SS Chapter 2: Section 1 - The Age of Exploration

Who was Christopher Columbus?

- Christopher Columbus (c. 1451 to May 20, 1506) was an Italian explorer and navigator.

How did Christopher Columbus finance his trips?

- Spain's King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella agreed to finance Christopher Columbus' journey. - After years of preparation for his first voyage, Columbus approached and was turned down by the kings of Portugal.

Circumnavigate

To sail or travel all the way around (something, especially the world). - The few survivors of Magellan's crew were the first to circumnavigate Earth.

What happened on Christopher Columbus's 1st voyage?

- Christopher Columbus departed mainland Spain on August 3, 1492. 90 men (mostly Spaniards) prepared for the voyage. - He was in command of three ships: the Pinta, the Niña, and the Santa María. They were tiny (between 55 and 90 feet long). They covered 170 miles per day. -Columbus predicted they would reach Asia in 21 days. After 1 month there was no sight of land. The crew became restless and spoke of mutiny. Columbus held firm. - October 12, they spotted land. Columbus arrived on a small boat and claimed the land for Spain. - Curious islanders gathered on the beach. Columbus called them Indians because he thought he was in the Indies.

Was Christopher Columbus the first person to discover America?

- Christopher Columbus did not "discover" the Americas, nor was he even the first European to visit the "New World." - Viking explorers had sailed to Greenland and Newfoundland in the 11th century. - Native Americans were already settled in the Americas. - Many theories of people from Europe, Asia, and Africa visiting the Americas before Columbus. - Christopher Columbus' journey kicked off centuries of exploration and exploitation on the American continents.

Who were the Vikings?

- Explorers from Scandinavia who preceded Columbus to the Americas. - Seagoing people from Scandinavia - 1963 scientists found remains of an early Viking settlement in Newfoundland. - This supported the old story of Leif Erikson who supposedly sailed with 35 other men from a Greenland colony in 1001 to explore lands further west. They explored the region and spent the winter in a place they named Vinland.

Where was Christopher Columbus from?

- Grew up near Genoa on the west coast of Italy. - Settled in Portugal in the 1470s (Europe's leading seafaring nation.) - In his 20s he moved to Lisbon, Portugal, and later resettled in Spain, which remained his home base for the duration of his life.

The Voyages of Columbus

- Sailed Portuguese ships, studied maps and charts, learned about the world beyond Europe. This is how he developed the idea to voyage to Asia. - King of Portugal showed little interest. - He wanted to reach Asia by following the route Batholomeu Dias and others were pioneering around southern Africa. - He also thought world was MUCH larger than Columbus and that the voyage would take much longer. - He refused to finance the trip. -Columbus moved to Spain and told King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella his plan. They liked the plan, but it took 6 years before the agreed to provide the ships for the voyage.

What happened on Christopher Columbus's 2nd voyage?

- September 1493: Sailed for the "West Indies." - Commanded 17 ships with 1,500 soldiers, settlers, and priests. - Spanish planned to colonize and rule the land. They also intended to convert the people to Christianity. - On 2nd voyage Columbus discovered other islands incl. Puerto Rico - He found the men he had left behind in Hispaniola had been killed by the Indians. - He was not discouraged. - He built another settlement nearby and enslaved the local Indians to dig for gold. - Within 12 months, 12 of his ships returned to Spain with gold, trinkets, and a number of captives.

Who was Ferdinand Magellan? Describe his voyage and its significance.

- September 1519: Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan set out to find an Atlantic-Pacific passage. - For more than a year the small fleet slowly moved down the South American coast looking for a strait. -As it went further south it encountered penguins and other never before seen animals. (At least that Europeans had never seen.) -Finally he found a narrow passage by the tip of Argentina. -After 38 days of battling winds, tides, and currents his ship exited what is known today as the Magellan Strait. -They had entered the ocean Balboa had seen nine or ten years earlier. -Asia was still thousands of miles away. - Magellan finally reached the Philippine Islands. There, he and several others were killed in battle with Filipinos. -The survivors fled in two of the ships. -One ship finally reached Spain in Sept. 1522. -Three years after they had started, the 18 men aboard became the first to circumnavigate the entire Earth.

What did Christopher Columbus do?

- The explorer Christopher Columbus made four trips across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain: in 1492, 1493, 1498 and 1502. He was determined to find a direct water route west from Europe to Asia, but he never did. Instead, he accidentally stumbled upon the Americas. - In 1492, he sailed across the Atlantic from Spain in the Santa Maria, with the Pinta and the Niña ships alongside, hoping to find a new route to India. Between 1492 and 1504, he made a total of four voyages to the Caribbean and South America and has been credited for opening up the Americas to European colonization. - He believed he could reach Asia and the East by traveling west across the Atlantic. (Oops! There is a landmass there.)

Who was Vasco Nunez de Balboa?

-Vasco Núñez de Balboa was a Spanish explorer, governor, and conquistador. - Explored the Caribbean coast of what is now Panama. - He became the first European to set eyes on the Pacific.

Who was Amerigo Vespucci? In what way is he still important to America today?

Amerigo Vespucci was the first person to recognize North and South America as distinct continents that were previously unknown to Europeans, Asians and Africans. Prior to Vespucci's discovery, explorers, including Columbus, had assumed that the New World was part of Asia. Vespucci made his discovery while sailing near the tip of South America in 1501. - The name 'America' derives from the Latin version of the first name of Amerigo Vespucci.

What happened on Christopher Columbus's 3rd voyage?

He left Spain on May 30, 1498, with a fleet of three supply ships headed for Hispaniola and three ships whose goal was to discover if there was a landmass south of it. Columbus reached the island of Trinidad on August 1, 1498, and the South American mainland at the Paria Peninsula in Venezuela on August 5, before heading to the colony on Hispaniola. He found that many of the settlers had died.

What was the Colombian Exchange?

The transfer of people, products, and ideas between the Western and Eastern hemispheres after Columbus's arrival in the Western Hemisphere. - Many of the changes brought about by the Colombian Exchange were positive: Europeans introduced cows, hogs, and other domestic animals. They brought wheat, oats, etc... Europeans found plants and animals they had never seen before: llamas. Turkeys, squirrels. Muskrats. The Native Americans also taught them how to grow new crops. - Also negative at times: Brought germs: Smallpox, chickenpox, measles, and other contagious diseases which killed the Native Americans by the thousands.