The Opening of the Atlantic

1
Section 3.11

• The Opening of the Atlantic

2
What was the impact of the Age of Exploration?

• Growth of capitalism
• global trade
• Columbian Exchange
• new products
• Depopulation of Native Americans and Africans
• Destruction of cultures
• huge population growth
• New commercial class
• New emphasis on naval power
• cultural relativism

3
Why did Europeans Explore?

• Motives
• Gold, God, Glory
• Conquistadores
• Cortes, Pizarro
• Fall of Constantinople (1454)
• Eastern Mediterranean trade cut off
• Desire for new trade routes
• New Technologies
• Astrolabe/quadrant, compass, dead reckoning,
  caravel, lateen sail

4
Significance of Constantinoples Fall
The East The Orient
How are Europeans going to get the Stuff?
Constantinople
5
(No Transcript)
6
(No Transcript)
7
Portuguese
Ceuta
8
Portuguese

• Eastern Goods
• Sugar, silk, nutmeg, rugs, medicines, porcelain
• Henry the Navigator/Ceuta
• Old Land Routes
• Silk road slow and unreliable
• Sahara Ditto
• New Routes
• Water is now a bridge
• Da Gama
• Machiavellian
• Reaches Calicut in 1494
• Torches cities, prisoners butchered
• Portuguese concentrate on the East (Africa and
  Asia)

9
(No Transcript)
10
Spanish Empire in America

• Encomienda System
• Colonial feudal system
• Catholicism forced on native populations
• Natives die at incredible rate
• Leads to renewal of African Slave Trade
• 9-11 mil
• Black Legend
• Belief that Spanish conquistadores were extremely
  cruel
• Less cruel than Aztecs
• Established universities
• Lima (1551), Mexico (1553)
• Potosi Silver Mines (Bolivia)
• 500 thousand lbs of silver, 10 lbs of gold
  annually
• Finances Counter Reformation
• Wheres England, Germany, France?

11
Why did the Europeans win?

• Better weapons
• Guns, horse
• Alliances
• Aztecs hated by Toltec and others
• Quetzalcoatl
• Were the Europeans gods?
• Machiavellian
• Pizarros ransom of Altahualpa
• Disease
• smallpox

12
(No Transcript)
13
Middle Passage
14
Treaty of Tordesillas

• Rivalry between Spain and Portugal settled by
  pope
• Divided world in half
• East Portugal
• West Spain