Unit 2: Connections Across Continents

1. Unit 2:Connections Across Continents Chapter 4: Spain Builds an Empire Lesson 1: The Voyages of Columbus

2. Imagine… They call their island Guanahaní. As the people prepare their meal over an open fire—which they call a “barbeque”—the chief watches his people. He strokes the short fur of his dog and thinks about tomorrow’s fishing trip. Several men are hard at work on the beach. They are carving out the trunk of a large tree that will become a canoe. He hopes the canoe will be ready to take out on the water by tomorrow morning. The chief’s thoughts of the fishing trip are interrupted by a loud cry. One of the villagers is pointing out to the bright blue sea. The chief turns and squints in the same direction, and he sees what the villager sees. There, in the distance, is a large and strange ship. It looks nothing like a canoe. In fact, it looks like nothing he has ever seen before.

3. Columbus and the Taino • The island you have just read about lies southeast of Florida. The village belonged to a group of people called the Taino. The ship they saw that day in 1492 meant big changes were coming to their way of life. • On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, Europeans were continuing their drive to explore the world. One of them, an Italian named Christopher Columbus, had a bold idea. He wanted to find a better way to reach the Indies, a part of Asia rich with gold, spices, and other goods. At the time, Europeans had only one way to reach the Indies—the difficult land journey over the Silk Road.

4. Columbus and the Taino • Columbus suggested sailing west, across the Atlantic Ocean as a route to India. He needed money to pay for his expedition (journey made for a special purpose). • Columbus took his plan to Spain’s King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. They did not agree right away, but finally he convinced them that he could find a cheaper and quicker way to the Indies. • On August 3, 1492, Columbus left Spain with three ships—LaNiña, La Pinta, and LaSanta María. After about one month at sea, the men feared they would never see their homes again. They had traveled farther west than they thought possible, and they wanted to turn back. Columbus pushed on.

5. Columbus and the Taino • Finally, on October 12, land was sighted from the Pinta. Columbus wrote: “At two hours after midnight, the Pinta fired a cannon, my prearranged signal for the sighting of land.” He claimed the island for the Spanish king and queen. Soon after, some of the Taino came to greet the Europeans. • Historians believe that Columbus may have reached one of the Bahama Islands. Because he believed that he had reached the Indies, he called the Taino “Indians.” ; This name later referred to the native people of the Americas. The Bahama Islands and other islands of the region became known as the West Indies.

6. Columbus and the Taino • Columbus led three more expeditions to the Americas. On the second trip in 1493, he took 17 ships loaded with settlers, animals, and other supplies. In addition to finding riches, Spain had a new goal for this trip. This goal was to start a colony that would bring profits to Spain. A colony is a settlement far from the country that rules it. Before long, thousands of European settlers were living in colonies throughout the West Indies. • The Columbian Exchange had begun. This was a movement of people, animals, plants, diseases, and ways of life between the Eastern Hemisphere and Western Hemisphere. • Europeans brought horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs with them to the Western Hemisphere. In the Eastern Hemisphere, people enjoyed new foods from the Americas, such as corn, potatoes, tomatoes, cocoa, and beans.

7. Columbus and the Taino • These changes helped the people of Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas. But not all of the effects of the Columbian Exchange were positive. Without knowing it, Europeans also brought disease germs to the Americas. Many Native Americans died because they had no defense against smallpox and measles. • As European colonies took hold in the West Indies, the native peoples’ way of life changed. Many were forced to work on large farms growing sugarcane and other crops. Sugarcane is used to make sugar. Sugarcane growers made huge profits. • The Spanish also wanted to bring Christianity to the native peoples. They forced many to give up their own beliefs. As a result, the way of life of the Taino, and other native groups of the Caribbean, disappeared.

8. Columbus and the Taino

9. Columbus and the Taino

10. Columbus and the Taino • Christopher Columbus showed Europeans the way to the Americas. The name America itself comes from the explorer Americo Vespucci, who in 1502 became the first to call the Americas a “new world.” • After Columbus and Vespucci, many more Europeans followed. Some came in search of land and riches and conquered mighty empires of native peoples to find them. By the early 1600s, explorers and settlers from Spain, Portugal, England, France, Sweden, and the Netherlands had come to the Americas. For hundreds of years, some of these countries fought among themselves, and against native peoples, for control of the lands in the Western Hemisphere.

11. Check your understanding… • Why did Columbus suggest sailing west to Asia? • Why do you think Columbus wanted to continue even when the crew wanted to turn back? • What do you think was Columbus’s first impression of the people he met? • What were Spain’s goals in returning to the Americas? • Do you think the Columbian Exchange was beneficial to native peoples? Explain why. • What was the effect of the voyages made by Columbus and Vespucci? • How are Columbus’s accomplishments honored today?