The Colonizers

Europe 1400 A parochial set of peoples, preoccupied with internal and interminable wars They were recovering from an epidemic of the bubonic plague aka The Black Death Leaders were not particularly interested in science and technology They were hemmed in by their rivals and neighbors: the Muslims

Muslims trade routes extended across North Africa to the southern and eastern Mediterranean Sea; from Morocco to the East Indies and from Mongolia to Senegal Europeans were looking for alternative trade routes that would bring them the mythical riches of the Far East Printing press reinforced these myths as books became affordable to those other than the wealthy elite

Portuguese Trade Routes

Columbus

Columbus was a devout and militant Catholic He was inspired by the book “The Travels of Marco Polo” He wanted to covert Asians to Christianity and recruit them to assist in a final crusade to crush Islam and reclaim Jerusalem Because no one would finance his scheme, he looked for royal patronage. He was turned down by France and Spain before turning to the Spanish for money

Queen Isabella & King Ferdinand gave him three ships and funding They figured that even if Columbus failed to get to Asia he might find islands similar to the Canary Islands and it would be a profitable investment

Route to the West

Columbus greets the Natives

The Taino

Columbus treated the Taino like forced laborers He thought it would be good for them to labor for the Spanish since it would expose them to Christianity and Hispanic civilization He subdued them with his superior technology – gunpowder weapons After his largest ship ran aground, he left 39 crew members behind in Hispaniola to start a colony

Reconstruction of a Taino Village in Cuba

When Columbus returned in 1493, he found the 39 men were dead at the hands of the Taino He made war on the Taino and killed hundreds of the natives. He shipped 500 Taino captives to Spain in 1495 but most died during the voyage and the rest died within the first year of captivity due to exposure to European diseases

Other Explorers to the New World

Epidemics Europeans spread diseases to the indigent populations 50% of the native populations died within the first decade of contact with Europeans The exchange was one sided – American pathogens did not kill the colonizers in any numbers approaching those that natives died One main disease that passed from the Americas to Europe was syphilis