The Era of Reconnaissance

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The Era of Reconnaissance

• Exploration and Exploitation

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MARCO!!!!!!
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POLO!!!!!

• Yes, he started it all in
• the Middle Ages
• Travels (1298)

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New Knowledge New Technology

• New kind of ship
• Caravels
• New instruments
• Astrolabe
• Magnetic Compass
• Measure longitude and latitude
• Improvements in cartography

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Luxury Trade

• Leopard skins
• Ivory
• Silk
• Gems
• Spices (grown in India and China)

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Lets talk European food.

• Boring, bland, blah
• Black pepper (more valuable than gold to some
  people!)
• Salt..why so important????

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Economic motives

• The markup on spices was ridiculous..
• Pepper
• Cinnamon
• Nutmeg
• Cloves

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The Portuguese

• Wanted to get rid of Muslim presence
• Were in control of Indian ocean spice trade

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Motivesother than goods

• Knowledge of the unknown
• Greed, wealth, fame
• Religion
• conversions
• Spirit of national competition
• Dutch, English, Spanish, French, etc.

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Economic motives

• Gold..out there somewhere
• The key to wealth
• (Silver as well)

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Religious motives

• Portugal and Spain
• Missionaries
• Central America
• Latin America
• Asia
• Along coast of Africa

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The Portuguese

• Prince Henry the Navigator
• 1487 Bartolomeo Dias
• Rounded Cape of Good Hope
• Vasco DaGama
• same thing than crossed Indian Ocean
• Brought back STUFF

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to serve God and His Majesty, to give light to
those who were in darkness and to grow rich as
all men desire to do. Dias

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Spain Takes Over

• Columbus
• Finds new world
• Bahamas
• Cuba
• Haiti
• Vespucci
• Realizes its a new world

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Spain vs. Portugal

• Treaty of Tordesillas
• Portugal received Africa, India, Brazil
• Spain the western hemisphere (excluding Brazil)

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Exploration continues..

• Balboa
• Crossed Central America 1513
• Pacific Ocean

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Exploration continues..

• Magellan
• Circumnavigation
• Sails through straits at southern tip of South
  America (hence, Straits of Magellan)
• Killed in Guam

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Exploitation
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Exploitation

• Population of 100,000 in Hispaniola (D.R. and
  Haiti) in 1492
• Slave labor
• Smallpox
• Abusive conversion
• 1570 300 people

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Exploitation

• Europeans realize
• Sugar grows well in the Americas
• Coffee
• Cocoa
• Further enslavement of the Hispanic population
• Led to the African slave trade as well

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Exploitation

• Cortes (1519)
• Conquistador
• Invaded Mexico for god, glory, and gold
• Conquered Aztecs and founded Mexico City (capital
  of New Spain)
• Pizarro (1530)
• Destroyed Peruvian Incas
• Very rich silver mines opened at Potosi

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Exploitation

• By 1650 5 of the Latin American population was
  left
• African slave labor dominated plantations, mines,
  etc.

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Bartolome de Las Casas

• Once converted, they should be treated kindly
• In the meantime.there was a debate..are
  Indians truly human??

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Back in Europe.

• Antwerp (controlled by Spanish) place for
  bullion, spices, served as commercial and
  financial capital of Europe
• By 1600 Venice and Genoa on the decline
  (Amsterdam took over)
• Arab commerce swept away

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The Golden Age of Spain

• 16th century
• Influx of precious metals
• Population increase
• Food demands higher
• Prices rose
• Price revolution (prices rose steeply before 1565
  , population growth accelerated inflation rate)

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The Golden Age of Spain

• Arts and literature flourished
• El Escorial (architecture)
• El Greco
• Velasquez
• Cervantes

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English and French

• 1497 John Cabot, Genoese merchant living in
  London sailed to Newfoundland (was aiming for
  Brazil
• 1534 Jacques Cartier explored Canada,
  eventually French settled in Quebec

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Back to food

• From new world to Europe diet
• Tomatoes
• Chili peppers
• Potatoes
• Corn
• tobacco

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Back to food

• From Europe to the New World
• Goats
• Sheep
• Cattle
• (destroyed roots of plants)

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By 1650

• Exploration was extensive
• Fairly accurate outline of the entire earth

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