The role of early explorers: from Columbus to Magellan

Colonization and the conquest of the Americas

In what ways did the exchange of peoples, crops,  animals, and diseases shape the experience of European  colonists and American natives?

Why was it the Europeans out exploring? I. It was not because they were technologically more

advanced A. Columbus’ 3 ships in 1492 ~85 feet long, a Chinese

expedition around 1400 about 300 ships up to 400 feet longexpedition around 1400 about 300 ships up to 400 feet long B. Most of the innovations on European ships were borrowed

from other cultures: compass & gunpowder (China),  Astrolabe (Persia), Lateen sail (Arabia)

The astrolabe, an instrument used for determining the precise position of heavenly bodies, was introduced

into early modern Europe by the Arabs. This is one of the earliest

examples, an intricately engraved brass astrolabe produced by a

master craftsman in Syria in themaster craftsman in Syria in the thirteenth century.

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Why was it the Europeans out exploring? I. It was not because they were technologically more advanced

A. Columbus’ 3 ships in 1492 ~85 feet long, a Chinese expedition  around 1400 about 300 ships up to 400 feet long

B. Most of the innovations on European ships were borrowed from  other cultures: compass & gunpowder (China), Astrolabe other cultures: compass & gunpowder (China), Astrolabe  (Persia), Lateen sail (Arabia)

II. Key factor: need.  The Europeans wanted what other areas  had, spices (the role of the Crusades), silk, ornate furniture  and vases, much more than other areas wanted what the  Europeans had

A. Also, leading these expeditions were merchants and in Europe  merchants tended to be wealthier and have a higher social status  that in other cultures that in other cultures

III. As for why then, between about 1350‐1500 it becomes  increasingly hard to get these goods from Muslim merchants

A. This inspires profit seeking merchants to explore B. Population is also rising and monarchies are becoming stronger

Medieval Trade Routes and Regional Products. Trade in Europe varied in intensity and geographical extent in different periods

during the Middle Ages. The map shows some of the h l th t t bchannels that came to be

used in interregional commerce.

Although many of these items were important, the

most lucrative and significant were spices like

pepper and cinnamon. Acquired from Arab

merchants (who had in turnmerchants (who had in turn traded for them in Asia),

they could be worth enormous sums when

brought to Europe. It is said that a pound of pepper was

worth its weight in gold.

Early Explorations I. Key goal of the explorers: find an alternative route (by

water) to Asia

II. Starting around 1400 the Portuguese head down to coast g 4 g of Africa

III. Columbus tries to find backers in Italy and Portugal for  his voyage and fails, because they think he will fail.

A. Eventually the Spanish monarchs fund his voyage since  they are hoping to catch‐up with the Portuguese

Columbus bids farewell to the monarchs Isabel and Ferdinand at the port of Palos in August 1492, illustrated in a copperplate engraving published in 1594. While armed men are ferried out to the vessels, three accountants in a room directly above the monarchs count out

the gold to fund the journey.

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Early Explorations I. Key goal of the explorers: find an alternative route (by water,

why?) to Asia

II. Starting around 1400 the Portuguese head down to coast of  AfricaAfrica

III. Columbus tries to find backers in Italy and Portugal for his  voyage and fails, why?

A. Eventually the Spanish monarchs fund his voyage since they are  hoping to catch‐up with the Portuguese

IV. A desire to expand Christianity also drives some monarchs to  support explorationsupport exploration

A. Although for many of the merchants/explorers/conquerors, this  was a distant second to making money

V. In the end Columbus makes 4 voyages to what he believes is  India

European Voyages of Discovery and the Colonial Claims of Spain and Portugal in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries. Notice Columbus never reaches the North American

Continent during any of his 4 voyages, but rather only the Caribbean.

Early Explorations I. Key goal of the explorers: find an alternative route (by water,

why?) to Asia

II. Starting around 1400 the Portuguese head down to coast of  Africa

III. Columbus tries to find backers in Italy and Portugal for his  voyage and fails, why?

A. Eventually the Spanish monarchs fund his voyage since they are  hoping to catch‐up with the Portuguese

IV. A desire to expand Christianity also drives some monarchs to  support exploration

A Although for many of the merchants/explorers/conquerors  this A. Although for many of the merchants/explorers/conquerors, this  was a distant second to making money

V. In the end Columbus makes 4 voyages to what he believes is  India

A. They start out trading, then converting and eventually conquest.

This image accompanied

Columbus’s account of his voyage, which was published in Latin and reissued in many other languages and editions

that circulatedthat circulated throughout Europe before 1500. The

Spanish King Ferdinand is shown directing the voyage to a tropical island, where the

natives flee in terror. Columbus’s impression

f N ti A iof Native Americans as a people vulnerable to conquest shows clearly

in this image.

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Religion as a cause of colonization I. Europe is relatively religiously unified in 1500, but that is

shattered by 1530 because of the Protestant Reformation I. Over time religious differences/persecution will become

an important motivation behind colonizationan important motivation behind colonization

II. The origins of the Reformation were the teachings and  beliefs of Martin Luther

III. Lutheranism comes to challenge many of the most  fundamental beliefs of the Catholic church …

I. His ideas spread through writings, and eventually some  preachers quickly around Europe

II. No clergy, no hierarchy, just the Bible (in vernacular

Lutheranism

gy y j languages)

Martin Luther’s German Bible Translated by Luther and several other into German and published in 1534.

I. His ideas spread through writings, and eventually some  preachers quickly around Europe

II. No clergy, no hierarchy, just the Bible (in vernacular

Lutheranism

gy y j languages)

III. Opposes unnecessary ritual, pomp of Catholic  ceremonies

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Baroque and Plain Church: Architectural Reflections of Belief Contrast between an eighteenth-century Catholic baroque church in Ottobeuren, Bavaria and a seventeenth-

century Calvinist plain church in the Palatinate. The Catholic church pops with sculptures, paintings, and ornamentation,

while the Calvinist church has been stripped of every possible decoration.

Vanni/Art Resource, NY

I. His ideas spread through writings, and eventually some  preachers quickly around Europe

II. No clergy, no hierarchy, just the Bible (in vernacular  l )

Lutheranism

languages)

III. Opposes unnecessary ritual, pomp of Catholic ceremonies

IV. Secular rulers (who in Luther’s view were God’s chosen  leaders) intimately involved in regulating religious behavior

V. His message appeals more to city dwellers and the literateV. His message appeals more to city dwellers and the literate

VI. Spreads to some areas of Germany and Scandinavia

Religion as a cause of colonization I. Europe is relatively religiously unified in 1500, but that is

shattered by 1530 because of the Protestant Reformation I. Over time religious differences/persecution will

become an important motivation behind become an important motivation behind  colonization

II. The origins of the Reformation were the teachings and  beliefs of Martin Luther

III. Lutheranism comes to challenge many of the most  fundamental beliefs of the Catholic church fundamental beliefs of the Catholic church …

IV. and soon Europe begins to religiously fragment

THE RELIGIOUS SITUATION ABOUT

1560 By 1560, Luther, Zwingli, and Loyola were dead,

Calvin was near the end of his life the Englishof his life, the English break from Rome was complete, and the last

session of the Council of Trent was about to

assemble. This map shows “religious

geography” of western Europe at the time.

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Religion as a cause of colonization I. Europe is relatively religiously unified in 1500, but that is

shattered by 1530 because of the Protestant Reformation I. Over time religious differences/persecution will become

an important motivation behind colonizationp

II. The origins of the Reformation were the teachings and beliefs  of Martin Luther

III. Lutheranism comes to challenge many of the most  fundamental beliefs of the Catholic church …

IV and soon Europe begins to religiously fragmentIV. and soon Europe begins to religiously fragment

V. England will eventually break from the Catholic church as  well, but long term divisions over exactly how ‘protestant’ it  should be will cause tension and spark colonization

I. Henry originally opposed to Luther’s message

II. His problem of succession, desperately needs a male heir

b k   i h  h  P   d f d  h  A li

The English Reformation

III. 1533‐34 breaks with the Papacy and found the Anglican  (English) Church

Henry VIII (1491-1547) Even though Henry was a

decisive and strong leader, his dramatic changes to the way that English people were supposed to

worship cause conflict.

In 1536, about 4 years after he broke with the Papacy and began the Anglican church, Henry also

began to dissolve England’s monasteries, partly because he believed they were inappropriate but mostly for the money. This

caused a popular uprising, called the Pilgrimage of Grace in thethe Pilgrimage of Grace, in the

north of England which took about nine months to suppress.

I. Henry originally opposed to Luther’s message

II. His problem of succession, desperately needs a male heir

b k   i h  h  P   d f d  h  A li

The English Reformation

III. 1533‐34 breaks with the Papacy and found the Anglican  (English) Church

IV. How far is too far, supporters of John Calvin in England  (Puritans) want to eliminate all Catholic elements from  the English Church?

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John Calvin (1509-1564). Born in France, Calvin was

growing up when the debate over Luther and his ideas was taking

place. Initially educated as a lawyer, Calvin became one of the

strongest advocates from g Protestant reform.

Because of his ideas and writings he was eventually forced to flee an

growingly tense France for Geneva, Switzerland. Calvin’s

theology, such as predestination, and his ideas on how to practically structure a church in the absence

of Catholicism (pastors forof Catholicism (pastors for sacraments, doctors for teaching, elders for discipline and deacons for helping the needy) made his

branch of Protestantism particularly popular and his followers very

effective as missionaries.

I. Henry originally opposed to Luther’s message

II. His problem of succession, desperately needs a male heir

III. 1533‐34 breaks with the Papacy and found the Anglican  (E li h) Ch h

The English Reformation

(English) Church

IV. How far is too far, supporters of John Calvin in England  (Puritans) want to eliminate all Catholic elements from the  English Church?

V. Two of Henry’s children Edward VI and Mary try and fail to  move the Anglican church

VI. Elizabeth long reign, of religious moderation, helps establish  the key principals

A. There are a growing number of those favoring a more Calvinist  ‘pure’ church in England ‐> Puritans

Elizabeth I (1558–1603) Standing on a Map of England in 1592.

An astute, if sometimes erratic, politician in foreign and domestic policy, Elizabeth was

one of the most successful rulers of the sixteenth century.

One of the characteristics which made her successful was that it times of religious turmoil, she was a moderate, generally

charting a course which appealed to a majority of her subjects. She rejected the extreme

positions of her brother and sister and instead backed and Anglican church which was

Protestant but had elements of Catholicism remaining.

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Conquest I. Amerigo Vespucci: from ‘Indians’ to the New World

II. Within a few decades trade turns to conquest A. At least where practical, the Americas and costal Africa.  In p ,

parts of Asia, with its larger empires, or central Africa, with  its diseases, trade continues

Spanish adventurers attack a native village on the Columbian coast of the Caribbean in search of the gold said to be stored there, an engraving published in 1594 by Theodore de Bry. This attack of 1509 began at dawn, when the residents awoke to find their houses on fire. They attempted to flee,

but were cut down by swords as they ran from their homes. Several hundred died, with few survivors. When the ashes had cooled the Spanish looked for gold, but found little. Images like this, widely circulated in Europe and England, helped create the “Black Legend” of the Spanish

conquest.

Conquest I. Amerigo Vespucci: from ‘Indians’ to the New World

II. Within a few decades trade turns to conquest A. At least where practical, the Americas and costal Africa.  In p ,

parts of Asia, with its larger empires, or central Africa, with  its diseases, trade continues

III. By 1520 the Caribbean had been conquered

The Cruelties Used by the Spaniards on the Indians, from a 1599 English edition of The Destruction of the Indies by Bartolomé de las Casas.

These scenes were copied from a series of engravings produced by Theodore de Bry that accompanied an earlier edition. Although some of this violence may have been exaggerated

to encourage the Spanish Monarchy to intervene, much of it was accurate. Many conquistadores as well as Spanish Church officials regarded the Native Americans as sub-

human, and hence any resistance to conversion and control was met with extreme violence. It should be noted that indigenous people around the globe were not treated much better by

th b th Eother by many other Europeans.

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Conquest I. Amerigo Vespucci: from ‘Indians’ to the New World

II. Within a few decades trade turns to conquest A. At least where practical, the Americas and costal Africa.  In p ,

parts of Asia, with its larger empires, or central Africa, with  its diseases, trade continues

III. By 1520 the Caribbean had been conquered

IV. Hernan Cortez, heads west and is able to conquer the  Aztec empire (of possibly 10 million people) with only p ( p y p p ) y 1000 soldiers in about 3 years

This map of Tenochititlán, published in 1524 and attributed to the celebrated engraver Albrecht Dürer, shows the city before its destruction, with the principal Aztec temples in the main square, causeways connecting the city to the mainland, and an acqueduct supplying fresh water. The

information on this map must have come from Aztec sources, as did much of the intelligence Cortés relied on for the Spanish conquest.

Smallpox. Introduced by Europeans to the Americas, smallpox had a devastating effect on Native American populations. It swept through the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán soon after the Spaniards arrived, contributing to the fall of the city. This illustration of the effect of the plague in the Aztec capital is

from a post conquest history known as the Florentine Codex compiled for Spanish church authorities by Aztec survivors.

North America’s Indian and Colonial Populations in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries

The primary factor in the decimation of native peoples was epidemic disease, brought to the New World from the Old. In the eighteenth century, the colonial population overtook North America’s

Indian populations.

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Conquest I. Amerigo Vespucci: from ‘Indians’ to the New World

II. Within a few decades trade turns to conquest A. At least where practical, the Americas and costal Africa.  In p ,

parts of Asia, with its larger empires, or central Africa, with  its diseases, trade continues

III. By 1520 the Caribbean had been conquered

IV. Hernan Cortez, heads west and is able to conqueor the  Aztec empire (of possibly 10 million people) with only p ( p y p p ) y 1000 soldiers in about 3 years

V. By 1530 New Spain is established and becomes the  centerpiece of Spain’s empire

Viceroyalties in Latin America in the 18th century.

Spain organized its vast holdings in the New World into Viceroyalties,

each of which had its own governor and other administrative officials.

Although officially under the control of the home country most of theof the home country , most of the decisions were made by locals,

either peninsulares (people born in Europe who had relocated to the Americas) or Creoles (people of

European descent born in the new world). Just as in the British

colonies, eventually these local leaders come to have divergent

i t t f th l d i thinterests from those leaders in the home country.

Conquest I. Amerigo Vespucci: from ‘Indians’ to the New World

II. Within a few decades trade turns to conquest A. At least where practical, the Americas and costal Africa.  In

f A i   i h i  l   i     l Af i   i h parts of Asia, with its larger empires, or central Africa, with  its diseases, trade continues

III. By 1520 the Caribbean had been conquered

IV. Hernan Cortez, heads west and is able to conqueor the  Aztec empire (of possibly 10 million people) with only  1000 soldiers in about 3 years1000 soldiers in about 3 years

V. By 1530 New Spain is established and becomes the  centerpiece of Spain’s empire

VI. The Columbian exchange begins across the Atlantic

The Columbian Exchange

E h  b  Old  d N  W ld   dExchanges between Old and New Worlds occurred. European diseases decimated Indian populations. American precious metals

Runaway inflation Stimulated commerce Lowered standard of living for most Europeans

American crops to Europe– corn, potatoes, cotton,  chocolate, tobacco European crops to America—wheat, sugar, rice,  horses, cattle

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The Columbian Exchange Europeans voyaging between Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries began a vast intercontinental movement of plants, animals, and diseases that shaped the course of modern history. New World corn and potatoes became staple foods in Africa and Europe, while Eurasian and African diseases such as smallpox, malaria, and yellow fever devastated native

communities in the Western Hemisphere.