The Discovery of the Americas

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The Discovery of the Americas
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The Age of Exploration

• The Age of Exploration occurred from the early
  15th to the early 17th Century
• European ships traveled around the world to
  search for new trading routes and partners to
  feed burgeoning capitalism in Europe
• The Age of Exploration was rooted in new
  technologies and ideas growing out of the
  Renaissance including advances in cartography,
  navigation, firepower and shipbuilding.
• Much of new exploration was rooted in the desire
  to find a route to Asia through the west of
  Europe.

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Christopher Columbus

• In 1492, Christopher Columbus began his
  exploration of the Americas he became famous
  when he discovered a new continent and he ignited
  a competition among many of the other European
  nations to find new lands
• Columbus discovered what is now known as the San
  Salvador in the Bahamas

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The Columbian Exchange

• The Columbian Exchange refers to the movement of
  peoples, cultures, technologies, plants, animals,
  diseases and other things between Europe and
  North America in the wake of Columbuss voyages
• This exchange fundamentally changed human life
  and the environment in both worlds

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Examples of the Exchange

• Potatoes, grown by the Incas, were brought back
  and introduced to Spain in the early 1500s
• Spain introduced the horse to the Americas
  which assisted the natives in becoming more
  efficient in the hunt
• Europeans traded alcohol with the natives
• Europeans also introduced small pox and
  tuberculosis

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The Columbian Biological Exchange
Forms of Biological Life Going From
Old World to New World New World to Old World
Diseases Smallpox MeaslesChicken PoxMalariaYellow FeverInfluenzaThe Common Cold Syphilis
Animals Horses CattlePigsSheepGoatsChickens TurkeysLlamasAlpacasGuinea Pigs
Plants Rice WheatBarleyOatsCoffeeSugarcaneBananasMelonsOlivesDandelionsDaisiesCloverRagweedKentucky Bluegrass Corn (Maize)Potatoes (White Sweet Varieties)Beans (Snap, Kidney, Lima Varieties)TobaccoPeanutsSquashPeppersTomatoesPumpkinsPineapplesCacao (Source of Chocolate)Chicle (Source of Chewing Gum)PapayasManioc (Tapioca)GuavasAvocados
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Spain and Portugal

• Spain and Portugal were the major players early
  on in the search for new lands
• This drive for new lands put the two countries in
  direct competition which caused Pope Alexander
  VI to convince the two countries to divide any
  new overseas trading interests between them

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The Treaty of Tordesillas

• In 1494, for the sake of peace and concord
  Spain and Portugal resolved their differences in
  the Treaty of Tordesillas
• This Treaty established a line at 48 degrees west
  longitude and extended it around the earth
• Any lands to the west of this line belonged to
  Spain

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America gets a name!

• In 1499, a Portuguese expedition captained by an
  Italian-born navigator named Amerigo Vespucci
  sailed down the coast of South America
• Vespucci believed that this land was a vast new
  continent and he erroneously received credit for
  discovering what German mapmakers named America

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What? Another Ocean?

• On expeditions to Panama, Vasco, Nunez de Balboa
  learned from the native peoples of a huge body of
  water called the great waters
• He led an expedition with the assistance of the
  native peoples and he was the first European to
  set his sights on this great new body of water
• To Balboa, the water appeared calm and peaceful
  so he gave it the name Pacifica (Latin) which
  later became the Pacific Ocean

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THE CONQUEST OF THE AZTEC EMPIREHERNÁN CORTÉS
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Tenochtitlán Capital of the Aztec empire.
Mexico City founded in 1521 on the ruins of
Tenochtitlán.
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The Aztecs believed Cortés
to be the descendent of the
white-skinned god
Quetzalcoatl of Aztec prophesy. This prophesy
stated that Quetzalcoatl had left Mexico in the
tenth century but would return from the east to
reclaim his authority over the Aztecs. The Aztec
Emperor, Moctezuma, saw Cortés' arrival as the
fulfilment of this prophecy and welcomed the
Spanish party warmly, presenting them with lavish
gifts.
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• Moctezuma was wrong.
• When Cortes landed in 1519, central Mexicos
  population had been about 25 million. By 1600
  it had shrunk to between 1 and 2 million. Peru
  and other regions experienced similar
  devastation. America had witnessed the greatest
  demographic disaster in history.

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By 1610 Spain dominated Latin America.
Having devoted its energies to exploiting Mexico
and the Caribbean, Spain had not yet expanded
into what is now the United States, aside from
establishing outposts in Florida and New Mexico.
However, they did have designs on
expanding.1540 1542 Francisco Vasquez
de
Coronado explores the south western
United
States 1565 St. Augustine (in Florida) 1606
Santa Fe (in New Mexico)
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Mercantilism

• Beginning in the 1600s, many of the European
  nations, including England started to follow a
  theory of national economic policy called
  mercantilism
• This theory believed that a states power
  depended on its wealth
• For this reason, colonies became increasingly
  important to the European Powers
• Colonies provided raw materials and provided
  markets for manufactured goods from the parents
  country

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Elizabethan EnglandQueen Elizabeth I
(1533-1603), Reigned 1558-1603

• In 1558, when Elizabeth I becomes queen, England
  was a minor power with a population of less than
  5 million and stood on the sidelines as Spain and
  France competed for supremacy in Europe.
• The English economy was poor and shipping its
  unemployed poor overseas seemed a good solution
  to Englands economic problems.
• Spain blocked the way.

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England vs. Spain!

• By the 1570s, Queen Elizabeth I was concerned
  with Spains increasingly global influence
• Furthermore, England was Protestant and Spain was
  Catholic
• In the 1570s England had two objectives in the
  Western Hemisphere
• 1)      Find the Northwest passage to Asia and if
  possible to discover gold
• 2)      Raid Spanish fleets and ports from Spain
  to the West Indies

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Elizabethan Sea Dogs

• Fearful of an open confrontation with Spain she
  gave her unofficial approval to piracy against
  Spanish ships and settlements
• Men such as Sir Francis Drake, Sir John Hawkins,
  and Sir Walter Raleigh cruised the shores of
  Spanish America stealing from ships, settlements
  and people These men became know as Privateers
  or Elizabethan Sea Dogs
• Spain and England became deadly rivals and sought
  to plant strategic bases against each other in
  the New World.  

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Watch Out! Here Comes the Armada!

• Eventually Spain, seeking revenge against England
  for attacks on her colonies dispatched her huge
  fleet of ships known as the Spanish Armada
  against Englands fleet
• King Philip II felt he had to destroy the English
  fleet to solve the problem

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Defeat of the Armada!

• Despite being greatly outnumbered, the English
  fleet was faster and pounded the huge Galleons
  with artillery before they could get close enough
  to board the smaller vessels
• Having been badly damaged in the battle the fleet
  was forced up through the English Channel into
  the North Sea where a fierce storm further
  crippled the fleet
• In a single battle, Spain lost almost all of her
  naval forces, and the English way to the Americas
  was cleared