The Age of Exploration

From spices to new worlds to pirates.

What caused people to explore?

The three “G’s”.

1. Gold: the first and most important reason people began to explore was to gain wealth.

2. Glory: the second reason was to gain recognition.

3. God: people wanted to spread Christianity.

Spices Are Like Gold

Marco Polo was one of the first explorers to travel to Asia and discover the spices made by Asians.

When he brought them back to Europe word spread of how spices preserved food and made them taste better.

Soon spices were in high demand. This leads to countries trying to find the quickest routes to Asia.

Portugal leads the way in Exploration

Prince Henry the Navigator: Henry established a school of navigation in Portugal in order to establish the country as a leader in exploration.

By the time of his death Portugal had established trading colonies along the North African coast, where they traded for gold, ivory, and eventually slaves.

Bartolomeu Dias

He was the first explorer to round the Cape of Good Hope in 1487.

This proved access to the Indian Ocean was possible.

Vasco da Gama

Next Portugal would try to find a sea route to Asia to trade for spices.

The man who would find this route was Vasco da Gama. In 1498 he would discover this route, and begin trading with the people of Asia.

Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus was not Spanish he was Italian. However, nobody in Italy would fund his expedition in Italy nor would anyone in Portugal.

This led Columbus to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain. Who finally funded his expedition.

His three ships were the Santa Maria, Pinta, and the Nina.

Christopher Columbus finds Indians (Sort of)

In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue…. However he did not find what he was actually looking for.

Instead of discovering a new route to Asia he found a New World, the Americas.

He had actually landed on the island of San Salvador.

Columbus has an Anti-Climatic End.

After he discovered that he had actually discovered a new land Columbus sought to explore this territory.

He would make two journey’s to explore this New World. This would eventually bankrupt him and he would die in debtors prison.

Ferdinand Magellan goes Around the World.

From 1519 to 1522 Magellan and his crew circumnavigated the world becoming the first people to accomplish this feat.

However, Magellan did not finish this trip, because he was killed during a battle on an island in the Pacific.

Most of his crew also died on the trip home.

Quiz over the past two days notes.

What are the “three G’s?”What did Marco Polo do to help begin exploration?What country led the way for European Exploration?Who helped start the above countries exploration efforts?What was Christopher Columbus looking for when he found the New World?What did Ferdinand Magellan do?

Spanish Conquests in the New World

After Columbus original voyage Spain set its sight on colonizing islands in the Caribbean and then towards the mainland. Hernando Cortes: The same year Magellan left for his trip around the world Cortes landed on the shores of Mexico. To gain control Cortes had to convince or conquer the Aztecs.

Cortes Achieves his Goal

With 600 men as his army Cortes reached the capital of the Aztecs known as Tenochitlan.

Due to more advanced weapons, support from other native tribes, and most importantly the spread of European disease among the Aztecs led to a stunning victory in 1521.

Francisco Pizarro Conquers the Incas

In 1532 Pizarro led 200 men against 30,000 Incans led by Atahualpa, the Incan king. They surprised the Incans and took the king hostage.

They demanded a ransom for the king and after they received it they killed him and the Incas surrendered.

Conquistadors push North

Francisco Vasquez de Coronado searched led an expedition through the present day Southwest United States.

The Other Explorers…..

Zheng He: led seven voyages; they included from 40 to 300 ships; sometimes numbered 27,000 crewmen; they went from port to port along the Indian Ocean

James Cook: A British sailor who claimed New Zealand and Australia for Great Britain in 1769 and 1770.

Explorers Establish New France

Samuel de Champlain: In 1608 Champlain, sailed up the St. Lawrence with about 32 colonists where they settled the colony of Quebec. This became known as New France.

Almost 80 years later Sieur de La Salle explored the lower Mississippi and claimed the entire valley for France.

France’s Trading Empire

While France commanded a huge territory in the North America it was sparsely inhabited by French settlers.

These settlers included Catholic priest who sought to convert the Native Americans. It also included a large number of young Frenchmen who specialized in the fur trade.

This became France’s major source of income from the New World.

The English Arrive in North America

The first English settlement in the New World was Jamestown. It had a rough beginning. Problems included disease, hunger, and battles with Native Americans.

In 1620 the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock. They came seeking religious freedom.

Puritans Arrive

Ten years after the Pilgrims another group seeking religious freedom from the Anglican Church. They established the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

The Dutch found New Netherlands

In 1609 Henry Hudson sailed for the west and began setting up trading posts in present day New York.

In 1621 the Dutch West India Company was granted permission to colonize the area.

QuizWho conquered the Aztecs?How did he accomplish this?Who conquered the Incas?How did he accomplish this?Who founded New France?What was the major source of income for the French in the

New World?Who claimed the Mississippi Valley for the French?What country founded Jamestown?Why did the Puritans and Pilgrims come to the New World?

The Struggle for North America

As the three European nations began to expand their colonial empires, France, England, and the Netherlands began to fight for colonial supremacy.

The English Oust the Dutch

In 1664 the English king Charles II gave his brother the Duke of York permission to drive the Dutch out of their territory.

When the British fleet arrived at New Netherlands the Dutch surrendered without firing a shot.

The territory was renamed New York.

England Battles France

Soon the English began to expand their territory.

This brought about a problem when English settlers began to live on lands claimed by the French.

In 1754 a dispute over land erupted in the Ohio Valley. This led to war.

French and Indian War

This was a war fought between the French/Indians and the British. It was a part of a much larger war known as the Seven Years War.

In North America the British colonists with the help of the British army defeated the French and Indians.

The English Struggle with the Natives

Unlike the French and Dutch the British never got along with the Native Americans.Soon problems would arise that would lead to violence.Each side committed large scale attacks on innocent civilians, but eventually the Natives would succumb to European diseases.

Columbian Exchange

The global transfer of foods, plants, and animals during the colonization of the Americas is known as the Columbian Exchange.

The animals brought to the New World were livestock such as horses, pigs, cattle, and sheep.

The Foods that were Exchanged

The food brought from the Americas to the Europeans and Asians included the tomato, squash, pineapples, tobacco, and cacao beans (for Chocolate).

The most important foods brought to the Old World was corn and potatoes. These two foods became a staple of the worlds diet.

Diseases

The diseases Europeans brought to the Native Americans included measles, smallpox, influenza, typhus, malaria, and diphtheria. These were responsible for the deaths of millions of Natives.

Global Trade

As the countries in Europe explored they also began to trade with each other. This gave way to several important economic changes.

1. Capitalism: this is an economic system based on private ownership and the investment of resources for profit.

2. Joint-Stock Companies: investors buying shares in a company for a common purpose.

Mercantilism and Favorable balance of Trade

Mercantilism: this theory states that a country’s power is based on wealth.It goes on to say that a country could increase its wealth in two ways.

1. Get as much gold or silver as possible.2. Have a favorable balance of trade in

which a country sales more goods than it buys.

Technology in the Age of Exploration

Astrolabe: a circular instrument used to calculate the position of celestial bodies.Sextant: A navigational instrument used to determine the vertical position of an object such as the sun, moon or stars. Used with celestial navigation.

More Technology

The Sails: Known as caravels the triangular sails were for maneuverability and the square sails were for power.Larger cargo holds could hold a large number of supplies that could sustain a long voyage.The shallow draft allowed ships to explore close to the shore.

Review

Why did people begin to explore?

What country led the way in exploration?

What man was instrumental in the development of this country’s exploration?

What did he do to start this?

How was Marco Polo important to the Age of Exploration?

Why were spices so important to the Europeans?

Review

What did Bartolomeu Dias prove?What did Vasco de Gama do?Where was Christopher Columbus from originally?What country did he sail for?What was he looking for when he discovered the New World?What did he name the island he landed on?

Review

What were the name of his three ships?

What Ferdinand Magellan do?

Who was Zheng He?

Who was James Cook?

What is a conquistador?

Who conquered the Aztecs?

How did he do this?

Review

Where did Francisco Vasquez de Coronado explore?

What French Explorer settled Quebec?

Who settled the Mississippi Valley for France?