Age of Exploration: New Trade Routes & the Discovery of America
The Objectives of the Biggest Travel
In the Middle Ages, trade with Eastern Europe was conducted through the Silk Road, which ran through the Mediterranean to Constantinople and then crossed Central Asia. In 1453, the Turks conquered Constantinople, and the traditional oriental trade routes were disrupted. This led to the need for new sea routes to access luxury goods from the East. Thus, from the 15th century onwards, a series of maritime expeditions were carried out, opening new trade routes, leading to the discovery of new continents, and expanding the known world.
Portuguese Expeditions
African Path:
- They arrived at the Azores and Madeira islands.
- They explored the African coast southward, reaching the Gulf of Guinea, where they obtained gold, ivory, and slaves.
- Bartolomeu Dias reached the Cape of Good Hope.
The Path to India:
- Vasco da Gama led a new expedition, reaching the coast of India.
The Progress of Navigation
Mapping made significant progress due to Portolan charts, which detailed sea and coastlines. New equipment, such as the rudder, compass, and astrolabe, enabled more accurate ship guidance and better orientation. Finally, the caravel, a high-sided, strong ship suitable for sailing in the Atlantic, was developed.
Columbus
Christopher Columbus, a Genoese sailor, believed the Earth was spherical but underestimated its diameter. He presented his project to the Catholic Monarchs, who agreed to finance the trip and signed the Capitulations of Santa Fe. These established that Columbus would receive the title of Viceroy and Admiral, and would have a share of the profits from the discovered lands.
Columbus’ Four Voyages
First Voyage:
Columbus’ first expedition left the port of Palos on August 3, 1492. It consisted of a nao (Santa Maria) and two caravels (La Niña and La Pinta) and comprised 105 seamen. After a stopover in the Canary Islands, the ships crossed the Atlantic, sighting land on October 12, 1492. It was a small island in the Bahamas, which Columbus named San Salvador. During the following months, they explored other islands, including Cuba and Hispaniola. The bulk of the expedition returned to Spain in early 1493.
The Division Between Spain and Portugal
The Catholic Monarchs asked the Pope to grant them sovereignty over the lands discovered by Columbus to explore and evangelize them. Portugal also aspired to control the seas and lands explored by its sailors. To avoid conflicts, they signed the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494). This document established an imaginary line 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands. Lands west of the line were to be Castilian, and lands east were Portuguese.
The Errors of Columbus
Columbus’ project was based on two main ideas: 1. The sphericity of the Earth. In the 3rd century BC, Eratosthenes had explained that the Earth was round and estimated its circumference. Columbus used these calculations and reports by the Florentine mathematician Toscanelli but underestimated the Earth’s diameter, leading to a 25% reduction in its circumference. He concluded that the distance between the Canaries and Cipangu (Japan) was about 4,450 km, when in fact it is 19,600 km.
The Discovery of the Pacific
As Portuguese and Spanish sailors arrived on American shores, they began to question whether this was truly Asian land or an unknown continent. In 1513, Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa confirmed these suspicions. He organized an expedition that crossed the Isthmus of Panama on foot, discovering a new ocean (the Pacific), which they called the South Sea. This confirmed that America was a new continent and that Asia could be reached by continuing to navigate westward.
The Naming of America
One of the sailors who visited the shores of the new world was Amerigo Vespucci. He claimed to be the first European to reach the continent. For this reason, the new continent was named America.
The First World Tour
In 1519, an expedition was organized for the Spanish Crown, led by Ferdinand Magellan, with five ships and 265 men. The main objective was to find a maritime passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, allowing access to the Spice Islands by sailing westward. Starting from Sanlúcar de Barrameda, the sailors navigated the coast of South America and found the narrow passage that led to the Pacific Ocean, named for the stillness of its waters. The expedition continued westward, reaching the Mariana Islands and then the Philippines. Magellan was killed in the archipelago in 1521 during a conflict with the natives. His captain, Juan Sebastián Elcano, made his way back across the Indian Ocean and along the African coast. Magellan and Elcano completed the first circumnavigation of the world, definitively proving that the Earth is round and much larger than Columbus had imagined.
Unknown Continent
The Americas have a long history of human habitation, dating back over 20,000 years. When Europeans arrived, prosperous civilizations had developed, creating great empires such as the Aztec, Maya, and Inca. They used stone as a basic material, and although they practiced agriculture, they did not have metal tools or domesticated animals. When Columbus and his men arrived, they thought they had reached India, and thus the new territories were called the Indies, and their inhabitants Indians. These indigenous cultures are also known as pre-Columbian, meaning before the arrival of Columbus.
The Aztecs
The Aztecs settled in the fertile valley of Mexico between 1200 and the arrival of the Spanish in 1519. They were a warlike people who conquered a large empire with its capital at Tenochtitlan, extending throughout central and southern Mexico. All religious and political power was concentrated in the hands of the emperor. Agriculture and trade were the main economic activities. They also developed a flourishing urban civilization with important cities. Like the Maya, they built temples around large stepped pyramids.
Incas
The Inca civilization developed in South America, in the Andes Mountains, between 1100 and 1532, when they were conquered by the Spanish. They created an empire centered in the Cuzco region, stretching north to Quito and south to Chile, with a population of over 12 million. They were primarily farmers, ruled by an emperor considered the son of the sun and called the Inca. In the heart of the Andes, they built impressive stone fortresses, such as Machu Picchu.
The Conquest of Mexico
In 1518, an expedition led by Hernán Cortés left Cuba and landed in Mexican territory, where he founded the city of Veracruz in conquered Aztec territory.
The Conquest of Peru
In 1531, Francisco Pizarro, also from Extremadura, led the conquest of the Inca Empire (present-day Peru, Ecuador, and parts of Bolivia) with Diego de Almagro.
Other Achievements
In Asia, the Philippines were conquered by Legazpi and Urdaneta and named in honor of Prince Philip, son of Charles I.
The Organization of the Conquered Territories
Two viceroyalties were created: New Spain (Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean) and Peru (South America to Patagonia). Each was headed by a viceroy. The viceroyalties were divided into provinces ruled by governors.
The Exploitation of Resources
Land was distributed among the settlers, and labor was organized through the encomienda system. This system granted indigenous groups to the new settlers, who, in exchange for protection, sustenance, and religious teaching, worked for them and paid taxes.
The American Trade
The Spanish Crown held a monopoly on American trade, which was conducted through the port of Seville. All ships sailed to and from Seville in groups (fleets) to protect themselves from pirate attacks by England and Holland.
The Colonial Society
By the end of the 16th century, the Creoles, descendants of Spanish settlers, numbered nearly half a million. There were also numerous mestizos, children of indigenous and Spanish parents. In areas where native labor was scarce, slaves were transported from Africa.