7th Grade Age of Exploration Summary Notes

Europe Looks Outward
Cause / Effect
1.  Columbus set out to voyage to Asia / He arrived in what are now the Americas. They were named after Amerigo Vespucci.
2.  Columbus and others reported tales that the new lands were rich in Gold. / The Spanish set out to explore and conquer the Americas to win riches for themselves and glory for Spain.(Remember the 3 G’s – Gold, Glory, God)
3.  The Columbian exchange transferred People, Products, and Ideas between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. / Good exchanges: trade items such as cloth, iron pots, and tools, and guns.
Negative exchanges: European germs, to which Native Americans had no immunity, brought smallpox, chickenpox, measles, and other fatal diseases.
4.  Hernan Cortes sailed to Mexico. / He subdued the Aztecs, destroyed Tenochtitlan, built Mexico City, and claimed Mexico for Spain.
5.  Francisco Pizzaro arrived in Peru. / He executed Atahualpa and defeated the Incas.
6.  Spain set up a formal government in New Spain. / A rigid social system took hold, based on blood and birthplace. This system helped Spain control its American empire for 300 years. (Peninsulares, Creoles, Mestizos, Mulattos)
7.  The split between Catholics and Protestants heightened tensions among European countries. / European nations sought gold from the Americas to pay for their wars and strengthen their armies. This concept of Mercantilism held that colonies existed to make the home country wealthy and powerful.
8.  England’s smaller but faster ships defeated the Spanish armada. / The balance of power changed in Europe. England and France founded colonies in the Americas.
9.  French traders sought furs and animal skins to sell abroad. / Over - trapping weakened the food chain on which Native Americans depended.
10. The fur trade declined. / Native American lands became more valuable to the colonists.