The Age of Discovery

1
The Age of Discovery

• World
• Civilizations II

2
Introduction

• Why begin with the year 1500 A.D.?
• What does the world look like around 1500?

3
Topics of Discussion

• European Dynamism
• Complacency in Moslem Middle East and China
• Columbus From Hero to Hell and Back

4
Topics of Discussion

• Age of Discovery
• Cortes the Man and the Legend
• Some Conclusions about the Age of Discovery

5
European Dynamism

• Impact of the Renaissance
• Crusading Christiandom
• Applying borrowed science

6
European Dynamism

• New business techniques
• Shared risk the company concept
• The role of the new Middle Class
• A hunger and thirst that seeks remedies

7
Complacency in the Moslem Middle East and China

• The Moslem Middle East
• At the crossroads of commerce
• Already has a commanding presence

8
Complacency in the Moslem Middle East and China

• China
• The Middle Kingdom
• Attitudes and Outcomes
• Prince Henry the Navigator
• Sheng He

9
Columbus From Hero to Hell and Back

• Rising to the challenge
• The voyage
• The aftermath

10
Columbus From Hero to Hell and Back

• The controversy over celebrating Columbus Day
• The facts of the case
• An ahistorical view clouds the issues
• A balanced perspective

11
Cortes the Man and the Legend

• Timing the year 1519
• Motivation the sword and the cross
• European impressions of the native Americans
• His legacy the clash of civilizations

12
Some Conclusions about the Age of Discovery

• The whole world is now our stage
• Life would never be the same
• The Columbus exchange
• The dawning of the age of illequilibrium

13
What Comes Next?

• What it means to live in a world of European
  Dynamism
• European political and religious wars
• The times they are a changing