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MWH: Chapter 4 - The Atlantic World
4-1: Spain Builds an Empire in the Americas
The voyages of Columbus prompt the Spanish to establish colonies in the Americas.
First Encounters
•Genoese sea captain Christopher Columbus reaches Americas (1492)
•Thinks he is in East Indies, calls natives “los indios”—Indians
•Actually lands on an island, probably in the Bahamas
•Unable to find gold, he claims many islands for Spain
•In 1493, he sets out for the Americas again with a large fleet
•Spain aims to set up colonies—lands controlled by a foreign nation
Ferdinand & Isabella: Entered Spain in the race for Asian riches by
backing the expedition of an Italian navigator
named Christopher Columbus.
Christopher Columbus: Italian navigator who had been asking monarchs
toback a voyage for years. Everyone had
turned him down because of his idea that one
could reach India/Asia by sailing west.
He was very intelligent, aggressive, deeply
religious an exceptional navigator (especially by
dead reckoning), highly curious, and could be
very intolerant with people or ideas that didn’t
match his.
- 1492: He asks Ferdinand and Isabella once again for money to
launch avoyage west. Ferdinand was against it, but
Isabella finally grantedhis request. Most every one
thought it would end in failure.
- his estimated distance around the world: He lied – he told them
it was about 700 leagues or 2200 nautical miles. (Actually
he knew he it was probably more, but didn’t want to tell
people the real distancebecause they would never go on a
voyage that long.) By deceiving them, he got exactly what
he wanted.
* nautical mile: 1508 miles (6,076 feet)
- fears of his crew: After a month at sea, his crew was terrified
and very near mutiny.
* mutiny: attempting to overthrow the captain of the
ship.
- Columbus' reaction: He knows he’s in trouble. If they mutiny, he
notonly loses his ship, and probably his life,
but also his dream of the westward water
route. To him that dream is of the utmost
importance. So he showed them a log
(captain’s journal) that vastlyunderstated
the distance they had already sailed from
home.
Theyare somewhat relived, but still
very agitated. He asks them to givehim 3
days to find land and if no land is found by
then, they’ll turn back. He also promises
the first man who sights land, 20,000
maravedis - a bunch of money back then.
The average personwould have never seen
that much money in their lifetime!) On
October 12,1492 they find land.
- his idea: He was sure that he had discovered a water route to
Asia.
- Bahamas: Where Columbus first sees land. NOT THE USA!
Columbuslanded there thinking it was India, or islands
west of India (WestIndies). No one knows the site of
the exact landfall.
- "Indians": what Columbus called the native islanders - “los indios
- because he thoughthe landed off the coast of India.
- Hispaniola: Present day Haiti and Dominican Republic. Columbus
spent three months sailing around the Caribbean.
- San Salvador: island where the Santa Maria crashed on Christmas,
1492. There he had to build a colony because
there was no way he could take everyone back on
the other two caravels.
* La Navidad: what Columbus named the colony.
- gold: Columbus, like other explorers, was interested in gold.
Finding none on San Salvador, he explored other islands,
staking his claim to each one.
* quote: “It was my wish to bypass no island without taking
possession."
- titles granted to him: Admiral of the OceanSea, Viceroy and
Governor of the Islands he discovered in
the Indies.*** Plus 10% of all found.
- 3 other trips: Columbus three more trips to the Caribbean area
(all funded by Ferdinand and Isabella). Spain was
anxious to colonize the area.
* Columbus' second voyage: He commanded a fleetof 17
ships that carried over 1,000
soldiers, crewmen,and colonists.
^ date: 1493
- colonies: lands controlled by a distant nation.
Colony=free money
- Columbus' brothers: He set up colonies most which failed
miserably because he put his brothers in
charge of them – good brothers, but poor
governors.
- 1506: Columbus died (actually in disgrace because he had not
beensuccessful in ruling the colonies he established.) No
one knowswhere his remains are… lost because they have
been dug up andmoved so many times.
Other Explorers Take to the Seas
•Pedro Álvares Cabral claims Brazil for Portugal (1500)
•Amerigo Vespucci identifies South America as new continent (1501)
•In 1507, German mapmaker names the continent America
•Vasco Núñez de Balboa reaches the Pacific Ocean
•Ferdinand Magellan leaves to sail around the world (1519)
•Magellan is killed, but some of his men return to Spain in 1522
Pedro Alvares Cabral:Portuguese explorer who reached theshores of
modern-day Brazil and claimed the land for his
country-- after he regained control of the Asian
spice trade.
-1500: 13 ships were dispatched to Calicut led by Cabral, the
Portuguese won a bloody trade war with Muslim merchants
and defeated a large Arab fleet.
-his mission: To seize control of the Spice Trade.
Amerigo Vespucci: an Italian in the service of Portugal, who traveled
along the eastern coast of South America. Upon his
return to Europe, heclaimed that the land was not
part of Asia, but a “new” world. In 1507, a German
mapmaker named the new continent “America” in
honor of Amerigo Vespucci.
Vasco Núñez de Balboa: Portuguese explorer who marched through
modern-day Panama and became the first
European to gaze upon the Pacific Ocean,
which he named the SouthSea.
Ferdinand Magellan: A Portuguese mercenary who, in 1519, set sell from Seville, Spain under the Spanish Flag to find a western route to Asia. He had 234 men (some paroled criminalsfor two years.) and five ships.
- 5 ships: Two 130 tons each, two of 90 tons each and one of 60
tons.
1.) Trinidad: chief ship commanded by Magellan
2.) San Antonio: commanded by Juan de Cartagena
3.) Conception: commanded by Gaspar de Quesada,
4.) Victoria: commaned by Luis de Mendozs
5.) Santiago:commanded by Juan Serrano
- Antonio Pigafetta: (of Vicenza, Italy) He kept a detailed
account of the voyage.
- occurrence that happened on the coast of Argentina: The crews
of threeships attempted to mutiny because Magellan
had decided to halt theexpedition until spring…. And
the fact that there were people on thecrews that
wanted to be in control of the voyage and the “gold.”
* mutiny: attempting to over throw the captain of the ship
* Magellan's 3 actions:
1.) Executed the captain (Quesada)who had instigated
the mutiny, andmarooned two others (Cartagena and
a priest)
2.) Regained control of the fleet.
3.) Resumed the expedition toward the tip of South
America.
- Straits of Magellan: the water passage immediately south of
mainland SouthAmerica. The strait is the
biggest and most important naturalpassage
between the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean.
* 4 characteristics of: 373 miles long; strong current,
unpredictablegales, and a rocky coast.
* what happened to Magellan's ships there: His five ships were
separated.
1.) The Santiagowrecked looking for the way into the
strait.
2.) The San Antonio took off for Spain as soon as they
started becausethe captain was scared by the looks
of the place.
3.) The remaining three ships spent almost a month
inchingthrough the treacherous waters, and finally
entered theSouth Pacific.
- Pacific Ocean: Named by Magellan for its calm appearance.
* Vasco Nunez de Balboa: had discovered and named the
ocean, “South Sea”, six years
earlier.
After four months of sailing they finally reached the Philippines. Magellan had 150 crewmen left - most had died of starvation, dehydration and scurvy.
- Scurvy: is a disease that results from insufficient intake of
vitamin C.
* Symptoms: spots on the skin,muscle pain, spongy gums
(which makes the teeth fall out), weakness,
joint pain, and bleeding from the mucous
membranes. A person with the ailment looks
pale, feels depressed, and eventually is
partially immobilized.
Scurvy was at one time common among sailors whose ships were out to sea longer than perishable fruits and vegetables could be stored.
It takes about three months of vitamin C deprivation to begin inducing the symptoms of scurvy. Untreated scurvy is always fatal, but since all that is required for full recovery is the resumption of normal vitamin C intake, death by scurvy is rare in modern times.
- in the Philippines: A friendly tribe of nativesbefriended them,
and nursed them back to health.A skirmish
erupts between two native tribes, and
Magellan, wanted to help his newfound
friends, getshimself killed in the fight.
* result: The surviving crew escaped and sailed for Spain.
- 1522: After three years at sea, one ship with 18 men arrived in
Seville,Spain. They had accomplished the first
circumnavigation.
- circumnavigation: circling the globe.
- value of voyage: The spices that they brought back barely
covered thecost of the voyage, but the
expedition had a value farbeyond money.
- 4 things his voyage proved:
1. The world was round
2. It was much larger than believed to be.
3. The oceans of the world were connected.
4. The lands discovered by Columbus were not part of Asia.
Spanish Conquests in Mexico: Conquistadors
•In 1519, Hernando Cortés—Spanish adventurer— lands in Mexico
•He and others become known as conquistadors—Spanish
conquerors.
•Cortés and 600 men reach Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán
•By 1521, they conquer Aztec empire
•Conquest aided by superior weapons, Native American allies
•European diseases wipe out large numbers of Aztecs
Spain: The Spanish were the first European settlers in the Americas.
- 2 things they were looking for: Gold and silver
Conquistadors: the Spanish soldiers, explorers, and fortune hunters who took part in the conquest of the Americas in the 16th century. Most of the conquistadores cruelly mistreated the inhabitants of the regions they visited or conquered; killing, enslaving, raping and otherwise abusing them.
-“oath”: “To serve god and his majesty to give light to those
who were in darkness, and to grow rich as all men
desire to do.”
^AKA: "God, glory and gold.
Hernando Cortes:Conquered Mexico for Spain (1519-1521) by killing the Aztec ruler.
-1519: he left Cuba for Mexico with about 600 men.
-Aztecs: Group of natives in Mexico.
* Tenochtitlan: The Aztec capital.
*Montezuma II: The Aztec ruler.
*Ancient Aztec Prophecy: Montezuma thought the Spanish had
come to fulfill a legendary prophecy - in which
an ancient god - Quetzalcoatl - would return.
Of course Cortez immediately began to
impersonate Quetzalcoatl.Montezuma offered
them gifts of gold.
^ Quetzalcoatl: an ancient god who the Aztecs
believed would eventually return.
* Quote: Cortés admitted that he and his comrades had a “disease
of the heart that only gold can cure.”
*slaughter of the Aztecs:late spring of 1520, some of Cortés’s men
killedmany Aztec warriors and chiefs while they
were celebrating a religious festival.
^ June of 1520: the Aztecs rebelledagainst the Spanish
intruders and drove out Cortés’s forces.
^ 1521: Despite beinggreatly outnumbered, Cortés and his
men conquered theAztecs
^ Total killed: The Spanish slaughtered 50,000 Aztecs.
^ 4 factors that played a key role in the victory:
1.) The Spanish had the advantage of superiorweaponry.
Aztec arrows were no match for theSpaniards’
muskets and cannons.
2.) Spanish had horses
3.) Cortés was able to enlist the help of various native
groups.
- Malinche: native female translator who
helped Cortés learn that some
natives resentedthe Aztecs.
- Aztec practice the other natives hated:
human sacrifice
4.) Spaniards brought diseasewith them to the Americas.
Native Americans hadnever been exposed to these
diseases. Thus, they had developed no natural
immunity - they died by the hundreds of thousands.
Disease killed more people than the Spaniards did.
- 4 diseases: Measles, mumps, smallpox, and
typhus
* Typhus: The disease is transmitted to
humans by mites, lice and fleas.
Symptoms include fever and red
spots over arms, back and chest.
Typhus mainly killed people living
in places where sanitary
conditions were very bad. It was
also a common disease in prisons,
and on ships. Typhus can now be
successfully treated with
antibiotics.
- Way the natives got "even": They gave the
Spanish various sexually
transmitted diseases.
* Montezuma II's demise: Montezuma was brought out to be
"released", but his own people threw stones at him and he
later died of his wounds.
Pizarro Subdues the Inca
•Spanish conqueror Francisco Pizarro leads force to Peru in 1532
•Pizarro kills Atahualpa—Inca ruler—and defeats the Inca
Francisco Pizarro: Another conquistador who marched a small force into
South America, and conquered the Incan Empire by
1532.
-1529: invaded Peru.
-Inca: the empire of Present day Peru
*Atahualpa: Incan ruler
- at Cajamarca: Pizarro and his army of about 200 met with
Atahualpa near the city.
* Atahualpa's force: about 30,000. (Several thousand mostly
unarmed men came along forthe
meeting)
-Pizarro's 6 actions:
1.) The Spaniards waited in ambush, and then crushed the
Incan force.
2.) KidnappedAtahualpa
3.) Slaughtered his 2,000 body guards
4.) Accepted a huge ransom in gold and silver.
*amount:24 tonsof gold and silver, the richest ransom
in history)
5.) Killed Atahualpa
* method: As he was about to be burned at the stake, the
Spanish offered him amore merciful death by
strangulation if he agreedto convert to
Christianity, which he did.
6.) Pizarro then marched on to Cuzco, and captured it without
a struggle in 1533.
* Cuzco: the Incan capital
Other conquistadors: conquered theMaya in Yucatan and Guatemala,
and various other peoples in the Americas.
By mid-1500's: Spain had createdan empire in the Americans.
- Spanish Empire: included New Spain (Mexico and parts of
Guatemala),as well as other lands in Central and
South America and the Caribbean.
* size of Spain’s territory and population: 375,000 square
miles with over 7 million inhabitants
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
Reconquista of Spain: was the military reconquest of the Iberian
Peninsula from the Muslims by Christian rulers.
- dates: 718 to 1492
- method: When conqueringthe Muslims, the Spanish lived among
them and imposed their Spanishculture upon them.
Since that worked so well, they decided to use the same method in the Americas.
Peninsulares:The Spanish settlers to the Americas.
-problem: they were mostly men.
* result: relationships between Spanish settlers and native
women were common.
* mestizo: a large—or mixed Spanish and Native America
population.
Spanish oppression of natives:
1.) exploited the land for its precious resources.
2.) Spanish forced Native Americans to work within a system known
as encomienda.
Encomienda: a grant of land made by Spain to a settler in the Americas,
including the right to use Native Americans as laborers on
it.
- 4 points:
1.) Under this system, natives farmed, ranched, or mined for
Spanish landlords.
2.) Theselandlords had received the rights to the natives’
labor from Spanish authorities.
3.) Theholders of encomiendas promised the Spanish rulers
that they would act fairly andrespect the workers.
4.) Many abused the natives and worked many laborersto
death, especially inside dangerous mines.
The Portuguese in Brazil
In 1530s, Portuguese settle in Brazil, begin growing sugar
Growth of Spanish Power
•Conquests in Americas bring great wealth to Spain
•Spain enlarges its navy to protect ships carrying treasure
Brazil: colonized by Portugal. Cabral claimed this territory as he swung
west across the Atlantic to India in 1500.
-the rest of South America: Was claimed by Spain.
- 1530s: Portuguese colonists began settling Brazil’s coastal region.
Finding little gold or silver,the settlers began growing
sugar. Clearing out huge swaths of forest land, the
Portuguese built giant sugar plantations.
- sugar: The demand for sugar in Europe wasgreat, and the colony
soon enriched Portugal. In time, the colonists continued to
push fartherwest into Brazil. They settled even more land
for the production of sugar.
-the rest of South America: Was claimed by Spain.
- 4 income producing crops of Brazil:
1.) sugarcane
2.) coffee
3.) tobacco
4.) cotton
- labor intensive crops: needed a great deal of work to earn a
profit.
- need for slavery: the local population didn’t supply enough labor
so slaves were brought from Africa.
Conquistadors Push North
•Juan Ponce de León claims Florida for Spain (1513)
•In 1540s, Francisco Coronado explores the Southwest, finds little
gold
•Catholic priests set up missions in Southwest
•In early 1600s, Spanish establish capital of Santa Fe
Spain’s American colonies: helped make it the richest, most powerful
nation in theworld during much of the 16th
century.
6 points on Spanish expansion:
1.) Ships filled with treasures from theAmericas continually sailed
into Spanish harbors.
2.) This newfound wealth helpedusher in a golden age of art and
culture in Spain.
3.) Throughout the 1500s, Spain also increased its military might. 4.) To protectits treasure-filled ships, Spain built a powerful navy. 5.) The Spanish also strengthenedtheir other military forces,
creating a skillful and determined army. For a centuryand a
half, Spain’s army seldom lost a battle.
6.) Spain enlarged itsAmerican empire by settling in parts of what
is now the United States.
Juan Ponce de León: Spanish explorer who landed on the coast of
modern-day Florida and claimed it for Spain in
1513. (He thought Florida was an island.)
- 1493: he accompanied Christopher Columbus on his second voyage