The Age of Exploration

I. Motives for European Exploration
  A. Fascination with the East
  B. Wealth through Trade
          Desire to obtain spices and other products from Asia and Africa.
          Colonies were seen as extensions of a nation's power.
          New commercial practices had generated the capital to support exploration. 


  C. Christian Missions
  D. Technological Means Needed
          Renaissance inspired intellectual curiosity about the larger world.
II. New Horizons: Portuguese and Spanish Empires
  A. Portuguese Maritime Empire
    1. Prince Henry, the Navigator
    2. Bartholomew Dias around the Cape
    3. Vasco da Gama to India
    4. China 


Portuguese and Spanish had settledAtlantic islands by mid-1400s.
Portuguese established trading posts on the African coast.
Superior naval technology allowed Portugal to dominate African exploration.
  B. Voyages to the New World
    1. Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus sought new route to Asia in 1492.
Opening trade more important than establishing colonies.
Portuguese concern about Spain's success led to 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas.
2nd voyage to New World in 1493.
Brought 1,500 Spanish settlers to Hispaniola in Caribbean. 



    2. John Cabot
    3. Balboa and Magellan
  C. Spanish Empire in the New World
    1. Early Civilizations in Mesoamerica
    2. Spanish Conquest of the Aztec Empire
    3. Hernán Cortés and Mexico 


    4. Francisco Pizarro and Peru
        Ponce de Leon
        Balboa
        Coronado
    5. Administration
Conquistadores plundered wealthier Native American societies. 


III. New Rivals Enter the Scene: Dutch, British, French
French Exploration
   Verrazano
   French established settlements in South
   Carolina (1562) and Florida (1564).
   Spanish destroyed those settlements in
   1565 and 1566; built St. Augustine.
    Samuel de Champlain established permanent
    settlement at Quebec in 1608.
    Jacques Cartier 


British Exploration
         Motives and methods of colonization  --
         Elizabethan England
            Virginia and Plymouth Plantation
     1.  John Cabot
     2.  English conquest of Ireland
     3.  Humphrey Gilbert
     4.  Frobisher
     5.  Roanoke Island -1st English settlement in New World in 1585. 


  A. African Slave Trade
    1. Growth of the Slave Trade
    2. Effects and End of Slave Trade
  B. West in Southeast Asia
  C. French and British in India
  D. China
  E. Japon
  F. Americas
    1. West Indies
    2. North America
IV. Toward a New Economy
  A. Economic Conditions in the Sixteenth Century
  B. Growth of Commercial Capitalism
  C. Mercantilism 


  D. Overseas Trade and Colonies: A Global Economy?
V. Impact of European Expansion
  A. Conquered 


  B. Conquerors