Age of European Exploration and Conquest

Voyages that changed the world forever

Link Between Renaissance and European Exploration and Conquest

• Humanism.

• Invention of printing press.

• Role of Church.

• Rise of the Nation State.

• Merchant class.

Further Context for European Exploration and Conquest

•Global trade exists•Prior exploration• Empires in the Americas

Overview of European Exploration and Conquest

• Voyages 1450-1650 forever change world: affecting diets, economies and lives of those in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas

• Explorers first; then conquistadors and empire builders• Extensive exploration and colonization by Portuguese, Spanish, French, English and

Dutch– Great competition as fight for global domination– First 100 years is mostly Portugal and Spain; gradually other English, Dutch and

French get involved• Final outcomes:

– Dutch (and to some extent English) dominate Southeast Asia– Spain dominates South America and Central America– England dominates North America– Various European countries dominate individual islands in the Caribbean

Overview of European Exploration and Conquest

• European contact with Asia: not have great effect on Asians• European contact with the Americas: Native Americans and

Africans changed lives forever– Most notable effects: Elimination of almost entire Native

American communities due to European diseases, and the rise of African slave trade as alternative labor force

• Significant change in how Europeans, Native Americans, and Africans saw the world

EARLY EXPLORATION

Motives for Exploration• Desire to get rich

– International trade of luxury items like silk and spices had made Muslim and Italian merchants rich (controlled trade routes)

– After 1453, Ottoman Turks took control of Mediterranean and much of Silk Roads (Europeans could not longer use as route to Asia)

– European merchants and monarchs wanted to bypass Muslim and Italian merchants and find alternative route directly to Asia

• Desire to spread Christianity– European countries felt sacred duty to continue fighting Muslims and convert non-

Christians in world• Summary of motives for exploration:

– God– Glory (for nation and self)– Gold

Technology Makes Ocean Voyages Possible for Europeans in 1400s

Improved ships1400s: Invention of the CARAVAL by Portuguese = could sail against wind– Triangular sails (from

Arabs) = for against wind

– Square sails = for power– Large cargo area

Technology Makes Ocean Voyages Possible for Europeans in 1400s

Improved navigational tools• Astrolabe (from

Muslims): able to calculate latitude (how far north or south from equator)

• Magnetic compass (from Chinese)

Portugal Leads the Way to Expansion

Strong support of Portuguese government through king’s son “Prince Henry the Navigator”• Wanted luxury goods like

spices, gold, silver, jewels• Also wanted to spread

Christianity• Formed navigation school

bringing mapmakers, instrument makers, shipbuilders, scientists and sea captains together to perfect trade

Portugal in Africa and Asia

• By death of Henry the Navigator Portugal already establishing trade posts along West African coast

• 1488: Portuguese BARTOLOMEU DIAS sails around southern tip of Africa and explores east coast of Africa

• 1498: Portuguese VASCO DA GAMA reaches southwest coast of India– Returns to Portugal with ship full of goods– Selling price for goods = 60x cost of voyage!!!!!

Spain Also Wants New Routes and Trade

• 1492: Christopher Columbus, an Italian working for the Spanish, seeks western route to Asia

• Columbus lands in modern day Caribbean but thinks it is India– Claims for Spain– Calls people “indios”

Rivalry Between Portugal and Spain

• Portugal thinks Columbus reached India and claiming land already claimed by Portugal

• Pope gets involved– 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas• Draws imaginary line in Atlantic Ocean• Everything east of line Portugal (included Africa and

Asia)• Everything west of line Spain (the Americas)• Later modified so that Portugal could get Brazil

Other Explorers at Sea

• 1500: Portuguese PEDRO CABRAL discovers modern day Brazil and claims for Portugal

• 1501: AMERIGO VESPUCCI, an Italian in service for Portuguese, also travels to east coast of South America and declares it not part of Asia but a “New World”– Where name “America” comes from: 1507

German mapmaker named new continent America in honor of Amerigo Vespucci

Explorer Ferdinand Magellan

• Portuguese sponsored by Spanish government• Intended to sail to Asia going around tip of South America• Strait where pass into Pacific Ocean now called Straits of

Magellan• Magellan names the Pacific Ocean• Claimed Guam and Philippines for Spain• Magellan dies in Philippines during skirmish• 18 of the original 250 men crew survive the return to Spain• FIRST TRIP AROUND THE WORLD

Route of Ferdinand Magellan

Trading Empires in Southeast Asia

• Europeans powers compete to set up trading posts along coasts in Southeast Asia

• 1500-1600: Portugal dominates, setting up trade posts in India and throughout Southeast Asia

• By 1600s: Other European countries descend on Asia to set up trade posts

• By 1700s: Dutch replace Portugal as dominant trade power in Southeast Asia

Trading Empires in Southeast Asia

• Dutch pose greatest challenge to Portuguese– Dutch becomes the leading sea power with 20,000 vessels– Sets up East India Company

• Authorized by Dutch government• Set up to establish trade throughout Asia• Great deal of power:

– Make money– Sign treaties– Raise own army

• Dutch increase control of trade in Southeast Asia and by 1700s, they control it

• English and French also set up relatively minor trading posts

European Contact in Asia = Limited Influence on Inland Asia

• Take control of port cities but not affect inland• Why Europeans not have greater effect in Asia:– Long way to get there– Asian empires prepared for battle– Europeans not have support system like have in

colonies so few Europeans settle there– Unlike colony, trading post not involve deep

penetration into political system– Very different than European experience with the

Americas