European Exploration in the 15th and 16th centuries
How did the Western Hemisphere end up with so many Spanish speaking nations?
As you read, look at maps and watch videos,
Complete the explorer chart with the most important dates, where the explorer was from, what he set out to do, and what he did plus historical impacts.
Look up routes and chart them on your globe handout.
Look at your discussion questions and decide if anything you have read can be part of an answer.
Ask good questions that dig deeper and we will try to find that information online.
After completing this unit, you will have an open notes test. You are only allowed to use what you fill out in our packet, so take detailed notes.
Hypothesize and use what you know:
You already know that 9 countries in South America speak Spanish and 1 speaks Portuguese. 6 countries in Central America speak Spanish. 1 on the mainland of North America (México) and 3 countries in the Caribbean speak Spanish.
How did this happen? Why don’t they speak English? Or French? Or German? On a notecard or sticky note, jot down some thoughts hypothesizing the reason. Turn it in and discuss the hypotheses. We can save them to see which we prove or disprove.
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This unit will start with the 1200s and one very famous explorer, then dig really deep into European beliefs and their need to establish trade routes. We will mainly focus on Portugal, Spain, and Italy. Then, once the “New World” is discovered, attention gets diverted, goals change, and we will look at who explored what parts of America, how America got its name, and some of the tragic things that happened in North and South America that have greatly impacted history.
Resources
Print this map for charting routes: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/26/Black_and_white_political_map_of_the_world.png
Use this world map to see where countries are as needed: https://geology.com/world/world-map.shtml
CMS Explorers of the New World UnitExplorers of the new world and the Americas notes chart.docxPart 1: Explorers of the the “Old World”
"Old World" refers to the parts of the world that Europeans knew about before Columbus.
"New World" refers to the Americas. To 1500s Europeans, the Americas were a new, foreign land. Since they weren't named the Americas yet, Europeans simply called it the New World.
Marco Polo
Click here to see what the world map looked like in 1235.
Cilck here to see what Marco Polo may have looked like.
Discussion question: What did the world map look like before 1400s exploration started? What parts of the world were known by Europeans?
Marco Polo (1254-1324) plays a role in the discovery of the Americas, though he never knew of its existence. He was the son of a rich merchant in Venice (now part of Italy). His dad and uncles came back after 9 years of travels with marvelous, inspiring stories of their time in the Far East. At the age of 17, he set off on his own travels and stayed abroad for 24 years, reportedly working for Kublai Khan, a powerful Mongol ruler. Upon his return to Venice, he was involved in a war against Genoa (also now part of Italy). He was later imprisoned, and told many of his adventures to a writer who was in jail, too. The writer, of course, wrote down everything he heard (and maybe invented some details,too.) This was in 1298, and only 10 copies were created. In 1436 Johannes Gutenberg’s movable type printing press was being developed. By 1440, it was functioning and allowed for multiple prints of books to be created in a short period of time, which made books available to the public. Even though many people accused Marco Polo of spinning tales in his book, it nonetheless inspired many explorers to seek routes to the Indies for exploration and trading purposes.
Map: https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/maps/marcopolo.html Because Marco Polo travelled for 24 years, we are not mapping his route.
What did people read in the Middle Ages? http://www.habsburger.net/en/chapter/what-did-people-read-middle-ages-courtly-and-middle-class-reading-matter
Want a copy of Marco Polo's book? http://a.co/8l1HlKs
Discussion question: What motivated Marco Polo to go explore?
In what way did he impact 1400s exploration?
Resource: http://mrnussbaum.com/explorers/age/
The Portuguese in the 1400s
Look at a map of Portugal. Look up "Caravel" and what they looked like.
With Portugal’s Atlantic coastline and the invention of the caravel, the Portuguese were the perfect candidates for exploring via sea routes. Through their voyages, they brought many spices, slaves, and gold back from Africa and Asia to Europe. They began what is known as “The Age of Exploration” and they were very wealthy. Spices were used to keep food from rotting and were very expensive and hard to get. There are 3 well known names from Portugal that contributed to completing the sea route to the east from Portugal to India.
Discussion question: What motivated men and nations to explore and go on expeditions?
1. Prince Henry
(1394-1460), better known as Henry the Navigator, was a wealthy prince and soldier in Portugal. He was Catholic and was always at war against the Muslims. South of Portugal is Africa and at this time, people were afraid of the seas that were near the equator. They believed there were sea monsters and boiling water, so no one ever sailed south. Prince Henry started a school of navigation in 1419 and funded ($$) several expeditions down the coast of Africa. His goal was to find out how far down Africa the Muslim lands went so he could fight and defeat them, and so he could go around them to obtain the riches of Africa,. Also, he trained men in navigation and map making to prepare them for actually sailing all the way around Africa to India. His men made it as far as where present day Sierra Leone is (about halfway down the west coast).
When Prince Henry passed away, his nephew, King John II continued funding expeditions down the coast of Africa.
Map of Route http://www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/gifs/Henrymap.GIF
World map: 1459.
2. Bartolomeu Dias
was chosen by King John II to head an expedition to the tip of Africa. He left Lisbon in 1487. In May 1488, a storm blew in, sending Dias’s ship way out into the ocean and for nearly 2 weeks, the ship was out of sight of land. Dias turned the boat northward and came upon the Cape of Good Hope, which is at the southern tip of the continent. He made it home to tell the tale in December. This journey paved the way for yet another expedition to complete the trade route from western Europe to Asia (though it took 9 years before it happened). In 1500, Dias sailed again, with the intent to reach India (which would be the 2nd time because at this time, Da Gama had succeeded in completing the trip). However, they went off course and touched the coast of Brazil, then headed southward. A large storm sunk all 4 of their boats and Dias drowned along with his crew.
More info: http://www.biography.com/people/bartolomeu-dias-9273850
http://www.history.com/topics/exploration/bartolomeu-dias
Map of Route: http://www.robinsonlibrary.com/geography/geography/discoveries/dias.htm
3. Vasco da Gama
http://www.biography.com/people/vasco-da-gama-9305736 http://www.history.com/topics/exploration/vasco-da-gama
9 years after Dias had first reached the Cape of Good Hope, Vasco da Gama, a nobleman, set sail from Lisbon. Dias oversaw the preparation of Da Gama’s ships as they were being built. He stopped in Africa multiple times and eventually made it to the trade post in India in 1498. He returned home to Portugal, received as a hero, in 1499, even though only 54 of the 170 crew were still alive. Many had died of illnesses along the way. He brought back many types and large quantities of spices, which were very valuable. Da Gama went on other trips to India in which tensions were high, murderous attacks occurred from both the Hindu and the Portuguese, and Da Gama had to force a treaty from the ruler. He was hated in India and all over the area for his forceful and aggressive tactics, but loved in Portugal for his success. Going to India by sea took much longer than going over land, but travel was cheaper and they didn’t have to face the dangers of bandits and Ottoman rulers and wars. The Portuguese became masters of the sea route to the Indies and became a wealthy European nation.
Discussion question: Name 1 country that was a major leader in world exploration.
Part One Wrap Up:
All of the 1400s European explorers you have read about up to this point had their eyes on finding a way by sea to India so they could trade. This meant that Europeans needed a way to go EAST without having to travel over land, through other people’s kingdoms. This took years of exploring because the only possible route was to sail around Africa, and people had been very fearful about sea travel up to this point in time. The next section details the trips of explorers who wanted to make it to India, except by going WEST. People were just starting to wonder if the world wasn’t flat after all, and thought maybe the Atlantic Ocean connected to Asia.
Exploration is often taught in school with very basic facts: the names of the explorers, what they set out to do, where they went, what they saw, and how it changed the world. Teachers often do not have time, the knowledge, or the desire to go into the gritty parts of history. History is full of evil deeds: murders, violence, greed, deceit, slavery, assault and terrorism against entire cultures of people. Most Europeans belong to the Christian faith, but what the faith looks like today and what it looked like in the 15th and 16th centuries is very different. After reading just one chapter ("Hispaniola") Bartolome de las Casas' Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, you will have a clear understanding of how some "Christians" behaved. There were many Christians, as well, that were compassionate about the lives and well being of people and truly wished for them to come to know Jesus Christ, "so that they may be saved." These are the words of 1500s Spanish priest in his conclusion of his book http://www.columbia.edu/~daviss/work/files/presentations/casshort/.
Part 2: Discovery of America
Vikings discover North America
1. Erik the Red
(950-1003, A.D.) was a viking from Norway. As a child, he left his home to travel to Iceland with his father. Later in life, around 980, he was exiled from Iceland for killing a neighbor with whom he was in a fight. He sailed west and found Greenland in 982, but had a hard time approaching land because of ice in the water. He named it Greenland because he thought if it had a nice name, people would go there. He came back in 986, found a way to approach the land, and founded the first European settlement there.
2. Leif Eriksson
Erik the Red’s son, Leif Eriksson, was born in Iceland and went with his father upon his exile. Around 1000, he sailed to Norway and was converted to Christianity by King Olaf. The details of Leif’s voyages come from differing sources. Some people say that when he sailed back to Greenland, he went off course, and others say that he went searching for a land he had heard about. Either way, Leif explored a land he called Vinland (because of the grapes he found growing there). Vinland is today part of northern Canada. Leif only stayed there for one winter, then sailed back to Greenland where he spent the rest of his life converting the natives to Christianity. Evidence of his time in Vinland was uncovered in the 1960s when archeologists uncovered the remains of his settlement which had details identical to 11th century Viking structures in Greenland and Iceland. In 1965, a map dated from 1440 was presented by Yale to the public. It showed coastal regions of northern Canada, proof that Europeans had been there before Columbus. However, many scholars believe it was forged. Some people say that a viking’s wife traveled to Rome and informed the Pope of Leif’s discovery, but that the Pope decided to ignore the news.
Discuss: Did the Viking discovery of the Americas impact world exploration in a way that changed the course of the world? Explain why with facts.
3. Columbus
In the 1400s, most people feared that the world was flat and were terrified of being in open sea. However, Christopher Columbus, a Genoan, was inspired by Marco Polo’s travels. The Italian crown turned him down because they were broke from all the wars (plus they probably thought he was crazy), the Portuguese crown also turned him down because they were too busy headed east and had almost finished their mission. He got lucky in Spain and convinced the newly married king and queen that he knew what he was doing in sailing west. He believed he’d find the Indies and secure a new trade route for Spain. If he were successful, Spain would be as wealthy or wealthier than Portugal. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella granted him three ships, crew members, and the supplies to make the voyage. The trip took longer than expected and his crew members almost forced him to turn back, but Columbus convinced them to give him three more days. On the third day, they spotted land and on October 12, 1492 Columbus and his crew set foot on dry land. They were on the island of Hispaniola, which is where the Dominican Republic is today. He found gold, traded with the natives and remarked that they would make great servants. The Europeans immediately viewed the natives as lesser people due to their nakedness, crude lifestyle and lack of organized government and religion. Columbus went back to Spain to tell of his success and made 3 more voyages to what he thought was the Indies. He died never realizing that he had discovered a new part of the world. (There is new evidence that the Chinese and even other nations explored the lands of the Americas before Columbus. But remember, Europe was behind in knowledge, information, and innovation.) You can read more about Columbus to discover how much harm he caused the native people of Hispaniola. http://www.history.com/topics/exploration/christopher-columbus/videos/columbus-quest-for-gold
http://www.biography.com/people/christopher-columbus-9254209
Bartolomé de las Casas: A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies
Amerigo Vespucci was an Italian born in Florence in 1454. He heard Columbus talk of his voyages and decided to make a voyage of his own. He went further south than Columbus ever did and landed on the coast of Brazil in 1499. He then traveled for 3 years up the coast of South America, Central America and North America, detailing maps. He decided, based on his map making and reading skills, that this land was not the same as that of Asia. He contested Columbus’s claims of having found a route to the Indies. In 1507, a German school teacher was writing a geography book and came across Vespucci’s reports and maps. The teacher called “The New World” America-- a feminized form of Amerigo since he was the first European to realize that the Americas were a fourth part of the world. So, now Europeans were aware of Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas, but only the eastern part. http://www.history.com/topics/exploration/amerigo-vespucci
Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521), from Portugal sailing for Spain, set sail in 1519 to find that western route to the “Spice Islands.” He knew Columbus was incorrect and hadn’t found a route to the Indies. He left Europe in 1519 and sailed around the bottom of South America through what is called “The Straits of Magellan” today, and he became the first European to cross the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean. It took much longer than expected and he and most of his crew died on this voyage in battle or from starvation or disease. His ship made it home with only 18 of the original 270 members, but they were full of valuable spices, which were used not only to flavor food, but in medicines and remedies. His voyage was a major breakthrough in European thought as it disproved their centuries-old belief about the world being a disc shape. For the first time, Europeans also understood that the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans were two separate oceans.
Part 2 Summary:
Even though the Norse had created settlements on North America, the connection between Europe and North America didn't last and eventually, it was forgotten by most. The Portuguese had been very busy trying to go East to get to India, but Spain bought into Columbus's hunch that he could beat their rich rivals by by going West. Columbus did find land, but it wasn't India. He brought back food, gold, natives and tobacco to the king and queen of Spain and they funded more voyages. When Columbus died in 1506, he still believed he had discovered a western route to the Indies.
Columbus was inspired by Marco Polo some say, but Columbus himself inspired other explorers like Magellan and Vespucci. By 1519, both North and South America had been discovered, but there was much land still to be explored, claimed and conquered.
Part 3: European Exploration dedicated to conquest of the Americas
Overview: Up to this point in the text, Portugal and Spain (Europeans) were set on establishing trade routes for supplies and to have power over other European countries (the country with the supplies could sell it at high prices to other countries). Now, we enter a time where Spain, having discovered the fourth part of the world, wanted to plunder the lands of the Americas to gain wealth in gold and silver. At this point, Portuguese sailors are still working on the route to the east. Travels to the east and the west overlapped for a while. Everything that Spain discovered in the West, they claimed as their own property and set up governments there.
Key word: Conquistador (Spanish word meaning "Conqueror" for the conquering men who led armies and were responsible for killing vast numbers of natives for the purpose of taking over their lands and their wealth for Spain.)
vasco Núñez de Balboa
was a Spanish explorer who explored and conquered the area between Colombia and Nicaragua. After his first expedition in 1501, he moved and settled as a farmer on the island of Hispaniola, but with time, he went bankrupt. Fleeing his debtors, he stowed away on a ship headed to South America in 1509.
He quickly proved his worth by sharing his knowledge of the area. He helped establish the Spanish town of Darien in Panama in 1510, which was the first permanent European settlement in North American mainland. He became a temporary (interim) governonr over the town.
It is said that Balboa had heard of a wealthy empire existed to the south. So, he led an expedition to the southwest in search for this empire and gold. 24 days later, his group of 190 soldiers and 1000 natives finally crossed the 45 miles of the jungle and discovered the Pacific Ocean instead. He named it the South Sea. It was September 29, 1513.
According to History.com, he got permission from the new governor to go on another expedition in 1517-1518 and had ships built and then carried over the mountains to be put together in the Pacific. He explored the western coasts of the Americas, claiming all the land that touched it for Spain (all the way down the South American coast and all the way up the Central American and North American coast.) In 1519, the governor plotted against Balboa and he was sentenced to death in court and beheaded.
As detailed in the book Blood and Soil: A World History of Genocide and Extermination from Sparta to Darfur by Ben Kiernan (p. 81), he was so thirsty for gold that he turned on the natives. He wrote to the king in support of genocide (wiping out the whole race), claiming that they were bad people. During 1513, he had hundreds of natives killed, including many chiefs who claimed they had no gold. In September, he came across a village with 40 of its leaders dressed as women. Because in his religion this is seen as vile, corrupt behavior, he fed about 40 of these men to his dogs. This is the first recorded time where homosexuality (whether that’s what was going on or Balboa misinterpreted the situation) was punished by the Catholic religion in the New World.
This explorer's evil deeds is often left out of biographical accounts, even though the atrocities he committed against the natives were among the very worst the New World had seen.
Bartolomé de las Casas chapter on Balboa: http://www.columbia.edu/~daviss/work/files/presentations/casshort/
Hernán Cortez
(or Hernando Cortez) left Spain at 19 years old to find his fortune in the Caribbean. He went from Santo Domingo to Cuba. While he was there, he heard stories of gold in Mexico and South America. In 1519 Cortez left Cuba on an expedition to Mexico, even though he was ordered not to. He went with over 500 men and 11 ships. In Mexico, Cortez and his men came upon various native peoples, whom they fought. They were outnumbered 300 to 1, but they eventually overcame the natives due to their guns, metal armor and horses. He set his sights on conquering the powerful Aztec empire, and he used the hate between the Aztecs and the surrounding natives to his advantage. He made it into the capital of the Aztec empire (Mexico City) on November 8, 1519 and was able to take the emperor Montezuma hostage and ruled the Aztecs through him. He forced them to mine for silver and gold, which he shipped back to Spain. The Aztecs became angry at the cowardness of their emperor and killed him one night when he was exposed. Cortez ran away from the capital city when he heard that he was going to be arrested for disobeying orders.
Francisco Pizarro (1476-1541)
grew up poor in Spain, herding pigs. In his 30's, he headed to Colombia, accompanying another voyager. Three years later, he joined Balboa on his expedition to the Pacific Coast in 1513. (Pizarro was also the person that, according to Biography.com, arrested Balboa for the governor of Panama.)
In 1524, he and Almagro (who knew how to navigate a ship) got together with a crew, and they sailed along the coast of South America, exploring with a ship that was furnished by the governor of Panama. He decided he wanted to conquer the land and set up a Spanish province there. He learned of the Inca empire and its wealth. In 1528, he sought permission from Spain to go in and conquer the area.
Pizarro got permission and in 1531, he left Panama. In Peru, the Inca had been in conflict for some time because their emperor had died from smallpox, his heir had died as well, and the two surviving brothers both wanted to be the next emperor. The next fall, they entered the land of the Inca and met with the emperor. It is said that Atahualpa refused to convert to Christianity and threw the Bible on the ground. So, Pizarro's team took the Inca emperor Atahualpa hostage. Pizarro asked for a very large ransom to be paid in turn for the emperor's release. The natives filled a room from floor to ceiling with silver and gold, but Pizarro had Atahualpa executed, anyway. Pizarro marveled at the amazing architecture.
Eventually, Pizarro and Almagro started to distrust and dislike each other and they had their own feud. Pizarro plotted to have Almagro killed in 1538. Almagro's family started plotting to get revenge and Pizarro was killed, too, in 1541.
Between the introduction of smallpox and other diseases, the civil unrest among the Inca, the tribes who were unhappily under Inca rule, and the Spanish with their guns and metal armor and weapons, the Inca empire was no more by the year 1572.
Francisco Coronado
commanded an expedition which left from western Mexico in 1540. He was searching for the Seven Golden Cities of Cibola. Coronado rode through northern Mexico and into what are now Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. He did not find any golden cities, but he discovered the Pueblo Indians. Coronado was upset at not finding the cities of gold. He sent men off in different directions with orders to find them. His men found the Grand Canyon instead. Coronado would not give up. He marched his army east and found buffalo and grassy plains, but no gold. Coronado claimed all the land over which he and his men had traveled in the name of Spain. He died in 1554 in financial ruin.
Hernando de Soto
participated in the conquests of Central America and Peru, but he also explored the southern part of what is now the United States. On May 30, 1539 de Soto and his men entered Florida. After hearing stories of Cabeza de Vaca about Florida and the Gulf Coast states. The map shows his route from Florida north to Georgia. Then, west. He encountered the Mississippi River in 1541 where it passes by Memphis, Tennessee and was the first European to see it. Because his goal was to find gold, he forced many native locals to give him supplies and took many natives prisoner. This led to many fierce battles. One of the worst was in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He died from a fever in Louisiana in 1542, and he never found the riches that he had sold all of his belongings for.
Other notes: Before De Soto entered Alabama in 1540, there was no recorded history of the people who lived here. While he was in Alabama, he ran into the Coosa Indians, who lived near where the DeSoto caverns are. The leader, Micco, was extremely welcoming to De Soto and his group, but DeSoto took him hostage, took prisoners, and raided their food supplies.