Portugal’s Early place in Exploration

• Prince Henry the Navigator-creates a school for navigators

• Bartholomew Diaz explored down Africa’s coast then Vasco de Gama follows Diaz’s route and finds India

• This makes Portugal the most powerful country in Europe for a time

Christopher Columbus

• Italian Sailor- hired by Spain Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand to sail west to Asia

• Lands on Hispaniola

• Conquers the local people on his 4 journeys

• Smallpox kills most of the native populations

• Columbus dies a pauper

Dividing up the New world• Spain and Portugal have claims all over and they

are competing for control.

• Both countries are Catholic and they ask the Pope to settle the dispute

• The Treaty of Tordesillas sets the Line of Demarcation which divides the New World between the two. Guarantees that Rome gets lots of money from both of the “peaceful” countries.

• “Mercantilism” brings raw materials back to the home country. The theory provides that a nation’s wealth is determined by the amount of gold it has – motivation for exploration.

Aztecs and Cortez

• Hernan Cortez conquers the Aztec empire

• He makes alliances with their enemies and builds an army

• Between the effects of Smallpox and the power of the Spanish and the Aztec’s enemies, Cortez easily defeated the Aztecs.

Pizzaro and the Incas

• Pizzaro conquers the Inca of South America quickly. Small Pox again. He holds their ruler, Atahualpa hostage and eventually kills him after the ransom is paid.

• Incan gold made Spain very wealthy

The relationship b/t England and Spain before the Spanish Armada

• England wants a piece of the action. They sponsor John Cabot to go west. He discovers Newfoundland.

• The Spanish counter by funding Vasquez de Coronado (present-day American Southwest) and Hernando de Soto (present-day American Southeast)

• Spanish “found” St. Augustine

• The English and Spanish clash over wealth and religion (Spanish = Catholic, English = Protestant)

Spanish Armada and its overall effect

• Queen Elizabeth (England) is sponsoring “Sea Dogs” like Sir Francis Drake to raid Spanish treasure ships.

• 1588- Spain sends an Armada of 130 ships (the Spanish Armada) to defeat the English and “re-Catholic” England.

• The Spanish get trashed in a hurricane on the way then the more experienced and faster English defeat them

• England gets “Sea Dominance” setting the stage for the British Empire.

French Settlements

• The French explorer Samuel de Champlain founded New France along the St Lawrence River.

• The main purpose was fur trade and the French integrated with the native peoples well adopting their ways and becoming allies. This made them friends and allowed them to colonize freely (but the settlements stayed small)