The Age of Exploration

APEURO - Lecture 1FMrs. Kray

Some slides taken from Susan Pojer and some info taken from historysage.com

The Commercial Revolution, 1500-

1700

Roots in the Middle ages (e.g. Hanseatic League) Population growth

70 mil in 1500; 90 mil in 1600 More consumers

Price Revolution long, slow upward trend in prices Increased food prices, increased volume of money, and the

influx of gold and silver Increased prices = increase in supply of goods

States and emerging empires sought to increase their economic power

Rise in capitalism: entrepreneurs invested money in their own businesses or other business ventures Middle class (bourgeoisie) led the way

Causes

Banking

Fuggers in Germany and the Medicis in Italy were among Europe’s leading bankers

Banking and commercial center of Europe 16th c. = Antwerp; 17th c. = Amsterdam

Hanseatic League evolved from within the German states in the Middle Ages to eventually controlling much of trade in northern Europe Mercantile association of numerous towns and cities

Chartered companies = state provided monopolies certain areas Ex. British East India Co.; Dutch East India Co.

Joint-Stock Companies Investors pooled resources for a common purpose (forerunner to

corporations)

Features

Stock Markets emerged First Enclosure movement in England

Wealthy landowners enclosed their lands to improve sheep herding and thus supply of wool for production of textiles

“Putting out system” emerged in the countryside for cloth production Some farmers displaced by enclosure supplemented

income by producing textiles at home New industries: cloth, mining, printing, book trade,

shipbuilding, cannons, & muskets New consumer goods: sugar*, rice, tea

Sugar production resulted in an enormous slave trade in the Atlantic

Features

Developed in the 17th c. Goal: Nations sought economic self-sufficiency Strategy: create a favorable balance of trade

where a country exported more than it imported

Bullionism: a country should acquire as much gold and silver as possible

A favor balance of trade was necessary to keep a country’s supply of gold from flowing to a competing country

Features: Mercantilism

Slow transition from a European society that was almost

completely rural and isolated to a society that was more developed with the emergence of towns Many serfs, mostly in Western Europe, improved their social

position as a result Emergence of powerful nation states

Wealth could be taxed Brought about the Age of Exploration as competing nations

sought to create new empires overseas Furthered the Price Revolution Nobility suffered a diminished standard of living

Their income was fixed; based on rents and fees Bourgeoisie grew in political power and economic significance

Significance

Prices during the 16th c. rose gradually Causes:

The rising population of Europe increased demand for goods, thereby increasing prices

Influx of gold and silver from the New World was one of the factors

Inflation stimulated production as producers could get more money for their goods

Bourgeoisie acquired much of their wealth from trading and manufacturing; their social and political status increased

Peasant farmers benefitted when their surplus yields could be turned into cash crops

More of the Price Revolution

The Age of Exploration and

Conquest

Christian crusades in 11th & 14th c. had created European

interest in Middle East Rise of nation states resulted in competition for empires and

trade Portugal and Spain sought to break the Italian monopoly on

trade with Asia Impact of the Renaissance: search for knowledge

Revival of Platonic studies, especially mathematics; printing press meant spread of accurate maps and texts

Technological advances Commercial Revolution resulted in capitalist investments in

overseas exploration Missionary impulse

Causes: “God, Gold, & Glory”

New Maritime TechnologiesNew Maritime Technologies

Hartman Astrolabe

(1532)

Better Maps [Portulan]

Sextant

Mariner’s Compass

New Weapons TechnologyNew Weapons Technology

Portugal

Economic: Sought an all water

route to Asia to tap the spice trade

Religious: sought to find the mythical Prester John (a Christian king somewhere in the East) for an alliance against the Muslims

Prince Henry the Navigator Financed numerous expeditions

along the West African coastline in hopes of finding gold

Ushered in new era of European exploration

Motives for Exploration

Prince Henry the Navigator,

1394-1460

Bartholomew Diaz

(1450-1500) Rounded Southern

tip of Africa

Vasco da Gama (1469-1525) Completed all water

route to India Brought back Indian

goods creating huge demand for these products in Europe

Blow to Italian trade

Portuguese Exploration

Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512)

Explored Brazil Perhaps first European explorer to

realize that he had discovered a new continent

Brazil Portugal’s major colony in the New

World Administrative structure similar to

Spanish colonies in New World Imported large slave population for

coffee, cotton, & sugar plantations Significant racial mixture between

whites, Native Americans, and blacks resulted

The Portuguese and Brazil

Spain

Eager for Spain to compete with

Portugal in overseas exploration Financed by Ferdinand and

Isabella

1492: Reached Bahamas Believed he was somewhere in

India Ushered in era of exploration

and domination of the New World First permanent contact

between New and Old Worlds

Christopher Columbus, 1451-1506

The “Columbian Exchange”

The “Columbian Exchange” Squash Avocado Peppers Sweet

Potatoes

Turkey Pumpkin Tobacco Quinine

Cocoa Pineapple

Cassava POTATO

Peanut TOMATO Vanilla MAIZE

Syphilis

Olive COFFEE BEAN Banana Rice

Onion Turnip Honeybee Barley

Grape Peach SUGAR CANE

Oats

Citrus Fruits Pear Wheat HORSE

Cattle Sheep Pigs Smallpox

Flu Typhus Measles Malaria

Diptheria Whooping Cough

Trinkets

Liquor

GUNS

New World

divided between Spain and Portugal (at behest of Pope Leo V)

Line of Demarcation North-South line

was drawn down the middle of the Atlantic Ocean

Treaty of Tordesillas, 1494

Vasco Nunez de Balboa (1475-1517):

Discovered the Pacific Ocean after crossing isthmus of Panama

Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521): First to circumnavigate the globe

Spanish Conquistadors Hernando Cortez (1485-1547): conquered the

Aztecs by 1521 Francisco Pizarro (1478-1541): conquered the

Inca Empire along the Andes Mountains in modern-day Peru in 1532

Other Spanish Explorers

Other Voyages of Exploration

Other Voyages of Exploration

Fernando CortezFernando Cortez

The First Spanish Conquests:The Aztecs

The First Spanish Conquests:The Aztecs

Montezuma IIMontezuma II

vs.

vs.

The Death of Montezuma IIThe Death of Montezuma II

Mexico Surrenders to Cortez

Mexico Surrenders to Cortez

Francisco Pizarro

The First Spanish Conquests: The Incas

The First Spanish Conquests: The Incas

Atahualpa

vs.

Spain’s Empire in the New World

“Golden Age of Spain”

Empire resembled more the “New Imperialism” of the late 19th and early 20th c. by outright conquering entire regions and subjugating their populations

Mercantilist philosophy Colonies existed for benefit of mother country Mining of gold and silver was most important

Crown received 20% of all precious metals mined 1545: World’s richest silver mine opened in Potosi, Peru

ushered in Spain’s Golden Age Spain sold manufactured goods to America and discouraged

industries from taking root in America to avoid competition

Treasuresfrom the Americas!

Treasuresfrom the Americas!

Empire divided into four

viceroyalties; each led by a viceroy

Audiencias = Board of 12 to 15 judges served as advisor to the viceroy and the highest judicial body

Structure of Spain’s Empire

The Influence of the Colonial Catholic

Church

The Influence of the Colonial Catholic

Church

Guadalajara Cathedral

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Spanish Mission

Encomienda System

Motive: Spanish gov’t sought to reduce the savage exploitation of Native Americans in the Spanish Empire Must provide Christian instruction and protection of

workers Reality: laws against exploitation were poorly enforced

Native Americans worked for an owner for a certain number of days per week but retained other parcels of land to work for themselves

Spain’s ability to forcibly utilize Native American labor was a major reason why the Spanish Empire imported so few slaves

Priest and former conquistador A Brief Account of the Destruction

of the Indies, 1552 Publicly criticized the

ruthlessness with which Columbus and his successors treated the Native Americans

Writings helped spread the “black legend” in Protestant countries where Spain was accused of using Christianity ostensibly for killing countless natives Reality: Protestant countries just

as guilty as Catholic ones for decimating native populations

Bartholomew de las Casas, 1474-1566

The Colonial Class System

The Colonial Class System

Peninsulares Creoles

Mestizos

Mulattos

Native Indians Black Slaves

“Old Imperialism” in African and Asia

Countries establish posts and forts on coastal

regions

Generally did not penetrate inland to conquer entire regions or subjugate their populations Spain was an exception

Sharp contrast with the imperialism of the late 19th and early 20th c. where entire nations were conquered and exploited for the benefit of the European colonial powers

Characteristics

By 1495, Portugal had

established forts and posts along the Guinea Coast Da Gama set up trading posts in Goa and Calcutta

Alphonso d’Albuquerque (1453-1515) Laid foundations for

Portuguese imperialism

Established strategy of making coastal regions a base to control the Indian Ocean (choke points)

Also sought to convert people to Catholicism

Portugal

Dutch Republic

Dutch East India Co. became major force behind Dutch imperialism

Took control of Portuguese Empire in Asia

Began to challenge Spain for control of Asiento system

England Came into exploration

relatively late First permanent settlement

not established until 1607 at Jamestown

Other European Colonizers

Asiento System:The Slave Trade

Portugal first introduced slavery in Brazil to farm the sugar plantations

After 1621, Dutch West India Co. took control of the slave trade and transported thousands of slaves to the New World

England’s Royal African Co. entered the slave trade in the late 17th c. Facilitated a huge influx of African slaves into the Caribbean and North

America African slaves were approx. 60% of Brazil’s population and 20% of the U.S.

population

An estimated 50 mil. Africans died or became slaves during the 17th & 18th c

Some black slaves went to Europe Seen as exotic, highly prized in certain areas “American form” of slavery existed in Mediterranean sugar plantations

Slave ShipSlave Ship

“Middle Passage”

“Coffin” Position Below Deck

“Coffin” Position Below Deck

African CaptivesThrown OverboardAfrican Captives

Thrown Overboard

Sharks followed the slave ships!

Impact of European Expansion

Impact of European Expansion1. Native populations ravaged by

disease.

2. Influx of gold, and especially silver, into Europe created an inflationary economic climate.[“Price Revolution”]

3. New products introduced across the continents [“Columbian Exchange”].

4. Deepened colonial rivalries.

New Colonial RivalsNew Colonial Rivals