2. “Explorations”
• From 1400-1800
• Global scope
• Set up networks of commerce, communication
and transportation. The world got smaller.
• Motives: God (convert to Christianity), Gold
(find new sources of wealth) and Glory (the
thrill of discovery and exploration with your
name attached to it.)
3. Technology Made it Possible
• Rudders on boats (from the Chinese)
• Triangular Lateen Sails (from the Indians)
• Compass (from the Chinese)
• Latitude (from the Arabs)
• Understanding current and prevailing winds.
4.
5.
6. European explorers and destinations
• Christopher Columbus—Caribbean Islands
• Vasco DeGama and Bartolomeo Diaz—West
Africa
• de Balboa “finds” the Pacific while exploring
Panama
• Ferdinand Magellan sets out to
circumnavigate the globe
– Only 35 of 250 sailors survive.
– Magellan dies in Philippines.
7.
8. Euro Conquest 1
• Portugal
– By mid 16th Century, have more than 50 trading
posts in Indian Ocean region.
– Can overpower other ships with their artillery
– Alfonso d’Alboquerque commands Portuguese
fleet.
– Takes Hormuz, Goa and Melaka by force.
– Forces ships into port for search and seizure.
– Executes natives and cuts off hands liberally
9. Euro Conquest 2
• English and Dutch
– Portugal’s navy is too small to monopolize IOB
– E and D set up parallel trading posts
– Compete, but not too violently
– Avoid Portuguese violence, and trade instead
– Use Joint Stock companies well
– Rake in big $ after a slow start
10. Euro Conquest 3
• SE Asia
– Both Philippines and Indonesia ignored by both
China and India
– Both are also weak militarily
– Spain conquers Philippines by 1575—faces little
organized resistance
• Focus of Spain is on trade and Christianity; trade with
China despite poor relations with Chinese in Manila
– Dutch take over Indonesia. Focus on trade, not
religion
• Establish alliances to maintain their monopoly over the
islands
11. Euro Fail
• China and India do not fall under European
control
– At first
• Populations are too big.
• China’s government centralized and organized
• BUT
– Neither is ready to face a concerted European
conquest effort…
12.
13. Russian Expansion in Asia
• Russians take over Mongol khanates, 16thc.
• Astrakhan becomes major trading city
• Caucasus absorbed in 18th century
• Siberian expansions in 16th-17th centuries
• Trade with indigenous Siberian peoples
– Little success with missionary efforts
– Some local rebellions
13
15. Russian Occupation of Siberia
• Criminals, prisoners of war exiled to Siberia
• Disgruntled peasants migrate east
• Trading posts develop
• Russian population expands dramatically
– 1763: 420,000 Russians in Siberia, outnumber
indigenous peoples 2:1
15
16. Conquest of the “New World”
• Suddenly flora and fauna and diseases that
had been partitioned began to mix.
• Smallpox kills 15% of population in American
hemisphere.
• Smallpox and influenza reduce Aztec
population by 90% (from 17m to 1.3m) within
a century.
• Around 100 million worldwide die from
diseases between 1500 and 1800.
17.
18. Effects
• 1500: world population was appr: 425 million
• By 1800: world population is at 800 million
• By 1750, all parts of the world (except for
Australia) participated in global networks of
commercial relations led by European
merchant mariners.
