NORSEMEN DISCOVER NEW WORLD?

1
NORSEMEN DISCOVER NEW WORLD?

• Norsemen from Denmark discover Greenland around
  1000 AD and establish colony there
• Leif Ericson, son of ruler of Greenland, lands at
  Newfoundland in 1001
• Spends winter there and then returns to Greenland

2
NORSEMEN TRY AGAIN

• Around 1010-1015, another group of Norsemen from
  Iceland returned to Newfoundland
• Named in Vinland
• Tried to establish permanent colony there
• Lasted two years
• Forced to leave because of Indian raids

3
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS

• Born in Genoa, Italy in 1451
• Began career as sailor at age of 20
• Moved to Portugal at age 27
• One of the most progressive kingdoms in Europe at
  the time

4
INTERNATIONAL TRADE

• Europe was undergoing a cultural and commercial
  revival, mainly based on expansion of
  international trade with Middle and Far East
• Trade was monopolized by Arab middlemen
• Send caravans to India and China to obtain
  spices, drugs, and jewels
• Then sold then at tremendously marked up prices
  to European merchants
• European merchants still made big profits but
  realized that they could make far more if they
  could deal with sources of supply directly

5
PORTUGAL TAKES THE LEAD I

• Financed and supported by men such as Prince
  Henry the Navigator, Portuguese explorers began
  to look for an all sea route to the Indies
• And thereby bypass Arab merchants who monopolized
  land routes to Asia

6
PORTUGAL TAKES THE LEAD II

• By the time Columbus moved to Portugal,
  Portuguese explorers had traveled far along the
  coast of Africa
• Established trading posts along the way
• But had not yet made it to India

7
A DIFFERENT PLAN

• Columbus came up with his own plan to reach Asia
• Instead of sailing around Africa
• Sail directly west, around the world, until he
  hit China
• Logical plan but based on faulty mathematical
  calculations
• Figured distance would be only 2000 miles
• Did not figure on Western Hemisphere being in the
  way

8
QUEEN ISABELLA GAMBLES

• Had trouble getting financing
• Not because people thought world was flat
• But because of his bad math
• Searched for money for 8 years
• Queen Isabella of Spain finally took a chance on
  him
• Figured he wasnt asking for much money, so if he
  failed it would be no great loss
• But if he succeeded, Spain would have an
  exclusive route to the Indies

9
COLUMBUS SETS OFF

• Columbus left Spain on August 3, 1492 with three
  ships manned by 90 Spanish sailors
• Plan was to sail to the Canary Islands, rest up a
  little, and then sail west to Asia
• And hit either Japan or China

10
COLUMBUS HITS LAND
Hit land on October 12, 1492 Island of San
Salvador in Bahama Island chain Would make later
trips and discover islands of Hispaniola, Puerto
Rico, Martinique, Cuba, and others
Never realized to his dying day (1506) that he
had discovered an entirely new land Thought he
had reached Asia
11
RICHES OF THE NEW WORLD

• Although Columbus did not realize what he had
  discovered, Spanish explorers who followed him
  quickly figured out that this was a brand new
  continent
• At first they tried to find a way through or
  around it to Asia
• But they soon realized that this New World
  offered riches of its own as well as native
  people who could be forced to extract these
  resources

12
COLUBUS AND THE ARAWAKS

• Columbus had originally been greeted warmly by
  native people of San Salvador
• Called them Indians
• Arawak tribe
• Exchanged presents with them but had no intention
  of trading with them on a peaceful and fair basis
• Was there to conquer and rule over them
• Expected Indians to work for him in exchange for
  receiving the blessings of Christianity
• To be accomplished by violence, if need be

13
DISEASE

• Spanish put Arawaks to work as slaves on sugar
  and tobacco plantations
• But Indians proved highly vulnerable to new
  European diseases
• 90 of Arawak population died within 75 years of
  Columbus first landing
• Within 20 more years, the Arawak people were
  extinct

14
INDIAN EMPIRES

• Spanish would encounter Indians elsewhere who
  were not as defenseless as the Arawaks
• Aztecs in Mexico
• Incas in Peru
• both ruled large empires and had powerful armies
• But they also possessed an abundance of gold and
  silver

15
CONQUISTADORS

• Hernando Cortez
• Conquered Aztec Empire in 1519 with army of 600
  men
• Francisco Pizarro
• Conquered Inca Empire in 1629 with army smaller
  than the one Cortez had
• Both men were from humble origins but had risen
  high in military due to their ruthlessness and
  bravery
• Also ambitious, greedy, and religious fanatics

Cortez
Pizarro
16
WHY SO EASY?

• Had superior military technology
• But not all that superior
• Real decisive factor was biological
• Arrival of conquistadors triggered epidemics of
  European diseases among Indians
• Depleted their fighting strength
• Demoralized the Indians
• Felt betrayed by their gods and even believed the
  Spanish were gods themselves

17
EMPIRE

• Disease reduced entire Indian population of
  Mexico and Peru by at least 33
• By the time remaining Indians had built up
  immunity, the Spanish had organized its New World
  territory into administrative units
• Vice-royalties of New Spain, New Granada, New
  Castille, and La Plata

18
MISSIONS

• Outside of vice-royalties, population was too
  small and economic development too low to make
  official colonial administration worthwhile
• Spanish Catholic Church did build missions
  throughout this undeveloped region, thereby
  spreading Spanish influence into Florida, Texas,
  and California

19
CENTRALIZED ADMINISTRATION

• Spanish king created Council of the Indies in
  1524 and gain it total control of colonial policy
• Appointed governors, supervised their activities,
  licensed merchants, taxed imports and exports,
  took 20 of all gold and silver mined in New
  World, and developed elaborate bureaucracy to
  administer the empire
• In short, all important decisions regarding
  Spanish colonies were made in Spain
• Colonists had no assemblies to defend their
  interests

20
HACIENDA SYSTEM

• Hacienda was a land grant from the Spanish
  government to a colonist
• Originally made to conquistadors
• Later to other wealthy or favored individuals
• Known as patróns

21
CORTEZS HACIENDA

• Hernando Cortez, for example, was given a
  hacienda that encompassed the modern Mexican
  state of Morelos

22
ENCOMIENDA SYSTEM

• Encomienda system provided labor to work
  haciendas
• They were grants of control over people who lived
  within a hacienda
• Gave individual literal power of life and death
  over people on hacienda
• Could make them work at whatever he felt like
  making them to

23
NEW WORLD GOLD AND SILVER

• Gold and silver from New World made Spain the
  richest country in the world
• Pushed Spain to forefront of international scene
• In the end, however, the flood of precious metals
  caused problems for Spain
• Provoked inflation
• Caused decline of domestic industries
• Encouraged fantastic ambition of Spanish kings to
  conquer northern Europe

24
CONCLUSION

• The tremendous wealth of the Spanish New World
  colonies attracted the attention of France,
  England, and the Netherlands
• Wanted to set up colonies of their own
• But as long as Spain was strong, they were
  blocked from this goal
• But once Spain began to decline, it no longer had
  the power to keep other European powers out of
  the New World
• By the end of the 1500s, the way was open for the
  establishments of English settlements in the
  Western Hemisphere