The Age of Exploration

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The Age of Exploration

• Harris Modern World History
• Unit 2

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Why did people start to explore?

• As people grew more interested in learning during
  the Renaissance, they began to ask more
  questions. Some of these questions dealt with
  what was out beyond their boarders. As knowledge
  grew, technology advanced and people were able to
  explore further and further away from their
  shores.
• The 3 Gs of exploration Most early explorers
  were inspired by one or more of the following
  god, gold, or glory. In other words, religion,
  money, or fame.

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Portugal Starts Things

• Portugal was the first nation to really begin
  exploring. In 1420, Prince Henry the Navigator
  began exploring along the western coast of
  Africa. He soon discovered gold and named this
  part of the continent the Gold Coast.
• In 1488, Bartholomeu Dias rounded the tip of
  Africa and named it the Cape of Good hope.
• In 1498, Vasco da Gama established a trading
  route to Calicut, India. Despite losing most of
  his ships and 75 of his crew, da Gamas trip
  still made a profit of 3000 off of the spice he
  brought back.

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Portugal Starts Things

• The Portuguese continued to return to the area to
  fight the Muslims for control of the spice trade.
  In 1510, Afonso de Albuquerque established the
  first European owned port in Asia, Goa. Soon
  Albuquerque sailed to Melaka on the Malay
  Peninsula. Once he took control of this area, the
  Portuguese had control of the spice trade in
  Asia. From here, the Portuguese launched voyages
  to the Spice Islands and China

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Spain Joins the Race

• Spain grew concerned as their neighbors wealth
  and power continued to increase.
• In Italy, a young man named Christopher Columbus
  was certain that a sort cut existed between
  Europe and Asia. He attempted to find investors
  that would support a trip to find this Northwest
  Passage. Italians were not interested in funding
  such a venture. This was because their were many
  investment opportunities at home and it was felt
  that it was too risky.
• Columbus realized Spain would be likely to back
  his expedition and was able to persuade Queen
  Isabella to finance the trip. In 1492 he set sail.

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Spain Joins the Race

• With the money from the Queen, Columbus set about
  gathering a crew. He told people that the trip
  would make them famous and rich, best of all it
  would be a short trip. Unfortunately, Columbus
  was making a mistake when he envisioned the
  globe. Columbus knew the globe was round, however
  he thought it was a strait shot from Europe west
  to Asia. He didnt know that the Americas were in
  the way.

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Spain Joins the Race

• After being on the ocean for much longer than
  promised and barely avoiding mutiny, Columbus and
  his men arrived on the islands of Cuba and then
  Hispaniola. He thought he was in India, which is
  why natives were referred to as Indians and the
  area to this day is called the West Indies.
  Through three subsequent voyages, Columbus
  thought he was in Asia, however he really had
  just explored all the major Caribbean Islands and
  Honduras.

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The Americas

• As Spain began to claim more and more in the
  Americas, Portugal became interested in the area.
  In order to avoid conflict, the two nations
  signed the Treaty of Tordesillas. The treaty was
  drawn by the pope and established the Line of
  Demarcation. This line divided the world into
  Portuguese and Spanish parts.

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The Americas

• Soon other countries were sending explorers out
  to the Americas. The British sent John Cabot to
  explore the coast of North America. Portugal sent
  Pedro Cabral to South America. A Florentine named
  Amerigo Vespucci, took many trips to the Americas
  and his descriptions written in letters were used
  to produce one of the first maps of the area.
  This is how the region got its name.

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Spain Builds an Empire

• With the Line of Demarcation in place, the
  Spanish went about securing their new territory.
  The islands of Cuba and Hispaniola were taken
  over and the natives were forced to become
  citizens of the Spanish empire.
• As Spanish control of the area grew, native
  products were taken back to Europe. Items such as
  potatoes, cocoa, corn, and tobacco, all became
  very popular in Europe. Spain also took the
  opportunity to grow items in the tropical
  climate. Products such as sugar, cotton, and
  vanilla, were all very valuable but only grew in
  tropical climates. This meant that they could not
  be grown in Europe.

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Cortes and the Aztecs

• By the early 1500s, Spain had control of most of
  the Caribbean islands and had begun to look at
  invading Mexico next. The Cuban governor, Diego
  Velazquez, had commissioned two trips to Mexico
  to explore the coast. By 1518, a third trip was
  planed and Velazquez chose Hernan Cortes to lead
  it.
• Cortes arrived in Mexico in the year 1519. Before
  he left he had made plans to conquer the area and
  make a name for himself. Velazquez had discovered
  this and attempted to prevent him from going on
  the trip, Cortes discovered this an left early.
  This meant that Cortes was an outlaw and only a
  successful conquest of the area could save his
  name.

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• Upon arrival in Mexico, Cortes established the
  city of Vera Cruz (True Cross). By becoming
  leader of the city, he was able to free himself
  from the legal control of Velazquez.

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• Cortes and his men were met by the Totonac people
  and learned they were part of the Aztec empire.
  The Aztecs controlled their empire through force
  and Cortes was able to convince the Totonacs to
  help fight the Aztecs.
• As Cortes met with the Totonacs and built Vera
  Cruz, word of his arrival reached the capital of
  the empire, Tenochtitlan. The ruler of the
  empire, Moctezuma II, sent a messenger to great
  Cortes with gifts of gold and ask him to leave.
• Once Moctezumas messenger gave Cortes the gold,
  Cortes knew that conquest of the Aztec empire
  would be very profitable. He then set off for the
  capital but before he left he ordered his ships
  burned. He felt that this would show his men that
  success or death were the only possible outcomes.

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• Moctezumas messenger returned to the capital and
  described the events that had taken place. Upon
  hearing this the religious elders grew concerned
  that Cortes was actually, Quetzalcoatl.

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• Quetzalcoatl was an ancient Mesoamerican god, who
  existed in many different cultures. It was
  thought the he had lived with the Toltecs, who
  were an ancient tribe that was the foundation of
  the Aztecs. The story was that Quetzalcoatl was a
  priest/god that was run off after he began to
  oppose human sacrifice. He then prophesied that
  he would return and the his return would bring
  the end to the world.
• Cortess return seemed to correspond to this
  story. The Aztec calendar is cyclical and has 52
  years. Quetzalcoatl said that he would return in
  the year one reed, 1519 happened to correspond
  the that year. The location of his arrival also
  matched up with were Quetzalcoatl was to return.
  This combined with horses and guns, made people
  believe Cortes was a god.

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Cortes and the Aztecs

• As Cortes made his way to Tenochtitlan he came
  across many different tribes. Some of these
  tribes were part of the Aztec empire and some
  were enemies of it. One tribe, the Tlaxcalans,
  was a confederacy of about 200 towns that had
  fought off and on against the Aztecs. Cortes was
  able to convince them to help him in his conquest
  of the Aztecs. He was also able to convince them
  to convert to Christianity and the four leaders
  of the group were baptized.

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Tenochtitlan
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Templo Mayor
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• Cortes was warmly greeted in Tenochtitlan by
  Moctezuma. Moctezuma had his doubts that he was
  Quetzalcoatl, but could take the risk of treating
  him as if he wasnt. This allowed Cortes and his
  men close access to the ruler, this allowed the
  Spanish to capture and imprison Moctezuma.
• Shortly after this, Velazquez sent a unit of
  soldiers to arrest Cortes. This forced Cortes to
  leave a few men in charge of Moctezuma and
  Tenochtitlan and take the rest back to the beach.

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• Cortes decided to attack the soldiers who were
  sent to arrest him. After they were defeated,
  Cortes told them of Tenochtitlan and they decided
  to join him.
• While Cortes was away the Aztecs attempted to
  revolt, this meant he was returning to a city in
  chaos. Once back Cortes force Moctezuma to speak
  to the people from the palace, but the people
  threw rocks at him. Cortes at this point knows
  the leader is useless and kills him.

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• With the growing chaos, the Spanish tried to flee
  the city. As the left, many of the men attempted
  to grab as much gold as they could. This made
  them easy targets as many of the bridges had been
  removed from the causeways that linked the city
  to the mainland.
• Once on land, the remaining men followed Cortes
  back to the Tlaxcalans. Once their they regrouped
  and began to lay siege to Tenochtitlan. At the
  same time the Tlaxcalans and the other tribes
  that had agreed to support Cortes began to fight
  the tribes loyal to the Aztec empire. On August
  13, 1521, the siege ended and the remaining
  Aztecs surrendered.

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How did the Spanish Win?

• Cortes left Cuba with about 600 men and was able
  to defeat an empire of between 2 and 8 million
  people. How did he do it?
• Superior weapons The Spanish had guns, cannons,
  swords, and armor. The Aztecs main weapon was the
  Macuahuitl. This was a weapon that contained
  obsidian, which made the edge sharp but brittle.

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How did the Spanish Win?

• Help from the Natives Because the Aztecs ruled
  with fear, many of the tribes in their empire
  didnt like them. Cortes was able to convince
  these groups to join him. This increased his
  fighting force while reducing the numbers for the
  Aztecs.
• Disease The Spanish brought with them colds,
  flu, small pox, and syphilis. Some historians
  believe that these new diseases killed over 1/3
  of the population in Tenochtitlan within 6
  months.
• Some of the Aztecs just accepted it
  Quetzalcoatl prophesied that his return would end
  the fifth world (their current age). Some people
  believed that everything was the prophesy coming
  true. Since this was the case they couldnt fight
  to stop it and just gave up.

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New Spain

• After the conquest of the Aztecs, the Spanish
  continued to spread throughout Central and South
  America.
• In South America, Francisco Pizarro, conquered
  the remains of the Incan Empire. This gave them
  access to the largest silver mines ever found up
  to that time.
• Natives were turned into slaves, this resulted in
  a decline in their numbers. In 1492, the Island
  of Hispaniola had 250,000 natives, by 1538 there
  were only 500. In Mexico the population fell from
  25 million in 1519, to 1 million in 1630.

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New Rivals Enter the Scene

• The Spanish laid claim to the Philippines when
  Ferdinand Magellan landed their and claimed them.
  Magellan became the first person to sail around
  the world, although he was killed in the
  Philippines.
• In 1595, the Dutch established the colony of New
  Netherland, in what we would call New York.
• In the 1600s the English began to send trading
  fleets to India to compete with the Portuguese.
• In the 1600s the French established Quebec as
  the first permanent French settlement in North
  America

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The Triangle Trade

• During this time something known as the Triangle
  Trade also developed. This was trade the went
  from the Americas to Europe to Africa back to the
  Americas. Raw items were sent from America to
  Europe. Europe sent manufactured items to Africa.
  Africa sent slaves to the Americas.

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Mercantilism

• During the Age of Exploration, Mercantilism was
  the dominate economic theory. This was the idea
  that a countries wealth depended on the amount of
  gold and silver they had in the bank. In order to
  maintain this wealth, countries accumulated
  colonies. These colonies were sources of new
  products and markets for goods from the home
  countries. This allowed the countries
  establishing the colony to maintain a positive
  balance of trade.

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Asia

• China In 1368, the Mongol dynasty was
  overthrown in China and replaced by the Ming
  dynasty. This dynasty rules China until 1644.
  During the early period of the Ming dynasty,
  China greatly expanded its territory into other
  Asian countries. After the death of the first
  Ming emperor, Ming Hong Wu, his son, Yong Le,
  took over and carried on the tradition of
  expansion.
• Great Ming Naval Expeditions Under Yong Le,
  China amassed the largest navy in the history of
  the world. With this navy, China sent expeditions
  as far as India and Africa. Much like early
  European trade expeditions, these ships came back
  filled with treasures. Soon Yong Le was sending
  out more ships in an attempt to gain more wealth.
  These trips took place between 1405-1433.

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Asia

• Chinese Isolation Many government officials in
  China grew concerned over the extravagant
  spending by Emperor Yong Le. These people felt
  that this lifestyle conflicted with traditional
  Confucian beliefs. After Yong Les death, support
  for the expeditions was all but gone. The seventh
  and final expedition took place between
  1431-1433. On this trip, Zheng Huh, the leader of
  all seven expeditions died at sea. With both Yong
  Le and Zheng Huh dead, conservative politicians
  grounded the fleet. Before the end of the
  century, no ship could be built with more than
  two masts and in 1525 all ocean going ships were
  destroyed.
• While China was no longer active in exploration,
  goods from their country were still desirable in
  Europe. This meant that European countries
  continued to seek trade relations with China. In
  response China allowed limited European access to
  one part of their country.

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Asia

• Japan From 1467-1573, Japan was a country at
  war with itself. Strong feudal lords battled with
  each other for control of the country. By the end
  of the 1500s, three powerful leaders had taken
  over, Odo Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and
  Tokugawa Ieyasu. Of these three, Tokugawa was
  able to unify the entire country and established
  the Tokugawa Shogunate.

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Asia

• Arrival of Europe Portugal had made contact
  with Japan in 1543. Initially, the Europeans were
  welcomed and trade developed between the two
  countries. However, after few years Catholic
  missionaries began to descend on the island.
  Concern over the intentions of the missionaries
  grew as the Japanese show what the Spanish
  missionaries did in the Philippines. In 1636,
  Japan issues the Act of Seclusion which made it
  illegal for Japanese trading ships to leave the
  Island and only allowed trade with other Asian
  countries and the Dutch. If they wanted to trade
  with Japan, these countries had to go there.

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Magellans Trip
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Carrack
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Carrack