European Exploration 1420-1580 Quiz

European Exploration (1420-1580)

• Direct link between political centralization and trade revival due to monarchies (power in one person).
• Religious consolidation (expulsion of non-Catholics).
• Trade with Southwest Asia.
• Renaissance emerged from these locations, leading to economic and cultural booms.
• Most powerful European kingdoms had resources to build armies, ships, and new technologies (like the compass).

The Portuguese in Africa

• Africa became a valuable trading source for gold, sugar, and labor.
• Ports and fortresses were built along the West African coast.
• First sugar plantations were established.
• Portuguese established colonies on the Madeira, Canary, and Cape Verde archipelagos.
• They used African slaves for labor.
• Plantation slavery modeled the New World economy.

Spain and Columbus

• Political and religious divisions within Spain (different dynasties, Moors, Christians, Jews).
• Unification of Isabella of Castille and Ferdinand of Aragon (1469).
• Significance of 1492:
  • Inquisition
  • Moors gaining strength in Europe
  • Forced conversions of Jews and Muslims to "conversos"
  • Defeat of last Muslim stronghold, Granada
  • Forcing expulsion of Jews from Spain
  • Chartering Christopher Columbus.
  • First publication of a Spanish-language grammar.

Columbus's Arrival in the Americas

• October 12, 1492, Columbus landed in the Bahamas (on behalf of Spain).
• Columbus aimed to make money and spread Christianity.
• Claimed Hispaniola, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.
• The Spanish established colonial rule; a model for other areas.

First Encounters with Natives

• Columbus mistook the Tainos for "Indians."
• Believed the Tainos were child-like and ready for conversion.
• Europeans were seen as god-like or monsters, depending on the Indigenous perspective.
• Europeans had advanced weaponry, ships, and organization.
• Indigenous populations had limited knowledge of European technologies.

Early Resistance to Colonialism

• Indigenous resistance and rebellion were common.
• Spaniards responded by enslaving Indigenous people (encomiendas).
• Indigenous labor was essential for gold and other resources, though it often led to their death.
• The vast majority of the Indigenous populations succumbed to European diseases.

Great American Civilizations

• Aztecs:
  • Tenochtitlan conquered surrounding city-states.
  • Cyclical time and life cycle, blood sacrifices for fertility and survival
  • Sophisticated social structure (nobles, warriors, priests, etc.).
  • How do we know about them? Codieces (pictorial histories)
• Incas:
  • Andes (Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador)
  • Mountainous terrain was a benefit to their organization
  • Important for conquest

Spanish Conquests

• Conquistadors like Hernán Cortés and Francisco Pizarro.
• Conquests resulted from cultural misunderstandings, superior weaponry, and disease.
• Indigenous empires (Aztecs and Incas) were drastically weakened during conquest.

Environmental Consequences

• Columbian Exchange: the exchange of ideas, agriculture, animals, slaves, etc.
• European diseases (like smallpox, measles, influenza) decimated the Indigenous populations (up to 90%).
• New forms of agriculture emerged (like corn, potatoes, tomatoes).
• Agricultural exchanges between the "Old World" and "New World" were significant.

Spain's Tributary Empire

• Spanish used existing economic systems and indigenous hierarchies.
• Silver was a crucial resource.
• Racial mixing between Spaniards and Indigenous people.
• Religious syncretism (blending of Catholicism and Indigenous practices).

Early Christianity

• Father de Montesinos questions the treatment of Indigenous people.

Test your knowledge on the European exploration period from 1420 to 1580. This quiz covers significant events including political centralization, trade with Asia, and the impact of the Portuguese in Africa. Explore the influence of Spain's unification and Columbus' voyages on global exploration.