Very few ship captains had the skill and patience that the astrolabe required.

Columbus and his men went ashore, becoming the first Europeans to set foot  on one of the islands of the Bahamas.

Believing he was off the coast of India, Columbus called the islanders “Indians.”

In August 1492, Ferdinand Magellan sailed from Spain with three small ships.

The Portuguese feared that their line of demarcation was so far to the east that Spain might take over their Asian trade.

The Treaty of Tordesillas divided the entire unexplored world between just two powers, Spain and France.

Magellan’s ship and the two other remaining ships finally passed through the strait into the South Sea, which had been discovered and named six years earlier by Vasco Núñez de Balboa.

In 1519 an expedition led by Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese soldier of fortune, set sail from Seville under the Spanish flag to find a western route to Asia.

The five ships and 260-man crew of Magellan sailed across the Atlantic and made their way along the eastern coast of South America, searching every bay and inlet for this route.

Thinking that Cortés might be the long-awaited god-king Quetzalcoatl returning from the east, Aztec ruler Montezuma II offered gifts of gold.

In 1500, less than six months after da Gama’s return, 13 ships were dispatched to Calicut.

Guided by Malinche, a Native American woman who learned Spanish, Pizarro allied with local enemies of the Aztec and journeyed inland to Tenochtitlán.

Feudalism brought far-reaching changes to global cultures.

In the 1600s the greatest increase in trade took place in the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea – Italy, Austria, Ottoman Empire, and the Greece–in large part because they had the largest colonial empires.

Merchants prospered most from the expansion of trade and empire.  They began to surpass the nobility in both wealth and power.

As gold and silver flowed into Europe from abroad, the supply of coined money increased.  This, in turn, led to inflation, or a dramatic decrease in prices. 

Under mercantilism, nations could gain wealth by mining gold and silver at home or overseas.

Mercantilists governments sold monopolies, or the right to operate free of local competition, to producers in certain key industries.

The primary reason for having colonies was to help make the parent country depended on the colonies.

To increase national wealth, governments often aided businesses producing export goods

Mercantilists believed that the measure of a nation’s wealth was the amount of bullion, or gold and silver, it owned.

Joint-stock companies enabled large and small investors to share the profits and risks of a trading voyage. 

By the 1600s, European nations competed for markets and trade goods.

The decline in the Native American population led the Spaniards to bring over enslaved workers from Africa.

Inca resistance continued, but Spanish forces eventually conquered vast stretches of Inca territory in South America.

Guided by Malinche, a Native American woman who learned Spanish, Cortés allied with local enemies of the Aztec and journeyed inland to Tenochtitlán.

Cabral claimed Cuba for Portugal as he swung west across the Atlantic to India in 1500.

Magellan's voyage was valuable because it proved several things - The oceans of the world were connected and the lands discovered by Columbus were not part of Asia.

In 1494 Spain and Portugal signed the Treaty of Tordesillas, an agreement to move the line of demarcation farther west.

Individual merchants who wanted to invest in 

exploration often raised money by combining their

resources in co-ops, 

organizations that sold stock, or shares, 

in the venture.

Easy-to-grow food crops, such as the 

potato, fed Europe’s growing population. They exchanged food, ideas, and practices with the peoples living in these areas, profoundly influencing local cultures

In 1450 Europe had about 55 million people; by 1650, Europeans numbered about 100 million. 

Europe’s growing population demanded more goods and services, which was met by Europe’s increasing contacts with the rest of the world.

By the 1600s, nations competed for 

markets and trade goods.

New business methods were 

instituted for investing money, 

speeding the flow of wealth, and 

reducing risks in commercial 

ventures.

These changes in the 1400s, which came to be known as the Communist Revolution, formed the roots of modern financial and business life.

Socialism is the economic system in which money is invested in business to make profits.

Launching an overseas trading venture was an extremely minor financial

 undertaking.  

Governments and rich merchants alone had

 enough money to back such trading voyages, and even 

they needed financial assistance.

At first merchants turned to 

banking families like the Marx of Germany and the 

Engles of London, for the money to 

finance their ventures. 

The banks accepted deposits of money and charged

 interest on loans.  Before long the banks began to provide 

other services.

Banks issued banknotes and checks, acted as money 

changers, and provided official exchange rates for foreign 

currency.

Individual merchants who wanted to invest in 

exploration often raised money by combining their

resources in joint-stock companies, 

organizations that sold stock, or shares, 

in the venture. 

Joint-stock companies enabled large and small 

investors to share the profits and risks of a trading

voyage. A few joint-stock companies became 

rich and powerful through government support.

This search for wealth led to the rise of modern socialism, an economic system in which money is invested in business to make profits.

The Means of Production include Land, Labor, and Money

As gold and silver flowed into Europe from abroad, 

the supply of coined money increased.  This, in turn, 

led to deflation, or a dramatic rise in prices.

Money, however, became more widely available for large enterprises, and ideas changed about the nature and goals of business. Individuals known as entrepreneurs combined money, ideas, raw materials, and labor to make goods and profits. 

In the 1600s the greatest increase in trade took place in the countries bordering the Mediterranean–Italy, Venice, Naples and the Byzantine Empire–in large part because they had the largest colonial empires.

A new theory of national economic policy called 

mercantilism–the theory that a state’s power depended on 

its wealth–appeared Europeans believed that the measure 

of a nation’s wealth was the amount of bullion, or gold and 

silver, it owned. 

Under mercantilism, nations could gain wealth by mining gold and silver at home or overseas. Nations sought to create a favorable balance of trade by exporting more goods than they imported. The gold and silver received for exports would exceed that paid for imports.

To increase national wealth, governments often aided businesses producing export goods: 

–They sold monopolies, or the right to operate free of local competition, to producers in certain key industries.

–Capitalist countries also set tariffs, or taxes on exports, to protect local industries from foreign competitors. 

Colonies, or overseas territories ruled by a parent country, were highly valued in the mercantilist system. 

The primary reason for having colonies was to help make the parent country self-sufficient.

In 1450 Europe had about 55 million people; by 1650, Europeans numbered about 100 million. 

Europe’s growing population demanded more goods and services, which was met by Europe’s increasing contacts with the rest of the world.

As Europe’s trade expanded, it contributed to a worldwide exchange of people, goods, technologies, ideas, and even diseases  that had profound consequences for the   entire globe. 

Known as the Pizzaro Exchange, 

after Francisco Pizzaro, the transfer 

of products from continent to continent 

brought changes in ways of life 

throughout the world. 

Although Prince Henry the Navigator, son of King John I of Portugal, was not a sailor, but he brought together mapmakers, mathematicians, and astronomers to study navigation.