The Portuguese & The Portuguese & Spanish Phase of Spanish Phase of

ExplorationExploration

Early Portuguese Early Portuguese DiscoveriesDiscoveries

Prince Henry the Navigator: ►hoped to discover Prester John’s Christian empire by sailing around Africa

►conducted research on navigation & trained young mariners

Early Explorations & Discoveries ►moved down coast of Africa, establishing

stations, bringing back gold & slaves►Bartholomew Diaz rounded the Cape of

Good Hope, opening the way for later water voyages to India

►Vasco de Gama = 1st European to reach India by sea during 1497-99

Portuguese trading posts quickly established in India

Significance of the Contact with India►Arab merchants in southern India treated

newcomers as a threat & Indians were not interested in the trinkets brought from Europe, but...

►upon de Gama’s 1st return trip, he found his cargo to be worth 60x his initial investment

►Portuguese were determined that the Indian & Asian trade would be theirs!

Discovery of Brazil►1500: Pedro Alvarez Cabral claimed the

territory when he veered off course on his way to India

The East Asian Trading Empire►successful in their quest for commercial domination

despite the fact that the countries they encountered were “civilized,” had far greater human resources, & did not want many of the European trade goods, because...

masterful planning & organization, superior naval power, took advantage of silver, sugar, & other goods pouring in from South America (better trade goods), and India had political problems (not united)

Spain & the “New” WorldSpain & the “New” World Christopher Columbus = Italian mariner; rejected by Portugal, so won

favor of Queen Isabella of Spain who sponsored his trip to prove that it was only 3,000 miles from Portugal to Japan (sailing east instead of going around Africa)

►set sail for Asia on 8/3/1492; carried letter to the Great Khan of China that commissioned him to become governor of any lands he might “discover” (wanted wealth & to spread the Christian gospel to the heathens of China)

►mid-October, landed on San Salvador (thought he’d found the islands west of India, i.e.. West Indies)

►made 3 more voyages; found all major islands of the Caribbean, including Haiti, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, & Cuba (Columbus actually found a “new” world instead of a new route to the Orient)

Treaty of Tordesillas: ►Pope issued a proclamation

in 1493 dividing the “discoveries” of the world between Portugal & Spain (to avoid fighting)

►Treaty: in 1494, Portugal persuaded Spain to move the line further west, giving Portugal legitimate claim to Brazil & the Amazon River

►similar agreement made in Asia

The People of the “New” World►100 million people already in the

Americas►many records destroyed by the

Spanish who wanted to erase all memory of heathen beliefs & practices (ex. Diego de Landa ordered that all Maya manuscripts in one town be burned = destruction of the greatest collection anywhere of Mayan history & literature)

►had no idea what to expect from Europeans or how to deal with them; neither did Europeans, who mistakenly called them “Indians”

►Europeans made little effort to understand native religious or cultural heritage

►natives seen as objects of exploitation or impediments to the advancement of “civilization”

►Europeans mythologized the Native Americans as the “noble savage” (child of nature whose simple life & innocence could provide for an appealing example to the world)

Magellan ►Columbus set off a scramble to find an alternative route to

India►left Seville, Spain in September 1519►reached the straits that now bear his name in October…crossed into the

Pacific Ocean►he & 40 crew members killed in Philippines in March 1520, but the rest of the crew went on to the

Spice Islands & limped into the harbor at Seville in September 1522►demonstrated that the voyage was possible►one single cargo of spices paid all the expenses of the entire 2½ year voyage

► The Spanish Empire in Latin America conquered most of the Caribbean, killing, absorbing, or

exploiting the labor of the native peoples►area provided sugar, coffee, spices, & tropical fruits for

Europeans►became ports of supply for going to the mainland (where

there were greater places to conquer)

Conquistadors►most advanced & complex civilizations in Central & South

America were the Aztecs & Mayas (Mexico) and the Incas (Peru)►conquistadors = adventurers & soldiers of fortune on a quest for

wealth conquered these civilizations►Hernando Cortéz = 1519: led 600 men, 17 horses, a cannon, &

some muskets made alliances with tribes hostile to the Aztecs invaded Tenochtitlán (Mexico City) took Emperor

Montezuma captive--led to rebellion; during an uprising, the Spaniards executed Montezuma in retaliation

eventually took the city with 800 more Spaniards & 25,000 native allies; Aztecs surrendered in 1521

►Pizarro & the Conquest of the Incas invaded Peru with only 180 men, 27 horses, & 2

cannons Incas had 50,000 overconfident troops who thought

the “white men’s” weapons were harmless Incan ruler Atahualpá captured; many

natives slaughtered Pizarro took gold & silver piled 7 feet high in a

17x22 ft room as ransom for the king’s freedom (then executed him)

empire fell apart without Atahualpá►Expansion

booty of Aztecs & Incas drove explorers to continue to investigate the rest of the Americas

Spain’s American Empire►mercantilism = idea that colonies existed for

the benefit of the mother country colonies provided raw materials, food, gold,

& silver; transported only on Spanish ships Spain sold finished (manufactured) goods

back to the natives

Native Exploitation►at first, encomenderos (protectors) took tribute

from natives & forced their labor (not called “slavery”)

►Catholic missionary: Bartolome de Las Casas’ pleas led to pope-issued bull in 1537 declaring that the Indians of America had souls, were capable of receiving faith, & should not be deprived of liberty or property

►conditions improved, but natives remained in servitude

De Las Casas’s "A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies”

Social & Economic Impact of Colonization►Changes in society:

Indians placed under new forms of government required to speak a new language converted (usually by coercion) to a new religion culture practically destroyed exploited & brutalized by a new labor system

►South American slaughter: death of millions of natives murder & carnage of conquest & subjugation work conditions = long hours in hot sun or below

ground in dangerous mines disease = epidemics such as smallpox

(no immunity to European diseases)

►African slavery: 16th century = Africans captured

& shipped to replace native populations who were dying off in mines & on plantations

►Economy of the empire: most important = gold & silver of Mexico & Bolivia other: sugar, tobacco, coffee, & cotton

►The Pacific trade: centered in Manila (link between Spanish America &

Orient) main product: silk