Several slides on Early European Explorers

1. Portugal’s Early place in Exploration
• Prince Henry the Navigator-creates a school
for navigators
• Bartholomeu Diaz Explored down Africa’s
coast then Vasco de Gama follows Diaz’s route
and finds India
• This makes Portugal the most powerful
country in Europe for a time

2. Christopher Columbus
• Italian Sailor- Hired by Spain Queen Isabella
and King Ferdinand to sail west to Asia
• Lands on Hispanola
• Conquers the local people on his 4 journeys
• Smallpox kills most of the native populations
• Columbus dies a pauper

3. Dividing up the New world
• Spain and Portugal have claims all over and they
are competing for control.
• They are both Catholic and they ask the Pope to
settle it
• The Treaty of Tordesillas sets the line of
Demarcation which divides the New World
between the two. Guaranteeing that Rome gets
lots of money from both of the “peaceful”
countries.
• “Mercantilism” brings raw materials back to the
home country

4. Aztecs and Cortez
• Hernan Cortez conquers the Aztec empire
• He makes alliances with their enemies.
Between the effects of Smallpox and the
power of the Spanish and the Aztecs
enemies, they are easily defeated.

5. Pizzaro and the Incas
• Pizzaro conquers the Inca of south America
quickly. Small Pox again. He holds their ruler,
Atahualpa hostage and eventually kills him
after the ransom is paid.

6. The relationship b/t England and Spain
before the Spanish Armada
• England wants a piece of the action. The sponsor
John Cabot to go west. He discovers
Newfoundland.
• The Spanish counter by funding Vasquez de
Coronado (SW Am.) and Hernando de Soto (SW
Am.)
• Spanish “found” St.Augustine
• The English and Spanish clash over wealth and
religion (Spanish = Catholic, English = Protestant)

7. Spanish Armada and its overall effect
• Queen Elizabeth (England) is sponsoring “Sea
Dogs” like Sir Francis Drake to raid Spanish
treasure ships. 1588- Spain sends an Armada of
130 ships (the Spanish Armada) to defeat the
English and re-Catholic England.
• They get trashed in a hurricane on the way then
the more experienced and faster English defeat
them
• England gets “Sea Dominance” setting the stage
for the British Empire.

8. French Settlements
• The French explorer Samuel de Champlain
founded New France along the St Lawrence
River.
• The main purpose was fur trade and the
French integrated with the native peoples well
adopting their ways and becoming allies. This
made