Journal #8

•Monopoly – sole control over an industry

• Strait – a narrow sea passage

• Circumnavigate – to sail completely around something

Bonus Questions• What are the middle ages?

• Explain Feudalism

• What document written in 1215 was an inspiration for the U.S. Constitution?

• The 150 years of fighting between Christians and Muslims are called what?

Early Voyages and Explorers2.1 and 2.2

Why Did People Want to Explore/Travel to America?

• The 3 G’s• Gold – meaning actual gold or anything that

would make them money

• Glory – fame for being the first to discover something

• God – for spiritual purposes, to convert Native Americans and for religious freedom

The Search for a Route to “the Indies”• “The Indies” meant all of Asia at this time

• Italy had a monopoly on European trade with Asia in the 1400s

• Other countries wanted a sea route to Asia, Portugal and Spain are leaders in this search (question 3)

• Prince Henry of Portugal gathered information about navigation, sailing, mapmaking, and shipbuilding• They create the caravel --------------• Portugal began to explore the world

Bartolomeu Dias• Portuguese captain

• In 1487, he leads an expedition along the African coast

• A storm blows his ship off course, when he lands he learns that he has sailed around the Southern tip of Africa

• As Portugal sets up colonies in Africa, the African slave trade begins

Columbus’ Bold Idea• Christopher Columbus thought he could

reach Asia by sailing west over the Atlantic

• People thought he was crazy, some thought the Atlantic was 10,000 miles across

• Columbus was a very skilled sailor

• Columbus eventually gets King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain to pay for his trip

Columbus Sets Sail• On August 3, 1492, Columbus sets sail with 3 ships from the

Canary Islands• Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria• 90 sailors in all

• After a month with no land, the men get nervous

• On October 12, 1492 Columbus lands in the Bahamas• He thought he was in “the Indies” or Asia

Columbus Explores and Returns to Spain

• Columbus explores the other islands, he calls the people “Indians”

• He finds some gold and treasure and decides to return to Spain in 1493

• The Santa Maria sinks before he can go, he leaves 38 men behind at La Navidad (Haiti)• Natives destroy the town, everyone is

killed

• Columbus returns to Spain with a hero’s welcome – he is appointed Royal Governor of the Indies

Columbus’ Death• Columbus made 3 more trips to the

Caribbean

• He fought with Spanish officials and the King stripped him of his title of “Royal Governor”

• In 1506, after 2 years of poor health, Columbus dies and very few people notice

Explorers After Columbus and Columbus’ Legacy2.2

Vasco da Gama• Portugal chooses him to lead an

expedition around Africa

• He successfully sails around Africa to SW India • He builds trading forts in Africa,

India, and China

• Other nations decide to explore Columbus’ route

Amerigo Vespucci• An Italian explorer who reached

South America with a Spanish expedition• He realizes there are more than just

islands

• He wrote many exaggerated stories about his travels

• A German mapmaker publishes a book and map with Vespucci’s new continents• He calls them North and South

America

Vasco Nunez de Balboa

• Spanish explorer who hears of another sea over the mountains in the “new world”

• He crosses Panama on foot and sees an ocean which he names the “South Sea”

• Before he can sail to the “South Sea” he is executed for treason in 1519

Ferdinand Magellan

• A Portuguese sea captain who thought he could sail west to Asia

• Spanish officials give him 5 ships, he leaves in 1519

• He crosses the Atlantic and heads south, finally finding the Magellan Strait

• After the strait, the sea turns calm and Magellan’s men call these new waters the Pacific (peaceful) Ocean

• After reaching the Indies, Magellan is killed

• 18 of his original 240 men make it back to Spain in 1522, becoming the first people to circumnavigate the globe• It took 3 years to go 40,000 miles• They actually made a profit from all of the cloves they brought back!

A Shift in Trade• The Atlantic Ocean became a gateway to

Africa, America, and India.

• Western and northern Europe becomes the center of world trade

• Portugal comes to control 75% off the spice trade, Spain also profits

• The Atlantic is also seen as the key to unlocking resources in America• In the 1500s Europeans cross the Atlantic to catch cod near Canada

The Columbian Exchange• The exchange of plants, animals, people and diseases between the Americas

and the world, this started with Columbus in 1492

• Plants: corn, potatoes, tomatoes to Europe and wheat and barley from Europe to America

• Animals: beaver pelts to Europe and cattle, horses and pigs to America• People: explorers, settlers, and slaves to America, some Indians were

brought back to Europe• Disease: smallpox, measles, and typhus to America, minor diseases to

Europe. This devastated Native Americans.

• Significance: The Columbian Exchange changed the lives of people in the Americas. This was a very one-sided process with much more coming to America than going back to Europe/Africa/Asia.