European Expansion in the World

Chapter 2

History
Today, nearly every region of the earth has been mapped and developed. In the mid-15th century, the situation was different Europe had not yet discovered the Americas and only had a vague notion about Asia and Africa. 200 years later, European navigators along with soldiers and missionaries traveled to other continents and established trading outposts and colonies.

Citizenship
Over the centuries, Western countries have exploited poor countries resources. The look abroad for the resources they need and set up factories in regions where wage are very low. This started with the European Expansion

The Age of Great Exploration

Europeans in the 15th century had little knowledge of other continents In this period, maritime trade with the East was dominated by the Arabs., who controlled sea and land routes to Asia. This situation was an ongoing source of frustration for European merchants The situation radically changed when in 1453, the Turks, who already controlled the Mediterranean area, captured Constantinople, making trade with Asia even more difficult.

The Age of Great Exploration

Discovery and the Explorers

European Explorers attempted to reach Asia via the Atlantic Ocean, they discovered new lands, including the Americas. In their travels, they encountered native people, people who lived their. This period is referred to as One of Great Discovery. Historians place this period between the mid15th century and mid-16th century (during the Renaissance)

Discovery and the Explorers

Toward the New World

The war ravaging Europe, finally began to end in the second half of the 15th century combined with improved economic development fueled exploration. European nobles and wealthy merchants dreamed of Spices, Gold and other luxuries. Their interest was also stimulated by numerous accounts of foreign travel, including those of Marco Polo.

Toward the New World

The Travels of Marco Polo

In the late 13th century, Marco Polo, a 17 year old merchant from Venice, set out an a trade mission to China. He remained in China for 20 years Upon his return to Europe, Marco Polo wrote his adventures down in a book name Book of Marco Polo, which became a huge success. After reading his tales, Europeans longed more than ever to travel to Asia

The Travels of Marco Polo

Motives
European rulers and merchants longed to have power and wealth, this is why there was a growing interest in Asia With an increasing population in Europe, a higher demand for certain products like silk, spices and gold increased. To meet this demand, European countries looked for new sources of supplies, particularly in Asia.

Spices and Silk

Europeans were particularly fond of silks and spices. Silks were used in making luxurious clothes, where spices were used to enhance the flavour of bland meats and fish. Spices were also used for medicine. Europeans preferred to buy spices directly from Asia instead of dealing with the Italian and Arab intermediaries (middle-men).

Precious Metals
Large-scale trade, which had been growing ever since the Middle Ages, prompted the Europeans to seek out gold and silver, which was used as currency. The main source of Gold was found in Africa and access to it was under Muslim control. Europeans had to find another route than through the Mediterranean.

The Desire to Evangelize

The Europeans were still preoccupied with converting non-Christians. They dreamed of spreading Christianity around the globe They wanted to slow down the expansion of the Islam religion, especially in Africa and Asia.

Motives

Favourable Conditions
A series of discoveries and inventions simplified navigation and made large-scale expeditions possible:
Ptolemy, a Greek geographer, proved that the world was round. (His distance calculations were off) Nicolaus Copernicus, a Polish astronomer, proved that the earth orbited the sun, not vice-versa

His theories were of great interest to navigators, who were now able to calculate their position on the Earths surface more easily. These ideas went against the teachings of the church who saw the Earth at the center of the universe.

Favourable Conditions

The Spread of Ideas

Not long after the invention of the printing press, printing became a perfect method of spreading information (the internet of its time) This invention allowed a wider audience for travel stories such as Marco Polos adventures.

The Spread of Ideas

Refinements in Cartography
Travellers and mariners had access to increasingly accurate maps to guide them. Navigators, who were fearful of straying to far from the shores, took highly detailed notes on costal areas. This information was then added to existing navigation charts , known as Portolan Atlases. Geographers then compiled this information to produce sophisticated maps, including using latitude.

Refinements in Cartography

Technological Progress
Over the course of the 15th and 16th centuries, navigation had access to more sophisticated instruments. These instruments were adopted by European explorers:
The Compass: which was used to estimate a ships position to magnetic north The Astrolabe: which complemented the compass, by determining a ships position using the stars, latitude calculated and longitude could be estimated. The Log: a float attached to a knotted rope that trailed behind the ship. Used to calculate the distance covered in a given time.

Technological Progress

Portuguese Expeditions
The kingdom of Portugal was the first to finance and organize a large-scale maritime expedition. In 1487, Bartolomeu Dias sailed the entire coast of Africa, rounded the Cape of Good Hope and reached the Indian Ocean. In 1498, Vasco de Gama followed the same route as Dias, although he travelled further into the Indian Ocean, reaching the Indian city of Calicut. In 1500, the Portuguese explorer Pedro Alvarez Cabral was blown westward by strong winds, as a result he discovered the east coast of Brazil.

Portuguese Colonization in South America

Since the land they discovered was ideal for agriculture, the Portuguese established a settlement and begun colonizing South America. At first the Portuguese colonization were primarily agriculture, harvesting sugar cane and coffee as the main crops. The huge plantations needed massive numbers of workers, as a result the Portuguese enslaved thousands of Africans and transported them to South America to make them work. Later on, the Portuguese discovered gold, and precious stones in these territories.

From Expedition to Occupation

Spanish Expeditions
Inspired by dreams of vast riches and trading opportunities in Asia, Spain also undertook a number of expeditions One of the first was by Christopher Columbus Columbus set off with three ships in 1492 and landed after 61 days Little did he know that he discovered America, he thought he had reached Asia! Although Columbus made three voyages in the Americas, he died convinced that he had reached India!

Spanish Expeditions

Magellan Circumnavigates the World

One of the eras most spectacular expeditions was undertaken by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. With 250 men, he set out with a fleet of 5 ships, when he arrived at the Philippines, Magellan and most of his crew were killed in a fight with the native people Three years later, in 1522, a single ship with 18 men on board arrived back in Spain, Magellans crew had completed the first trip around the world

Spanish Colonization in the Americas

When the Spanish began colonizing the Americas, they did so by force of arms. The native people were no match for the conquistadors armour, muskets and cannons. They committed a long series of massacres. They eventually defeated the native peoples, occupied their territory and seized their riches.

Magellan Circumnavigates the World

English Expeditions
The kingdom of England commissioned a number of expeditions to find a route to Asia via a Northwest passage around North America In 1497, John Cabot, an Italian navigator serving the British crown, set off with his son and 20 crew. Cabot explored the northern reaches where the Spanish and Portuguese had never done. Cabot is generally credited with having discovered North America 500 years after the Vikings. England used Cabots maps and gradually took possession of what is now known as the east coast of the United States, which along with the Dutch, colonized the area.

English Expeditions

French Expeditions
The king of France sent Jacques Cartier, a navigator and cartographer on a expedition to explore the coast of North America. In 1534, during the first voyage, Cartier reached the Gulf of St-Lawrence and thus took part in the discovery of what is now known as Canada. Cartier made 2 other voyages: in 1535, his first exploration he thought he had found the northwest passage to Asia. His second voyage, his mission was to colonize the area to explore new resources in the territory. Instead of finding gold, Cartier established the fur trade.

French Expeditions

The Americas at the Time of the Europeans Arrival

The Europeans soon realized that, although they had not found a passage to Asia, the territories they discovered were rich in other resources and they were ripe for exploitation The Spanish and Portuguese found large quantities of gold and silver, in addition to vast territories suited for agriculture The Europeans went on to divide up and colonize these territories

The Americas at the Time of the Europeans Arrival

Inhabitants of the Americas

In the early 16th century, the Americas were home to several Native peoples who had lived there for thousands of years. They were divided into various nations and tribes. Their lifestyles were different from those of the Europeans North America was mainly occupied by Iroquoians and Algonquins. The Aztecs and Incas lived further South

Mismatched Armies
The Native peoples were quickly overwelmed by the better-armed Europeans. Native populations were reduced dramatically by European-imported diseases against which they didnt have any immunity. Their numbers plummeted in the space of just a few years.

Mismatched Armies

World Economy
In political, economic and cultural terms, Europe and the rest of the world was changed during the course of these two centuries. Whenever the Europeans found resources that interested them, they established trading posts and permanent colonies. An international trading network, known as the World Economy soon came into being. Today, its called Globalization.

World Economy

European Colonial Empires

The European countries that had launched expeditions soon became colonists. They either possessed vast colonial empires or established a network of trading posts. The Spanish, Portuguese, British and French colonial empires were very powerful and were jealous of one another. As a result of the these new discoveries, the center of power shifted from Italy to Europe.

Economic Instruments
The world economy was centred around the great powers of western Europe The newly discovered territories, which were now occupied and exploited for their resources, formed the hinterland A range of economic instruments aimed to strengthen the world economy as well as some principles for its direction.

Companies
Large trade companies were formed in the colonizing countries. Holland launched the Dutch West India Company The French founded the Compagnie des CeniAssocies (Company of the Hundred Associates) For the most part, these were private companies established by merchants for the purpose of sharing the risks of increasingly costly expeditions

Banks
Enormous sums of money were required to finance the expeditions and colonizing activities The potential benefits were considerable, and emphasis was placed on profiting from them To this end, the major European banks were created.

Mercantilism
Aimed at strengthening the power of the colonizing countries, a new economic doctrine was developed: Mercantilism. According to this doctrine, a countrys wealth was proportional to its reserves of gold and silver

Economic Instruments

The Slave Trade

Following the European conquests, Native peoples were condemned to forced labour in gold and silver mines and on a wide variety of plantations (sugar cane, cotton, coffee, tobacco, etc) Local populations were decimated due to disease To alleviate labour shortages, Europeans travelled to Africa and captured them to be used as slaves.

The Slave Trade

Triangular Trade
Under the doctrine of Mercantilism, rules were established that favoured the colonizers. In the Americas, the colonizing countries claimed exclusive rights to their colonies natural resources, such as gold and sugar cane. They were also the exclusive suppliers of manufactured goods and, in some cases, slaves to the colonies Goods bound for a colony could only be shipped using the colonizers vessels. This system was known as Triangular Trade.

Triangular Trade

Cultural Exchange
Over the course of two centuries of European exploration, people acquired knowledge of navigation, geography, etc) In establishing colonial outposts, Europeans imposed their language, culture and religion As a result, English and French are among the main languages spoken in North America Food provides another example of cultural exchange. Potatoes and tomatoes, both came from America are now staples in Europe.

Cultural Trade