocratic structure of French society—French nobles looked down on commerce

Guilds restricted competition and production & in France there were fewer opportunities for merchant-capitalists to operate outside the guilds

Spanish values regarded business as a “form of social heresy.” They were contemptuous of commerce & industry.

Spain wasted money on its empire and Catholicism rather than on investing in economic expansion.