Age of Exploration

I. Americas so far
A. Olmec civilization 1500-400 BCE
i. the earliest major group to develop in Mesoamerica
a) created the 'Olmec heads'
• over a ton each and carved from stone found miles away
• faces had unusually African style features, which some argue means they had
early contact with Africans or Phoenicians
• not very likely, but can't be totally counted out
B. Mayan civilization 750 BCE-250 CE
i. had advanced mathematical and astronomical techniques, including early use of zero as
a math concept and creation of an advanced calendar
a) this calendar did not predict the end of the world, as many believed in 2012
b) huge pyramids were devoted either to their religion or astronomy
• practiced human sacrifice as part of their religion
C. Aztec civilization 1300 CE-1521 CE
i. 3 city-states combined under the capital city Tenochtitlan (present-day Mexico City)
ii. conquered nearby tribes and forced slavery, human sacrifices, or tribute from them
iii. eventually destroyed by the Spanish
D. Inca civilization 1200s CE-1578 CE
i. developed in the Andes mountains by cutting giant steps and using them to farm
(terraced farming technique)
a) steps prevented runoff of soil during rain
ii. most sophisticated political and social structure in the Americas
iii. offered gifts to nearby leaders of tribes to join
a) if the leaders refused, the Inca would conquer them, bring their children to be
educated in the Inca way, then returned to the tribe to rule as subjects of the Inca
iv. had advanced architecture despite having no beasts of burden and no wheeled vehicles
v. eventually destroyed by the Spanish
E. Others
i. there were thousands of tribes spread all over the Americas
a) each developed in ways based on their surroundings
• ex: the Hohokam people in present-day Arizona used dried clay to create homes
and developed irrigation for crops due to the region's dry climate
b) these tribes focused on agriculture and didn't create large cities in the European
fashion, which prevented the development of many of the diseases that Europeans
had to deal with
• this means their immune systems were much more susceptible to new sicknesses
II. Europeans in Africa
A. in an attempt to bypass Muslim control of trade in the north, Europeans sought a sea route
around them
B. traded European silver for African gold
i. money was the main reason Europeans began moving out into the sea
C. forced to design and build new ships for open seas instead of calm Mediterranean waters
i. also created new technologies, like the magnetic compass, astrolab, and sextant
a) these helped with navigation, especially over long distances
D. began to settle areas in Africa and nearby islands for trade posts
 i. some areas were settled specifically for growing crops for trade (sugar cane)
a) these required large numbers of laborers, so the Portuguese (and later others) began
to use African slave labor
• tried to move inland to conquer large parts of Africa, but were defeated many
times by African warriors
• African empires near the Portuguese colonies traded slaves from their own
conquests for silver
E. Portuguese in Africa
i. Portuguese sailors were the first to sail along the African coast
ii. the main sponsor of these voyages was Prince Henry, later dubbed the Navigator
a) he hoped to gain vast riches by exploring new areas, but never did
b) helped set up numerous colonies along the African coastline
III. Europeans in the Americas
A. kingdoms were looking for a route to the east to set up trade, but Portugal controlled the
African coast
B. Christopher Columbus
i. believed he could sail west to get to China and India, then outflank the Ottoman Turks
and retake the Holy Land
ii. most people believed you could reach the east by sailing west, however they thought it
was too great a distance to sail with the ships they had at the time
a) Columbus believed (wrongly) that the world was smaller than the estimates (it was
actually 25% bigger)
iii. Columbus was denied by the Portuguese, but Spain gave him three ships and provisions
for the journey
a) Spain had just become a significant kingdom a few years before and had tied their
power to the Catholic Church, so their decision was primarily to spread Christianity
iv. when he reached the Bahamas and found Natives, he incorrectly thought he was in India
a) he sailed back and forth 4 times and gained massive wealth, but also ended up
marooned on Jamaica for a year, arrested for mismanagement, and never gained the
titles promised by the Queen
v. this initial and subsequent contact by Columbus and other Spaniards ended up spreading
new diseases to the Natives, some of whom survived long enough to infect others,
allowing large areas to be wiped out that hadn't even had contact with the Spaniards yet
C. after the Spanish believed they gained a faster route to India, they asked the Pope to say
they were the only ones allowed to go that way (wanted a monopoly of the sea route)
i. Pope Alexander VI (Borgia) agreed, and made a line of demarcation to limit the Spanish
to the West and Portuguese to the East
a) this was changed slightly, but was signed off in the Treaty of Tordesillas
• later would turn out to give Portugal the area of Brazil, and today they still speak
Portuguese
D. Amerigo Vespucci
i. one of the first to realize Spain had discovered a new continent, and described it as the
New World
ii. his writings and maps were published before Columbus' (who never believed he hadn't
found a route to India), so his name was tied to the New World, giving us the Americas
E. the Portuguese (Bartholomew Dias and Vasco de Gama) were the first to sail around the tip
of Africa all the way to India
i. they set up trade and gained huge riches
 a) trade over water was slightly faster and safer than over land
• the cost was actually pretty close to the same, but it allowed them to bypass
trading with Muslims
ii. because of the treaty, they had a monopoly on the lands to the east, meaning they also
controlled the water (this treaty would eventually be ignored)
F. after the Spanish realized they had reached a new land, they still wanted to find a way to
China and India for trade
i. Ferdinand Magellan convinced the king to finance a voyage around the southern tip of
South America in 1519
a) his journey took him to a dangerous area, now known as the Strait of Magellan,
where he lost many ships
b) Magellan reached the Philippines, but was killed by Natives
• the last 18 (of 240) crewmen made it to Spain, completing the first trip around
the world in 1522
ii. while Magellan's voyage was significant, it was considered too dangerous and costly to
set up trade routes
G. Aztecs
i. Aztec Empire located in Mexico
ii. Hernan Cortes
a) arrived in the New World and gained high enough status in Cuba to be given an
expedition to Mexico
b) began to move towards the Aztec capital and conquered cities on the way
• also made allies with local Natives who didn't like the Aztecs
c) arrived at Tenochtitlan and was invited inside by Emperor Montezuma
• Montezuma believed he was a god prophesied to come from the east
• offered the Spaniards a room full of gold, but the Spaniards wanted more
d) Cortes takes Montezuma captive and controls the Aztec capital for a time
• leaves to take care of a small uprising, and in his absence Montezuma is killed
• when he returns, he gathers his men and flees from the Natives
e) Cortes then lays siege to Tenochtitlan from a distance, and eventually the Natives
surrendered
iii. with the fall of the Aztecs, Cortes names the area New Spain and calls the capital
Mexico City
H. Inca
i. Inca Empire located in Andes mountains around Peru
a) capital city Cuzco
ii. Francisco Pizarro
a) offered peace to Emperor Atahuallpa, but when he showed up Pizarro took him
captive
• Natives didn't attack because they weren't supposed to without their emperor's
command
• they offered massive wealth as ransom, but again Spaniards got greedy
b) Pizarro executed the emperor and captured the capital city, taking the rest as slaves
iii. the Inca were even wealthier than the Aztec, and with both falling so easily and so close
together Spain gathered massive riches
a) also got a new silver mine in the Andes, which would keep riches flowing for 100
years
b) as a result of the wealth, Spain became the most powerful kingdom
 I. once Spain had dominated much of Central America, colonists began to come across
i. smaller Native tribes disappeared entirely
ii. Spanish became the official language, Catholicism the official religion
iii. began ruling using the encomienda system
a) given royal charter to control land based on past successes
• used Native slave labor to work land
b) this would later grow into larger land estates called haciendas
iv. over 200,000 Spaniards came over the next 100 years
a) they were from all areas of society, so they brought Old World ideas like class
divisions with them
• instead of having peasants, like in the Medieval Period, they used Native and
African slave labor
b) most immigrants were men, so many Native women became mistresses and wives,
leading to a mixed Spanish and Native population called mestizo
v. two viceroys controlled New Spain and reported directly to the king
a) since the area was so large, the viceroys didn't have much ability to rule
vi. the Church, especially monks, came to spread Christianity to the Natives
a) sometimes this could be brutal- the use of torture to convert someone was
considered ok, since the soul was more important than the body
J. Portuguese in Brazil
i. Pedro Cabral first sighted and claimed Brazil, but the Portuguese focused more on trade
with India rather than colonization
ii. nearly 100 years later, there was a demand for sugar, so the Portuguese began farming
sugar cane in Brazil
a) this brought poor laborers from Portugal (mostly men), leading to another mestizo
population
• the labor was extreme, and after Natives were killed by European diseases, the
Portuguese brought African slaves in large numbers
iii. Jesuit priests began trying to convert Natives, and those who did were relocated to
protected lands called aldeias
a) Jesuits promised to protect Natives from white colonists planning to enslave them
• colonists complained to the king, who decreed that Natives living on aldeias
were protected, but unconverted Natives could be enslaved
K. North America
i. mostly ignored because explorers never found large empires like the Aztecs and Inca
ii. eventually Queen Elizabeth I of England sent ships to begin colonization (discovered
NA during her grandfather's reign, but the explorers died in the process)
a) they established Virginia colony, named for their "Virgin Queen"
b) first two expeditions failed, but the 3rd succeeded in Jamestown 1607
c) new colonies were established over the next 50 years, but they didn't affect European
development much for another 100 years
IV.Europeans in Asia
A. China was controlled by the Ming dynasty, which was far more technologically advanced
than any kingdom in Europe
i. when the Portuguese were just starting to sail down the coast of Africa, Chinese fleets
had already explored the Indian Ocean and visited many civilizations along East Africa
a) they established trade, but issues with taxation (heavier and heavier taxes on less and
less poor farmers) led to general instability and forced the Ming to pull back
 • when the Portuguese reached East Asia, they simply joined much of the network
already established by the Chinese merchants
B. Asia was well versed in European tactics and greed, and rather than be conquered like the
Americas were, they set up trade and never trusted Europeans
i. the Portuguese were allowed to set up trade posts, but these remained small
a) they worked with local chieftains, rather than trying to conquer them
C. trade with the east was very profitable
i. the spice nutmeg was considered nearly as valuable as gold and silver
ii. new influx of silver fixed many of the issues the Ming were having after introducing
paper money, which was no longer valuable
iii. new crops brought from the New World helped ease famines in the East
a) this helped stabilize the Chinese, but eventually the root causes of problems came
back and they were conquered by a new dynasty, the Qing
D. missionaries tried spreading Christianity, but since they couldn't use force, very few
converted
i. Jesuit priests learned local languages, and while they didn't convert many, they did
prove useful for trade and setting up diplomatic missions
E. Russians also spread into Asia, but remained far north
i. able to set up profitable fur trade in Siberia
ii. fur trappers kept pushing east, until they reached Alaska all the way to present-day
Washington and Oregon
V. The Global System
A. with the expansion of European trade covering much of the world, cross cultural exchange
was inevitable
i. the greatest change was called the Columbian Exchange
a) this specifically relates to the trade of ideas, religion, plants, animals, and diseases
between the Old and New Worlds
• the New World didn't have great diseases like Europe, so Europeans weren't
weakened much by contact
• Natives, however, were wiped out in massive numbers
ii. Slave Trade
a) slavery had continued throughout the Middle Ages, but with serfdom it had mostly
faded (only regularly enslaved captured Muslims)
b) when Europeans reached the Americas, they enslaved the Natives
• people who could afford to travel to the New World were above serfs and the
Natives were easy to exploit
c) Natives fell to new diseases, so Europeans brought over African slaves who had
been exposed to European diseases long before
d) slavery was supported by all major religions (Protestantism began around 1500)
except for Judaism
iii. biological exchange
a) despite the Natives fighting European advances, epidemic diseases swept through
populations and destroyed huge parts of civilizations
b) in 80 years, the estimated Native population of Mexico dropped from 19 million to
2.5 million
c) we can't be totally certain, but many believe the only disease given to Europeans by
Natives was syphilis, which while deadly is not as fast acting as smallpox, measles,
typhus, etc
 d) animals were also introduced to the Americas
• pigs, cattle, sheep, horses, etc did not exist before
e) new crops were introduced
• sugar, cotton, rice, etc from Europe
• tomato, corn, tobacco, cocoa, etc from Americas
VI. New Understanding
A. before the New World, Europeans believed they knew all they needed to
i. Aristotle
a) followers of Aristotle believed him to be the primary source of human knowledge
b) he never knew about the Americas, was wrong about the size of the earth, etc
c) people began to realize the ancients weren't as knowledgeable as they'd thought
ii. Christian
a) the other view looked to the Bible as absolute truth
b) again, the discovery of the New World challenged ideas, like the Great Flood
c) the Native Americans were so different, people wondered if they were made in God's
image, or were they not really humans
• many times Natives were treated as subhuman, demons, or a strange animal life
• many Europeans believed the Natives had no soul, and were therefore open
to exploitation and mistreatment
d) some argued that Natives should be guided to Christianity and saved
• fewer saw the Natives living as moral beings outside of the guidance of
Christianity, leading them to conclude that being Christian did not mean one was
moral, and that not being Christian didn't mean one was a savage
• this idea did not begin to spread widely until the 1800s
VII. Significance of Global Encounters
A. the discoveries made during the Age of Exploration led Europeans to see the world as
bigger and more complex
B. European slave trade led to a massive shift in African population
C. disease and war wiped out much of the Native population
D. quick access to Asia led to increased trade, but the cultures stayed distinctly separate
E. as European kingdoms competed for access in the New World in order to increase profits
from trade, they developed new ways to fight each other, leading to more advanced
militaries in Western kingdoms