1. The Age of (European) Exploration

2. Map of the New World—Sebastian Munster, 1540

3. Why did the Europeans wish to explore?
1st and Foremost: TRADE
Trading what?
SPICES: cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, pepper.
Why were these spices so important?
Preserve food (no refrigerators!)
Flavor
Medicines and perfumes
Where did the spices come from?
Moluccas (Indonesia), Southeast Asia

4. God, Gold and Glory
The motives of the explorers to the New World, especially the conquistadores, can be summed up in the following:
God = to spread the Christian faith. Spanish and Portuguese especially wanted to spread Catholicism
Gold = wealth of the natives of the Americas. Many myths circulated of golden cities (Cibola; El Dorado) with wealth beyond imagination
Glory = fame throughout Europe and recognition in history

5. Conquistador

6. Cortes, Montezuma, and the city of Tenochtitlan

7. Francisco Pizarro Invaded what is now known as Peru
Defeated the Incas, brutally and underhandedly
As a result, the Spanish took over much of South America.
This is the Spanish
Empire in the 17th-18th
centuries

8. Reasons for Spanish Victory
1. Military technology
2. Division among the natives
3. Disease
4. Native belief in apocalypse
Apocalypto

9. The Ships of the Explorers
Carrack = popular ship used by explorers. The “Santa Maria” used by Columbus in his first voyage to the New World is an example.
Caravel = combination of European square sails and triangular sails of Arabs. Portuguese used these ships, especially