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“Fear not for the future, weep not for the

past.”
- Percy Bysshe Shelley

The three best known western names in

China are: Jesus Christ, Richard Nixon,
and Elvis Presley
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Voyages of Discovery
Main Idea
During the 1400s and 1500s European explorers
—inspired by greed, curiosity, and the desire for
glory, and aided by new technologies — sailed to
many previously unknown lands.
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Foundations of Exploration
• Renaissance spirit of discovery and innovation in Europe
• Spirit led Europeans to set sail on voyages of discovery
• Period is sometimes called the Age of Exploration
Drive to Explore New Routes Faith, Curiosity
• Search for wealth • Hoped to find new, faster • Other explorers hoped to
routes to Asia to gain spread their faith into
• Europeans desired trade foothold new lands
expensive luxury goods
• Wealth not only goal - • Another motive—simple
some set out to find curiosity
• Flow of goods controlled
by Italian merchants – fame, glory
• Writings like Marco
also blocked by Polo’s very popular in
Ottoman Empire • Hoped making great Europe, intrigued many
• Charged high prices for discoveries would bring with tales of exotic
these rare goods honor to their names lands, peoples
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Red: Silk Road; Blue: Eastern Spice Trade
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Advances in Technology: Navigation

• Sailors needed precise means to calculate location
• Compass brought to Europe from China, let know sailors know which
direction was north at any time
• Europeans learned to use astrolabe from Muslims
• Navigators could chart location based on sun, stars in relation to horizon

Advances in Technology: Shipbuilding

• Deep-draft ships could withstand heavier waves – rode lower in water
and had larger cargo holds
• Caravel, light, fast sailing ship; two features made it highly
maneuverable: rudder and triangular sails – lateen; equipped with
weapons
• Maneuverability, defensive ability made caravel most popular for
exploring
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Question:
How did advances in technology spur
exploration?

Answer(s): new ships faster and more

maneuverable, could better handle sea voyages;
navigational instruments allowed for voyages of
exploration
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Explorers from Portugal and Spain
The Portuguese The Spanish
• First country to launch large-scale • 1492, Christopher Columbus; 1493,
voyages of exploration returned to Spain - Spanish believed
Columbus found new route to Asia,
• Prince Henry the Navigator - patron, hailed him as hero
supporter of those who wished to explore
• 1502 Explorer Amerigo Vespucci sailed
• Early 1400s: established Navigation coast of South America - not Asia
Court - ultimate goal—find water route • 1513, Núñez de Balboa - Pacific Ocean
around Africa to India - Vasco da Gama - Spanish realized they needed to cross
(1497–1499) another ocean to reach Asia
• 1488, Bartolomeu Dias became first to
sail around southern tip of Africa • 1519, Ferdinand Magellan set out for
Spain with five ships, 250 men
• Portugal established trading centers; • 1522, 18 survivors of original fleet
became rich, powerful European nation arrived back in Spain, first to circum-
navigate world
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Henry the Navigator and Bartolomeu Dias
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Vasco da Gama
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Portuguese Empire
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Christopher Columbus

Replicas of Niña, Pinta and Santa Maria

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First Voyage
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Second Voyage
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Third Voyage
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Fourth Voyage
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Amerigo Vespucci
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Núñez de Balboa
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Ferdinand Magellan
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d their Routes
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n 1, pages 472-473
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Question:
What did da Gama, Columbus, and
Magellan accomplish?

Answer(s): da Gama—reached India via sea;

Columbus—landed in the Americas; Magellan—
circumnavigated the earth
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Explorers from the Rest of Europe
• By early 1500s the English and French were exploring northern parts of the Americas;
Dutch later joined in explorations.
The English The French

• 1497, first major English voyage of • Sent explorers to look for Northwest
discovery launched Passage
• John Cabot sailed to Atlantic coast of what • 1534, Jacques Cartier sailed past
is now Canada Newfoundland into St. Lawrence River,
claimed land as province of New
• 1577, Sir Francis Drake – sailed north to France, now Canada
seek route around North America
• Weather too cold, headed west around the The Dutch
world to get back to England - second • By 1600s Netherlands powerful trading
man to circumnavigate the globe nation, hoped to find new products,
trading partners
• 1607, Henry Hudson and Northwest
Passage
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Sir Francis Drake
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Northwest Passage
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Question:
What did English, French, and Dutch
explorers hope to find?

Answer(s): a shorter route to Asia

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Conquest and Colonies

Main Idea
The countries of Europe established colonies in
the lands they had discovered but, in some
cases, only after violently conquering the native
people who lived there.
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Spain Builds an Empire

• Scramble to establish colonies and empires in new lands
• Spain first to successfully settle in the Americas
Spain in Caribbean Encomienda The Conquest of Mexico
and Peru
• First areas settled by • Colonist given land and • 1519, Hernán Cortés ,
Spanish, Caribbean Native Americans to led expedition to
islands, Hispaniola, Cuba work the land
Mexico, ended with
conquest of Aztecs
• Columbus hoped to find • Required to teach
gold, did not native workers about • 10 years after conquest
Christianity
of Aztecs, Francisco
• Spanish introduced Pizarro led expedition to
encomienda system
• Mistreatment, Peru and conquered the
overwork, and Incan Empire
diseases took toll on
population
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Hernán Cortés
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Francisco Pizarro
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Spanish Empire
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Portuguese Empire
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Question:
How did the Spanish create an empire in the
Americas?

Answer(s): conquered Aztec and Inca empires

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French, Dutch, and English Colonies in the Americas
Silver and gold from American colonies began to circulate in Europe. Leaders in
France, England, and the Netherlands decided that they needed to establish
colonies in the Americas.
New France Dutch and New Netherland

• French explorers established colonies • New Netherland did not grow - focused
in New France (Canada) on developing colonies in other parts
• Hoped this would be a rich source for of world
gold, silver – found fish, furs
• Little colonization – traders • Other colonies more profitable -
• 1608, Samuel de Champlain founded Caribbean sugar, Asian spices more
city of Quebec valuable
• 1682, René-Robert La Salle
Mississippi and Louisiana
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The English Colonies

• 1607, first English colony established at Jamestown - Settlers hoped to
find gold, silver, river route to Pacific
• Instead found marshy ground, impure water
• 80% of settlers died during first winter in America - Colony still endured
Pilgrims British-French Conflict
• 1620, Pilgrims sailed from England - • Mid-1700s, English colonists
persecuted for religious beliefs attempted to settle in French territory,
• Established colony at Plymouth, upper Ohio River valley; 1754 –
Massachusetts French and Indian War
• Colony self-sufficient within 5 years • French eventually surrendered, yielded
Canada, all French territory east of
• Jamestown, Plymouth colonies
Mississippi
received aid from local peoples –
despite aid, Native American viewed • War costly for British – king tried to tax
with distrust colonists – led to American Revolution
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“Our life’s a stage, a comedy: either learn

to play and take it lightly, or bear its
troubles patiently.”
- Palladas

There are twice as many kangaroos in

Australia as there are people. The
kangaroo population is estimated at about
40 million.
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New Patterns of Trade

Main Idea
The creation of colonies in the Americas and
elsewhere led to the exchange of new types of
goods, the establishment of new patterns of
trade, and new economic systems in Europe.
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The Columbian Exchange
• Voyages launched large-scale contact between Europe and Americas.
• Contact between the two groups led to the widespread exchange of plants,
animals, and disease—the Columbian Exchange.
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Effects of the Columbian Exchange

Different Foods
• Exchange of foods, animals had dramatic impact on later societies
• Over time crops native to Americas became staples in diets of Europeans
• New foods provided substantial nutrition, helped people live longer
• Texas cattle ranching, Brazilian coffee, and by late 1600s, tomatoes (poisonous?)
in Italian cookbooks

Effects Widespread
• China: Arrival of easy-to-grow, nutritious corn helped population grow
tremendously; main consumer of silver mined in Americas
• Africa: Two native crops of Americas—corn, peanuts
• Scholars estimate 1/3 of all food crops grown in world are of American origin
• Introduction of new diseases in the Americans: Smallpox, measles, influenza,
malaria killed millions – no natural resistances, devastated native population
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New World native plants. Clockwise, from top left:

1. Maize 2. Tomato 3. Potato 4. Vanilla 5. Pará rubber tree
6. Cacao 7. Tobacco
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Old World native plants. Clockwise, from top left:

1. Citrus 2. Apple 3. Banana 4. Mango 5. Onion 6. Coffee
7. Wheat 8. Rice
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Question:
What were two lasting effects of the
Columbian Exchange?

Answer(s): possible answers—changes in

cuisine, changes in crops grown around the world,
epidemics
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Mercantilism
New Economic Policy Balance of Trade
• 1500s, Europeans developed new • Mercantilists built wealth two ways—
economic policy, mercantilism extract gold, silver from mines at home,
colonies; sell more goods than it bought
• Nation’s strength depended on its from foreign countries = favorable
balance of trade
wealth - wealthy nation had power for
military and expanded influence • Favorable balance of trade - country
received more gold, silver from other
• Wealth measured by amount of gold, nations than it paid to them - increased
silver possessed by nation its power; weakened foreign competitors

• Mercantilists believed there was fixed • Tariffs on imports; encouraged exports

amount of wealth in world that could sell for higher prices than raw
materials; controlled sources
• Mercantilism led to intense • Building colonial empires essential to
competition between nations mercantilist system – control of
resources
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Question:
What were the main principles of
mercantilism?

Answer(s): nation's strength depended upon its

wealth; needed a favorable balance of trade
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The Rise of Capitalism
Increasing trade between Europe and colonies created new business and
trade practices during the 1500s and 1600s. These practices would have a
great impact on the economies of European nations.
Capitalism Emerges Rising Prices Money Supply
• During this time, • Investors took risks of • Increase of money
capitalism expanded: investing in overseas supply another factor in
economic activity carried trade because of higher prices
on by private individuals, inflation
organizations in order to
seek profit • Gold, silver from
• Demand for goods Americas made into new
• Overseas trade made
increased due to coins
many merchants rich –
growing population, • Over time, increase of
investment in more
scarcity of goods; rising money in circulation
business/business
demand drove prices pushed prices for goods
activity increased greatly
higher still higher
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A New Business Organization

New Ventures Joint-Stock Companies
• Overseas business ventures often • Investors bought shares of stock in
too expensive for individual company
investors • If company made profit, each
• Investors began pooling money in shareholder received portion
joint-stock companies

Shares Financing Colonies

• Profit, loss based on number of • British East India Company, one of
shares owned first joint-stock companies
• If company failed, investors lost • 1600, imported spices from Asia
only amount invested • Others formed to bear cost of
establishing colonies
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Question:
Why did new business practices develop in
Europe?

Answer(s): because of increasing trade between

Europe and its colonies
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The Atlantic Slave Trade

Main Idea
Between the 1500s and the 1800s millions of
Africans were captured, shipped across the
Atlantic Ocean, and sold as slaves in the
Americas.
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Origins of the Slave Trade and Trade Network
• Shortage of labor in Americas led to beginning of Atlantic slave trade –
laborers needed for plantations
• Planters first used Native Americans; European diseases killed millions
• 1600s, used indentured servants – expensive
• Eventually, slaves taken from coast of west Africa - some exchanged for
firearms, goods; others kidnapped on raids by traders

Captured Africans became part of network called the triangular trade

• First leg of triangle, ships carrying European goods to Africa to be
exchanged for slaves
• Second leg, Middle Passage, brought Africans to Americas to be sold
• Third leg carried American products to Europe
• Some slave traders from Americas sailed directly to Africa, not following
triangular route
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Slavery in the Colonies
• Spanish—Caribbean sugar plantations; Portuguese—Brazil; English—
West Indies but also to colonies in North America.
• England dominated the slave trade by end of 1600s
• Most worked on plantations; some in mines, towns, or countryside;
women given domestic duties; skilled craft workers continued crafts in
Americas
• Laws in Americas considered enslaved Africans to be property - slaves
had no rights, freedoms

Resistance
• Slaves coped with inhumane conditions many different ways
• Tried to keep cultural traditions alive, others turned to religion, slow work,
destroyed equipment, revolted, and flee - est. communities of runaways
• As result of slave trade, people of African descent and their culture
spread throughout Americas, Western Europe - African Diaspora
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Question:
Why did many slaves fight back against their
owners?

Answer(s): to cope with inhumane conditions

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