Chapter 2

1. Chapter 2 The Age of Exploration (1350-1550)

2. Chapter 2The Age of Exploration Section 1 Europeans Set Sail

3. The European Economy Grows • Black Death – plague swept through Europe, killing approx. 30 million • Created a shortage of workers • Commercial Revolution – great change in European economy; merchants and craftspeople became more aggressive about making profit • cities became rich trading centers

4. The European Economy Grows (continued) • Capital – money or property used to make more money; merchant families wanted more – higher prices = more profit • Medici family opened banks in Florence to make loans to monarchs, nobles and other merchants; bankers gained increasing influence around Europe • Joint-stock companies – investors share profits and losses of company; helped merchants raise money (reduced individual risk)

5. The Renaissance • Renaissance – rebirth of the arts and learning of ancient Greece and Rome; began in Italy mid-1300s, spread through Europe through early 1600s • Europeans used new wealth to support education and the arts • Belief that human beings could achieve anything motivated Europeans to explore the rest of the world • Leonardo da Vinci – “renaissance man;” Mona Lisa • Johann Gutenberg – movable type for printing presses • Made it easier and less expensive to copy books • Technological advances led to exploration • Magnetic compass; astrolabe – charted position of the stars = ship position

6. Trade with Africa and Asia • Great wealth came from trade with Africa (gold, ivory, salt, slaves) and Asia (silk and spices) • Long overland routes to Europe (ex. Silk Road) • Western European nations wanted to find sea routes to Africa and Asia because land routes were less reliable and had to depend on others (those who controlled land); prices increased because trade goods passed through hands of many different merchants • Marco Polo’s book about his travels in Asia were popular • Europeans wanted to learn more about the world, spread Christianity and make a profit

7. The Portuguese Explore Africa • Portugal = leader in overseas exploration (early 1400s) • Prince Henry “the Navigator” built a navigation school on the coast of Portugal (finest mapmakers, sailors, and shipbuilders) • developed the caravel – small ship with triangular sails; could sail against the wind; improved the compass • Paid for expeditions to explore the west coast of Africa – began the European trade in African slaves; consequence = more warfare among West African Kingdoms • Bartolomeu Dias – first to sail around southern tip of Africa (Cape of Good Hope)

8. United Streaming Video The Great Age of Exploration

9. Chapter 2The Age of Exploration Section 2 Voyages to the Americas

10. Columbus’s Bold Idea • Believed Asia (Indies) = west across the Atlantic • Portuguese would not fund voyage because the king preferred Dias’s route around Africa • After the Reconquista (ongoing struggle to drive Moors from Spain), Ferdinand and Isabella agreed to pay for voyage • bring back wealth, claim any lands he explored for Spain • Would become viceroy (royal governor) of lands explored

11. Crossing the Ocean • Left Spain in August, 1492, land spotted October, 1492 (33 days from Canary Islands) • Nina, Pinta, and the Santa Maria • Voyage was daring because many people believed that such a long voyage would be impossible

12. Columbus’s First Explorations • Landed on island in Bahamas – called it San Salvador (Holy Savior) – believed it to be off the coast of China or Japan • Taino – natives on Hispaniola; he called them Indians (believed he had landed in the Indies) • Spent more than two months exploring; built small colony on coast of Hispaniola – La Navidad

13. Europe Learns of Columbus’s Voyage • Ferdinand and Isabella excited about news of findings, made Columbus admiral and a governor • Isabella wanted to convert Taino to Christianity • Columbus believed it was acceptable to enslave Taino • As a result of Columbus’s discovery, Spain persuaded the pope to create the Line of Demarcation securing its right to lands west of the line – Portuguese king objected • Treaty of Tordesillas – signed by Spain and Portugal – moved line giving Portugal more opportunity to claim lands unexplored by other Europeans • As a result, Portugal was able to set up the colony of Brazil

14. Columbus’s Later Voyages • Returned to La Navidad in 1493 – found it destroyed, everyone killed • Spent time exploring even though he was governor • Living conditions poor partly due to difficulty growing crops • Problems made Ferdinand and Isabella unhappy • Columbus never made any further discoveries, etc.

15. Chapter 2The Age of Exploration Section 3 The Race for Trade Routes

16. Portugal’s Great Discoveries • Vasco da Gama established trade route between Portugal and India (found India had long history of trade with Muslim and Italian merchants) – Portugal won race for a new sea route to wealth of Asia • Pedro Álvars Cabral accidentally landed in South America; claimed land for Portugal thinking it was a large island • Brazil’s eastern shore was on Portugal’s side of the Line of Demarcation • Eventually founded forts, trading posts and settlements

17. Cabot and Vespucci Explore • John Cabot – Italian sailing for England – found North America (present-day Newfoundland) • Became the basis of England’s claim to land in North America • Amerigo Vespucci – Italian sailing for Spain – coast of S. America • German map-maker published his letters and a map labeled with the name “America” across the new continents in his honor – the name stuck

18. Balboa Reaches the Pacific • Vasco Nuñez de Balboa arrived in Panama after failing as a farmer in the Caribbean • Heard of another sea – traveled across land until he saw (from a mountaintop) what he named the South Sea • No way for ships to cross Panama • Attempted to have ships carried across mountains piece by piece • Success threatened Spanish authorities – charged with treason and executed

19. Sailing Around the Globe • Ferdinand Magellan (Portuguese captain sailing for Spain) – believed there was a sea passage through South America to “South Sea” • Sailed through narrow strait at the southern tip of S. America – Strait of Magellan • Changed name to Pacific Ocean (peaceful) • Magellan killed in battle in the Philippines • Crew led by Juan Sebastián de Elcano were the first to circumnavigate the world (18 sailors remained)

20. Chapter 2The Age of Exploration Section 4 The Opening of the Atlantic

21. A Shift in Trade • Italy lost monopoly on overland trade as Portuguese and Spanish began using the Atlantic; greater profits made because traders no longer dealing with third-parties (ex. Muslim traders) • Portugal controlled as much as 75% of spice trade between Europe and Asia • Other European nations got involved in trade • All began looking at Atlantic as gateway to the wealth of the Americas • Portuguese started the European trade in African slaves

22. The Columbian Exchange • Transfer of plants, animals and diseases to the “New World;” plants and animals to the “Old World” – Asia, Europe and Africa • Corn, tomatoes, potatoes, tobacco and cocoa to Europe, etc. • Europeans brought horses (never seen by natives before), cattle and pigs; wheat and barley; rice and bananas • Natives had little or no immunity to diseases (measles, smallpox, typhus) – hundreds of thousands died

23. The Search for a Northwest Passage • Spain and Portugal busy with Central and South America, other European nations looking for Northwest Passage through N. America to Pacific • Verrazano (France) – sailed along coast from present-day North Carolina to Maine • Jacques Cartier (France) – two trips to what is now Eastern Canada – sailed up the St. Lawrence River all the way to present-day Montreal

24. The Search for a Northwest Passage (continued) • Samuel de Champlain (France) – followed Cartier’s old paths; visited the Great Lakes led by Huron guides; founded small colony on the St. Lawrence River = Quebec; explorations became basis of France’s claim to much of Canada • Henry Hudson (England and Netherlands) – first sailed to present-day New York; returned for England – found huge bay (Hudson Bay) • Northwest Passage was not found by any of these men, but explorations led to increased interest in N. America

25. Important Info. From Sections 3&4 • European race for sea route to Asia was won by Portugal – started the European trade in African slaves • Cabral accidentally discovered the coast of what is now Brazil • French claims to much of Canada began with Champlain’s explorations • Champlain discovered the Great Lakes with the aid of Huron Indian guides • The failure of Verrazano, Cartier, Hudson and others to find a Northwest Passage did not dampen European interest in North America

26. Sections 3 and 4 (continued) • Balboa first saw the South Sea from a mountaintop in Panama • After Balboa discovered the South Sea and made alliances with American Indians in what is now Panama, Spanish authorities had him executed for treason • Balboa’s discovery of the South Sea convinced Magellan to sail west to reach Asia • The South Sea was renamed the Pacific during the voyage of Magellan • Magellan discovered the passage he sought through South America at the southern tip of the continent

27. Sections 3 and 4 (continued) • The Strait of Magellan is the narrow sea passage discovered in South America by Magellan • Verrazano was an Italian sea captain who sailed under the flag of France • Henry Hudson was an English captain who sailed under the flags of England and the Netherlands • The North American area explored in the 1500s by Jacques Cartier was what is now eastern Canada