European Expansion 1450-1750World History Unit 6

Table of Contents

Why Explore/Trade

Christopher Columbus

Reasons for Exploration

Columbian Exchange

Spain

Portugal

France

England

Jamestown

Plymouth

Slave Trade

British Empire

Ottoman Empire

China

Why Explore?

Europeans started exploring beyond their known world for various reasons:

Trade**

Conquest and expansion

Religious conversion

Curiosity

Trade

Different areas had different items:

Africa – gold, ivory, salt, slaves

Asia – silk, spices

Items were being marked up by merchants trying to make more money.

Eventually Europeans found a water route to Asia.

When the world was thought to be round, many believed they could sail west and reach Asia.

Christopher Columbus

It is commonly known that Christopher Columbus was the first European to find the Americas, but there is evidence of Viking exploration dating back to around the year 1000.

Once this land was discovered, many countries went about to conquest the new land.

Reasons for European Exploration

Four main countries went about exploring the “New World”

Spain, Portugal, Britain, France

G-G-G

God Gold Glory

Why “America”?

Amerigo Vespucci

Italian explorer, financer, navigator and cartographer.

He was the first to demonstrate that land masses in the “New World” were not part of Asia.

The new continent became to be known as America, which is a derivative of “Americus”, the Latin version of Amerigo.

Columbian Exchange

An exchange of items from the “New World” to the “Old World” and vice versa.

Tomatoes, corn, potatoes, peppers, squash, pineapples, chocolate, turkey, tobacco

Wheat, sugar, cattle, horses, pigs, sheep, chickens, other grains

Old World

New WorldDISEASES

Columbian Exchangehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQPA5oNpfM4

Early Map

Spain

The Spaniards defeated the Aztec and Inca armies of Mexico and Peru.

The great wealth they seized made them one of the richest and most envied in the world.

The native American population was almost decimated by the technological advances of the Europeans and diseases such as Small Pox, which most Europeans were already immune to.

The Spanish imposed their language and culture on the native Americans.

Portugal

Portugal was initially interested in trade rather than conquest and expansion.

It took the Portuguese until 1570 to attempt to colonize Africa.

After the discovery of the “New World” Portugal set its sights on the southern part.

Most of their colonies happened in present-day South America

France

The French primarily wanted to expand the business of fur trade.

In 1603 the French had their first American colony in present-day Canada.

The French established friendships between several Native American tribes.

They settled around the Great Lakes, sailed down the Mississippi where the colony of Louisiana was established.

English

On their journey to the “New World” the English landed in North America

Various groups came over for various reasons.

Unlike the Spaniards, the English did not try to assimilate the natives.

They simply shoved them off lands and continued to spread westward.

Jamestown 1607

England sent settlers to start a colony.

It was a royal charter.

John Rolfe had tobacco seeds which thrived in the rich Virginia soil.

It soon became a cash crop and the southern colonies became some of the richest in the world.

Plymouth 1620

Many English people began to come to the “New World” in search of religious freedom.

The Pilgrims came over on a ship called the Mayflower.

They signed a contract – Mayflower Compact – which was an agreement between the settlers.

Some of the first governments on the land were representative governments.

Portugal

Spain

France

England

Slave Trade

Slavery had existed in parts of Africa for thousands of years.

Prisoners of war used to be the slaves. It was not based on racism originally.

European slavery was different. Most Africans who were kidnapped didn’t know what was happening to them.

The prices became so high that other Africans started participating to make money.

Slave Trade

Slavery began to rapidly increase in the Southern Colonies due to the need for workers.

Many slaves died on the way over, the route called the “Middle Passage”, where slaves were packed into ships with horrible conditions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NXC4Q_4JVg5:38

English Colonies

Eventually the number of English colonies reached 13.

Britain had seized control of the present day United States portion of North America.

British Empire

Meanwhile…While Europe was concentrating on exploring

and claiming this new land for themselves, other things were going on back in the “west”.

Ottoman Empire 1299-1922

The Ottomans, a nomadic group of Turkish people became the rulers of the Islamic area in the 13th century.

They captured Constantinople 1453 – renamed Istanbul

They interacted with Eastern and Western cultures.

During European exploration the Ottomans united most of the Muslim world under one rule.

Ruled by a Sultan.

Ming China 1368-1644

The Mongols were overthrown.

Nearly 300 years of peace and prosperity

Expansion included Korea, Burma and Vietnam

Two classes – peasants (most) and scholar-gentry class (owned land)

Chinese rulers halted their exploration during this time, believing their system was already in perfect balance.

Qing (Manchu) Dynasty 1644-1912

Qing Dynasty

Manchus invaded Northern China in the early 17th century.

The peasants, who made up the majority of citizens had successfully rebelled. This left China weak.

The Manchus defeated the peasant rebels and established the Qing Dynasty.

Empires