The European Voyages of Discovery

1. The European Voyages of Discovery Motives and circumstances The Portuguese explorations The Spanish explorations Comparing the Portuguese and Spanish experiences Ironies and tragedies

2. I. Motives and Circumstances • Basic motives: gold, God, and glory • Long-term trends: recovery from the plague; development of market economy; emergence of strong monarchies • Singular events: the Crusades, Marco Polo, rise of the Ottoman Turks • New technology: the magnetic compass; devices to determine latitude; stern-post rudder; triangular sail

3. Marco Polo

5. Ancient Chinese compass

6. Italian compass from the 1300s

7. Astrolabe from Portugal

8. The stern-post rudder

9. Triangular sails on a Portuguese caravel

11. II. The Portuguese explorations

12. Prince Henry the Navigator (1394-1460)

14. Atlantic islands discovered by Portugal

15. Portuguese explore the coast of Africa in the time of Henry the Navigator

16. Voyage of Bartholomeu Dias

17. Dias and his sailors at the stormy cape

18. Vasco da Gama

19. Da Gama’s ship

20. Da Gama’s route from Portugal to India and back

21. The Moluccas (Spice) Islands at present

22. Portuguese arrive in the Moluccas

23. A Japanese portrait of some Portuguese sailors and their ship

24. III. The Spanish explorations and colonization

25. Christopher Columbus (1451-1506)

26. Replica of Columbus’ ship, a caravel redunda with square sails

28. In four voyages Columbus explored the islands and coastline of central America, looking for a way to reach the Far East

29. The Treaty divided the Atlantic Ocean with an imaginary line, defining the spheres of future Portuguese and Spanish colonization

30. Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512)

31. Map of new world with Amerigo’s name in Latin, 1507

32. Ferdinand Magellan (ca. 1480-1521)

34. IV. Comparing the Portuguese and Spanish experiences

35. The Portuguese established trading posts along the coasts of the continents they explored

36. Portuguese trading posts in Africa and South America

37. The Spanish conquered and settled the interior of the Americas. As time passed, in Spanish territory, a mixture of native and European peoples and cultures emerged.

38. Spanish explorer Coronado marched from Mexico into lands the would become the southwestern United States, and as far north as Kansas

39. Juan Ponce de Leon was a Spanish explorer of Florida

40. A Spanish map of Cuba and Florida (1591)

41. IV. Ironies and tragedies

42. IV. Ironies and tragedies • The Portuguese, distracted by their African discoveries, were not the ones to discover America • Portuguese technology enabled Spain to make the great voyages and discoveries in America continued

43. Columbus based his voyage on a false estimate of the earth’s circumference Columbus believed to the end of his life he had reached the Far East America was accidentally named after Amerigo, not Columbus continued

44. When Portugal and Spain agreed to divide the unexplored world, Portugal unexpectedly got Brazil The Spanish explored North America, but finding no gold there did not establish permanent settlements continued

45. The Spanish and Portuguese expected the natives to be their slaves, loyal subjects of their kings, and converts to their Christian faith—but the great majority died off due to European diseases and overwork To replace the American natives as a source of labor, Europeans shipped millions of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to America

46. In October 1992 the five-hundredth anniversary of Columbus’ voyage was commemorated • Italian-Americans celebrated the accomplishments of the great sailor • Native Americans did not celebrate • Some people proclaimed “the Columbian Exchange,” the valuable mixing of peoples, crops, animals, languages, and customs that resulted from the first lasting contact between Europe and America • Everyone acknowledged that in 1492 the world entered a modern phase of global interconnection in which the life of each people is linked to that of all others