Portugal established an early dominance in exploration under Prince Henry the Navigator, with Bartolomeu Diaz and Vasco de Gama expanding Portugal's reach down the African coast and discovering a route to India, making Portugal the most powerful European nation. Christopher Columbus, sponsored by Spain, sought a western route to Asia and instead landed in the Caribbean, conquering the local populations who were later decimated by smallpox, with Columbus ultimately dying in poverty. Spain and Portugal divided control of the new world through the Treaty of Tordesillas, guaranteeing wealth and influence for both nations and the Catholic Church. Hernan Cortes and Francisco Pizarro then conquered the Aztec and Inca empires respectively in South America,

1. Portugal’s Early place in Exploration
• Prince Henry the Navigator-creates a school
for navigators
• Bartholomew 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 Hispaniola
• 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.
• 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 and
builds an army Between the effects of
Smallpox and the power of the Spanish and
the Aztec’s 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.
• Incan make Spain very wealthy

6. The relationship b/t England and Spain
before the Spanish Armada
• England wants a piece of the action. They
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 them friends and allowed them to
colonize freely (but the settlements stayed
small)