Chapter Two Exploring the Americas A Changing World

Chapter Two: Exploring the Americas

A Changing World �Marco Polo’s stories from 1296 inspired people 200 years later �Trade makes countries wealthy, people desired Asian spices, silk, tea �Focus on classical works: Ancient Greek and Roman �Rise in intellectual and artistic creativity: Renaissance (French for “rebirth”) �This encouraged people to pursue new ideas/ goals

Impact of Technology �Technology: use of scientific knowledge for practical purposes �More accurate maps �Astrolabe measured the position of the stars �Better ships �Stern rudder, triangular sail from Arabs �Caravel from Portugal: 3 masted ship, sailed faster, carried more cargo, could float in shallow water

http: //www. ku riositas. com/2 011/04/astrolab e-magnificentcomputerof. html

Seeking New Trade Routes �First maps showed three continents: Europe, Asia, Africa bordered by oceans �They also thought it was only one ocean called the Ocean Sea �Portugal takes the lead- they don’t have a Mediterranean port to go between Asia and Europe � 1420 Prince Henry “The Navigator” of Portugal set up a center for exploration on the southwest tip of Portugal �He brought astronomers, mathematicians, and geographers together �Began to trade down the west coast of Africa: Gold Coast : gold, ivory, slaves

�Bartholomeu Dias � 1487 sent by king of Portugal to explore southernmost tip of Africa �Terrible storm blew him off course and he sailed around it by accident �Dias called it “Cape of Storms, ” but the king renamed it “Cape of Good Hope” �Vasco da Gama � 1497 set off with four ships around Cape of Good Hope and visited east Africa �Met an Arab sailor who helped him navigate to India, and arrived in Calcutta 1498

Crossing the Atlantic �Vikings crossed the Atlantic in the 800 s and 900 s �Made it to Iceland Greenland established settlements �Leif Eriksson landed in what he called “Vinland” in 1000, maybe it was North America? �Didn’t establish a permanent settlement �http: //www. history. com/topics/exploration/leiferiksson

Christopher Columbus � born in Italy 1451 �Became a sailor for Portugal on a merchant ship � 1470 French privateers attacked his ship, he floated to shore on a scrap of wood �Studied math, astronomy, cartography in Lisbon �Thought he could sail around the world in 2 months, 2760 miles (more like 24, 859)…but he couldn’t prove it because he couldn’t afford his own ship and crew

�For most of 1400 s Spain was consumed with getting rid of Muslims and Jews �Last Muslim kingdom in Spain fell in 1492 �King Ferdinand Queen Isabella were already jealous of Portugal’s advances in sailing and trade �Meanwhile Columbus is looking for a sponsor to sail around the world �Spain promised to support him if he �Brought Christianity (Catholicism) to any foreign lands �Bring wealth to Spain if he found a route to Asia (but they promised to give him a cut)

�Set sail on August 3, 1492 �Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria, with a total of 90 men �After a month the crew started to worry and doubt his idea, even threatened mutiny �Spotted land on October 12, the Bahamas, went ashore and claimed it for Spain �he was convinced that he had reached the Indies, and even though he searched for pearls and gold for months in the islands he found nothing �But, he returned to Spain in triumph, leaving 40 men to make a settlement

�September 1493, Columbus returned to the Americas �found the settlement destroyed (to this day, no one knows what happened there) �left his brothers Bartolomeo and Diego behind to rebuild �headed west, with native slaves, to continue his mostly fruitless search for gold and other goods. �Instead of riches he had promised Spain, he sent 500 slaves to Queen Isabella. �The queen was horrified–she believed that any people Columbus “discovered” were Spanish subjects who could not be enslaved–and returned the explorer’s gift.

�Spain and Portugal were now in competition with each other �The Pope had to draw a line from the North Pole to the South Pole to divide the land they had explored �The line of demarcation: Portugal gets lands to the east and Spain gets lands to the west, and the two countries signed an agreement in 1494 to settle the matter

�Amerigo Vespucci � 1499 Made maps of South America coastline �By early 1500 s, Europeans were using his maps and calling the land “America” �Vasco Nunez de Balboa �Governor of a Spanish town in Panama �Had heard stories of “great waters” on the other side of the mountains � 1513 Traveled over land for days, and was the first European to see the Pacific (and claimed it for Spain)

�Ferdinand Magellan � 1519 was hired by the Spanish to travel around/ through South America to Asia �November 1520 found a passage through the tip of South America �His voyage across the Pacific lasted four months �They ran out of food, ate sawdust, rats, and leather �Three years later, Magellan was killed in the Philippines �Only 1 crew member made it to India, and circumnavigated the world

Spain in America �Stories of gold, silver, and wealthy kingdoms sent the Spanish running to the Americas �Conquistadors were explorers who received grants from the government to explore and establish settlements in the Americas �But…they had to give the crown 1/5 of what they found �If they failed they faced losing their own fortune

Hernan Cortes �Landed in Mexico 1519 looking for gold and glory �He had 500 soldiers, horses, and cannons �Marched into Tenochtitlan (Aztec empire) and they welcomed him �But Cortez took advantage of them and took King Montezuma hostage �Spring 1520 Aztecs revolted, Montezuma was killed, Spanish eventually driven out �But Cortes waited for more troops to arrive, and attacked and destroyed the Aztec for good in 1521

Francisco Pizarro � 1532 sailed down Pacific Coast with 180 Spanish soldiers looking for legendary wealthy Incas �Captured the ruler and destroyed the army �In order to get rid of the king, Atahualpa, the Spanish falsely accused him of crimes and executed him

How did Spain succeed? � 1) strange weapons and fearsome animals �Guns and cannons �Horses and dogs � 2) many Native Americans hated their overlords and actually helped the Spanish � 3) diseases that the Spanish unintentionally brought with them wiped out the Natives

Spain in North America �Juan Ponce de Leon landed in Florida 1513 �Looking for gold and the legendary “fountain of youth” �His exploration led to the first Spanish settlement in 1565 at St. Augustine �Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca �Landed in Florida 1528; had some trouble, sailed to Mexico, but in November 5 boats were lost in a storm � 2 survived and landed in Texas, but many men had died �De Vaca and an enslaved African became medicine men � 1533 headed west 1000 miles searching for “seven cities with walls of emerald and streets of gold”

�Hernando de Soto �Inspired by de Vaca to explore Florida and the SW �Wandered around for 3 years looking for gold; would enter a village, take the chief hostage, and demand supplies �Crossed the Mississippi River in 1541, made it as far west as OK, but dies of fever and men buried him in the river �Fransisco Vasquez de Coronado � 1540 traveled through Mexico, AZ, NM, and met the Zuni people �Realized there was no gold, kept going west to CO, then east to KS, but found nothing but “windswept plains” and “shaggy cows” (buffalo)

Spanish Rule �Spanish law established three types of settlements �Pueblos were towns established as centers for trade �Missions were religious communities that usually had a small town, farmland, and a church �Presidios were forts, usually built near a mission

Social Classes �Upper class was Spanish natives: they owned the land ran the local government �Creoles were American born with Spanish parents �Mestizos were Spanish/ Native mixed �Native Americans �Lastly the slaves (Africans) �Spain gave the conquistadors the right to demand taxes or labor from Native Americans, basically enslaving them �Bartolome de Las Casas, a priest, tried to protect them, and some basic laws were passed in 1542, but not always followed

�Plantation system developed �Exported crops and raw materials back to Spain �Tobacco and sugarcane �Native Americans worked the land �Las Casas thought Africans were better suited to the work and encouraged the Spanish to use them instead �Slave trade developed �Spanish brought them from West Africa to North America �Portuguese brought them to Brazil �Las Casas would regret his suggestion