European Empires Portugal Established the earliest modern European

European Empires

• Portugal – Established the earliest modern European colonial empires – Prince Henry the Navigator • Started a school for navigation • Sent ships down the coast of Africa in search of a trade route to Asia – Portuguese explorers led the way in creating trade routes to Asia and setting up forts and trading posts – Brazil became Portugal’s most profitable colony (granted independence in 1822)

Portuguese Colonial Empire

Spain • Christopher Columbus (1492) – Sailing west from Europe in search of a trade route to Asia he “found the New World” (landed in the Bahamas and called it the West Indies) • Became one of the largest empires by claiming land in North, Central and South America (conquered the Inca and Aztec Indians – giving them enormous wealth)

Spanish Colonial Empire

England • Great Britain – (England, Scotland, and Wales) • Largest empire in history • Controlled – Canada, Australia, India, much of • eastern Africa, the American Colonies, and many islands across the world By the 1920 s, one-fourth of the world’s population was under British control

British Colonial Empire

France • One of the world’s most dominant empires under the French ruler Napoleon Bonaparte • Controlled much of Europe – Germany, Italy, and Spain • Colonies throughout the world included islands in the Caribbean Sea and the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic Oceans • Parts of Canada, South America, Asia, Northwest Africa were under French rule

French Empire 18 th – 20 th Century