Exploration to Empire: Rise of Colonial Powers in the Age of Expansion

1. Exploration to Empire Building

2. Review • Empire: a group of territories or nations ruled by a single ruler or government • Treaty of Tordesillas- a treaty between Spain and Portugal signed in 1494. It split the “New World” in two parts- Spain gets west of the “line”, and Portugal gets east of “line” • Spain and Portugal were the two major powers during the time of early exploration • Netherlands, France, and England soon join in for hopes of wealth from lands outside of Europe

4. Portugal

5. Portugal • Interest in Africa and Asia • Interest in trade rather than colonization (colony-a settlement of people outside their homeland, linked with parent country by trade and direct government control) • Want to gain control of spice trade from Muslims • Pedro Alvares Cabral won a bloody trade war with Muslim merchants and defeated large Arab fleet= established Portuguese control of the Indian Ocean

6. Portugal • Built naval bases along Indian Ocean • Soon controlled shipping in Indian Ocean • Later established trading ports with China and Japan • Also colonized area known today as Brazil (rest of South America claimed by Spanish) • Grew sugarcane, tobacco, coffee, and cotton • Needed labor- brought in enslaved people from Africa

7. Spain

8. Spain • Conquistadors- (conquerors) came to the Americas • Hernan Cortes left Cuba for Mexico looking for gold • Lands in Mexico and heads for Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan • Montezuma II (ruler) thought Cortes was fulfilling a prophecy, so welcomes him with gifts of gold • Fighting breaks out- Spanish slaughter 50,000 Aztecs and many more die from diseases • Cortes has control of Mexico

11. Spain • Francisco Pizarro invades present-day Peru, home of the Inca • Captures leader Atahualpa, receives ransom of god and silver, then executed Atahualpa • Spain now has control of all of Incan Empire (most of western South America)

13. Spain • Also claims territories in North America • Spain eventually controls West Indies, Central America, most of South America, and parts of present-day United States • Interest in Colonies more than trading settlements • 2 goals- exploit wealth from land and convert locals to Christianity • Native people forced into working for Spaniards

15. Spain • Disease was the worst enemy- they did not have immunities to European diseases such as smallpox, measles, and influenza • Decline in local population causes Spaniards to bring in enslaved African laborers • Heart of economy= animal hides, sugar, and tobacco • Also, silver and gold – which didn’t always make it back to Spain

17. Netherlands

18. Netherlands • Late 1500’s Dutch won independence from Spain, small country (few natural resources and farm land) see expansion and key to survival • By the 1600’s, Dutch were superior in ship technology • Dutch East India Company- expands trade and endures close relations with Asia • Soon Dutch controlled Indonesian trade in sugar, spices, coffee, and tea

20. Netherlands • Later pushed Portuguese and English out of Asian outposts • Henry Hudson sets out for North America and claims land along Atlantic coast • Dutch West India Company establishes colonies in North America • Also set up a colony in Africa (southern tip) to provide fresh food and water for traveling ships. • By 1700’s Dutch power declined and England takes over as major power

21. France

22. France • Religious conflicts and civil wars kept focus at home until 1500’s • Focus on North America and the Caribbean • Looked for quick profits from trade rather than long investment in farming • Searched for Northwest Passage through America and Asia- not successful • Jacques Cartier discovers and claims eastern Canada for France

23. France • Samual de Champlain founded Quebec- which becomes the first permanent French settlement in the America’s • Traded blankets, guns, and wine with the Native Americans for animal skins • Trapping, fishing and lumbering were also profitable • The French also brought enslaved Africans to the Americas to work on sugar and tobacco plantations on West Indies islands • Did establish some ports in India, but their focus was North America

25. England

26. Enlgand • Religious conflicts and civil wars kept focus at home until the 1500’s • Focus on North America and the Caribbean • Looked to create colonies to proved raw materials such as lumber, fish, sugarcane, rice, and wheat • 1497- John Cabot explores coasts of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and New England giving England a claim in the Americas • It would be another 100 years before colonies were established • During the 1500’s they harassed the Spanish and Portuguese by pirating and raiding ships

28. England • In 1600, the English East India Company was chartered by Elizabeth I to set up ports in India and Southeast Asia • West Indies- founded settlements on the islands of Jamaica, the Bahamas, and Barbados • By 1640- they introduced sugarcane,, worked by slave labor • In 1607 set up the first permanent English settlement in North America called Jamestown in present-day Virginia • Later, Pilgrims founded second English colony of Plymouth in present-day Massachusetts

30. Slave Trade • Slaves from Africa were used to plant and harvest sugar, tobacco, and coffee as well as mine silver • Triangular Trade- Triangle of trade from Europe to Africa to Americas • 1- Left Europe with manufactured goods such as knives, swords, guns, cloth, and rum • 2- Enslaved people brought across Atlantic to Caribbean islands or other places in the Americas • Enslaved Africans were sold and money was used to buy sugar, molasses, cotton, and tobacco • 3- Ships returned to Europe to sell goods purchased in America

31. Triangular Trade

33. The Middle Passage • Often enslaved by other Africans, they were sold to European slave traders • Need a large cargo- pack slaves in as tight as possible (avg. space per slave was 4-5 feet long by 2-3 feet high) • They were chained together and could not stand or lie at full length • It was very dark and hot • Many suffocated, died from diseases, some committed suicide • Estimated 10-24 million Africans brought over to America as slaves, 1 in 5 who began the trip did not survive it

36. Life of a slave • Sold at a slave auction • Many sold as work laborers- clearing land, hoeing, planting, weeding, and harvesting • Hard, long hours, short life expectancy • Many Europeans believed that Africans were physically suited to hard labor • Many took action for freedom- rebellions, threat of rebellion, fleeing from masters • Slaves outnumbered Europeans who lived in constant fear of an uprising • Rebellions were largely unsuccessful • There was a growing antislavery movement