How Did The Western Worldview Grow Out Of The Renaissance? PDF

O u r Wo r l d v i e w s Chapter 3 CHAPTER 3 How Did the Western Worldview Grow Out of the Renaissance? As Western E...

O u r Wo r l d v i e w s Chapter 3 CHAPTER 3 How Did the Western Worldview Grow Out of the Renaissance? As Western Europeans experienced changes to their political, economic, and social systems during the Renaissance, their values and beliefs about life on this Earth also changed. Individuals became open to examining new ideas about religion and about national identity and citizenship. A focus on exploration also grew. The modern Western worldview, from which the worldview of many Canadians comes, is considered to be similar to that held by Western Europeans towards the end of the Renaissance. In this chapter, you will explore information to help you answer these questions: * ()+* ()+* ()+* ()+ How Did New Religious Views Become Part of the Western Worldview? How Did Ideas of National Identity and Citizenship Begin to * ()+* ()+* ()+* ()+ Develop During the Renaissance? * ()+* ()+* ()+* ()+ How Did a Spirit of Exploration Become Part of the Western Worldview? * ()+* ()+* ()+* ()+ How Did the Age of Exploration Begin? * ()+* ()+* ()+* ()+ How Did the Age of Exploration Lead to Imperialism? * ()+* ()+* ()+* ()+ How Did the Exchange of Goods and Products Change the World? * ()+* ()+* ()+* ()+ How Did Imperialism Affect European Worldviews? * ()+* ()+* ()+* ()+ Focus on Inquiry: How Do Thoughts and Feelings Affect Research? 88  H o w D i d t h e We s t e r n Wo r l d v i e w G r o w O u t o f t h e R e n a i s s a n c e ? Worldview Investigation Many people from other countries have made Canada their home. Think pluralistic: describing a about a family of newcomers. What languages do they speak? What do society in which you know about the country they came from and the worldviews they members of brought with them? minority groups maintain their What must it be like for a new immigrant family to fit into Canadian different cultural society? What details about our society would be valuable for this family traditions to know to be successful in Canada? How would you describe Canada’s pluralistic worldviews? How have Canada’s First Nations, Métis, and Inuit determined who Canadians are? What would you say about the political and economic systems? What are Canadian beliefs about how we should act as citizens? What do we value in our social systems? How would you describe the culture? Canadians are so diverse that the elements of our society might be described in many different ways. Think of the worldview models: how have geography, contact with other people, and ideas and Social knowledge shaped our worldview? systems Use a Roundtable Discussion (see below) to create a summary of life in Canada for a new immigrant. Decide how your group will share your information — a brochure, poster, mind map, or other product. You Worldview: might use a model such as the one at the right to organize your Values and information, adding specific details to each circle. Beliefs Political This investigation helps you to think about the Western Culture and economic worldview as we experience it in Canada. As you read this chapter, systems think about how the ideas and events of the Renaissance contributed to our Western worldview. Roundtable Discussion The Roundtable method of group work allows everyone in the class to SKILLS CENTRE participate in a discussion. Work together in groups to hold the discussion. Turn to How to Sit in a circle. Communicate Ideas and Information in Everyone in the group thinks for a few minutes about the topic for the Skills Centre to discussion and specific questions asked. review other ways to Discussion moves around the group with each student expressing an hold a successful opinion or sharing an idea. A student may pass if he or she does not group discussion. have anything to say at that point. Everyone in turn has the chance to express ideas. Keep short notes of the discussion, but always keep focused on the discussion, not the notetaking. 89 O u r Wo r l d v i e w s Chapter 3 How Did New Religious Views Become Part of the Western Worldview? Protestant Reformation: Humanism and other Renaissance ideas that began in Italy gradually the 16th-century movement spread to western and northern Europe towards the end of the to reform the doctrines 15th century. Although the rest of Europe experienced its Renaissance and practices of the Roman Catholic Church, which later than Italy, the effects were just as significant. As Renaissance resulted in the formation ideas spread beyond Italy, they were changed and adapted by the of Protestant churches citizens of other parts of Europe to reflect their societies. mother tongue: one’s native Two views of religion existed in the Western worldview of the language from birth time: one believed that individuals should follow the rules, rituals, literate: able to read and teachings of the Roman Catholic Church; one believed that and write individuals should question and respond to the Bible personally. Humanists and their followers questioned the behaviour of some of the popes and clergy. They also questioned the necessity of following the Church laws and rituals that the Church expected people to follow without question. Many wanted to see reforms but did not want a break from the Roman Catholic Church. This desire for reform and change within the Church became the basis of the Protestant Reformation. The Reformation began as a movement to bring about changes in the Roman Catholic Church, not to separate from it. Initially, there was no desire to form a new church. However, the reform movement created major division among Christians that led to religious wars and new religious ideas that became the basis for Protestantism. The invention of the printing press was an important factor in the Reformation because short fliers and tracts urging church reform could be easily produced and distributed. After the printing press was invented, the Bible was translated into vernacular languages, which meant more people could read it in their mother tongue. As more people became literate, there was less need for the clergy to interpret the Bible for them. The printing press led to an increase in literacy and the spread of ideas, including those of humanism. 90  H o w D i d t h e We s t e r n Wo r l d v i e w G r o w O u t o f t h e R e n a i s s a n c e ? PROFILE Martin Luther Martin Luther (1483–1546), a German priest and professor at the University of Wittenburg, was one of the most important reformers. He wanted to reform some practices of the Roman Catholic Church. Luther believed that following the rituals of the institution of the Church was not enough to get into heaven individuals should seek personal religious understanding individuals should not pay the Church to receive forgiveness for their sins Some scholars supported Luther’s ideas because they promoted the importance of the individual expressed in humanism. German princes In 1521, Martin Luther was forced into hiding. This and members of the new merchant class also agreed with Luther’s calls portrait of him was done by for reform. Much of their support was based on political and economic his friend Lucas Cranach. reasons, as they wanted more power in their regions. The idea of religious reform spread throughout Germany. In fact, the calls for Church reform, printed in the German language, helped create a sense of national Protestant: a member of identity and pride among many Germans. This sense of nationalism and any of the Western identity as citizens of a state was becoming an important part of the Christian churches that are not Roman Catholic European worldview. In 1517, Luther began to speak publicly of his concerns with Church teachings and practices. He wrote a pamphlet that listed 95 Church Many of the southern reforms he felt were necessary. The pope at the time, Leo III, declared German states remained 41 of these to be heresy, for they did not fit with all the beliefs and rules staunchly Roman Catholic and did not within the Roman Catholic Church. Luther’s books were publicly burned participate in the in Rome. Luther was expelled from the Roman Catholic Church in 1521. Protestant movement. In protest, he started a church that many Germans joined. Because they were protesting some of the practices of the Roman Catholic Church, they became known as Protestants. This Protestant movement spread I wonder … what were across western Europe. the reasons for the Luther, other Reformation leaders, and many other Christians saw this Roman Catholic Church movement as an opportunity for greater freedom and individual choice excommunicating within Christianity. Individual freedom and choice, as well as freedom of Martin Luther? religion, became important values in the Western worldview. On April 17, 1521, Luther appeared before the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church and was asked whether he still believed in his writings. 91 O u r Wo r l d v i e w s Chapter 3 Religious Reform Religious change spread throughout western Europe. Religion became more individualized and influenced both the formation of new churches and reforms to the Roman Catholic Church itself. The Roman Catholic Church looked seriously at its practices and made changes to ensure the proper behaviour of its clergy and that it was doing everything according to Christian principles. Statue of John Knox, St. Giles Huguenot cross. French humanists were Cathedral, Edinburgh, Scotland. interested in Luther’s works; some left John Knox (1505–1572) led the the Roman Catholic Church to become Protestant rebellion in Scotland. a Protestant group, the Huguenots. Knox created Presbyteries, or A series of religious wars between councils of men, to govern the Catholics and Huguenots lasted for Church. This change in Church almost 40 years. The Roman Catholic structure and hierarchy developed Church supported persecution and into the Presbyterian Church. massacres of the dissidents. In the end, KINGDOM OF France granted freedom of worship to SCOTLAND Family of Henry VIII, Protestants in 1598. 1570–1575. The Reformation in England, which KINGDOM resulted in the OF Church of England ENGLAND (the Anglican Church), developed from King Henry VIII’s (1509–1547) desire to control the property of the Church in England and to have his marriage to Catherine of Aragon annulled. Henry VIII is shown seated with his son Edward VI to his right and Edward’s mother, Jane KINGDOM OF Seymour, to his left. Seymour had already died FRANCE SWITZERLAND when this picture was painted. K I N G D O M O F S PA I N John Calvin (1509–1564) Virgin of the Catholic King and Queens, introduced a Spanish School, 1490. The Spanish strict form of monarchy did not allow the practice of Protestantism based on a single any religion other than Roman Catholicism, making it the state religion. ideal — believe and practise only In 1492, Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand reinstituted the Inquisition, what is written in the Bible. Calvin a religious court that was ordered to find heretics or disbelievers. Thousands believed people should conduct of Jews and Muslims were persecuted and expelled from the country. their lives according to a strict Heretics and unbelievers were often jailed, tortured, or put to death. moral code and that church and state should not be separated. 92  H o w D i d t h e We s t e r n Wo r l d v i e w G r o w O u t o f t h e R e n a i s s a n c e ? The Protestant Reformation is an example of the rapid flow of ideas across Europe, from Germany, to France, to Switzerland, and to the northern reaches of the British Isles. Reformation leaders shared ideas back and forth across the continent through travel, diplomacy, and the use of printed materials. The hostility between Roman Catholics and Protestants in western Europe was often used for political purposes. Leaders appealed to citizens’ beliefs to increase support for their political causes. Protestant and Catholic states were often at war during the late Renaissance, as political leaders used citizens’ religious beliefs to help build their political power. The Renaissance began with most Europeans practising one common religious belief, Roman Catholicism, tied together through a common language, Latin. By the end of the Renaissance, Europe was a patchwork of differing Christian denominations. Differences of religious belief often created splits among people and frequently led them to follow different leaders. The fight for religious freedom created a sense of solidarity and common identity among people that influenced the formation of countries. REFLECT AND RESPOND 1. Today, the Western worldview values personal rights and the freedom to have personal views. During the Renaissance, the idea that people with different religious beliefs could live in one country was quite unusual. Today, in Canada’s pluralistic society, individuals and groups with widely different religious faiths and spiritual practices live together peacefully. a. What makes this possible? b. Are there difficulties or problems that come from this? c. Brainstorm how Canadian society is enriched by this situation. 2. Pick one topic to discuss. a. Why did the religious reform movement begin in western Europe? b. How did the printing press enable religious reform? c. How does a citizen’s questioning of established social structures play a part in today’s Western worldview? d. How did Luther’s beliefs and actions show how an individual can initiate change and reshape worldviews? 93 O u r Wo r l d v i e w s Chapter 3 How Did Ideas of National Identity and Citizenship Begin to Develop During the Renaissance? nation: a group of people, If you were to examine a political map of today’s world, what words mainly of common descent, would you use to describe the major areas that divide up the history, and language, often continents? You would most likely use words such as countries or forming a state or inhabiting a territory nations. The idea of nation began to develop in the Renaissance and became part of the way we see the world — part of our Western mercenary: selling services for money, especially worldview. military services Towards the end of the Renaissance, small political units joined together to form larger states. There are many reasons why these states began to develop into countries: Societies became more urban; power was shifting to the cities rather than rural areas. Monarchs supported the growth of the cities by improving trade laws and lifting trade barriers and, in turn, the cities gave them allegiance and even more wealth. Citizens developed new identities of belonging to a state as well as to their local communities, recognizing such common elements as language, religion, and beliefs in what life should be. Gunpowder was introduced from China, which changed the nature of the battles between monarchs and the nobles who owned feudal properties. Monarchs used taxes from the cities to purchase gunpowder and to hire mercenary soldiers, which meant they could overpower the nobles. Eventually, the kings gained control of the nobles’ lands and formed increasingly larger states. The invention of the printing press and the use of local languages helped create national identities. Books were written on the histories of the countries, providing common histories and heroes for people. Exploration of new lands also led to a sense of greater national identity. Citizens developed collective pride in these discoveries of new parts of the world. Explorations often led to the establishment of colonies, which brought prestige and wealth to the founding country. No single factor led to the formation of countries. Individual states developed because all these factors came into play in Europe at approximately the same time — a result of changes in ideas and thinking that came out of the Renaissance. 94  H o w D i d t h e We s t e r n Wo r l d v i e w G r o w O u t o f t h e R e n a i s s a n c e ? Same Time, Different Place Formation of Nations, 1800s Although the seeds of nations were present by the end of the Renaissance, true nation-states did not appear until the 18th and 19th centuries. Italy In the Middle Ages and for most of the Renaissance, the peninsula known today as Italy consisted of a number of independent city-states. It was not unified as the Kingdom of Italy until 1861. The province of Venezia, which includes Venice, joined the nation in 1866. Rome joined in 1870 to create the modern state of Italy. Germany Germany also did not form a unified nation until the 1870s. Previously, this area consisted of several sovereign states with their own history, distinct regional dialects, culture, and religious beliefs. The largest were Prussia and Austria, who were in competition over control of the others. Otto von Bismarck became president of Prussia and worked to unify the smaller states. The Franco-Prussian war convinced many of them to join together with Prussia to form the German state. Canada French traders, explorers, and early settlers had been in Canada since the early 1500s; the English followed in the next century. By the mid-1800s, the Europeans had settled most of the areas of present-day southern Ontario, Québec, and the Maritimes. The separate colonies decided that in order to protect themselves from the expanding United States and be in charge of their own economic and political futures, they would join to form the new country, Canada. 95 O u r Wo r l d v i e w s Chapter 3 Changes in European Societies S h o w C h a n g i n g Wo r l d v i e w s As people became accustomed to living in a country or state, instead of a feudal property or city, their worldviews began to change. Worldviews changed in terms of the social systems, political and economic systems, and culture of each country. Social Systems People began to see themselves as citizens of a country and became more willing to give their allegiance to the monarchs. Exploration of new lands promoted personal feelings of optimism and the importance of exploring all the possibilities that the world had to offer. These ideas became part of European worldviews. Citizens were more free to move out of their class, although serfdom continued for centuries in some parts of Europe. Some public services began to be provided by central government. The growth and power of the modern states put them in competition with the authority of the Church. Political and Economic Systems Rulers headed strong central governments. They were very powerful, but limited by custom and the necessary support of their nobles. By the 1600s, monarchs began to centralize their government structures and clearly defined lines of authority. Government policies were set up to ensure political and economic independence. Permanent armies were established, paid for by taxes levied by the government. Resources were provided for large projects of national importance, such as war or voyages of exploration. Centralized laws and rules Social systems were set in place by the king and his court for the entire country. National economic policies, such as Worldview: trade rules and tax Values and rules, controlled Beliefs trade and business. Culture Political and economic systems 96  H o w D i d t h e We s t e r n Wo r l d v i e w G r o w O u t o f t h e R e n a i s s a n c e ? Culture Common national languages unified the citizens. More middle and upper class people became literate and could read works in their own language. They became more conscious of their society’s history. Religious literature was published in the vernacular languages and this, too, advanced the development of a national identity. A single, unified language chosen from the various dialects became the national language of each country. These national languages expressed a shared culture. Language and Culture The Francophones, one of Canada’s founding peoples, know the central role the French language plays in ensuring the vitality of their identities, cultures, and worldviews. Rights providing for the use of French and English as Canada’s official languages, as well as education for official language minorities, are enshrined in the Canadian constitution. Francophone schools and communities are present across Canada. First Nations, Métis, and Inuit are revitalizing their languages through programs in schools across Canada. They recognize that many concepts in a culture cannot be expressed in another language. In order to preserve their culture, they must ensure the continued use of their languages. Many Albertans believe that a diversity of languages provides cultural as well as economic benefits. The government believes knowing more than one language is valuable and has supported language programs across the province. School districts in Alberta have developed language programs such as Arabic, Blackfoot, Cree, German, Hebrew, Japanese, Mandarin, Punjabi, Russian, Spanish, and Ukrainian. REFLECT AND RESPOND 1. a. How would the establishment of countries affect the worldview of those societies? b. How do Canada’s social systems compare to those of European states in the Renaissance? c. What do Canada’s and Alberta’s policies about language education show about our worldview? 2. Explore the variety of languages students in your classroom (or your school) study or speak. Take a survey of as many students as you can. Record the languages studied and spoken. Present your findings in graph form. Are your results representative of languages spoken across Alberta? across Canada? 97 O u r Wo r l d v i e w s Chapter 3 How Did a Spirit of Exploration Become Part of the Western Worldview? expansionism: a government By the Renaissance, Europeans had traded with peoples beyond their policy encouraging borders for thousands of years. During the Greek and Roman Empires, territorial or economic land trade routes were expanded, so more exotic goods from societies expansion to other countries, often by force beyond the edges of the empires made their way back to Europe. Throughout the Middle Ages, city-states such as Genoa and Venice expanded their trading areas in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea. They traded with Islamic and Asian civilizations for luxury goods desired by consumers in Europe’s growing wealthy middle and upper classes. Trade was becoming increasingly profitable. During the Renaissance, city-states in Italy gained power and wealth. Both the governments and the traders worked to expand their control of trade around the Mediterranean. In the rest of Europe, the feudal system declined and larger centralized states came under the control of monarchs who also wanted the wealth that came from trade with the East. This competition spurred the need for new trade routes. With increasing geographic knowledge and new sailing technologies, the Age of Exploration, sometimes called the Age of Discovery, arrived. The Age of Exploration began during the Renaissance in the early 15th century and continued into the 17th century. A European desire to expand their influence to other areas of the world became a major part of their worldview. European expansionism would spread the Western worldview to all the inhabited continents of the world. 98  H o w D i d t h e We s t e r n Wo r l d v i e w G r o w O u t o f t h e R e n a i s s a n c e ? Factors Affecting Expansionism T h e N e e d f o r N e w Tr a d e R o u t e s For centuries, Europeans had used the Silk Road to trade with the Far East. But the trade was limited and did not meet the demand for goods in Europe. Ways of doing business were changing. Several merchants would form a company and pool their money to fund trading trips to bring back spices and other goods. They would share the profits from the sale of these goods. Making a profit through trade became a more important part of the European worldview. In fact, many Italian merchants often wrote “In the Name of God and of Profit” on the top of their account books. Some countries in western Europe — Portugal, Spain, France, and England — were too far from the East to deal directly with the producers of these exotic products. Instead, they had to deal through Italian or Muslim traders on the Mediterranean Sea who had control over the trade. As the focus on making a profit increased, merchants no longer wanted to deal with these Mediterranean traders (or middlemen). They wanted to deal directly with the regions supplying the goods. As Portugal, Spain, France, and England became more centralized states, their rulers became more powerful. Monarchs and wealthy merchants paid for voyages of exploration to find new sea trade routes to the East. When Constantinople was conquered by the Turks in 1453, they gained control of the straits that connected the Mediterranean to the Black Sea. Traders from Venice and Genoa were no longer allowed to pass through the straits. The flow of goods from Asia was nearly Riva degli Schiavoni, halted. As a result, finding new direct sea routes to India and China Venice, gondolier market, became even more important for Western European countries. Leandro da Ponte Bassano 99 O u r Wo r l d v i e w s Chapter 3 New Ideas and Knowledge Geography As taught centuries earlier, by the Greek philosopher Aristotle, many people still believed that the world was round and flat, like a circular dish or plate. Others followed the teachings of Ptolemy, an Egyptian geographer, and believed the world was shaped like a sphere or ball and that there was only one ocean. Sailors and others thought that if ships sailed west, they would eventually reach the eastern shores of Asia. Ptolemy had miscalculated the circumference of the Earth, which led European explorers to greatly underestimate the time it would take to sail westward to Asia. Knowledge gathered by Islamic scientists, and then European scientists such as Copernicus, seemed to confirm that the Earth was spherical. This gave sailors confidence to sail westward across the unknown ocean, believing that they Sir Francis Bacon (1561–1626) would not fall off the edge of the world. was an English philosopher who promoted ideas of scientific It is not known how much knowledge experimentation, observation, Western European explorers had of and critical thinking. the earlier voyages of the Vikings to the New World. The world’s earliest surviving maps, starting with ancient Babylonian clay tablets from the 6th century BCE through early Greek maps of the 3rd century BCE, typically show the world as a small land mass entirely encircled by a ribbon of water. This clay tablet map, 700 to 500 BCE, was found in southern Iraq. Map of Ptolemaic world, 1486 100  H o w D i d t h e We s t e r n Wo r l d v i e w G r o w O u t o f t h e R e n a i s s a n c e ? I n t e r e s t i n L e a r n i n g M o r e A b o u t t h e Wo r l d Humanism was a new way of thinking that encouraged individuals cartography: the science of to question and to explore their ideas, lives, and worlds. It brought mapmaking about a renewed interest in geography and a willingness to challenge circumnavigate: to go older geographical beliefs. around the whole of the Travel writers during the 16th century also created interest in trade Earth’s circumference and exploration. The travel writers promoted the idea that one should experience and observe the world as much as possible. There was a desire to learn more about the world and explore what it had to offer. During the Renaissance, interest in navigation increased as Italian traders, and then others, sailed the Mediterranean and Black Seas. Their voyages made them, the merchants, and the city-states in which they lived, fabulously wealthy. To remain competitive in trade, sailors and ships had to have better technologies and knowledge than their rivals. Technological advances in cartography, navigation, and shipbuilding meant that ships could travel further. The carrack and the caravel were two new ships that combined the navigational and design technologies of the Arabs with European design. Knowledge about navigational tools also improved. Although the compass was brought from China to Europe in the 12th century, it was only used for land travel, not sailing. During the 15th century, European sailors began to use the astrolabe, an instrument developed by Islamic inventors that allowed navigation by stars at night. The carrack was the beast Previously, sailors used landmarks and the sun for navigation, so of burden of the Age of they could not travel any distance during the night or anywhere too Exploration. Magellan had far from land. The astrolabe allowed journeys farther from the sight an all-carrack fleet with which of land, leading to the discoveries and explorations of new worlds. he set out to circumnavigate The invention of the printing press spurred wide distribution of the globe in 1519. The vessels, maps and navigational tables. This made it possible for new sailing cramped and crowded by today’s standards, offered knowledge and charts to be easily shared across Europe. room for a large crew and provisions, as well as for cargo to be brought back home. Did you know that West Edmonton Mall, in Edmonton, has a full-size replica of the world’s most famous carrack, Columbus’s Santa Maria? Christopher Columbus’s flagship, the Santa Maria, was also a carrack. His two other ships, the Pinta and the Niña, were caravels, which were designed to take advantage of wind from any direction. The shallower hull and better lines of the caravel made them easier to sail than the bulky carracks, but they could not carry as many provisions, which created hardship for the sailors. 101 O u r Wo r l d v i e w s Chapter 3 INFLUENCE Henry the Navigator Henry the Navigator (1394–1460) was a Portuguese prince who set up a school of navigation in 1419 in Portugal. Under his direction, scholars came from all over Europe and the Middle East and perfected sailing techniques, instruments, designs for sails, and mapping, including the idea of latitude. New navigational tools such as the quadrant, which could be used to determine a ship’s location during the day, were developed. New mathematical tables for determining latitude were made. The caravel, far more sea worthy than earlier ships, was also developed in his school. Henry is credited with establishing many practices used by explorers: Henry the Navigator, He was the first to require his captains to keep logs, or diaries, detail from the of their journeys. He believed that information learned and Polyptych of documented from one expedition should be used in the St. Vincent, 1465. Henry did not go planning of the next expedition. This process continues to be on any expeditions, used today by sea captains and other travellers. but he was a patron He also required his captains to conscript speakers of the of expeditions to languages of the explored areas. Local inhabitants became the African coast. interpreters and helped the explorers learn how to interact appropriately with the colonized people. The interpreters conscript: to force someone to also provided information about their land and its products join or enlist in and resources. an enterprise REFLECT AND RESPOND 1. The desire for wealth was the main reason for the Age of Exploration. For what other reasons did Europeans explore? 2. a. In what ways did Henry the Navigator help spread ideas and knowledge among nations? b. How did his ideas and work impact the Age of Exploration? 3. Use the Roundtable method to discuss the following: The importance of trade and making a profit became a part of the Renaissance worldview. What evidence is there that they are still a part of the modern Western worldview? 4. Although the reasons were mainly economic, there was a desire during the 16th and 17th centuries to explore unknown and uncharted lands. This encouraged scientific and technological advances that enabled explorers to move far beyond their homelands. The spirit and fearlessness of these famous explorers have inspired men and women of today to explore new worlds. Travelling the frontiers of space has led to many inventions: the personal computer, the microwave, new fabrics, the Internet. List both the positive and negative influences the need to explore has had on your daily life. 102  H o w D i d t h e We s t e r n Wo r l d v i e w G r o w O u t o f t h e R e n a i s s a n c e ? How Did the Age of Exploration Begin? As Portugal, France, Spain, and England became more powerful consumerism: focusing united countries, many factors set them up to become the leading on collecting and using material goods or products players in the Age of Exploration: Each had an Atlantic coastline, which put them in the best position to explore unknown parts of the world to the west. The monarchs of these countries financed overseas explorations, hoping to establish independent connections with the Far East. The new ship designs, navigational tools, and navigational information they gathered enabled explorers to sail to the New World and other far-off lands. New values favouring travel and exploration, increased consumerism, and accumulation of wealth, fueled the race for new trade routes. Portugal and Spain were especially anxious to find new trade routes to the East. Their willingness to fund large expeditions provided the motivation for wealthy merchants to do the same. England and France joined the race to the New World after hearing Navigational Astrolabe. about the great wealth being accumulated by Portugal and Spain. This simplified astrolabe was further developed in Portugal Portugal in the 15th century, allowing ships to sail In the early 1400s, Portuguese sailors headed south and east along anywhere, day or night. the western coast of Africa in hopes of finding a new route that would allow ships to sail around Africa to India and China. They were so successful in finding new trading areas that Lisbon became Europe’s new trade capital. Portugal controlled and Portuguese and Spanish Explorations, 1480–1550 administered the colony of Macau, situated on a narrow peninsula and two islands off the PORTUGAL southeastern coast of SPAIN China, for 442 years, Macau Pacific before handing control Pacific Atlantic Ocean Ocean Ocean to China in 1999. I wonder … why did Indian Portugal hand control of Ocean Macau back to China? N W E 0 5000 km S Explorers from Portugal and Southern Ocean SCALE AT EQUATOR Spain began the European Age of Exploration. 103 O u r Wo r l d v i e w s Chapter 3 In 1487, Bartholomew Diaz sailed along the coast of Africa and was the first European to reach the Cape of Good Hope, the continent’s southern tip. About ten years later, another Portuguese explorer, da Gama, was the first European to cross the Indian Ocean to India. He returned to Portugal with his ships full of valuable jewels and spices. A sea route to the wealth of the East was now established. Portugal defeated Arab strongholds in the area and set up trading posts stretching along the coasts of Africa and into India. The Portuguese gradually expanded eastward to China, establishing the famous port city of Macau. Spain Vasco da Gama, 1524 Spain was envious of Portugal’s wealth and power and decided to send its own expeditions to the Far East. The pope had already given Portugal the coasts of Africa and India, so Spain decided to find more direct routes to Asia by sailing west across the Atlantic to China and India. Spain and the rest of Europe, however, were unaware that two continents, the Americas, lay between them and the Far East. Cristóbal Colón The Roman Catholic Church was very involved in the exploration of the new (Spanish), or Cristoforo lands since it wanted to spread Christianity. In 1493, the pope divided the Colombo (Italian), was world outside of Europe between Portugal and Spain. Spain and Portugal did born in Genoa, Italy, not agree with the decision and reached their own agreement on how to and is best known in the divide the world between them. It later proclaimed that the Roman Catholic English-speaking world as faith was the only Christianity allowed in the new lands. Christopher Columbus. In 1476, Columbus led his first commercial sailing expedition into the Atlantic Ocean. His ship was attacked by French pirates off the coast of Portugal and burned. Some sources say he swam ten kilometres back to shore. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain Bidding Farewell to Christopher Columbus at His Departure for the Indies in 1492, Theodore de Bry, 1596. 104  H o w D i d t h e We s t e r n Wo r l d v i e w G r o w O u t o f t h e R e n a i s s a n c e ? Columbus Voyages of Christopher Columbus In 1492, Columbus set sail from Spain and after almost ten weeks at sea, SPAIN sighted an island that he believed was close to Japan. In fact, it was an island in the Caribbean. Columbus made three more trips to the Caribbean CUBA between 1494 and 1504, but never Ca HISPANIOLA rib Atlantic reached mainland North America. ES bea n Sea Ocean M He still believed he had sailed all the O AM ER way to Asia. Explorations by others ICA Voyages convinced Europeans that Columbus Pacific 1492–1493 N 1493–1496 had, in fact, discovered a world Ocean 1498–1500 W E 0 2000 km previously unknown to Europeans. 1502–1504 S He first asked the Portuguese king in 1485 to sponsor him on a westward voyage to reach Asia, but was turned down. No one in the Portuguese court believed that the Earth was spherical, so they did not believe it was possible to sail westward to the other side of the Earth. He next approached Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain for support. After many years of lobbying, he finally convinced them to support his venture in 1492. Amerigo Vespucci (1451–1512) Although Columbus is credited as the European discoverer of the Americas, North America and South America are named after Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian merchant and mapmaker who, in 1501, was part of an expedition that explored what is now the coast of Brazil. Cartographer Martin Waldseemüller first used Vespucci’s name for the new continents. 105 O u r Wo r l d v i e w s Chapter 3 Magellan indigenous: referring to In 1519, Ferdinand Magellan explored the east coast of South the original inhabitants America. He discovered a passageway at the tip of South America, of a region now known as the Strait of Magellan, that led to another ocean, as he had predicted. He named it the Pacific Ocean because of its calm, pacifying waters. He continued sailing west across the South Pacific until he finally reached some islands in Indonesia. There, he learned other Europeans had already visited and realized that he had reached the eastern part of Asia. Although Magellan was killed in the Philippines, one of his five ships finally returned to Spain, the first to successfully circumnavigate the globe. Ferdinand Magellan fighting Indigenous people on Mactan Island in 1521 106  H o w D i d t h e We s t e r n Wo r l d v i e w G r o w O u t o f t h e R e n a i s s a n c e ? England Canada is becoming At the beginning of the 16th century, England was more interested in more focused on its trade within Europe and did not rush to fund exploration. One of the northern waterways. few voyages supported by the monarchy was Giovanni Caboto’s visit Each summer, Arctic to Newfoundland in 1497, where he claimed parts of North America sea ice is melting for England. Known in English as John Cabot, he was the first more than in the past explorer since the Vikings, 400 years earlier, to reach North America. and the Northwest Passage, searched for It was not until the reign of Queen Elizabeth I in the last half by Frobisher, Davis, of the 16th century that the English showed any great interest in and other explorers, exploration. Because Spain and Portugal had become so wealthy from may be open for ship their claims in the New World, England decided it was time to focus traffic. Canada wants on expansionism — getting involved in exploration and conquest. to maintain control over ship traffic In 1560, a group of English merchants funded Martin Frobisher to through its territory. search for a northwest passage through the islands of northern Canada to India and China because Spain and Portugal controlled the other sea routes to the East. Between 1576 and 1578, Frobisher Martin Frobisher sails and another explorer, John Davis, explored the North Atlantic coast. down the Thames, passing Queen Elizabeth then sponsored colonies in the New World. By the Greenwich Palace on his beginning of the 17th century, England had established more expedition in search of a colonies along the North American Atlantic Coast and in the West northwest passage. Indies than any other European power. 107 O u r Wo r l d v i e w s Chapter 3 France In the early Renaissance, France was distracted by its ongoing war with England and, for the first half of the 16th century, its wars in Italy. However, after Portugal and Spain found wealth in the Americas, France decided it also wanted some of the riches from the new lands. After a French expedition to Florida was defeated by the Spanish, the French monarchy decided to finance expeditions to areas farther north and west. In 1534, Jacques Cartier sailed to the New World and explored the St. Lawrence River as far as the Haudenosaunee settlement of Hochelaga (the location of present-day Montréal). He set the stage for France’s future exploration and colonization in the New World. Jacques Cartier claiming land along the St. Lawrence River for the king of France in 1534 REFLECT AND RESPOND 1. What values and beliefs were shown in the fact that Europeans thought it was acceptable to divide the world and its inhabitants outside Europe between Spain and Portugal? 2. How do you think Europeans reacted to their discovery that there were entire continents that they had known nothing about? How would that knowledge change their worldviews? 3. Use the Roundtable method to discuss one of the following: a. How does the modern space program reflect a spirit of exploration? Do you think there are also expansionist motives to the space program? b. Is there evidence that modern governments have expansionist worldviews similar to those of Western Europe during the Renaissance? 108  H o w D i d t h e We s t e r n Wo r l d v i e w G r o w O u t o f t h e R e n a i s s a n c e ? How Did the Age of Exploration Lead to Imperialism? Greek, Roman, Islamic, and other historical Empires expanded their territories to protect their original home areas, but also to exert control over more and more land and its resources. They established systems of government to maintain control and, often, they spread their religions and philosophies to all peoples in the empire. During the Age of Discovery, European nations reached Roman ruins in Tipasa, Algeria, North Africa lands and societies around the world that they previously had not known about. They soon recognized the wealth these lands imperialism: the policy of a and peoples could provide and began to establish control over them. country or empire to extend Over time, some countries, such as Spain and Britain, had built so its authority or domination by political, economic, or many colonies around the world that they had their own empires. military means It was a natural progression that policies of expansionism would lead to imperialism. Through their policies of imperialism, these countries maintained control of the new lands and their inhabitants. Imperialism has existed The imperialism of the Western European countries was built on as part of human the desire to increase their wealth and power. Their view was that the civilization from early colonies and lands they controlled were to further the interests and times, but historians increase the wealth of the controlling country. The countries became did not use this word very competitive, each wanting superior economic power. until the 19th century. European Empires in Early 1700s ENGLAND NETHERLANDS FRANCE PORTUGAL SPAIN Pacific Ocean Atlantic Pacific Ocean Ocean Indian Ocean Portuguese N Spanish French W E English 0 5000 km Dutch S SCALE AT EQUATOR Southern Ocean European imperialism grew out of the Renaissance and the Age of Exploration. By the 1700s, Western European countries dominated the globe. 109 O u r Wo r l d v i e w s Chapter 3 T h e E u r o p e a n Vi e w o f t h e R e s t o f t h e Wo r l d ethnocentrism: a belief that European discovery and colonization of lands around the world has one’s own race or culture is traditionally been recorded from the European perspective. Areas in superior to others Africa, Asia, North America, and South America were called new lands, despite the fact that people had been living in those regions for tens of thousands of years. Europe’s imperialist nations thought that they had the right to control their colonies based on a belief of cultural and political I wonder … do some superiority. They believed they had a right to exploit both the people today still have peoples and the resources of the areas they discovered. Indigenous attitudes that other peoples and their cultures were usually not viewed as their equals. cultures are inferior to Although they had established diverse and complex societies, the their own? Europeans often had little regard for these indigenous peoples and their cultures. Within European societies, there were strict guidelines and belief systems that were followed by “civilized” people. Those who did not follow these guidelines were considered to be savage and barbarous. This belief in the superiority of one’s own culture is not limited to European countries. Most societies practise some degree of ethnocentrism — feeling their beliefs, values, and ways of life are better than those of other societies. Some say this is a basic part of human nature. The Aztec and Inca of the Americas, who had highly developed and sophisticated societies and cities much larger and greater than many in Europe, were treated as inferiors. The Chinese and Indian civilizations, thousands of years older than any European civilization, were thought to be barbarous. Tapestry showing Vasco da Gama in Calcutta, May 20, 1498 110  H o w D i d t h e We s t e r n Wo r l d v i e w G r o w O u t o f t h e R e n a i s s a n c e ? Traditional methods of governance were replaced with the European system, as were other social structures. European culture was often imposed on the colony. In many places, colonists completely took over the land as their own, displacing the indigenous population who either had to stay to work the land or move on to find other ways of supporting themselves. In many colonies, European colonists used the original inhabitants as slave labour to work on farms and in construction and mining; after most of the indigenous population died off, and as demand for labour increased, Timucuan Indian slaves searching for gold in Florida. Europeans brought Africans to the Indigenous peoples were the first slaves of the Europeans in the New World. New World. Ancient African civilizations were almost wiped out through the slave trade. Christians believed that Christianity was the only true religion and it was their religious duty to carry the faith around the world and convert those who followed other religious and spiritual practices. REFLECT AND RESPOND 1. What beliefs in the Western European worldview led to European imperialism over much of the world? SKILLS CENTRE 2. It has been written that European countries pursued exploration and Turn to How to Interpret and Make imperialism under the motto “For God, Glory, and Gold.” Explain how Maps in the Skills the motto was appropriate. Centre to review 3. The United Nations’ Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples how information states the following: is shown in maps. Indigenous peoples have the right to self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development. How does this statement compare with European views that imperialism was acceptable? How does it show that some worldviews have changed from then to now? 111 O u r Wo r l d v i e w s Chapter 3 How Did the Exchange of Goods and Products Change the World? European exploration, discovery, and colonization led to the redistribution of plants and animals around the world. It also had beneficial and destructive effects on the populations and ecosystems of Europe, Asia, Africa, and the New World. The exchange of foodstuffs, metals, plants, animals, and diseases affected economies and changed traditional ways of life of people around the world. Europeans transformed the Americas with the introduction of their metals, the wheel, work animals (such as the horse and ox), and their Many crops and animals now firearms and war technologies. Products of the Americas also impacted raised in North America were brought over from Europe, cultures around the world: rubber, canoes, snowshoes, toboggans, Asia, or Africa. Corn, potatoes, chewing gum, new dyes and woods, and pharmaceutical plants. tomatoes, beans, and other crops from the New World transformed European ways of life. citrus fruits, pears, cattle, horses, apples, peaches, pigs, sheep, and bananas, wheat, chickens from barley, and oats from Europe Asia and Europe olives and grapes sugar cane, from the coffee, and Mediterranean tea from Asia corn, potatoes, tomatoes, beans, peppers, peanuts, pineapple, chocolate, squash, pumpkin, vanilla, avocado, tobacco, and turkey from the Americas 112  H o w D i d t h e We s t e r n Wo r l d v i e w G r o w O u t o f t h e R e n a i s s a n c e ? The exchange of diseases had, perhaps, the greatest impact on Meso-America: a region indigenous societies of the Americas. European diseases had stretching from central devastating effects on the local populations. Never having had Mexico to Nicaragua, usually used in terms of the contact with Europeans, indigenous populations from the Arctic to region’s ancient civilizations the tip of South America lacked immunities to the diseases brought and Aboriginal cultures by the Europeans. Smallpox, measles, and tuberculosis were especially destructive. It is estimated that between 75% and 90% of the Aboriginal population died as a result of exposure to European diseases. Many of their political and spiritual leaders and Elders died, resulting in the loss of many of their traditions and the shattering of families. In some cases, whole cultures were destroyed. Their weakened societies could not defend themselves against the European imperialists. It is believed that the common bean originated in southern Mexico Europeans saw and Central America over 7000 years ago. It has been found in the Aboriginal team sports ruins of prehistoric dwellings. Today, beans and other legumes for the first time. They watched the Aztec play form the main protein component of many diets around the world. a game using a ball Corn was first domesticated in Meso-America about 9000 years and hoops and North ago. It spread across the American continents and became a staple Americans playing food for many Aboriginal peoples. European explorers spread corn lacrosse. around the world. Corn is an important part of the diet of today’s Meso-American people, who eat it in tortillas, tamales, and many other dishes. REFLECT AND RESPOND 1. How do you think European society was changed by the new plants from the Americas being taken back to Europe? Horses came to the New World on the ships of the Spanish conquistadors. Horses revolutionized the culture of the First Nations on the Great Plains. 113  O u r Wo r l d v i e w s Chapter 3 How Did Imperialism Affect European Worldviews? Ideas and Knowledge The explorations of new lands and new peoples altered European knowledge of geography and history. Europeans realized that there were people with entirely different civilizations and histories than their own. Astronauts often say Although the European worldviews led them to consider their way how flying on the space shuttle and viewing the of life superior to other cultures, European leaders and scholars were Earth from space has impressed by aspects of the North American indigenous peoples’ forever changed their ways of life: perspective of the their personal liberty planet and its people. their ideas about leadership and consensus government They recognize the their lack of emphasis on individual property ownership Earth’s beauty and the oneness of humanity. The First Nations way of life led some European thinkers to question the inequalities of their own government systems. These ideas of personal freedom and leadership became a part of the Western worldview and were later incorporated into the French and American constitutions after their revolutions in the late 1700s. The traders and colonists who lived with the First Nations peoples understood that their societies were much more complex than philosophers such as Montaigne imagined. Their societies had structures and systems in place to deal with all aspects of life, just as l if e to of European states did. Like all societies, they g i n al way peoples were not utopias. i t h e Abor igenous not red t ind had te Many European citizens saw the new e c o mpa th ough se they igne wro lands offering new opportunities to live e ecau taign ty. H onta ric Mon an socie d pure b ways. M ng barba at independent lives, not held back by the pe an an thi wh Euro nnocent E u rope re is any rding to traditional restraints of European society. i o were xposed t d that th tion, acco rism e e Many chose to take the offer of free in a ba been I do not f out this n o call bar stoms. f land in the colonies in order to escape … a g e ab nless t o w n cu a n d ard o v u r st ms religious persecution in their homelands. or sa en told, from ou o other custo b e e rs e n a n d Some settlers set up religious I’ve ff er di em to h av inion s o st te v o p m communities of only one faith, while wha e se e n th them th e ey d e ed, w son tha In liv e … Th others lived together in communities In a a y u t h or re ountry … lities are ly slightl tate where everyone had the freedom to tr c i n s o u r own s and ab l laws, o s u ch a the of irtu e tur a till in by worship as they wished. This belief ral v y na are s addened rlier, natu l ruled b s. They s a in religious freedom was eventually til ur imes em e are s ted by o m somet scover th ave made into law in the Canadian p a di dh corru ty that I did not ho woul n we … and American constitutions. The ri e w a of pu t that w people e t ter th n taigne: importance of individual choice gh re mb M o ) thou here we dge the ic hel de als (1580 of religion is a key part of the nt o ju —M annib whe h ow t On C modern Western worldview. 114 ow n kn  H o w D i d t h e We s t e r n Wo r l d v i e w G r o w O u t o f t h e R e n a i s s a n c e ? Economic System The economy of most European countries ended up being thrown into turmoil by the wealth flowing in from the colonies. Before they had gained control of the new colonies, there had been a steady, limited supply of gold and silver in Europe. Gold and silver from the Americas were shipped back After they conquered to Spain and Portugal. They other lands, especially the lost some of their riches to Aztec and Incan Empires, pirates, whose ships sailed Spain used the vast faster and were more amounts of gold and silver maneuverable. Elizabeth I of coming from its colonies England sent Sir Francis Drake (above), one of the most to purchase goods and successful of the privateers, or supplies from the rest of pirates, to the Caribbean to Europe. As more gold and raid and destroy Spanish ships. silver came into Europe, its buying power was reduced. The more money in circulation (gold inflation: an increase in and silver), the less it was worth. As a result, inflation occurred prices and a decrease in the across Europe: more money was needed to purchase everyday goods. purchasing power of money The price of goods and supplies rose for all Europeans, not just the Spanish. This resulted in hardship for the common people who did not have the wealth coming from the colonies. Cerro Rico, a mountain Since they had taken so much gold and silver from Central America at Potosi, Bolivia, was and South America, Portugal and Spain had no need to develop so rich in silver that it produced enough silver industries or manufacturing facilities; they chose to purchase all the to triple what was supplies they needed from other countries. England, Germany, and already in circulation the Netherlands developed manufacturing facilities to provide goods in Spain. not only for their own countries and colonies, but for those of Spain and Portugal as well. This initial industrial development in northern countries set the situation up so that by the end of the 17th century, financial power shifted to them from Spain and Portugal. REFLECT AND RESPOND 1. a. What attitudes and worldview does Montaigne present in his description of First Nations? b. How do you think people of the First Nations might have felt about his description of them? 2. In groups, discuss the changes in American and European societies that came about because of European imperialism. Present these changes in an appropriate graphic organizer. 115 O u r Wo r l d v i e w s Chapter 3 FOCUS ON INQUIRY How Do Thoughts and Feelings Affect Research? During this case study, you learned how the exchange of ideas and knowledge during the Renaissance shaped the worldview of the Western world. Today, the Western worldview is considered to be the I wonder … what are values and beliefs about life held by Europeans, by the descendants some other values and of European settlers in the Americas, Australia, beliefs in today’s Western worldview? and New Zealand, and by those who have adopted that way of thinking. I wonder … how are It developed from the Renaissance Geography the values and beliefs of the Renaissance worldview and includes many of worldview reflected the same basic values. Like most in Canada today? worldviews, the Western worldview Worldview: undergoes changes because of Values and I wonder … is there just Beliefs one Canadian worldview? geography Contact Ideas and ideas and knowledge with other knowledge contact with other groups groups As you learned about people, places, events, and ideas during this case study, you probably thought of additional things that would be interesting to know. For example, the I wonder … questions are ones that other students might ask. When you ask questions like these, you are involved in inquiry. You have also learned and practised how to use an Inquiry Model to plan a research project to answer important questions use key words to locate information in print and online sources search the Internet for suitable sites, such as museums and art galleries 116  H o w D i d t h e We s t e r n Wo r l d v i e w G r o w O u t o f t h e R e n a i s s a n c e ? To reflect is to think carefully about something you are doing, why you are doing it, and what you are learning. Reflection involves both thoughts and feelings. During inquiry, you should think about the process and how well it is working. You should also think about how well you are working to answer the inquiry questions and how you feel about it. People who know how to reflect talk to themselves (by thinking, not out loud) as they work. Phase Thoughts Feelings Planning I need to get a picture of the whole project I feel optimistic about my project, and all phases of inquiry (visualize). but a little uncertain and worried. I wonder if my topic is okay. I need more questions. I have made a schedule to complete the work. Retrieving I need to brainstorm for possible sources. I feel excited, but confused. I have listed key words. I wonder if I will be able to do I remember different ways to find information. this project. I need to revise my topic because of the resources I found. Processing I need to find information related to my topic. I feel confident and interested, I have organized ideas and information. but a bit overwhelmed. I need to ask different questions and find more resources to answer them. Creating I was pretty creative when I made my product. I feel satisfied to have my product and I know my product is finished. completed. Sharing I have some ideas for ways to improve the I feel pressured to finish my nex