European Exploration and Trade Routes

Search for Trade Routes

• European merchants aimed to bypass Muslim merchants and increase profits by establishing direct trade routes to Asia for luxury goods.

Technology and Exploration

• Scientific advancements were applied to navigation, enabling exploration by sea.
• The astrolabe assisted in determining latitude, crucial for long ocean voyages.
• Compasses helped determine direction while sailing.
• Improved maps became more accurate with the printing press.
• Ships were enhanced with more masts, sails, and rudders for better navigation.

Rise of Strong Kingdoms

• Portugal, Spain, France, and England sought sea routes to Asia, despite the high costs and risks of exploration.

Early Voyages of Exploration

• Portugal spearheaded exploration efforts.
• Prince Henry the Navigator funded numerous voyages and explorations.
• Explorers sailed along Africa's west coast, acquiring gold.
• In 1488, Bartolomeu Dias sailed around the tip of Africa.
• Vasco da Gama reached southwest India, establishing a water route to Asia.

Columbus

• Columbus aimed to reach Asia by sailing west.
• Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain supported his voyage in 1492.
• The ships Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria were used on the voyage.
• Columbus discovered San Salvador, encountering the Taino people, and claimed land for Spain.
• He also sailed to Cuba and Hispaniola (present-day Haiti and Dominican Republic).
• In 1502, Amerigo Vespucci identified the newly found lands as a new continent.

Spanish Conquerors

• Columbus returned with soldiers on his second trip.
• The Taino were conquered and enslaved.
• The Treaty of Tordesillas divided South America between Spain and Portugal.

Voyage of Magellan

• The goal was to find an all-water route to Asia by sailing around it.
• The expedition reached the Pacific Ocean after sailing around South America.
• Magellan was killed in battle.
• The remaining crew returned to Spain, completing the first circumnavigation of the globe.

French and English

• John Cabot explored Newfoundland and Nova Scotia but failed to find a waterway to Asia.
• Verrazzano searched for a water route to Asia in the north, and Jacques Cartier claimed eastern Canada for France.
• France and England established colonies in North America but briefly paused exploration due to religious and civil conflicts.

Conquistadors

• The conquistadors sought God, gold, and glory in the New World.

Cortes in Mexico

• Cortes, hearing of the Aztec's riches, traveled to Mexico and landed near Vera Cruz.
• He used a Mayan woman as a translator, discovered locals' animosity towards the Aztecs, and allied with them, leveraging the Aztecs' practice of human sacrifice.
• Smallpox also aided in weakening the native population.

Cortes defeats Aztec

• The Aztecs believed Cortes was the light-skinned god Quetzalcoatl.
• Cortes took Montezuma prisoner, ordering an end to sacrifices, which angered the Aztecs.
• Cortes and his forces fought their way out of the city amidst a smallpox outbreak, weakening the Aztecs and enabling the Spanish to defeat them.

Spain conquers Peru

• Pizzaro encountered the Incas, who had a complex and rich society.
• He exploited the weak and divided Inca Empire, capturing their leader Atahualpa.
• Atahualpa offered a room filled with gold and silver for his freedom, but he was tried and killed.
• Pizzaro became the governor of Peru, extending Spain's control over South America.

Spain's American Empire

• Spain aimed to gain wealth and convert people to Christianity.
• Sugarcane was grown on plantations, and gold and silver were mined, with missions supported by the colonial government.
• Indigenous people were enslaved to work on plantations and in mines but died from European diseases, leading to the introduction of African slaves.

Portuguese Brazil

• Cabral settled Brazil for Portugal and cultivated cash crops for profit, including sugarcane, tobacco, coffee, and cotton, using slaves to make the colony profitable.

French in NA

• Champlain established a beaver and fur trade, opening a trading post in Quebec.
• Jesuits were sent to spread Christianity.
• France acquired New Orleans and colonies in the Caribbean, utilizing African slaves to grow sugarcane there too.

Dutch Traders

• The Netherlands relied on trade for survival and were able to transport more goods with smaller crews.

World Trade Changes

• The economy saw expansion.

Mercantilism

• Mercantilism promoted exporting more than importing to increase national wealth.
• Power was seen as dependent on wealth.
• Colonies supplied raw materials, and the home country manufactured goods.
• Control of the sea and trade routes was fiercely contested.
• Guns and powerful ships enabled Europe to dominate.

Joint-stock Companies

• Joint-stock companies allowed entrepreneurs to invest in projects, sharing risks and profits.

Global Exchange

• Food was exchanged between Europe and America.
• Corn from the US improved livestock in Europe, and potatoes increased food supply.
• Horses were introduced to America.
• Europeans also carried numerous viruses, and the Middle Passage became a route for the slave trade, involving about 10-13 million Africans.

Asia and Africa

• Though not colonized until later, Asia and Africa were still affected by global exchange.