Age of Exploration

Age of Exploration

Before the late 15th century exploration was primarily related to land travel • Trade routes were over the Mediterranean and Indian oceans but linked up to land routes • Silk Road • In earlier times more attention given to • Development of larger regional economies and cultural zones • 15th century will be more about a global network

Exploration • 1400’s Europeans looked for better route to Asia • Overland trade under control of Arabs and Italians and other nations want in. • Look to the uncharted oceans as the answer

Advancements • Astrolabe • Used to determine the altitude of sun or stars • Measure distance of the sun and the stars above the horizon. • Helps determine latitude • Magnetic compass • Ptolemy • Grid system that will become longitude and latitude • Gunpowder adapted to gunnery

Lateen • Triangular sail that enable a ship to sail against the wind • Multiple sails • Especially important in India Ocean where had to deal with monsoons • Invented by Chinese prior to 15th century • Rudder move to back of ship from the side • More maneuverable • Which made it possible to have larger ships • Invented by Chinese (Han)

Caravel • Ship that drew little water making it able to go into shallow water • Bigger ships that had larger cargo rooms • Magnetic Compass • Allowed sailors to determine direction with being in sight of land • Borrowed from Chinese, through trade with Arabs

Some of these inventions had existed prior to the 15th century • But it was during the late 15th century that they converge on one continent

Early leaders will be Portugal and Spain • “floating empires of the wind” • Control major shipping routes in the • Indian Ocean • Indonesia • Atlantic Ocean

Increase in European trade will be encourage • Formation of Hanseatic League • Crusades will set off a search for new efficient trade routes • Portugal will take the led because • Location– near western coast of Africa • Established trade relations with Arabs • Prince Henry

Prince Henry the Navigator • Three goals • Explore and chart the entire African coastline • Establish trade • Spread of Christianity • School to train sea captains and mapmakers

Explorers • Dias • First around the southern tip of Africa • Vasco da Gama • First all water route to India

Christopher Columbus • Search for route to Asia by sailing west • Nina , Pinta and Santa Maria • Rodigo Triana • First actually site land

Amerigo Vespucci • German mapmaker who realized that Columbus had discovered a new continent • Name area America after him.

Line of Demarcation • Imaginary line that divided newly discovered land between Spain and Portugal • Developed by Pope to prevent fighting between two • Treaty of Tordesillas • Original line will be move further west when Portugal upset • Reason that Brazil is the only Portuguese speaking nation in South America

Brazil • First major plantation zone • Tropical crops desire by Europeans • 1532-1549 colonization • Captaincies • Minor Portuguese nobles granted strips of land

Magellan • First to circumnavigate the globe • Balboa • Named the Pacific ocean

Ponce de Leon • Explored Florida in search of the Fountain of youth • Giovanni da Verrazano • Explored North America coast for France • Sir Francis Drake • First Englishman to circumnavigate the world

Northern European nations will become active in conquest and exploration in the later part of the 16th century because • Improved ship design by Dutch and English • Faster ships • English will search for a northwest passage to India

John Cabot • Explored coast of North America • Henry Hudson • Sailed for Dutch • Look for northwest passage • Hudson River and Hudson Bay

Explorers will rely on the backing of a country • Cost • risk • protection for trade routes– especially desire by merchants • Dutch and British exploration will differ from Iberian nations in that rely on • merchants and charter trading companies • British East India Company • Expansion of trade routes and colonialism will be important in the rise of nationalism and the development of strong monarchs

European maritime will • Create a new world economy • Involving both Africa and America in international trade • Formation of colonies • New international pool for exchange of • Food, manufacture goods, and disease • End with era of Japanese maritime dominance • Westerners dominate international trade

Even though Columbus fails to discover gold in America- Spain will gain great wealth from the Aztecs and Incas Empires • Conquistadors • Looking for the 3 G’s • Gold, Glory and God • Will introduce horse to Americas

Conquistadors • Most will be of humble origins- not many were professional soldiers • Ambitious • Will receive permission from crown for the expedition for the promise of paying 1/5 of any treasure to the crown • Many will be cruel • Will view themselves as new nobility with right to dominate the Indians

Cortes • Travels to Mexico in search of the gold • Malinche • Interpreter who will tell Cortes of legend and lead him to the Aztec capital • Aztecs will believe that Cortes is the God Quetzalcoatl returning • Cortes will play the role

Aztec Emperor Montezuma II will be taken prisoner • Held for 8 months • Cortes will be force to flee but vows to return • Will united the other native people of Mexico and will destroy Tenochtitlan

Disease • Disease will be a powerful weapon against the Aztecs • Small pox was unknown in America • No resistance to the disease • Combination of disease, better weapons and assistance of Aztecs enemies will cause the Aztec population to drop by 18 million in 60 years.

Pizarro • Will conquer the Incas • Incas had been weaken by civil war • Incan ruler Atahualpa will be capture and killed

Spanish had two major goals for the Americas • Acquire wealth • Convert native Americans to Christianity • Viceroys • Appointed governors to run the empire • Audiencias • 10 judicial divisions of New Spain and Peru • Superior courts • Recopilacion • Law code that became the basis of law in the West Indies

Hierarchical • Colonial Society • Peninsulares • Group of Spanish officials sent to govern the colonies • Creoles • People born in the colonies to Spanish parents • Look down upon by Spanish monarchy • Barred from high positions • Educated, wealthy and later will become leaders of independence movements

Mestizos • European with native American ancestry • Mulattos • European with African ancestry • Native American

Used encomienda system • Similar to feudal system • Grant peninsulares land and the right to use native American labor • In return Peninsulares were expected to protect natives and convert them to Christianity • Mita- forced labor

Spanish will have advantage over Indians • Horses • Firearms & steel weapons • Epidemic disease • Fear • Play on Indian rivalries and internal divisions

Priest Bartolome de Las Casas • Tried to protect native Americans • Suggest that Spanish colonist use Africans rather than Indians for labor • Will later regret the suggestion

Encomiendas will be discontinue around 1620 because • Spanish will not accept the new nobility • Decline in Indian population

Commercial Revolution • Trade and Empire building was made possible by new financing schemes • investing money • Imports of American bullion • speeding the flow of wealth • reducing risks in commercial ventures • Form trading companies • Manufacturing • New goods

Proletariat • Group of people without access to property • Develop as result of inflation and commercialism • Care about problems of the poor

Form the roots of modern financial and business life • Banks • Church will finally give in and allow individuals to lend money and charge interest • No longer a sin • Banking will become respectable

Joint stock companies • Allowed individuals to invest in exploration • Pools the cost and the risk of the exploration • Investors buy shares of stock- share in profit hopefully • Less risk • Middle class of merchants will developed- which attracted more investors • Concept of stock market system that exist today

Later these companies will secure royal charters for the colonies • Example- Jamestown colony in Virginia • Even when they did not establish colonies, monarchs granted monopolies for trade routes • Muscovy Company • English monopolized trade routes to Russia • Dutch East India Company • Controlled routes for Dutch to the Spice Islands (Indonesia)

Mercantilism • Increase trade will lead to macroeconomic theory of mercantilism • Theory that a state’s power depended upon its wealth • Measure the nation’s wealth by amount of bullion (gold and silver) it own • Gain wealth by having a favorable balance of trade • Export more goods than they import • Ultimate aim is to become self sufficient

Trade deficits forced dependencies on others which imply weakness • Once country’s surplus had to be meet by another country’s deficit • To solve this issue- European countries colonize • Gave mother country raw resources and create a market for their goods • Monarchies will promoted domestic industry and placed tariffs on imports from competing empires

Colonies resented the mercantilism policies • Their resources were taken and then force to pay for products from the mother country • Also the taxes will cause a lot of resentment

Columbian Exchange • Exchange of culture and products between America and Europe

Food, animals, resources exchange between the New World and America will result in changes for both regions • Remember the exchange also included diseases, weapons, idea and people • European play a major role in the spread of disease to America • Over 50% of American Indians will died following European colonization

American food that travel to the east increased population of Europe • Cassava, corn, peanuts, tobacco, squash & potatoes • Urban population increased which led to increased cultivation and enclosure of land • With increased cultivation came movement into previously rural areas

Two key products of the Columbian exchange was sugar and silver • Sugarcane originally from India came to Caribbean via Columbus • Production resulted in development of plantations • Which result in an increase demand for labor • Meet by slave trade once they figured out that native Americas did not adjust well to forced labor

Silver • Spanish will monopolized the world market of Silver • Aztecs and Incas • Also used force labor • Spanish Control of Latin America silver will open doors with Ming China • Chinese desire the silver • Spanish will have access to Philippines, China and the Pacific Ocean • Will make the world a smaller place

Spanish Commercial system will be organized around the mining economy • Spain fail to hold its dominance in world trade because • Banking and internal economy not sufficient enough to handle all the bullion from the new world • Contribute to sharp increase in prices and inflation • Lack of manufacturing

Importation of gold will cause Portugal • Fail to develop manufacturing • Will become dependent on the purchase of manufactured goods from other countries

Attempts by colonials to revolt against Spain and Portuguese will fail because • Fear • Concern about upsetting the social hierarchy • Failure to act together

Age of Exploration