Europe Looks to the Americas

Section 2Chapter 2

Focus Questions Where did the Portuguese explore, and what

were the outcomes of their voyages? Who explored for Spain after Columbus, and

what were the results? How did the Columbian Exchange affect the

world?

Early Explorations King Manual of Portugal chose Vasco da

Gama to lead an expedition around the Cape of Good Hope

In 1498 da Gama successful rounded the cape of Good Hope and reached southwestern India

The Portuguese then build an empire in forts in Africa, India, and China

Early Explorations Amerigo Vespucci was an

Italian explorer who reached the coast of South America with a Spanish expedition

A German mapmaker published a book with a large map and labeled the continents “America” because he was impressed with Vespuci’s writings

Early Explorations Vasco Nunez de Balboa

was Spanish explorer who discovered the “South” Sea (Pacific Ocean) for Europeans in 1513

Balboa could not cross the rugged Panama terrain so he began to build ships but this was a threat to other Spanish colonies and in 1519 he was executed for treason

Sailing around the World

Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese sea captain who convinced Spanish officials to give him the money to sail around the world to the “South Sea”

Magellan set sail with his five ships in September of 1519

Magellan moved to the southern tip of South America after a rough trip across the Atlantic

Magellan eventually found a strait, a narrow sea passage, that was very windy and difficult to navigate but the ships and crew would push through the strait that would eventually bear his name (Strait of Magellan)

Sailing around the World

The other side of side of the strait was calm water and the crew renamed it the Pacific Ocean

Magellan successfully navigated the crew to Asia and took them to the Philippines

Magellan was killed there while helping a filopino kingdom war against another

Sailing around the World

Juan Sebastian de Elcano led the crew home

Only one ship made it back and reached Spain in September of 1522 with only 18 crew left (out of 240)

The sale of the cloves paid for the entire trip and brought a great deal of profit to everyone involved

This crew was the first to circumnavigate, or sail around the Earth

A Shift in Trade After this nations in western and northern

Europe moved to making relations in Africa, the Americas, and India

Spain’s and Portugal’s trade with Asia and Africa grew

Portugal controlled as much as 75 percent of the spice trade

Many also began to see the Americas as a place where great natural resources existed

The Columbian Exchange

Explores transferred plants, animals, and diseases between the “Old World”– Europe, Asia, and Africa and the “New World” of the Americas

The transfer became known as the Columbian Exchange

European explores found many new species of plants and animals in the Americas and they brought plants and animals from Africa, Asia, Europe to the American continent

The diseases such as smallpox, measles, and typhus also devastated many Natives (the numbers that died are not know but are staggering)

Focus Questions Where did the Portuguese explore, and what

were the outcomes of their voyages? Who explored for Spain after Columbus, and

what were the results? How did the Columbian Exchange affect the

world?