Age of Exploration and Columbian Exchange[edit | edit source]
Age of Exploration and Columbus Exchange
PERIOD / TIMELINE
1492 Columbus lands in Americas
BIG IDEAS
Background:
Collapse of Byzantium, 1453 (Christian) to Ottomans (Muslim)
Italian merchants cut off from previous trade networks
Christian conquest of Spain and Spanish Inquisition
European motives:
trade, religion, political competition
primary motive = direct access to South and East Asian markets
Notes & connections: details of issues, concepts, themes & events
* Christopher Columbus was convinced he could reach China and India via a westward trajectory across the Atlantic Ocean
Spain finally agreed to sponsor Columbus only after the Portuguese discovered a viable route to India circumnavigating Africa
The Portuguese figured out the Atlantic rout after developing the “volta da mar”, a circular route following winds and currents to and from Portugal that led Portuguese boats further west, leading to their discoveries of the Canary Islands, the Azores, and, eventually, Brazil.
For this reason, Brazil became a Portuguese colony and today Portuguese is the national language
Spanish discovery of the Americas was ultimately realized by America Vespucci for whom the “Americas” is named, a Florentine explorer who recognized that Columbus had not reached the islands east of India and China (the “the Indies”) and had instead discovered a new continent (thus “West Indies” for Caribbean islands and the term “Indian” for the indigenous peoples of the Americas).
Soon after news of Columbus’ expeditions the British organized an exploration headed by John Cabot (a Venetian, Italy, navigator) who in 1497 became the first European to explore the North American coast
It is possible that Columbus had, prior to his 1492 expedition, visited Iceland, Greenland or, possibly, Canada in 1477, as he is thought to have visited Bristol, England, which maintained trade with Iceland.
Cabot sailed from Bristol, so he used the knowledge of Bristol mariners for his attempt to by-pass the Americas and find a western route to Asia
Cabot’s explorations laid the basis for subsequent British and French competition for control of modern Canada, especially Newfoundland, Quebec and the Great Lakes regions.
In 1523, the Florentine (Italy) navigator, Giovanni de Verrazzano led an expedition on behalf of France to find a westward Atlantic route to India. Verrazzano explored the North American coast from the Carolines to modern-day New York. The “Verrazzano Bridge” in New York City is named in his honor.
In 1534, Jacques Cartier led the first French expedition to the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the St. Lawrence River. Subsequent French expeditions further explored the St. Lawrence River waterways and established trade relations with Native Americans, especially the Iroquois.
Protestant Reformation & religious conflict[edit | edit source]
Protestant Reformation & Religious Wars
PERIOD / TIMELINE
1517 Protestant Reformation
1527 Henry VIII separates from Catholic Church
see also:
English Civil War, 1642–1651
see also Thirty Years' War, 1618–1648
BIG IDEAS
Martin Luther & Protestant Reformation
Religious conflict & persecution as push factor on migration to colonial America
Notes & connections: details of issues, concepts, themes & events
Protestant Reformation propels European nationalism
Henry VIII’s break from Catholic Church ensures English-Spanish competition / wars
Leads to English Civil War (1642-1651) that spills over to colonies
American colonial anti-Catholicism drives colonial identity and serves as catalyst for American Revolution following British take-over of French-Canadian Catholic provinces in Canada
Protestant objections to centralized Church of England doctrine leads to the splinter religious movement known generally as Puritans and their offshoots, including the Brownists, (from which the Pilgrims arose), Quakers, Levelers, Anabaptists, etc.
