HST 122 -- The Age of Exploration

I. Causes of Exploration
    A. The necessary preconditions were met
        1. fly compass
        2. astrolabe
        3. caravel (with triangular lateen sails)
    B. Europeans wanted a new passage to the east [MAP]
    C. European rulers needed new sources of gold

II. Portugal
    1. why was Portugal first?
        a. best placed for sea exploration; southwest Europe [MAP]
        b. long history of sea travel 
        c. agriculturally poor country; needed new sources of income
    2. Prince Henry the Navigator (1394-1460)
        a. developed and directed a systematic program of exploration
            of the African coast
        b. resulted in the rise to power and wealth of Portugal
            (gold and slaves)
    3. Bartolomeu Dias (c. 1450-1500)
            - rounded Cape of Good Hope in 1487; crew mutinied;
                returned home
    4. Vasco da Gama (c. 1460-1524)
            - rounded Cape of Good Hope in 1497; went on to India
            - Map: Voyage of Dias
            - Map: Voyage of Da Gama

III. Other key events
                1492          Columbus (Spain)                arrives in West Indies
                1497          Cabot (England)                  sights Newfoundland
                1513          Balboa (Spain)                    sights Pacific Ocean
                1519-22    Magellan (Spain)                 his expedition sails around the Globe
                1519-23     Cortés (Spain)                    lands in Mexico, conquers Aztecs
                1533          Pizarro (Spain)                   conquers Incas
                1534          Cartier (France)                 discovers St. Lawerence River
                - Map: Voyages of Columbus
                - Map: Magellan's voyage

IV. Consequences
    1. annihilation of the native population; reduced from
            25 million to 2 million; mainly from diseases
    2. enrichment of Europeans, especially the Spanish
            - discovery of huge silver mine at Potosí in 1545
    3. flow of Europeans to the New World
            - e.g., over 200,000 Spaniards sailed to the New World
                during the 16th century
    4. flow of Christian missionaries to the New World; 
            they desired the (often forced) conversion of the natives
    5. growth of the Atlantic slave trade
    6. beginnings of a global marketplace

V. Why were the Europeans so successful in conquering the Americas?
    1. diseases such as small pox, typhoid and measles
    2. technology: guns, swords, armor
    3. native culture, e.g., Aztecs
    4. recruitment of the natives' enemies
            - e.g., with the conquest of the Aztecs

VI. Discussion of De Las Casas, The Devastation of the Indies
    1. How does De Las Casas describe the natives of Hispaniola?
    2. How does De Las Casas describe the Spaniards who arrived
          on Hispaniola?
    3. What have the Spaniards done to the islands of the region?
          According to De Las Casas, why have they done this?
    4. Why were the natives unable to fight back?
    5. What do you think De Las Casas believes should be the goal of
          himself and the other Spanish Christians who had come to the
          New World?