Unit 3: Age of Exploration

1492-1660

Goals of this unit:

• To understand Iberia in its “Golden Age”.• To develop an understanding of the

Iberian system in the New World.• To understand the Northern European

expansion to the New World.• To gain an understanding of the African

slave trade and its end in West Africa.

Introduction

• Navigation is improving, trade expanding

• Europe has linked globe through the sea

• Capitalist view emphasized monetary values, motives to profit, the institution of investment

• Iberian power did not stand the test of time, but their 16th-century activities transformed Europe

The Iberian Golden Age• Conditions Favored Iberian Expansion

– Muslim control of routes– Prices rising in Europe

• Portuguese and Spanish mastered new technology and techniques– Compasses, astrolabe (navigation aid to

determine distance)– Produced more accurate maps, charts– Built bigger ships to sail stormy Atlantic

• Lateen sails AKA caravels

– Brass cannons to attack enemies from afar

• Benefited from immunities to diseases that devastated native populations in conquered areas

Iberian Golden AgeMotives:

• Growing population called for more wealth

• Spain: Reconquista – period of 600 years (9th-15th centuries) of Spanish crusade against Muslim presence in Iberian peninsula– Provided fighting spirit, hoped to unite

and fight alongside Prester John in Ethiopian against the Muslim

– Fueled by both war and economic goals

• Portugal: Avis Dynasty fueled by commerce

Portugal vs. Spain• Portugal gained lead on Spain in 1400s

– Claims along coast of West Africa– Led by Prince Henry the Navigator and Diaz

• Took Cueta, later reached tip of Africa by 1488

• Spain began to challenge Portuguese claims– Conflict resolved in Treaty of Alcacovas (1479)– Columbus lobbied to both Portugal and Spain for financial support of his

West Indies trip (1492)• Queen Isabella (Spain) would his patron• Portugal saw trip as threat to their Atlantic monopoly

• Compromise – Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)– Line drawn by Pope Alexander VI to distribute land in New World

Portuguese Empire• World empire, commercial supremacy by 1550

– Posts around Africa, Southeast Asia– Vasco de Gama (1460-1524)

• Voyage to India very lucrative

– Pedro Cabral (1468-1520)• Stumbled onto Brazil

• Portuguese in Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia– Alfonso de Albuquerque dominated eastern African

regions, fortified trading posts– Goa 1510, Malacca in 1511, less success in China

Growth of New Spain• 1500s – Spain sets up American

empire– Begin in West Indies, conquers – “conquistadores”– “Vice-royalties” of New Spain

• Aztec Empire declining– Hernando Cortes arrives (1519) with army of

600, horses, crossbows, muskets, cannons– Montezuma (Aztec leader) welcomes Cortes– War breaks out, Spanish defeat Aztecs after

struggle– Tenochtitlan (Mexico City), becomes capital of

Spanish Empire

Spanish in South America

• Francisco Pizarro (1470-1541)– Conquered Inca state with

200 men

– Bold, brutal, treacherous treatment of Incas

– 20 years of anarchy ensue

• Conquistadores took, plundered South America– Vice-royalties in decline by

mid 1600s

Growth of New Spain• Notable ventures:– Hernando de Soto (1500-1542) explored area of U.S. southeast– Francisco de Coronado (1510-1554) explored area of U.S. southwest– First colony established in St. Augustine, FL (1565)– Vasco de Balboa (1479-1519) discovered the Pacific– Francisco Magellan (1480-1521) expedition first to circumnavigate globe,

Magellan killed in Philippines

The “Columbian Exchange”The “Columbian Exchange”The “Columbian Exchange”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 & Cycle of Conquest & ColonizationColonization

Cycle of Conquest & Cycle of Conquest & ColonizationColonization

Explorers Conquistadores

Mission

arie

s

PermanentSettlers

OfficialEuropeanColony!

TreasuresTreasuresfrom the Americas!from the Americas!

TreasuresTreasuresfrom the Americas!from the Americas!

Trans-Atlantic Slave Trans-Atlantic Slave TradeTrade

Trans-Atlantic Slave Trans-Atlantic Slave TradeTrade

Slave ShipSlave ShipSlave ShipSlave Ship

““Middle Passage”Middle Passage”

““Coffin” Position Coffin” Position Below DeckBelow Deck

““Coffin” Position Coffin” Position Below DeckBelow Deck

African CaptivesAfrican CaptivesThrown OverboardThrown OverboardAfrican CaptivesAfrican Captives

Thrown OverboardThrown Overboard

Sharks followed the slave Sharks followed the slave shipsships

Iberian Systems in New World

• Devastation through violence, disease, slavery– Iberian period pre-1600s

• Inhumane treatment, ruthless, populations wiped out– Native Americans lost 90% of population

• Demographic mix from immigration, African slaves

• Iberian Economies in America– Plantations began to develop– Encomienda – system of distributing grants, allowing

buyer to take land or people living on that land• Forces those natives into labor• Brought horrendous abuses

Iberian Systems in New World• Initially used Amerindian labor,

imported African slaves after epidemics– Slaves worked on mines, plantations

• Suppression of native religions– Conversion to Christianity the moral

justification of colonization

• Priests report back atrocities to Spain, Rome– Charles V tries to intervene but is legally

powerless– Bartoleme de Las Casas (1474-1506)

Dominican Friar who decried system, helped phase it out in favor of contract labor

The Colonial Class The Colonial Class SystemSystem

The Colonial Class The Colonial Class SystemSystem

PeninsularPeninsulareses CreolesCreoles

MestizoMestizoss

MulattMulattosos

Native IndiansNative Indians Black SlavesBlack Slaves

Full-blooded Spanish populationFull-blooded Spanish population

2nd GenerationFull-blooded Spanish 2nd GenerationFull-blooded Spanish

Spanish-Indian populationSpanish-Indian populationSpanish-African

populationSpanish-African

population

Northern European Expansion• The Commercial Revolution shifts

– Iberian states declining, northern states emerging• Dutch, French, British

– New products, foreign trade, bullion (gold, silver)• Spain and Portugal lacked structure to absorb

precious metals

– European markets become swamped with• New products: silks, furs, ivory, carpets• New foods: potatoes, peanuts, maize, tomatoes• Also: spices, sugar, coffee, tobacco

Northern European Expansion

• Economic power spreads to Italians, Germans– Northern European

capitalism flourishes– Joint-stock companies

(monopolies) form– Agricultural practices

and technology changes

The Dutch Empire• By 1650, Dutch dominated south Asia, Atlantic

– Commercial empire, overpowered and captured Iberian holdings in Africa, West Indies, Brazil

• Dutch East India Company– Chartered company, monopoly, dominated Asian trade in 1600s

• Pepper, cinnamon, sugar, tea, tobacco, coffee• Dutch West India Company

– Settled in Hudson River region, founded New Amsterdam• Would become NYC

The French Empire• Starting colonizing in North America in 1600s

• French based claims to North America from past voyages of Verrazzano (1524) and Cartier (1530s)

– Samuel de Champlain (1567-1635)

• Founded Quebec, fur trade is main industry

• Took advantage of declining Iberian empire

– Overtook Iberian stakes, set up new trading posts

• Santo Domingo (Haiti) – maintained slave labor

– Became largest sugar and coffee producer in 1700s

The English Empire• Pre-1650, English expansion not large

– Internal conflicts, restricted expansion– Population growth, religious persecution, entrepreneurship led to

growth• 1500s – British voyages:

– John Cabot • to North America in 1497

– Francis Drake • first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe in 1580

The British Empire• Jamestown (Virginia) – 1607

– Became first permanent settlement in North America• Faced numerous hardships (winter, disease, drought,

Native American attacks)• Persevered, established English culture, political

institutions

• More colonies founded• Plymouth (1620)• Massachusetts Bay (1629)• Maryland (1632)

• English commercial gains fared better in India (East India Company)

Conclusion• Europeans initiated new age of oceanic expansion• Spain, Portugal led explorations in 15th, 16th centuries

– Spain declined due to inflation, lack of economic development at home

– Iberian domination gave way to north European expansion• Dutch, English, French gained new vitality through financial

organization, shipbuilding, metalworking, manufacturing• Europeans encountered many societies around the world

– Interacted with establish governments; respected their domains

– Intervened more directly in smaller, less organized areas• Spanish, Portuguese expansion brought drastic change

– Disease drastically reduced indigenous population– Iberians generated new cultural fusion in America– Atlantic slave trade brought disastrous consequences