Chapter 2 Section 3 Vocabulary

Pedro Alvares Cabral

~ The other great Portuguese exploration of the time came by accident. ~ A terrible storm blew Pedro Alvares Cabral's fleet far off course while it was trying to follow da Gama's route to India. ~ Instead of rounding the Cape of Good Hope, Cabral's ships drifted westward for weeks before finally reaching South America in 1500. ~Cabral landed somewhere along the coast of present-day Brazil. ~ He claimed the land for Portugal, not knowing at the time that he had landed on the coast of a continent rather than a large island. ~ Cabral was not the first European to Portugal's side of the Line of Demarcation, however. ~ This gave the Portuguese a legal claim to land in the Americas, much to Spain's regret ~ Portugal later founded forts, trading posts, and colonies on this land.

Vasco da Gama

~ The race was still on to find a sea route to the Indies so, King Manuel chose Vasco da Gama, a minor noble and skilled sailor, to command another expedition around the Cape of Good Hope. ~Da Gama spent two year preparing a large fleet for take off ~Left Lisbon in July 1497 and arrived in southwestern India in May 1498 ~Two Muslim traders greeted Da Gama as he sailed into the Indian port of Calicut ~Surprised at seeing the Europeans , they cried out in Portuguese, "A lucky venture, a lucky venture! Plenty of rubies, plenty of emeralds! You owe great thanks to God, for having brought you to a country holding suck riches!" ~One of da Gama's crew members wrote, "We never expected to hear our language spoken so far away from Portugal." ~The Portuguese soon realized that they were dealing with a culture that had traded with Muslim and Italian merchants for ventures. ~When the king of Calicut became angry at da Gama for not bringing the tradition gifts, Da Gama replied that his ships had come to Asia "merely to make discoveries" ~Da Gama later reported: " The King then asked what it was he [Da Gama] had come to discover: stones or men> If he came to discover men, as he said, why had he brought noting" ~After his triumphant rerun to Portugal, da Gama made two trips back to India, where he governed a small Portuguese colony. Portugal had won the European race for a sea route to the wealth of Asia.

Vasco Núñez de Balboa

~As Europeans began to accept the idea that America was a pair of continents, it became clear that Columbus had not found a sea route to Asia as he had though. ~Some Spanish explorers began to search for a water passage around or thorough the lands in the Americas that hey were claiming for Spain. ~One of these explorers was Vasco Núñez de Balboa . ~ After failing as a farmer in a Spanish colony in the Caribbean, Balboa stowed away on a ship traveling to a new Spanish settlement in present-day Panama. ~Once in Panama, he took control of the colony away from its struggling governor. ~Balboa improved the living conditions of the colonists and made peace with local Indians. ~While negotiating with a powerful tribe, Balboa heard some fascinating news. ~ Peter Martyr, a historian from the time, wrote that the son of and India leader stood up and told the Spaniards: " I will show you a region flowing with golde, where you may satisfy your ravening [Hungry] appetites... When you are passing over [the] mountains... You shall see another sea, where they sail with ships as big as yours. ~Balboa wanted to know if such stores were true, so he gathered almost 200 men and a large group of Indian guides to search for this ocean. ~Balboa's expedition traveled for week thorough thick jungle and across deadly swamps, fighting with Indians they encountered . ~ In 1513, after an exhausting and dangerous journey, Balboa finally reached the top of a mountain near the coast. ~From there he saw a great blue sea stretching out as far as his eyes could see. "Behold the much-desired ocean!" he exclaimed to the members of his expedition. ~Balboa decided to name these water the "Southern Ocean". ~Although there was no way for ships to cross Panama to reach these waters, Balboa's report offered hope that Spain could join in the rich trade with Asia by finding a way into the "Southern Ocean." ~As he prepared a fleet to explore this ocean, however, Spanish authorities captured Balboa and had him executed for overthrowing the governor of Panama.

John Cabot

~Giovanni Caboto, or John Cabot - the English version of the name - was another talented Genoese sailor. ~ Cabot was in Spain when Columbus returned from crossing the Atlantic in 1493. ~ Cabot wanted to find his own sea route to Asia, as he knew just who to ask for support. ~King Henry VII of England, who earlier had refused to sponsor Columbus, was now concerned about falling behind in the European race to explore the globe. ~ Cabot offed to pay for his own expedition if Henry would grant him a royal charter to any lands Cabot found. ~The king agreed, and Cabot made voyages of discovery in 1497 and 1498. ~King Henry told Cabot "to seek out, discover and find.......countrysides, regions or provinces.....which before this time have been unknown to all Christians." ~Cabot hoped to ail north of the lands that Columbus had explored and continue on to Asia. ~What Cabot found instead was the coast of North America. ~ Cabot left very few records of his journey, but it is most likely that he traveled along the cost of present-day Newfoundland. ~Cabot did not find the passage to the Indies that he had hoped for, but he gave England a claim to land in North America. ~ Henry VII rewarded Cabot for his achievement and sent him on another voyage to find a way to Asia. Cabot and his fleet disappeared mysterious on this expedition. ~Historian Polydore Vergil wrote at this time that Cabot "found his new lands only in the ocean's bottom, to which he and his ship are thought to have sunk"

Amerigo Vespucci

~Italian explore Amerigo Vespucci was born in Florence, where he worked as a business agent for the powerful Medici family. ~When the Medici were expelled from Florence in 1494, Vespucci became an exile in Spain. ~In 1501 he sailed with a Spanish expedition that reached the coast of present-day South America. ~Vespucci was amazed by the animals he saw in South America , which were quite different from those in Europe. ~( Multitude of wild animals, the abundance of pumas, of panthers, of wild cats not like those in Spain ; of so many wolves, red deer, monkeys... and many large snakes.) ~Vespucci and his crew also encountered American Indians, about whom he wrote many exaggerated stories that captured the imaginations of European readers. ~The connects some of Vespucci's letters were copied and published by Martin Waldseemuller, a German mapmaker. ~Waldseemuller printed a book containing a large map in which he labeled for continents across the ocean "America" in honor of Vespucci's accomplishments. ~ The book and map became popular through Europe, and as a result, Europeans soon began using the names North America and South America.

Ferdiand Magellan

~News of Balboa's discover captured the interest of other European explorers who were seeking a sea route west to the Indies ~ One of those interested in finding a way to the "Southern Ocean" was Ferdinand Magellan a Portuguese Captain. ~Magellan had spent many years sailing and fighting in Africa and India. ~These experiences taught him about the seas of Southeast Asia and also shaped Magellan's personality. ~When news reached Magellan about Balboa's "Southern Ocean" he became convinced that he could sail west to Asia ad Columbus had planned. ~Magellan learned that other explores had found an opening to a possible sea passage. ~He believed this passage went through South American and into the "Southern Ocean". ~Portugal already had Vasco da Gamas eastern route to India, but Spain was still looking for westward passage. ~Magellan therefore went to SPAIN with his idea. ~At first, the Spanish were suspicious of this Portuguese sailor Magellan's experience and confidence persuaded the royal advisers, however and SPAIN AGREED to provide him with FIVE SHIPS for the trip. ~Magellan set sail in September 1519. ~ From the start, he had trouble. Several of the captains assigned to his voyage did not trust or respect him. ~ Magellan also angered his officers by reducing to share the location of the possible sea passage. ~When asked, he shouted, "Follow me and don't ask questions!" ~Magellan was stunned when he discovered that the passage was actually the mouth of a huge river - the present-day Rio de la Plata, between Argentina and Uruguay. ~He traveled south, searching desperately for a channel through the continent. ~The weather grew colder, and supplies began to run low. In the midst of these difficulties, Magellan and his supporters had to put down a mutiny led by the Spanish officers, one of whom was Juan Sebastian de Elcano.

Strait

~Then the fleet of ships found a strait - a narrow, winding sea passage - through the coastal cliffs. ~ It took them more than a month to pass through the strait, battling fierce winds and avoiding jagged rocky. ~Finally Pigafetta, "The men......reported that they had seen the cape and the open sea. ~ The captain-general [Magellan' wept for joy." The passageway at the Southern tip of South America became known as the Strait of Magellan. ~(Narrow,Winding Sea Passage)

Circumnaviage

~These 18 surviving sailors were the first people to circumnavigate, or sail completely around the world. ~Their 40,000-mile journey had taken them across three oceans, and they had found the all-water route to Asia that Columbus and other had searched for since 1492. ~(To Completely Sail Around Something)