European Exploration and Expansion

The Age of Discovery

• Renaissance spirit of inquiry • New technology

--compass

--gunpowder (cannons, firearms)

--cartography & astronomy (map making)

encourage European overseas exploration in the 1400’s

-Spain and Portugal lead the way

Christopher Columbus and the Columbian Exchange

• Christopher Columbus “encounters” the Americas in 1492

• Columbian Exchange leads to the introduction of new foods, livestock, diseases between both hemispheres and creation of European colonial empires

Impact of Columbian Exchange• Europe exposed to (corn, potatoes,

chocolate, tomatoes, turkey)

• Europeans brought (cattle, chicken, pigs, wheat, sugar, and rice)

• Millions of Native Americans died from exposure to European diseases (smallpox/measles)

The Conquest of the AmericasSpanish conquerors subdued the Aztecs and Incas

(wanted gold and silver)

--Cortes (Aztecs)

--Pizarro (Incas)• Establish colonies in the Americas

Later Explorers• Vasco Da Gama (1460-1524) found water route to

India around tip of Africa• Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521) circumnavigated

(circled) the world• Other nations send explorers to find routes to Asia and

lay new claims in America

Colonial Latin America• New Spanish

colonies were ruled by Viceroys

• Native Americans gradually convert to European Christianity

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww&feature=related

Other European Colonial Empires

• France, Holland, England set up colonies in the New World

• New colonial societies emerge provide wealth and increased trade to Europe

• The Netherlands– Strong player in the Spice Islands, formed Dutch

West India Company in Americas• England

– Eventually gained strong influence in North America and Caribbean

• France– Colonized Louisiana and Canada

Other European Colonial Empires

• New colonial societies emerge provide wealth and increased trade to Europe

The Atlantic Slave Trade• Africans were captured by other African

tribes and sold to European slave traders on West Coast of Africa

The Atlantic Slave Trade

• “Middle Passage”• Millions of slaves

taken in ships (inhumane conditions) for the voyage across the Atlantic to the New World

• Over 15 million slaves shipped due to high death rate

The Atlantic Slave Trade• Enslaved Africans were treated to brutal working

conditions in the Americas• Slave trade increased African warfare and destroyed

African culture, but led to cultural diffusion

The Commercial Revolution.• New Age of Global Trade

• Leads to increase in manufacturing and living conditions in Europe

The Commercial Revolution

• Mercantilism—rulers increase power by amassing gold and silver

--used conquest, trade, taxes, and colonies

Colonies are later used to develop overseas empires

The Commercial Revolution

• Free Enterprise (Capitalism)

--merchants developed new methods to finance large business ventures

--used borrowing and joint-stock companies to raise large amounts of capital

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f7UAqU-wNc

Video Resources• Columbian Exchange--http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=HQPA5oNpfM4• Explorers--http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=NjEGncridoQ• Spanish Empire--http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=rjhIzemLdos• Atlantic Slave Trade--http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=dnV_MTFEGIY