Age of Exploration1500 ce – 1800 ce

Exploration & Expansion

Beginning in the 1500s, European countries began to expand into the rest of the world

Europeans were motivated by trade and potential wealth that could be gained through trade with Asia and the East

The conquests of the Ottoman Turks in the Middle East prevented Europeans from traveling to the East and Asia; Europeans sought oversea routes instead

Religion was also a factor in European expansion; the Spanish, especially, were motivated by “God, Glory, and Gold” and wanted to convert native populations to Christianity

European monarchies were stabilized, so the monarchs could focus on expansion

The level of technology had increased, enabling people to make long sea voyages

Portuguese Trading Empire Portugal was the leader of European

exploration and expansion In 1420, under the sponsorship of Prince Henry

the Navigator, Portuguese fleets moved southward along the western coast of Africa They discovered new sources for gold; the area was

called the Gold Coast In 1488, Bartholomeu Dias rounded the tip of

Africa (the Cape of Good Hope) Vasco de Gama went around the Cape and cut

across the Indian Ocean to the Coast of India, arriving in 1498

African Exploration Routes

Trade Wars

After de Gama reached the Indies, Portuguese fleets returned to the area and attempted to destroy Muslim shipping routes so the Portuguese could control the spice trade

In 1509, Portuguese warships destroyed a combined fleet of Turkish and Indian ships off the coast of India Admiral Alfonso de Albuquerque established an Indian port

for the Portuguese Albuquerque eventually sailed to Melaka on the Malay

Peninsula, which also led to trade with China and the Spice islands

The Portuguese signed a treaty with the Spice Islands allowing them to control the spice trade

Portuguese Controlled Trade: 1480-1500s

Voyages of Columbus

Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer He believed he could sail west around the world

and reach Asia and the Indies This was an alternative route to sailing around the tip of

Africa and going east Columbus was sponsored by Queen Isabella and

King Ferdinand of Spain He reached the Americas in 1492, where he explored

Cuba and the island of Hispaniola He believed he had reached Asia; in three more

voyages, he attempted to find a route through the major islands of the Caribbean to central Asia; he named the islands the Indies (Caribbean, Honduras, Cuba)

Treaty of Tordesillas

Spain and Portugal were both extensively exploring other lands and creating new sea routes for trade

Both were concerned the other country would attempt to infringe on their newly discovered territories

They agreed on a line of demarcation, an imaginary line that divided the earth into two “spheres of influence”

This line of demarcation was spelled out in the Treaty of Tordesillas, signed in 1494, which gave Portugal control of anything east of the line, and Spain control of anything west of the line

Portugal gained control of everything around Africa while Spain was given “rights” to most of the Americas Keep in mind they were not concerned with native populations,

only with their expanding territory and wealth See the MAP on the next page for the LINE OF DEMARCATION

Treaty of Tordesillas

Portuguese ControlSpanish Control

Race to the Americas

Other explorers recognized what Columbus did not: he had found an entirely new part of the world (to the Europeans, at least)

John Cabot, from Venice, explored the New England coastline

Pedro Cabral landed in South America in 1500 Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine, went on several

voyages to the Americas and wrote letters describing what he say; the letters led to the use of the name America for the new land

Although the Europeans called the Americas the “New World” it was already inhabited by flourishing civilizations made up of millions of people

Spanish Empire

The Spanish conquerors of the Americas were known as Conquistadors. Their guns helped them overwhelm natives

Hernán Cortés took only three years to overthrow the Aztec Empire in Central Mexico

By 1550, the Spanish had gained control of northern Mexico

Francisco Pizarro took control of the Incan Empire in the Peruvian Andes

Within 30 years of the arrival of the Spanish, the western part of Latin America (including Mexico, Central, and South America) were under Spanish control

Spanish Empire

Spanish Colonization

By 1535, the Spanish had created a system of colonial administration in the Americas

Queen Isabella declared the Natives her subjects She allowed the Spanish settlers and Conquistadors

the right to use Native Americans as laborers The Spanish were supposed to protect the

Natives (after all, they were the queen’s “subjects”) but rules were ignored The distance to Spain meant any rules were difficult

to enforce Natives were used as laborers on sugar plantations

and in mines

Spanish Colonization

Forced labor, starvation, and disease wiped out many of the Native Americans Natives had little to no resistance to European diseases When Columbus arrived in Hispaniola, there were 250,000

natives on the island; by 1538 there were only 500 left In Mexico, the population dropped from 25 million in 1519

to only 1 million in 1630 Catholic missionaries converted and baptized

hundreds of thousands of native people The missionaries established schools, hospitals, and

parishes; all the trappings of European society Native American social and political structures were

destroyed

Economic Impact

Colonists established plantations and ranches to raise sugar, cotton, vanilla, livestock and other products for export to Europe

Conquerors sought gold and silver, and exploited deposits throughout Latin America

New products, like cocoa, potatoes, corn, and tobacco were introduced to the Europeans

Trade with the new world transformed economic activity in both worlds, and created great wealth for the Spanish

Economic Competition

Portuguese Expansion in the East created its own economic impact; they soon challenged the Italian states as great traders of wealth

Other nations wanted the economic boons of the Portuguese and Spanish; they began exploring the New World

The Spanish took control of the Philippines (where Ferdinand Magellan had landed earlier) and established a base for trade across the Pacific

Economic Competition

The English landed in India in the early 17th century and established trade with India Southeast Asian trade followed shortly thereafter

The Dutch arrived in India in 1595 and formed the East India Company, which competed with the English and Portuguese for trade with India They also started the West India Company and

started a colony in the New World called New Netherlands, in the Hudson River Valley

After 1660, the Dutch lost control of New Netherlands to the English, who named it New York

The Dutch commercial empire collapsed

Economic Competition

During the 1600s, the French colonized parts of Canada and Louisiana

The English founded colonies in Virginia and Massachusetts By 1700, the English had a colonial

empire along the eastern seaboard The English also established sugar

plantations throughout the Caribbean Islands

Trade, Colonies, & Mercantilism European nations established trading posts

and colonies in the Americas and the East A colony is a settlement of people living in a

new territory, linked with the parent country by trade and direct government control

Europe entered an age of increasing international trade Colonies played a role in the theory of

mercantilism, a set of principles that dominated economic thought in the 17th century

Mercantilism

According to mercantilism theory, the prosperity of a nation depended on a large supply of gold and silver

To bring in gold and silver, nations tried to have a favorable balance of trade. A trade balance is the difference

between a nations imports and exports A favorable balance means a nation

exports more than it imports

Mercantilism

To encourage a favorable balance of trade, governments will stimulate industries that export, and build infrastructure, like roads, highways, and ports, to encourage trade

Governments will also charge a tariff, or a tax, on imports, so imported goods cannot compete with local goods

Africa in Transition

European expansion affected Africa with a dramatic increase in the slave trade

Prior to worldwide expansion, the primary market or African slaves was Southwest Asia where most slaves were domestic servants Slavery also existed in some European countries The demand for slaves changed dramatically in

the 1490s, as the sugar trade in the Americas increased▪ Slaves were used on plantations, large agricultural

estates, where sugarcane was grown; sugarcane had high labor demands

Growth of the Slave Trade In 1518, a Spanish ship carried the first

boatload of African slaves directly from Africa to the Americas Slavery became part of the triangular trade

system, which connected the Americas, Europe, and Africa▪ European merchant ships carried guns and cloth (and other

European goods) to Africa, where they were traded for slaves

▪ The slaves were carried to the Americas, where they were traded for American products like tobacco, molasses, sugar, and cotton

▪ The American products were shipped to Europe, where they were sold and the cycle started again

Triangular Trade

Growth of the Slave Trade

An estimated 275,000 African slaves were exported during the sixteenth century; 2,000 went every year to the Americas

In the 17th century, over 1,000,000 slaves were exported; by the 18th century, it was over 6,000,000.

As many as ten million African slaves were brought to the Americas between the 16th and 19th centuries

Middle Passage

One reason for the large number of slaves exported was the high death rate

The journey of slaves from Africa to America was called the Middle Passage, which was the middle portion of the triangular trade route Many slaves died on the journey, those

who survived the journey often died from exposure to new diseases from the Europeans and Americans

Sources of Slaves

• Before the coming of Europeans in the 15th century, most slaves in Africa were prisoners of war

• When Europeans first began to take part in the slave trade, they bought slaves from African merchants on the coasts

• At first, local traders obtained slaves from the coastal regions nearby; as the trade increased they moved further inland

Impact of Slave Trade

Local rulers were concerned about the impact of the slave trade on their societies King Afonso worried that the Congo was becoming

depopulated Some African rulers were using slave trade as a source of

income The slave trade depopulated some areas of Africa

It also deprived many communities of their strongest men and women

It increased warfare in Africa, as coastal leaders fought with inland leaders for a supply of slaves

Some African states were completely devastated Benin, in West Africa, experienced population decline and

an increase in warfare, they lost faith in their gods, their art deteriorated, and human sacrifice became more common

Impact of Slave Trade

In general, traditional African political systems continued to exist Monarchy was the dominant form of

government European influence was felt mostly in coastal

regions Europeans were causing changes,

including shifting trade routes, increased warfare, and religious beliefs Islam expanded in Northern Africa Christianity was introduced in Africa

Southeast Asia & the Spice Trade

Mainland Asia, the Malay Peninsula, and the Indonesian Archipelago were gradually penetrated by Muslim merchants attracted to the spice trade The creation of an Islamic trade network

had political results as new states arose along the spice route

Melaka became a power, as it had a strategic location along the Melaka strait

Arrival of Europeans

In 1511, the Portuguese seized Melaka and soon occupied the area The area was the chief source of spices to Europe

Dutch traders followed soon after; in the early 1600s, the Dutch seized Portuguese trading posts and began their occupation of most of the trading posts in the Indian Ocean The Dutch consolidated their political and military

control over the entire area; they eventually brought the entire region under their control

Impact on the Mainland

Europeans had less impact on the mainland than on the Peninsula and Archipelago The Portuguese established trade with several

mainland states – part of the continent of Asia – including Thailand, Vietnam, Burma, and Cambodia

By the 17th century, other European countries were trading with the mainland states▪ European countries interfered with local governments,

but European economic opportunities remained limited▪ Missionaries attempted to convert many, but many

governments saw Catholicism as a threat to their power and thus forbid it’s practice

Impact on the Mainland

The mainland states were better able to resist European influences They had strong monarchies that resisted

foreign intrusion They had distinct political identities In the non-mainland states, there was less

political unity The non-mainland states were also growing

wealthy because of the Europeans, so they succumbed more easily to their influence

Southeast Asian Colonies

Religious & Political Systems Religious beliefs changed in Southeast Asia

between 1500 to 1800 Islam and Christianity were attracting converts Buddhism was advancing on the mainland

Political systems evolved into monarchies: kings, sultans, and emperors led different countries Kings in Burma, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia Islamic countries had Sultans, especially on the Malay

Peninsula Vietnam had emperors who tended to adapt foreign

models of government; the emperor used the Confucian model from China