Transcript first contact

First Contact
Exploration
1450 – 1600 was Europe’s age of exploration.
Explorers would convince monarchs to give them money to
explore the world and find new paths to the Asian market.
In 1492 Christopher Columbus was able to get some money
from the Queen of Spain and ventured to find a quick and
easy path to Asia.
Instead, he landed in San Salvador in Central America.
This started the colonization of the America’s.
Exploration
Some definitions to know
Colonization – to settle and control new lands in the
name of another country.
Imperialism – the policy of extending control of a
region or regions by one nation. Imperialsim involves
both economic and political control.
Exploration
Even though Christopher Columbus did not find a
new path to Asia, he and many others started to realize
what they found was new territory.
Everyone in Europe made a mad dash to collect more
territory.
Portugal, Britain and France all sent explorers
westward to search out new land. They all avoided the
south – territory that Spain had begun to take over –
and headed north instead.
Exploration
Spain – controlled Central America and into South
America
Portugal took over territory what we now know as Florida.
Many British ships took over territory that we now know as
USA and a good chunk of Canada.
The French took over some parts of the USA (Louisiana for
example) and Quebec.
Upon taking over this territory, all original countries
implemented the policy of imperialism.
Little did they know the challenge of trying to take over a
territory all ready occupied by others…
The Vikings
Long before the French, British, Spanish and etc…
colonized land in America, there were the Vikings.
The Vikings were people from the Scandinavian
countries – Sweden, Norway and Denmark.
Many Vikings, around the year 1000, decided to leave
their home land in search of new, or possible better,
opportunities elsewhere.
Most Vikings made their way to Iceland and
Greenland where the established colonies.
The Vikings
Some Vikings made their way into the North-Eastern parts
of Canada – Newfoundland, Labrador and Northern
Quebec.
Many Vikings that came to North-Eastern Canada failed at
establishing a settlement or permanent community.
This was mostly due to the difficult climate and constantly
being in battle with local Native people.
The Vikings were often attacked and driven off the land.
Oddly enough, after approximately a couple hundred of
years, the Vikings mysteriously disappeared.
Be careful of what you find
Observe the image on page 218
Romanticize – to make a story seem more happy and
pleasant then it is in reality.
Early European Arrivals
By the end of the 1400’s, European countries were
trying to find a way to break down Portugal’s
monopoly on trade with Asia.
Monopoly – complete control of a market for a certain
good or service.
In 1847, King George VII of England gave Italian
explorer John Cabot money to find a route to the
Asian market.
Early European Arrivals
Now to be an explorer for a specific monarchy, you need to
have a letters patent – a royal document that set out terms
and permissions for the voyage.
Cabot’s letters patent gave him the right to, “seek out,
discover, and finde whatsoever isles, countreys, regions, or
provinces of the heathen and infidel,” and “subdue, occupy
and possesse all such townes, cities, castles and isles of them
found.”
Heathen - is a non-Christian
Infidel – non-believer, and in most cases, non-Christian.
Early European Arrivals
Notice some of the interesting spelling of words on
these letters.
Also, how many castles would you find in North
America? This showed how little knowledge these
monarchs and explorers had about territory they were
to pass through.
Most notable, these patents somehow gave a country
the right to take over another territory.
Early European Arrivals
Cabot, on his ship called “The Matthew” set sail to find
Japan or China.
As such he knew he had to sail in a more northerly
direction than that of Columbus.
As such, he ran smack dab into Northern Canada.
He had no idea what this land was, and as per his patent he
declared this “New Found Land” territory of the British
Empire.
Hence, we get Newfoundland.
Thinking Process
Take a moment to think about what this must have
been like for the native people of Eastern Canada – to
see this bizarre object coming towards your land, and
this odd man screaming that he declares this land as
British territory – yet not understanding what he is
saying because of the language barrier.
Would you want to work with these people, list some
pros and cons
The French Exploration
Not to be outdone by Britain and Spain, in 1534
France commissioned Jacques Cartier to find a
Northwest passage to Asia.
Cartier found his way across the Atlantic Ocean and
made way for what we now know as PEI and New
Brunswick.
Upon reaching the Gaspe Peninsula (territory in
between New Brunswick and Quebec) he claimed the
territory for France.
The French Exploration
Upon claiming this land, he ran into Iroquois natives and
ended up kidnapping two of them – Taignoagny and
Domagaya, and returned back to France.
In 1535 Cartier returned to explore a great river he saw on
his first journey – the St. Lawrence River.
For guidance, Cartier relied on Taignoagny and Domagaya
to help make their way down the St. Lawrence River.
Now the St. Lawrence river is very rocky, dangerous and at
points could hardly fit a ship that sailed across the ocean.
The French Exploration
He eventually arrived in Stadacona, near now-a-day
Quebec City.
Against all odds, he decided to make his way down the
St. Lawrence to Hochelga, near Montreal. After
Hochelga, he stopped as the St. Lawrence became very
narrow and much more difficult to navigate through.
Not only that, but he hit the winter weather and could
not make their way back through the St. Lawrence and
stayed in Stadacona.
The French Exploration
Cartier started to lose sailors to scurvy – a lack of Vitamin
C.
Thanks to the help of Domagaya, who created vitamin –C
rich tea from spruce bark and needles, many sailors were
able to survive.
When weather permitted, Cartier kidnapped more Iroquios
Native people and head back to France.
Most of these people died when they got to Europe as they
had no immunity to the diseases that spread rampant
around Europe.
Suffice to say, relations between the Iroquois and the French
were not so good.