CHAPTER 17 LESSON 1

CHAPTER 17 LESSON 1

European Exploration and Expansion

ESSENTIAL QUESTION

What are the effects of political and economic expansion?

Motives and Means

For almost a thousand years, most Europeans had remained in their small region of the world. Then, between 1500 and 1800, European explorers used improved sailing ships to travel and explore the rest of the world.

MARCO POLO

European explorers had long been attracted to Asia. In the late thirteenth century, Marco Polo traveled from Venice with his father and uncle to the Chinese court of the great Mongol ruler Kublai Khan (KOO • bluh KAHN).

OTTOMAN EMPIRE

In the fourteenth century, conquests by the Ottoman Turks reduced the ability of Westerners to travel by land to the East. People then spoke of gaining access to Asia by sea.

SPICE TRADE

Economic motives loom large in European expansion. Merchants, adventurers, and state officials had high hopes of expanding trade, especially for the spices of the East. The spices, which were needed to preserve and flavor food, were very expensive after Arab middlemen shipped them to Europe

GOLD, GLORY, GOD

It has been said that “Gold, glory, and God” were the key motives for European expansion. This statement suggests another reason for the overseas voyages: religious zeal. 

Multiple Choice

Which of the following was a major factor in European expansion?

• A.proof that Earth was round

• B.religious zeal

• C.political apathy

• D.fear of African empires

CARAVEL

New sailing technology made the voyages of discovery possible. Europeans had now reached a level of ship design that enabled them to make long-distance voyages beyond Europe. The Portuguese invented a ship, called the caravel, that was faster than previous models.

NAVIGATION TOOLS

European explorers also had more accurate maps because of advances in cartography, the art and science of mapmaking. Sailors used the astrolabe, an invention of Greek astronomers, to plot their latitude using the sun or stars. The magnetic compass, invented in China, also helped sailors chart a course across the ocean.

Multiple Choice

The Portuguese were the first successful European explorers because they

• A.had the strongest desire for riches among all European countries.

• B.focused entirely on trade and did not waste money establishing colonies.

• C.invented a faster ship that also held a large amount of cargo.

• D.were more determined because of their strong religious goals.

WINDS AND CURRENTS

Another factor assisting European explorers was their increasing knowledge of wind patterns of the Atlantic Ocean. The winds, ocean currents, and climate influenced the journeys of the early sailing vessels that depended on them

Open Ended

Explaining What does the phrase "Gold, glory, and God" mean?

Portuguese Explorers

Beginning in 1420, under the sponsorship of Prince Henry the Navigator, Portuguese fleets began probing southward along the western coast of Africa. There, they discovered a new source of gold. The southern coast of West Africa became known to Europeans as the Gold Coast.

DIAS AND DE GAMA

 In 1488 Bartholomeu Dias reached the tip, later called the Cape of Good Hope, and returned. Next, Vasco da Gama went around Africa and cut across the Indian Ocean to the coast of India. In May 1498, he arrived off the port of Calicut. After da Gama returned to Portugal, he made a large profit from the cargo of spices he obtained in India.

PORTUGUESE SPICE TRADE

The Portuguese Admiral Afonso de Albuquerque (AL • buh • KUR • kee) established a port at Goa, India. Later, Albuquerque sailed into Melaka, a thriving spice trade port on the Malay Peninsula. By taking over Melaka, the Portuguese destroyed Arab control of the spice trade and gained a stopping place on the long journey to the Moluccas, then known as the Spice Islands.

Multiple Choice

Portuguese explorers sailed to India in search of

• A.gold.

• B.peoples to conquer.

• C.spices to trade.

• D.weapons.

Spanish Explorers

hile the Portuguese sailed south along the coast of Africa, then east through the Indian Ocean, the Spanish sailed west across the Atlantic Ocean to find the route to Asia.

COLUMBUS

Christopher Columbus believed he could reach Asia by sailing west instead of east around Africa. Columbus persuaded Queen Isabella of Spain to finance an exploratory expedition. In October 1492, he reached the Americas, where he explored the coastline of Cuba and the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean. 

MAGELLAN PART 1

Another important explorer funded by Spain was Ferdinand Magellan. In September 1519, he set sail from Spain in search of a sea passage through the Americas. In October 1520, Magellan passed through a waterway along the tip of South America, later called the Strait of Magellan, into the Pacific Ocean. 

MAGELLAN PART 2

The fleet reached the Philippines, but indigenous people there killed Magellan. Although only one of Magellan’s ships returned to Spain, as the leader of the expedition, he is remembered as the first person to sail completely around the globe.

New Lands to Explore

Spain and Portugal each feared that the other would claim some of its newly discovered territories. They resolved their concerns over control of the Americas with the Treaty of Tordesillas, signed in 1494.

TREATY OF TOREDESILLAS

The treaty called for a boundary line extending from north to south through the Atlantic Ocean and the easternmost part of the South American continent. Unexplored territories east of the line would be controlled by Portugal, and those west of the line by Spain.

JOHN CABOT

 A Venetian seaman, John Cabot, explored the New England coastline of the Americas on behalf of England in 1497

CABRAL

The Portuguese sea captain Pedro Cabral landed in South America in 1500, which established Portugal’s claim to the region later named Brazil. 

AMERIGO=AMERICA

Amerigo Vespucci (veh • SPOO • chee), a Florentine, went along on several voyages. His letters describing the lands he saw led to the use of the name America (after Amerigo) for the new lands.

Open Ended

Interpreting How were the first explorations of Spain and Portugal similar and different?

Conquest of the Aztec

For a century, the Aztec ruled much of central Mexico from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific coast. Most local officials accepted the authority of the Aztec king in the capital Tenochtitlán, which was located at the site of modern-day Mexico City.

HERNAN CORTES

In 1519 a Spanish force under the command of Hernán Cortés landed at Veracruz, on the Gulf of Mexico. Cortés marched to Tenochtitlán with a small number of troops—550 soldiers and 16 horses—and two translators. As he went, he made alliances with city-states that had tired of the oppressive rule of the Aztec. Particularly important was the alliance with Tlaxcala

DEFEAT OF THE AZTECS

In November, Cortés arrived at Tenochtitlán and was welcomed by the Aztec monarch Montezuma II (Moctezuma II). The Aztec were astounded to see the unfamiliar sight of men on horseback with firearms, cannons, and steel swords. These weapons gave the Spaniards a great advantage in fighting the Aztec.

DISEASE

With no natural immunity to European diseases, many Aztec fell sick and died, especially from smallpox carried to the Americas by the Spaniards. Meanwhile, Cortés received fresh soldiers from his new allies in city-states such as Tlaxcala. After four months, the Aztec surrendered. 

Multiple Choice

A contributing factor to the defeat of both the Aztec and Inca was

• A.fighting between the Aztec and Inca.

• B.their lack of immunity to European diseases, especially smallpox.

• C.the trusting nature of the populations.

• D.the difficulty involved in defending buildings made of stone.

Conquest of the Inca

In early 1531, Francisco Pizarro landed on the Pacific coast of South America with only a small band of about 180 men. Like Cortés, Pizarro brought steel weapons, gunpowder, and horses. The Inca had never before seen these things.

DISEASE PART DUEX

The Spanish also brought smallpox. Like the Aztec, the Inca had no immunities to European diseases. Smallpox soon devastated entire villages. Even the Inca emperor was a victim.

CONQUEST OF CUZCO

When the emperor died, both of his sons claimed the throne. This led to a civil war. Taking advantage of the situation, Pizarro captured Atahuallpa, the new emperor. With their stones, arrows, and light spears, Inca warriors provided little challenge to Spanish technology.

After executing Atahuallpa, Pizarro, his soldiers, and their Inca allies sacked Cuzco, the Inca capital.

Open Ended

Comparing and Contrasting How were the conquests of the Aztec and the Inca similar and different?

European Rivals

In the early seventeenth century, Dutch settlements were established on the North American continent and named New Netherland. The colony extended from the mouth of the present-day Hudson River as far north as present-day Albany, New York. This settlement and others never flourished because of the West India Company’s commercial goals. Fur trading, with its remote outposts, did not encourage settlement.

THE DUTCH

After 1660, the Dutch commercial empire in the Americas fell to its rivals, the English and the French. In 1664 the English seized the colony of New Netherland from the Dutch and renamed it New York. The Dutch West India Company soon went bankrupt.

THE FRENCH

During the seventeenth century, the French colonized parts of what is now Canada, then named New France, and Louisiana. In 1608 Samuel de Champlain founded Quebec, the first permanent French settlement in the Americas. When New France became a royal province in 1663, with its own governor, military commander, and soldiers, the population grew and the colony developed. 

THE ENGLISH

By the end of the seventeenth century, the English had established control over most of the eastern seaboard of North America. They had also set up sugar plantations on several Caribbean islands. Nevertheless, compared to the enormous Spanish empire in Latin America, the North American colonies were of minor importance to the English economy.

Open Ended

Locating Where were the earliest settlements of the Dutch, French, and English in the Americas?

Multiple Choice

Which of the following began to take over Portuguese and Spanish claims in the Americas in the late 1500s?

• A.Dutch, French, and English

• B.Aztec and Inca

• C.South Americans

• D.West Indians

Open Ended

What are the effects of political and economic expansion?