Who am I?

Who am I?

Christopher Columbus• August 3, 1492 – Columbus and

three ships sail from Spain• Born in Italy and sailed for Spain• Purpose: Sail to Asia (India) by

going west across the Atlantic instead of around Africa (Portuguese)

Chris’s View of the World

What’s the problem with his view?

Was Columbus the First?• NO!!!!• The Chinese?• The Vikings?• The Phoenicians?

• Now back to Columbus...

Why Explore?• Motives (Reasons) for Exploration =

GOLD, GLORY, GOD• Gold = more land; new markets

(people to buy goods); money $$$$• Glory = power for exploring nation • God = spread Christianity to new

lands

More Columbus• Set off to find a quicker route to the West

Indies.• Crew was near mutiny when land was

sighted.• Landed near present day Bahamas

(thought it was the West Indies• Indigenous people called themselves the

Taino (“noble ones”). He called them something else…

• Los Indios…..translation Indians….WHY????• Thus began the move from the Old

World (Europe) to the New World (Americas)

Where did they Settle?• built settlements in the

Caribbean, South America and Central America

• settled in North America (present day United States)

• settled in present-day Canada • were brought to work on large

plantations in the Caribbean and Southern English colonies

Spanish –

English –

French –Africans –

Comparing Three WorldsAmerican Indians Europeans West Africans

What were their religious beliefs?

Nature-basedSpiritual relationship between man and Earth

Christianity Everyone should be Christian

Islam (in some areas)Nature-based (in other places)

What was their government?

tribes (simple) confederations empires (complex)

nations and kingsbeginning to have ideas about individual rights

Kingdoms w/ rulersCouncil of elders

What were their economic systems?

Communal ownership of landLive in harmony with land -- use it to sustain life and not to create wealth

Private ownership of propertyLabor + land = wealth

Communal ownership of landExtensive trade in a variety of goods

What kind of technology did they have?

Bows, arrows, spears and tomahawksSimple farming and hunting tools

Advanced weaponry, including guns, cannons and armorNavigational abilities

Depending on area – simple farming tools or complex trading equipment

Impact of Discovery• Colonization – The establishment

of distant settlements controlled by parent country.

• Often times natives were forced into work on plantations

• Europeans brought many new diseases with them to the New World…..

Disease is BAD!• Population decrease

estimates between 1/3 and 1/2 of native population.

• Decrease in population means decrease in workforce.

• What will the Europeans do???

Slave Trade Begins• With so many Natives dying of

disease, Europeans turned to the slave trade to replenish labor force.

• Africans were more resistant to Old World disease and less familiar with New World (less likely to escape).

• Europeans began using these slaves in the New World.

The Columbian Exchange

• An exchange of living things between the Old World (Europe) and the New World (North America)

Spanish

FrenchEnglish