Transcript Age of Exploration

Age of Exploration
Exploration of the New World
• 15th century- New
World and Far East
– 1400
– 1325: no regular traffic
b/w northern and
southern Europe
Why did Europeans begin exploring at
this time?
• Population- Black Deathnever recovered
• Role of national
governments
– Italy and Germany cut out
• Scarce items
– Couldn’t produce
themselves
• Renaissance
– No desire to look ‘beyond’
during Middle AgesRenaissance led to
curiosity
– World as sphere 1409
(Ptolemy)
– New inventions
The Beginnings of Exploration
• Portuguese
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Led in exploration along Africa
Prince Henry the Navigator
Gold Coast (Africa)
Bartholomew Diaz
Slave trade
Treaty of Torsedillas in 1494- divided world
Vasco De Garna- reached India
Trading posts in India
Spread Christianity
• Jesuits in Japan in 1549
The Beginnings of Exploration
• Spanish
– Columbus- landed at San
Salvador
• Population of Hispanola:
1,000,000 in 1493 to
100,000 by 1510
• Black slaves
– Ferdinand Magellan
• Found the Pacific
• Arrived in Philippines
– Conquistadors
• Cortes- Aztec empire
(Mexico)
• Pizarro- Incan empire
(Peru)
– Influx of wealth created
inflation in the rest of
Europe
Social Results of Exploration and
Expansion
• Technology
– Ship building
– Galleons before; Caravel
developed by Portugeuse
• Gold and silver coming in
– Bullion led to price
increases
• Price of food rose
• Some things no longer
‘luxuries’
• Industry thrived
Social Results of Exploration and
Expansion
• Slavery
– Portugal dominated
– Chief market was South
America
– Almost always got slaves
from other African tribes
• Africans already practiced
slavery
– Why?
– Conditions
– Pace at which they were
taken increased
– Controversy at once
• Inhumane vs. economic
necessity
Social Results of Exploration and
Expansion
• The Columbian Exchange
– Alfred W. Crosby
– Transfer of biological materials
• Most important: food
– Potato, fish, tomato, corn
• Sugar trade- Brazil
• Beverages
– Coffee, chocolate and tea
– Approved by Protestants
• Cooking techniques
– Barbecue
• Disease
– Measles, small pox, mumps, pneumonia
– 90% w/in first decade
– Total drop: 25-30 million to less than 5 million in 150 years after
Columbus
Columbian Exchange
Commercial Revolution
• World-wide capitalism
• Mercantilism
– Government regulated
– Non-unified countries couldn’t compete
– Amount of wealth was fixed
Commercial Revolution
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Spain and Portugal
Early lead in exploration
Population of Portugal was too small
Spain
– Hurt agricultural base
– Religious persecution
– Money from overseas = inflation
Commercial Revolution
• Netherlands
– Dutch East India
company
– West India company
• Private authorized by
state
– Better ships and lower
freight rates
– Religious toleration
– Too small in numbers
Commercial Revolution
• England
– Prevailed in long run
– Inferior in population to France
– Geographic isolation
– Laws benefitted trade and banking
• Navigation Acts
– Had to put into English ports
– Relative religious toleration
– Distance from mother country to colonies shorter
Commercial Revolution
• Other economic developments
– Banking and accounting
• Bank of Sweden; Bank of England
• Joint stock companies
Commercial Revolution
• The Domestic System
– ‘Cottage industry
system’ a.k.a. putting
out system
• Suitable for cloth, buttons
and knives
• First in England
– Advantages:
• Increased employment
• Not regulated by guilds
• Specialization
Commercial Revolution
• Second Agricultural
Revolution
– Fortunes in trade =
buying land
• Middle Ages: 1/3 left
fallow
• Farmers alternated crops
– Systems of rotation
developed
• Bigger & healthier herds
• Large amounts of land
• Enclosure- took land of
commoners- new class of
tenant farmers