What was the easternmost city da Gama reached

CHAPTER 19 THE AGE OF EXPLORATION

EUROPEANS EXPLORE THE EAST New desire for contact with Asia develops in Europe in early 1400s Main reason for exploration is to gain wealth Contact during Crusades spurs demand for Asian goods and spices Italy profited the most from trade with the East after the Crusades Muslims and Italians control trade from East to West

AGE OF EXPLORATION BEGINS Desire to spread Christianity and find new sources of wealth spurs exploration Advances in sailing technology made long voyages for the purpose of exploration possible In 1400s, the caravel makes it possible to sail against wind Astrolabe makes navigation easier Magnetic compass improves tracking of direction Prince Henry of Portugal influences European exploration by setting up (founding) a navigational school Portugal was the leader of sailing innovations in the 15th century (1400s)

BARTOLOMEU DIAS Portuguese explorer who was the first European to sail around the southern tip of Africa Cape of Good Hope is the name of the location Dias sailed to His route stopped just east of Cape Town

VASCO DA GAMA Portuguese sailor who succeeded in gaining a sea route between Portugal and India The easternmost city Vasco da Gama reached was Calicut, India

TREATY OF TORDESILLAS Portugal complained that the Line of Demarcation (1493), which was a boundary between Spain and Portugal, gave too much to Spain Spain and Portugal argued over which nation had the rights to the land Columbus had claimed In 1494, both countries signed this treaty Portugal won control over the east – Africa, India, and Asia Spain won control over the Americas

EAST INDIA COMPANIES In the 1600s, the English and the Dutch (Netherlands) controlled trade in the East Indies They were able to secure power in the Indian Ocean because they set up East India Companies to control Asian trade The Dutch dominated Indian Ocean trade in the 1700s These companies were like governments that had the power to make money, sign treaties, and create armies

BARTOLOME DE LAS CASAS Catholic priest from Spain Protested terrible treatment of Native Americans He did, however, advocate using African laborers Spoke out against the encomienda system Encomienda system - Spanish forced Native Americans to work for them; provided a cheap labor source Spanish felt it was their God-given right to demand labor from Native Americans

CHAPTER 20 The Atlantic World

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS Genoese sea captain Christopher Columbus reached Americas in1492 He believed he was in the East Indies (present-day India), so he called the natives “los indios” (Indians) Actually landed on an island in the Bahamas (San Salvador)

HERNANDO (HERNAN) CORTES 1519 – Hernando Cortes landed in Mexico He is known as a conquistador, or Spanish conqueror Cortes and 600 men captured the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan and by 1521, they conquered the Aztec empire Cortes and the Spanish were able to conquer the Aztec due to superior steel weapons, the use of horses, and other Native American allies European diseases also wiped out large numbers of Aztecs

FRANCISCO PIZZARO Spanish conquistador, Francisco Pizarro, led a force to the conquer the Inca Empire (present-day Peru) in 1532 Pizarro killed the Inca ruler, Atahualpa, and eventually crushed the Inca Empire

OTHER EXPLORERS Pedro Alvares Cabral claimed Brazil for Portugal (1500) By the 1530s, the Portuguese settled in Brazil and began growing sugar Italian explorer, Amerigo Vespucci, identified South America as new continent (1501) In 1507, German mapmaker named the continents (North and South America) “America” Vasco Nunez de Balboa was the first European to reach the Pacific Ocean Ferdinand Magellan left Spain to sail around the world (1519); he was killed and his crew completed the first voyage that circumnavigated the world in 1522

SPAIN’S PATTERN OF CONQUEST Spanish men and Native American women have children Result is large mestizo—mixed Spanish and native—population Encomienda system—Spanish force Native Americans to work for them

AFRICAN SLAVERY AND NATIVE RESISTANCE Spain abolished encomienda system (1542) Enslaved Africans were now used as labor in mines and on farms Some Native Americans resisted Spanish conquerors In 1680, Popé leads rebellion against Spanish in modern New Mexico Spanish were driven out, but returned 12 years later to stay

EUROPEAN NATIONS SETTLE NORTH AMERICA Several European nations fought for control of North America, and England emerged victorious French, English, Dutch started colonies in North America European nations also started colonies in Caribbean where large cotton and sugar plantations were worked by enslaved Africans

NEW FRANCE Samuel de Champlain founded Quebec New France—French colony in North America New France included Great Lakes and Mississippi River valley New France was very large but had few inhabitants Main activity of the colony was the fur trade

THE ENGLISH ARRIVE IN NORTH AMERICA King James permitted investors to start North American colony In 1607, colonists founded Jamestown—English settlement in Virginia (first English colony in Americas) Early years were very difficult; many died, but settlement took hold Pilgrims—group persecuted for religion—founded Plymouth in 1620 Puritans—group that sought religious freedom—settled in Massachusetts

NEW NETHERLAND In 1609, Henry Hudson explored waterways for Dutch Dutch claimed land and founded New Netherland—now Albany and New York City New York City was called New Amsterdam under the Dutch Dutch focused on fur trade; welcomed settlers from other lands

ENGLAND CLAIMS VICTORY In 1664, English forced Dutch colonists to surrender control of New Netherland; New Netherland became New York By 1750, about 1.2 million English settlers in 13 colonies English settlers, pushing west, collide with French possessions French and Indian War—part of Seven Years’ War—begins (1754) In 1763, France loses to Britain, gives up its American colonies

NATIVES FALL TO DISEASE Wars were less deadly to Native Americans than European diseases Colonists used enslaved Africans to work in place of Native Americans

CAUSES OF AFRICAN SLAVERY Slavery existed in Africa for centuries Spread of Islam produced more slavery in Africa In African Muslim lands, slaves had some rights Need for workers in Americas raised demand for enslaved Africans Africans were able to withstand diseases, had farming skills, and were unlikely to escape Atlantic slave trade—forced movement of many Africans to Americas; many African families were torn apart

AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE (1500-1870)

THE TRIANGULAR TRADE Triangular trade—trade network that linked Europe, Africa, Americas Manufactured goods move from Europe to Africa People move from Africa to Americas Sugar, coffee, tobacco move from Americas to Europe Voyage of enslaved Africans to Americas known as the Middle Passage As many as 20 percent of Africans died on these journeys

COLUMBIAN EXCHANGE Columbian Exchange—global transfer of food, plants, animals Corn and potatoes from Americas became crops in Eastern Hemisphere New animals and plants introduced by Europeans take hold in Americas European diseases killed millions of Native Americans

RISE OF CAPITALISM New economic system—capitalism—based on private property and making a profit Increase in business led to inflation—rising prices—in Europe Hauls of gold and silver from Americas caused high inflation in Spain Joint-stock company allows investors to share the risk and profits of businesses These joint-stock companies helped to fund colonies in America

MERCANTILISM Policy of mercantilism emphasizes national wealth as source of power One way for nation to increase wealth: gather gold, silver Favorable balance of trade when nation sells more goods than it buys Colonies provide raw materials that home country uses to make goods

In 1488, Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias (c. 1450-1500) became the first European mariner to round the southern tip of Africa, opening the way for a sea route from Europe to Asia. Dias’ ships rounded the perilous Cape of Good Hope and then sailed around Africa’s southernmost point, Cabo das Agulhas, to enter the waters of the Indian Ocean. 

Portugal and other European nations already had long-established trade ties to Asia, but the arduous overland route had been closed in the 1450s due to the Ottoman Empire’s conquest of the remnants of the Byzantine Empire. A major maritime victory for Portugal, Dias’ breakthrough opened the door to increased trade with India and other Asian powers. It also prompted Genoan explorer Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), then living in Portugal, to seek a new royal patron for a mission to establish his own sea route to the Far East.

An Ambitious Plan

Almost nothing is known about the life of Bartolomeu de Novaes Dias before 1487, except that he was at the court of João II, or King John II of Portugal (1455-1495), and was a superintendent of the royal warehouses. He likely had much more sailing experience than his one recorded stint aboard the warship São Cristóvão. Dias was probably in his mid- to late-30s in 1486 when King João II appointed him to head an expedition in search of a sea route to India.

Did you know? According to Greek historian Herodotus of Halicarnassus (c. 484-c. 425 B.C.), Egyptian pharaoh Necho II (d. 595 B.C.) sent Phoenician sailors out from the Arabian Gulf to sail around the African continent. Their journey took three years.

King João II was entranced by the legend of Prester John, a mysterious and probably apocryphal 12th-century leader of a nation of Christians somewhere in Africa whose kingdom included the Fountain of Youth. King João II sent out a pair of explorers, Afonso de Paiva (c. 1460-c. 1490) and Pêro da Covilhã (c. 1450-c. 1526), to search overland for the Christian kingdom in Ethiopia. King João II also wanted to find a way around the southernmost point of Africa’s coastline, so just a few months after dispatching the overland explorers, he sponsored Dias in an African expedition.

In August 1487, Dias’ trio of ships departed from the port of Lisbon, Portugal. Dias followed the route of 15th-century Portuguese explorer Diogo Cão (c. 1450-c. 1486), who had followed the coast of Africa as far as present-day Cape Cross, Namibia. Dias’ cargo included the standard “padrões,” the limestone markers used to stake Portuguese claims on the continent. Padrões were planted at the shoreline and served as guideposts to previous Portuguese explorations of the coast.

Dias’ expedition party included six Africans who had been brought to Portugal by earlier explorers. Dias dropped off the Africans at different ports along the coastline of Africa with supplies of gold and silver and messages of goodwill from the Portuguese to the indigenous people. The last two Africans were left at a place the Portuguese sailors called Angra do Salto, probably in modern Angola, and the expedition’s supply ship was left there under guard of nine men.

Dias' Expedition Around South Africa

In early January 1488, as Dias’ two ships sailed off the coast of South Africa, storms blew them away from the coast. Dias is thought to have ordered a turn to the south of about 28 degrees, probably because he had prior knowledge of southeasterly winds that would take him around the tip of Africa and keep his ships from being dashed on the notoriously rocky shoreline. João and his predecessors had obtained navigational intelligence, including a 1460 map from Venice that showed the Indian Ocean on the other side of Africa.

Dias’ decision was risky, but it worked. The crew spotted landfall on February 3, 1488, about 300 miles east of present-day Cape of Good Hope. They found a bay they called São Bras (present-day Mossel Bay) and the much warmer waters of the Indian Ocean. From the shoreline, indigenous Khoikhoi pelted Dias’ ships with stones until an arrow fired by either Dias or one of his men felled a tribesman. 

Dias ventured further along the coastline, but his crew was nervous about the dwindling food supplies and urged him to turn back. As mutiny loomed, Dias appointed a council to decide the matter. The members came to the agreement that they would permit him to sail another three days, then turn back. At Kwaaihoek, in present-day Eastern Cape province, they planted a padrão on March 12, 1488, which marked the easternmost point of Portuguese exploration.

On the journey back, Dias observed the southernmost point of Africa, later called Cabo das Agulhas, or Cape of Needles. Dias named the rocky second cape Cabo das Tormentas (Cape of Storms) for the tempestuous storms and strong Atlantic-Antarctic currents that made ship travel so perilous.

Back in Angra do Salto, Dias and his crew were aghast to find that only three of the nine men left guarding the food ship had survived repeated attacks by locals; a seventh man died on the journey home. In Lisbon, after 15 months at sea and a journey of nearly 16,000 miles, the returning mariners were met by triumphant crowds. 

In a private meeting with the king, however, Dias was forced to explain his failure to meet up with Paiva and Covilhã. Despite his immense achievement, Dias was never again put in a position of authority. King João II ordered that henceforth, maps would show the new name for Cabo das Tormentas: Cabo da Boa Esperança, or Cape of Good Hope.

Dias was an Advisor to Vasco da Gama

Following his expedition, Dias settled for a time in Guinea in West Africa, where Portugal had established a gold-trading site. João’s successor, Manuel I (1469-1521), ordered Dias to serve as a shipbuilding consultant for the expedition of Vasco da Gama (c. 1460-1524). Dias sailed with the da Gama expedition as far as the Cape Verde Islands, and then returned to Guinea. Da Gama’s ships reached their goal of India in May 1498, nearly a decade after Dias’ historic trip around the tip of Africa. 

Afterward, Manuel sent out a massive fleet to India under Pedro Álvares Cabral (c. 1467-c. 1520), and Dias captained four of the ships. They reached Brazil in March 1500, then headed across the Atlantic toward South Africa and, further ahead, the Indian subcontinent. At the feared Cabo das Tormentas, storms struck the fleet of 13 ships. 

In May 1500, four of the ships were wrecked, including Dias’, with all crew lost at sea. Bartolomeu Dias died on May 29, 1500 off the Cape of Good Hope. He is remembered as a pioneering explorer during the Age of Exploration who opened the sea route to Asia via the Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean.