The Age of Discovery (15th-18th Century)

“Just why, beginning around 1500, did a few small polities on the western end of the Eurasian landmass come to dominate the rest of the world, including the more populous and in many ways more sophisticated societies of Eastern Eurasia?” –Niall Ferguson

•Historical Causes: •Historically speaking there seem to be some distinct causes that lead to the European domination:

1. Competition 2. Science (technology)3. Property rights4. Medicine 5. The Consumer Society6. The Work Ethic

15th century Competition•By 1500 Europe was a conglomerate of

various “states,” though it did not resemble the political states that we think of today, they were more landed estates. • The mechanisms of commerce, systems of

international finance, ocean-going trading fleets, an entrepreneurial bourgeoisie, were all building a recognizably capitalist, money-based economy.

•All of this lead to a very competitive atmosphere, and a seeming need amongst the newly forming nations to gain the upper hand on the other. This inevitably lead to:

1. naval exploration2. colonization.

Exploration• European medieval knowledge about

Asia beyond the reach of Byzantine Empire was sourced in partial reports, often obscured by legends, dating back from the time of the conquests of Alexander the Great and his successors.• Africa was only partially known to

either Christians, Venetians, or the Arab seamen, and its southern extent unknown.

Why the need for sea route? •Basically, the economic driver for

these expansions were the silk and spice trade, involving spices, incense, herbs, drugs and opium. • Spices were among the most

expensive and demanded products of the Middle Ages, as they were used in medieval medicine, religious rituals, cosmetics, perfumery, as well as food additives and preservatives.

Portuguese discoveries• During the 15th and 16th centuries.

Portuguese sailors were at the vanguard of European overseas exploration, discovering and mapping the coasts of Africa, Canada, Asia and Brazil.• Bartolomeu Dias reaching the Cape of Good

Hope and entering the Indian Ocean in 1488.• Vasco da Gama led the first fleet around Africa

to India, arriving in Calicut and starting a maritime route from Portugal to India, proving that the Indian Ocean was accessible from the Atlantic.

Spain• In 1492 the Spanish empire decided to

fund Christopher Columbus's expedition in the hope of bypassing Portugal's monopoly on west African sea routes, to reach "the Indies" (east and south Asia) by travelling west.•On August 3, 1492, Columbus and his

crew set sail from Spain in three ships: the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. On October 12, the ships made landfall–not in Asia, as Columbus assumed, but on one of the Bahamian islands.

Science/Technology• The caravel of the 15th and

16th centuries was a ship with a distinctive shape and admirable qualities.• A gently sloping bow and single

stern castle were prominent features of this vessel, and it carried a mainmast and a mizzen mast that were generally lateen-rigged (triangular sail).

•Three Major Civilizations of South America:

1. Mayan 2. Aztec 3. Inca

Mayan Civilization• -The Maya civilization was one of the most dominant

indigenous societies of Mesoamerica.• In addition to agriculture, the Maya also displayed more

advanced cultural traits, perhaps the most famous of which are:

1. Art2. pyramid-building, city construction and the inscribing of stone monuments.3. Calendar

Art

Mayan Buildings • The Maya produced a vast array of structures, and have

left an extensive architectural legacy that places the Maya civilization as one of the great preindustrial civilizations of the world.•Masonry architecture built by the Maya evidences craft

specialization in Maya society, centralized organization and the political means to mobilize a large workforce.• The Classic Maya built many of their temples and palaces

in a stepped pyramid shape, decorating them with elaborate reliefs and inscriptions.

Mayan Astronomy/Calendar•The Classic Maya in particular saw the Maya develop some of the most accurate pre-telescope astronomy in the world, aided by their fully developed writing system and their positional numeral system, both of which are fully indigenous to Mesoamerica.•Probably the best preserved is the Dresden Codex

• The Dresden Codex contains:1. An eclipse table that predicts times when eclipses may occur.2. A Venus table that predicts the times when Venus appears as morning star and the other apparitions of the planet.3. A Mars table that records the times when Mars goes into retrograde motion. A second Mars table that tracks the planet's motion along the ecliptic has recently been identified.• It ought to be remembered though that this is not astronomy, but

is rather what we would today called Astrology.

Aztecs• The Aztec Empire or the Triple Alliance

began as an alliance of three city-states: Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan.• Despite the initial conception of the empire

as an alliance of three self-governed city-states, Tenochtitlan quickly established itself as the dominant partner militarily.• By the time the Spanish arrived in 1520, the

lands of the Alliance were effectively ruled from Tenochtitlan, and the other partners in the alliance had assumed subsidiary roles.

Aztec Government• The Aztec Empire was an example of an empire that ruled by

indirect means. Like most European empires, it was ethnically very diverse, but unlike most European empires, it was more of a system of tribute than a single unitary of government.• the Aztec empire was an "informal" empire in that the

Alliance did not claim supreme authority over the tributary provinces; it merely expected tributes to be paid.

Ideology and State• Rulers were seen as representatives of the gods and therefore ruled

by divine right.• Political order was therefore also a cosmic order, and to kill a King

was to transgress that order. • Expansion of the empire was guided by a militaristic interpretation

of Aztec religion, specifically a devout veneration of the sun god, Huitzilopochtli.• The time period they lived in was understood as the “Sun of

Movement,” which was believed to be the final age after which humanity would be destroyed.

Incan Empire• The Inca civilization flourished in ancient

Peru between c. 1400 and 1533 CE. • Famed for their unique art and

architecture, they constructed finely-built and imposing buildings wherever they conquered, and their spectacular adaptation of natural landscapes with terracing, highways, and mountaintop settlements continues to impress modern visitors at such world famous sites as Machu Picchu.

Government• The Incas kept lists of their kings so that we know of such

names as 1. Pachakuti Inka Yupanki (reign c. 1438-63 CE), 2. Thupa Inka Yupanki (reign c. 1471-93 CE), 3. and Wayna Qhapaq (the last pre-Hispanic ruler, reign c. 1493-1525 CE).

The Sapa Inca (King) was an absolute ruler, and he lived a life of great opulence. Drinking from gold and silver cups, wearing silver shoes, and living in a palace furnished with the finest textiles, he was pampered to the extreme.

Religion• The religion of the Inca was preoccupied

with controlling the natural world and avoiding such disasters as earthquake, floods, and drought.• Inca religious rituals also involved

ancestor worship as seen through the practice of mummification and making offerings to the gods of food, drink, and precious materials.• Sacrifices - both animals and humans,

including children - were also made to pacify and honor the gods and ensure the good health of the king.