The Maritime Revolution, to 1550

1
The Maritime Revolution,to 1550

• Chapter 15

2
Global Maritime ExpansionBefore 1450

• Sea travel was difficult and dangerous
• It was necessary for trade profits
• People wanted to explore new lands

3
The Pacific Ocean

• Polynesians traveled vast distances.
• sailed from the East Indies to Hawaii
• Over 2000 miles
• Traveled in large canoes
• No maps or navigational tools
• Similar language is proof of related people

4
The Indian Ocean

• Malayo-Indonesians settled in Madagascar.
• Malayo-Indonesian languages are still spoken
  there
• Africans also settled in Madagascar.
• Predictable monsoons encouraged travel
• The Muslim trade network went all around the
  Indian Ocean.

5

• Ming China
• Expeditions into the Indian Ocean
• Curiosity and trade
• Expeditions led by Zheng He
• the first expedition
• 62 junks, 300 feet long by 150 feet wide
• In response, delegates from Swahili visited
  China.
• Some Chinese officials opposed increased contact
  with others. They began to focus inward.

6
The Atlantic Ocean

• Vikings
• Great mariners
• Raiders and pirates that attacked coastal
  European settlements
• No maps or navigational devices
• Settled Iceland in 770, Greenland in 982, and
  North America in 986
• Leif Ericsson founded Newfoundland in 1200

7

• More expeditions sailed from Portugal and Genoa
  (Italy) to explore the Atlantic
• African emperor Mansa Muhammad sent out an
  expedition of 400 ships. One canoe returned.
• The Arawak of South America began settling in the
  Lesser and Greater Antilles and the Bahamas.

8
European Expansion

• 1400-1550

9
Motives for Exploration

• European tendencies
• Revival of urban life and trade
• A struggle with Islamic powers for dominance in
  the Mediterranean
• Growing intellectual curiosity
• European alliance between merchants and rulers

10

• Italy
• Had all of the above conditions, but did not lead
  the way in exploration
• Mediterranean ships werent suited for the
  Atlantic
• Preferred to keep trade alliances with the
  Muslims
• Iberian kingdoms (Portugal and Spain)
• Led the way in Atlantic exploration
• Years of anti-Muslim warfare
• Atlantic fishing experience
• Not much profit from Mediterranean trade
• Great leaders that were interested in exploration

11
Portuguese Voyages

• Took the city of Cueta in Morocco in 1415, as
  well as other Moroccan ports.
• Attack was led by Prince Henry the Navigator.
• Converted Africans to Christianity
• Founded a research institute to study navigation
  and create sea charts and maps.
• They tried to improve navigational instruments
  and built the caravel.
• Paid for by the Order Of Christ.

12

• Profits
• From trading slaves and gold
• The Portuguese crown continued sponsoring
  exploration after Henrys death in 1460.
• Private investors began paying for expeditions.
• Fernao Gomes
• Explored the Gold Coast
• Bartolomeu Dias first Portuguese to sail around
  the tip of Africa
• Vasco de Gamma sailed around Africa and reached
  India

13
Spanish Voyages

• Spanish not interested in exploration as early on
  as the Portuguese
• Christopher Columbus (1451 1506)
• Genoese mariner
• Was unable to get Portugal to sponsor him
• Four voyages between 1492 and 1502
• On the first voyage he took the Nina, Pinta, and
  Santa Maria. The Nina and Pinta were caravels.
• Believed he had found a shorter route to India,
  in actuality he was in the Americas.

14

• Tordesillas line
• Negotiated by the pope in 1494
• An imaginary line in the Atlantic Ocean
• Spain could claim land west of the line and
  Portugal could claim land east of the line.
• Ferdinand Magellan (1480 1521)
• First to sail around the world
• Died on his expedition

15
Encounters with Europe

• 1450 - 1550

16
Western Africa

• Eager to trade with the Portuguese
• Gold coast leaders found it to be cheaper than
  trading with caravans.
• Allowed the Portuguese to build a trading fort
• The kingdom of Benin began trading slaves and
  ivory with Portugal for copper, brass firearms.
• The Africans began to refuse Christianity.
• The slave trade began to get out of control

17
Eastern Africa

• Muslim rulers in East Africa were weary of a
  fleet that painted crosses on their sails.
• Ethiopia, a Christian country, welcomed the
  Portuguese.
• The friendship later helped them in a battle
  against Muslim armies.

18
Indian Ocean States

• The people of Calicut were not impressed by Vasco
  de Gamas arrival.
• Because of their superior ships and weapons,
  Portugal was able to take control of important
  trading cities.
• Portugal imposed taxes on and controlled trade of
  other ships.
• The Portuguese never completely controlled the
  Indian Ocean, but they profited from it.

19
The Americas

• Spanish set up a territorial empire in the
  Americas. The Portuguese set up a trade network
  in Africa.
• The native Americans did not have experience with
  trade relations.
• Diseases weakened their ability to resist.

20

• Columbus
• Met the Arawak people on the island of Hispaniola
  in 1492.
• Columbus brought settlers in 1493 that stole gold
  and food from the Arawaks.
• Spaniards had horses and body armor.
• Domesticated animals brought by the Spanish ate
  Arawak crops which caused famine.
• Forced conversions to Christianity meant killing
  non-believers.

21

• Spanish conquistadors followed that pattern all
  around the Caribbean.
• Juan Ponce de Leon explored Florida in 1513.
• Hernan Cortes conquered the Aztec Empire.
• Some believed he was the god Quetzalcoatl
• Brought small pox
• Took Moctezuma as prisoner
• Francisco Pizzaro met with the Inca emperor
  Atahualpa.
• Atahualpa was murdered by the Spanish.
• The Spanish continued their quest for wealth in
  South and North America

22
Patterns of Dominance

• By 1542, the Spanish controlled all the major
  population centers in the Americas.
• How?
• Americans were vulnerable because of isolation.
• The Spanish were militarily superior.
• The Spanish practiced this model during the
  Iberian reconquest.