Chapter 15: European Exploration and Conquest

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Ch 15. European Exploration and Conquest

World Contacts Before Columbus

·      Afro-Eurasian trade world linked products and people of Europe, Asia, and Africa in the 15^th c

·      West was not a dominant player before Columbus, and European voyages derived from desire to share in control the wealth coming from the Indian Ocean

The Trade World of the Indian Ocean

·      Indian Ocean was center of Afro-Eurasian trade world

o   Crossroads for commercial and cultural exchange

·      Merchants congregated in a series of multicultural, cosmopolitan port cities strung around the Indian Ocean

o   Most were autonomous

o   Most developed area of this commercial web was in the South China Sea

§  Malacca: great commercial entrepot, a trading post to which goods were shipped for storage while awaiting redistribution to other places

·      Mongol emperor opened doors of China to the West, encouraging Europeans to do business there

o   Marco Polo’s tales fueled Western fantasies about the Orient

·      After Mongols fell to Ming Dynasty, China entered a period of agricultural and commercial expansion, population growth, and urbanization

o   By end of dynasty, population had tripled

o   Nanjing: 1,000,000 inhabitants, largest city in world

o   China had most advanced economy in the world

·      China took lead in exploration

o   Zheng He: hundreds of ships voyaged

·      Court conflicts and need to defend against renewed Mongol encroachment led to abandonment of expeditions after deaths of Zheng He and the emperors

o   China turned away from external trade, opening opportunities for European states to claim a decisive role in world trade

·      India was another center of trade in Indian ocean

o   Link between Persian Gulf and Southeast Asian and East Asian trade networks

o   Calicut and Quinon were established as thriving commercial centers

o   India was an important contributor of goods to the world trading system: textiles and spices

The Trading States of Africa

·      Africa was an important role in world trade

o   Had a few large and developed empires with smaller states

o   Mamluk Egyptian empire was one of the most powerful on the continent

§  Capital city, Cairo, was center of Islamic learning and religious authority, and a hub for Indian Ocean trade goods

§  Ethiopia was prosperous as well

§  East coast of Africa participated in trade: Mogadishu and Mombasa

·      Important African contribution: gold

o   Sudan in West Africa and from Akan

o   Transported across Sahara, sold in ports of N. Africa

o   Alexandria and Cairo sold gold, Venetians had commercial privileges with Cairo

o   Inland nations grew wealthy from transporting gold

o   Mali: important player on overland trade route

§  Mansa Musa discussed sending vessels to explore the Atlantic Ocean, not only Europeans envisaged western naval exploration

·      Slaves were important objects of trade

o   Practiced in virtually everywhere in the world

o   Took w. African slaves to be sold in European, Egyptian, Middle Eastern markets, and brought e. Europeans to W. Africa as slaves

·      Legends about Africa played a role in Europeans’ imagination of the outside world

o   Believed Christian nation in Africa ruled by a mythical king, Prester John, was there

The Ottoman and Persian Empires

·      Middle East was an intermediary for trade between Europe, Africa, and Asia, and was also an important supplier of goods for foreign exchange, silk and cotton

·      Two rival empires: Persian Safavids and Turkish Ottomans dominated the region

o   Persian Shiites vs. Ottomans’ Sunnism

o   Two competed for western trade routes to the East

·      Sultan Mohammed II: Ottomans captured Europe’s largest city, Constantinople in 1453

o   Renamed Istanbul

o   Became capital of Ottoman empire

o   By mid 16^th c, Ottomans controlled sea trade in eastern Mediterranean, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and rest of N. Africa, as far west as Vienna

·      Ottoman expansion frightened Europeans

o   Armies seemed invincible, desire for expansion limitless

o   Strength of Ottomans helps explain some of the missionary fervor Christians brought to new territories

o   Also raised economic concerns: Europeans needed to find trade routes around Ottomans’

Genoese and Venetian Middlemen

·      Europe constituted a minor outpost in the world trading system

·      Craftsmen produced little desired goods

·      Venice established formal relations with sultan of Mamluk Egypt, opening operations in Cairo, the gateway to Asian trade

·      Venetian merchants specialized in luxury goods which they obtained from middlemen

·      Most important spice was pepper from India and Indonesia

·      Venetians exchanged Eastern luxury goods for European products they could trade abroad

·      Demand for such was low, Venetians earned currency in shipping industry and through trade in firearms and slaves

·      Form of precious metal

·      Venice’s ancient rival was Genoa

o   Genoa dominated route to Asia through Back sea

o   Roots of Genoese interest in Atlantic exploration

·      Venice claimed victory in spice trade, Genoese shifted focus from trade to finance

·      Genoese merchants, navigators, etc. provided their skills to Iberian monarchs

·      Major element of Venetian and Genoese trade was slavery

o   Merchants purchased slaves, in Balkans

o   After loss of Black Sea to the ottomans, source of slaves was gone

o   Genoese sought new supplies of slaves in the West

o   Genoese and Venetians became important in the Atlantic slave trade

·      Italian experience in colonial administration served as a model for the Iberian states as they pushed European expansion to new heights

·      Mariners, merchants, and financers from Genoa played a role in bringing fruits of experience to Iberian Peninsula and to the New World

The European Voyages of Discovery

·      Because thy did not produce many products desired by Easter elites, Europeans were modest players in the Indian Ocean trading world

·      New technology, missionaries, desire to undo dominance of Italian and Ottomans

·      Iberian explorers began overseas voyages that helped create the modern world

Cases of European Expansion

·      By middle of 15^th c, Europe was experiencing a revival of population and economic activity after Black Death

·      Created demands for luxury goods, especially spices from the East

·      Fall of Constantinople and Ottoman control created obstacles to fulfilling these demands

·      Europeans needed new sources of precious metals to trade with Ottomans or trade routes that bypassed Ottomans

·      Why were spices so desirable?

o   Added flavor, marvel, and mystery, used a medicines, perfumes, dyes

·      Religious fervor was another catalyst for expansion

o   Christian reconquista encouraged Portuguese and Spanish to continue Christian crusade

o   Overseas expansion was a transfer of religious zeal, enthusiasm for conquest, and certainty of God’s blessing to new non-Christian territories

o   Since remaining Muslim states were too strong to defeat, Iberians turned attention elsewhere

·      Combined with eagerness for profits and Christianity, was desire for glory and the urge to chart new waters

o   Curiosity about physical universe

o   Desire to know more about the geography and peoples of the world

·      Christopher Columbus

o   Devout Christian

o   Goals were to serve God and grow rich

·      Spanish conquistadors wanted fame and gold

·      Eagerness for expansion was heightened by lack of opportunity at home

o   Young men of Spanish upper classes found economic and political opportunities limited

o   Turned to sea to seek fortunes

·      Voyages made possible by growth of gov power

o   Spanish monarchy was in position to support foreign ventures

o   Portugal

§  Prince Henry the Navigator gave financial support and encouragement

·      Monarchs had mixed motivations

o   Desire to please God

o   Desire to win glory and profit from trade

·      Competition among European monarchs encouraged steady stream of expeditions in the 15^th c

·      Ordinary sailors were ill paid, and life at sea meant danger, overcrowding, unbearable stench, and hunger

o   Shared living with animals, uncomfortable, lice, disease

·      Men chose to join miserable crews to escape poverty at home, continue a family trade, to win a few crumbs of the great riches of empire, r to find better lives as illegal immigrants in the colonies

o   Many orphans/poor boys were placed on board

·      Women paid a prices for exploration

o   Left alone for months, frequently widowed, struggled to support fam

·      Ppl who stayed at home had a powerful impact on the process

o   Royal ministers and factions influenced monarchs to provide/deny support

o   Literate ppl read fantastic tales – enormous interest among educated ppl

Technology and the Rise of Exploration

·      Tech developments in shipbuilding, weaponry, and navigation provided another impetus for European expansion

o   Middle ages had galleys propelled by slaves, could not withstand rough winds of Atlantic

o   Need for sturdier craft and deaths from Black Death forced development of new style of ship that did not require much manpower

·      Portuguese developed caravel: small, light ship that held more cargo, triangular lateen sails, sternpost rudder, much more maneuverable vessel

·      Great strides in cartography and navigational aids

o   Ptolemy’s Geography: synthesized geographical knowledge of classical world

§  Improved from medieval cartography, added longitude and latitude

§  Had errors: smaller than it is

o   Cartographers fashioned new maps based on this work that combined latest information

·      Magnetic compass

o   Determine direction and position at sea

o   Astrolabe

§  Determine altitude of sun and other celestial bodies, plot latitude

·      Much of new technology that Europeans used on their voyages was borrowed from East

o   Gunpowder, sternpost ruder, lateen sail

o   Advances in cartography form Judeo-Arabic mathematical and astronomical learning in Iberia

o   Sometimes used knowledge from actual ppl

The Portuguese Overseas Empire

·      For centuries, Portugal was small and poor subsistence farming and fishing

·      Phenomenal success overseas after 1450

·      Portugal had long history of seafaring and navigation

·      Blocked from access to western Europe by Spain, Portuguese turned to Atlantic and North Africa

·      Nature favored them: winds

·      Prince Henry the Navigator: support for study of geography and navigation, annual expeditions he sponsored; made sure Portugal did not abandon efforts

·      Objectives of Portuguese exploration was desire for military glory, crusades to Christianize Muslims, to locate mythical Christian king, quest to find gold, slaves, and an overseas route to spice markets of India

·      Portuguese established trading posts and fort on penetrated African continent

·      Controlled flow of African gold to Europe

·      Bartholomew Diaz: rounded tip of Africa, Cape of Good hope, but storms and threatened mutiny forced him to turn back

·      Vasco de Gama: rounded Cape

o   Reached Calicut in India

o   Failed to forge any trading alliances with local powers

o   Arrogance ensured future hostility

o   Proved possibility of lucrative trade with east via Cape route

·      Portuguese now dominated the rich spice trade of Indian Ocean; port for Asian goods into Europe

o   Ottomans not happy, but lost to a fight

The Problem of Christopher Columbus

·      Glorified by some, vilified by others

·      Embodied a long standing Genoese ambition to circumvent Venetian domination of eastward trade, which was now being dominated by the Portuguese

·      Columbus

o   Knowledgeable about the sea; experienced seaman

o   Acquired theoretical and practical experience

o   Deeply religious: viewed Christianity as a missionary religion that should be carried to places where it did not exist

o   Viewed himself as a divine agent

·      Object of Columbus’s Voyage: “The Enterprise of the Indies”

o   Direct ocean trading route to Asia

o   Ferd and Isa subsidized his voyage

o   Got 1/10 of material rewards he found

o   Dreamed of reaching Mongol Khan

o   Landed in Bahamas, believed he found islands off of Japan

·      Believed he was in the Indies; was in Hispaniola

o   Thought they’d be good slaves, and could quickly be converted to Christianity

o   Found out there was gold and a great leader nearby

·      Columbus sailed southward, landed in Cuba

o   Thought he was in China

·      Found small villages; Columbus gave up on meeting Khan; focused on trying to find gold or other valuables among the ppl

o   Saw gold was available

·      Headed back to Spain to report his discovery

·      Spanish would follow policy of conquest and colonization

·      Columbus’s second voyage

o   Forcibly subjugated island of Hispaniola

·      Brought with him settlers for new Spanish territories, along with agricultural seed and livestock

·      Revolt in Hispaniola

·      Columbus sent back in chains; soon was cleared of charges; territories came under royal control

·      Columbus was a man of his times

o   Believed he found islands off coast of Asia

o   Newer realized what he’d actually done

Later Explorers

·      Amerigo Vespucci: Realized what Columbus did not; continent was named after him

·      To settle competing claims to Atlantic discoveries, Spain and Portugal turned to Pope Alexander VI, resulting in the Treaty of Tordesillas

o   Gave Spain everything to west of imaginary line, Portugal everything to east

o   Portugal got favorable end of trade: Cabral sailed to Brazil and claimed it for Portugal

·      Search for profits led Spanish to search for western passage to Asia

o   Ferdinand Magellan: to find a sea route to southeast Asia spices

o   Located treacherous traits, calm Pacific, and

o   Took Philippines for Spain

o   First voyage to circumnavigate the globe

o   Demonstrated vastness of Pacific

o   Westward passage to Indies was too long and dangerous for commercial purposes

o   Abandoned attempt to oust Portugal from Eastern spice trade and concentrated on New World territories

·      English

o   John Cabot: discovered Newfoundland, English got no permanent colonies

o   Frobisher: Canada

·      French

o   Jacques Cartier: made several voyages to Canada, searching for India

o   New source of profit within Canada: beavers, fishing, trading,

Spanish Conquest in the New World

·      Spanish sent Hernan Cortes to explore mainland

o   Led to conquest of Mexica Empire (Aztec)

·      Mexica empire ruled by Montezuma II, capital at Tenochtitlan

o   Heart of sophisticated civilization with advanced mathematics, economy, engineering

·      Cortes was visited by delegations of unarmed Mexica leaders

·      Cortes saw the richness of the empire cut ties with Spain: founded Vera Cruz and burned ships

·      Tried to exploit internal dissension within the empire to his own advantage

o   Constant need for religious sacrifices and laborers made warfare constant

o   Conquered ppl had to pay tribute

o   Cortes forged alliances with Tlaxcalas and other subject kingdoms

·      Spanish-Tlaxcalan forces occupied city of Cholula, second largest in empire and massacred inhabitants

·      Cortes made alliances with other native kingdoms

·      Cortes marched on Tenochtitlan

·      Montezuma didn’t attack Spaniards, welcomed them in

o   Montezuma relied on advice from divided state council

·      Montezuma’s hesitation was disastrous

o   Cortes took Montezuma and the emperor’s influence over his ppl crumbled

·      During ensuing attacks and counterattacks, Montezuma was killed

·      Spaniards and allies escaped from city and forced new alliances against Mexica

·      Cortes led second assault on Tenochtitlan

·      Spanish victory was hard won and aided by smallpox

·      After defeat of Tenochtitlan, Cortes and conquistadors began conquest of Mexico

·      Over time, indigenous kingdoms gradually fell under Spanish domination

·      Fall of Inca Empire

o   Incas isolated from other cultures

o   Had a complicated civilization

o   Built roads, postal service, taxing gov

·      Incas were weakened by civil war and disease

·      Francisco Pizarro: landed in Peru the day Atahualpa won control over empire

·      Atahualpa was aware of Spanish conquest: planned to lure them in and keep their ablest men, and kill the rest

·      With loyal army of 40,000 he had little to fear

·      Spaniards ambushed and captured him, collected a ransom, ten executed him

·      Spanish marched on capital

·      Formed alliances with local peoples

·      Cuzco fell; Spanish gained immense riches

·      Decades of violence/resistance ensued

Early French and English Settlement in the New World

·      Coast of New England used for religious freedom

·      English crown grew more interested in colonial expansion

·      Champlain: first permanent French settlement in Quebec

·      Acquired Cayenne, Martinique, Guadeloupe

·      Originally bases for plundering Spanish shipping, centers of tobacco and sugar

·      European involvement in the Americas led to profound transformation of preexisting indigenous societies and the rise of a transatlantic slave trade

·      Acceleration of a global trade and cultural exchange

·      Over time, the combination of indigenous, European, and African cultures gave birth to new societies in the New World

·      In turn, profits ad impact of cultural exchange influenced European society

The Impact of Conquest

·      European presence in New World transformed its land and peoples forever

·      Violence/disease caused death

·      Surviving ppl encountered new political, social, economic organizations

·      New crops

Colonial Administration

·      Crown divided its New World territories into four viceroyalties, or administrative division

o   New Spain, Peru were some

·      Within each territory, the viceroy, or imperial governor exercised broad military and civil authority as the direct rep of Spain

o   Viceroy presided over the audiencia, a board of 12-15 judges who served as his advisory council and highest judicial body

·      Introduced intendants

o   Possessed broad military, administrative, and financial authority within their intendanies and were responsible not to the viceroy, but to the monarchy in Madrid

·      Portugal did similar tactics, with corregidores who held judicial and military powers

o   Royal policies placed severe restrictions on Brazilian industries that might compete with those of Portugal and Spain

Impact of European Settlement on the Lives of Indigenous People

·      Before Columbus, Americas were inhabited by many diff peoples

·      Lives radically changed by arrival of Europeans

o   Men carved out vast estates called haciendas and imported Spanish livestock

o   Huge plantations to supply sugar to European market

o   Silver was discovered: used indigenous ppl to work the mines

·      Encomienda system: Crown granted conquerors right to employ groups of Native Americans as laborers or demand tribute from them in exchange for providing shelter

o   Legalized form of slavery

·      New conditions for natives resulted in enormous native population losses

o   Diseases: little or no resistance to new diseases

o   Unaccustomed to forced labor in blazing heat

·      Died in staggering numbers

·      Forced labor diverted local ppl from agricultural work, leading to malnutrition, less fertility, and starvation

·      Women separated from infants

·      Malnutrition à lower resistance à disease

·      Warfare killed many

·      Las Casas: Critic of Spanish brutality against indigenous peoples

o   Asserted that Indians had human rights

o   Charles V abolished worst abuses of encomienda system

·      Missionaries provided important role in converting natives to Christianity, teaching them European ways of agriculture, and instilling loyalty

o   Phenomenal success, thought were the natives really pious?

·      Pattern of destruction/devastation was repeated everywhere the Europeans went

·      Natives did survive by blending in with European incomers

·      Problem of settlers: loss of work force

Life in the Colonies

·      Europeanized settlements were hedged by immense borderlands of European and non-European contact

·      Women

o   Formed unions with explorers

o   Helped as translators and guides to form alliances

o   Character of each colony was influenced by presence of absence of European women

§  Where women were, settlements became European, where women were not, settlements kept old culture

·      English vs French on roles of women

o   English didn’t like natives, French tolerated natives

o   English didn’t free their mixed children, French did

·      Mixing with Europeans created a new population

o   Mestizo, mulatto

The Columbian Exchange

·      Migration to New World led to exchange of animals, plants, disease: Columbian Exchange

·      European immigrants wanted their European diet, searched for climatic zones favorable to planting home crops

·      Not all plants arrived intentionally: shoes, mud

·      Native Am’s didn’t domesticate animals

o   Columbus introduced horses, cattle, sheep, dogs, pigs, chickens, goats

o   Enabled Spanish conquerors and natives to travel faster and farther and to transport heavy loads

o   Europeans turned home with new food crops

·      Disease

o   Wave of epidemic disease was extension of Black Death

·      World after Columbus was united by disease as well as trade and colonization

Europe and the World After Columbus

·      Afro-Eurasian trade world was forever changed by European voyages of discovery

·      Truly global economy that linked far flung peoples, cultures, and societies

·      Cultural exchange and renewal

Sugar and Slavery

·      Slavery in middle ages was not based on race

·      1453: Ottoman capture of Constantinople halted flow of white slaves from Mediterranean

o   Supply of Muslim captives diminished

o   Turned to sub-Saharan Africa

·      While first slaves were simply seized by small raiding parties, Portuguese merchants found it was easier to trade with local leaders who got slaves through warfare

·      Slavery became intertwined with sugar

o   Originally expensive luxury

o   Population increases and monetary expansion led to increasing demand

·      Sugar was a difficult and demanding crop

o   Planted by hand

o   Harvested quickly to avoid spoiling

o   Work hard for a long time with little rest

o   Growing season virtually constant, no fallow time for rest

o   Increased efficiency led to more work force

·      Sugar gave New World slavery its distinctive shape

·      Dutch West India Company started transatlantic slave trade

·      Slaves had lethal conditions

o   Dysentery, crowding

o   Packed hundreds on ship

·      On plantations, death rates were very high

·      Slaves worked as miners, soldiers, sailors, servants, artisans in cotton, run, indigo, tobacco, wheat, corn, sugar

Spanish Silver and Its Economic Effects

·      Silver mined in colonies gave Spain incredible wealth

·      Shipped silver back to Spain

·      16^th c: Spain experienced population increase, rise in demand for food and goods

·      Spanish colonies demanded consumer goods not produced in colonies

·      Spain expelled its best farmers and businessmen (Muslims and Jews), Spanish economy was suffering and couldn’t meet demands

·      Excess of demand led to inflation

·      Result was a rise in production costs and a further decline in Spain’s productive capacity

·      Silver did not cause inflation, it exacerbated situation

o   With rise in population, influx of silver contributed to upward spiral of prices

·      Inflation strained gov budgets

·      Philip II wrote off state debts, but this undermined confidence in gov and left economy in shambles

·      When population declined, prices stabilized after 1600

·      Spanish inflation spread to rest of Europe

·      Chinese demanded silver: main buyer of silver getting half the world’s production

·      Showed global economy

The Birth of the Global Economy

·      Entire world was linked for first time by seaborne trade

·      3 successive commercial empires: Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch

·      Portuguese were first worldwide traders

o   Controlled sea route to India and fortified bases

o   Traded goods and slaves

·      Spanish

o   Wanted to claim place in world trade

o   Basically a land empire, but had a seaborne empire based on Philippines

o   Bridge between Spanish America and China

o   Competition from Dutch imports

·      Dutch challenged Spanish and Portuguese Empires

o   Commercial wealth and long experience in European trade

o   Most powerful worldwide seaborne trading power

o   Built on spices

o   Amsterdam

o   Dutch East India Company, intent on capturing spice trade from the Portuguese

o   Set sights on gaining direct access and control of Indonesian sources of Spices

o   Won broad commercial concessions with Indonesians

o   Gained control of w. Indonesia

o   Expelled Portuguese and other islands, gaining control of the lucrative spice trade

o   Dutch also aspired to a role in America

§  Sought to open trade with North and South America and capture Spanish territories there

§  Captured/destroyed hundreds of Spanish ships, seized silver fleet, captured portions of Brazil and Caribbean

o   Interceded in transatlantic slave trade, bringing much of w. Africa under Dutch control

o   Dutch efforts to colonize N. Am were less successful

§  New Netherland was weak and easily captured

Changing Attitudes and Beliefs

·      Overseas expansion heightened Europeans’ contact with rest of world

·      Gave birth to new ideas about inherent superiority or inferiority

·      Cultural encounters inspired positive views

New Ideas about Race

·      Beginning of transatlantic slave trade: thought Africans were savages

o   Grouped Africans into despised categories of pagan heathens and Muslim infidels

·      As Europeans turned to Africa as new source of slavery, used ideas of Africans’ primitiveness and barbarity to defend slavery and argue they were benefitting Africans by bringing Christianity

·      Slavery fostered new level of racial inequality

o   Africans distinct and inferior from Europeans

o   From assumptions and lack of civilization, ERPNS developed rigid ideas of racial superiority and inferiority to safeguard slavery

o   Black skin equated with slavery

o   Thought blacks were destined for slavery

·      Support for blacks destined to serve ERPNS

o   Aristotle: some ppl are destined for slavery

o   Biblical associations between darkness and sin

·      Use of science to define race

o   “Race”: biologically distinct groups of ppl whose physical differences produced differences in culture, character, and intelligence

Michel de Montaigne and Cultural Curiosity

·      Caths and Prots doubted any one faith contained absolute truth

o   Diff ways of life of natives added to this thought

·      Skepticism: school of thought that founded on doubt that total certainty of definitive knowledge is ever attainable

·      Culture relativism: one culture is not necessarily superior to another, just different

·      Michel de Montaigne: New literary genre, the essay; wrote short personal reflections, rejected notion that one culture is superior than another

·      Few would have agreed w/ Montaigne

·      Shift in attitudes

·      Inaugurated an era of doubt

·      Wonder is foundation of all philosophy, research is means of learning, ignorance is end

William Shakespeare and his Influence

·      England experienced literary expression

·      Master of period was William Shakespeare

o   Original character, diverse plots, understanding of human psychology, gift for language

o   Deep appreciation for classical culture, individualism, humanism

·      Shakespeare explores an enormous range of human problems

o   His work reveals the impact of the new discoveries and contacts of his day

o   Othello: vilified by his race, but glorified as a warrior

§  Complex human

§  Demonstrated intolerance of contemporary society and possibility for some individuals to look beyond racial stereotypes

o   Caliban: native to island who looks horrible

§  Realities of imperial conquest

§  Monstrous, dark skinned island native who was best suited for slavery

§  Maybe criticizing racial tolerance