CHAPTER ONE:
EARLY VOYAGES
As was
discussed last Unit, the ability to undertake open sea voyages was
possessed by a number of societies, however, and the opportunity was seized by
Western Europeans. This week, we explore this turning point in history;
it has implications for every topic we examine for the rest of the
semester.
In Chapters 1 and 2, we
examine the actions taken by European powers and briefly look at their
dramatic effects. In the final three Chapters, we briefly look at what
was going on in other parts of the world, providing comparing W.
European pursuit of global empire with the fateful decisions made by the
leaders of the Ottoman Empire, Ming Dynasty China
and Tokugawa Japan.
In essence, the theme for this Unit is to understand the significant effects of
the fact that it was the Western Europeans who initiated and controlled global
sea trade. We do this by looking at the interactions that resulted and the
dramatic consequences of this interchange. We then compare European
actions and effects with the decisions made by powerful societies which did
not challenge this European dominance. This proved to be a critical
crossroads period in world history.
IBERIAN
PHASE
The first two European
powers to undertake dangerous but profitable voyages of exploration and
expansion were the powers that make up the Iberian Peninsula: Portugal and Spain. These states demonstrated
the abilities, and were driven by motives, discussed last week.
- Both countries had a deeply rooted maritime
culture. Traditional connections with the Mediterranean world
exposed both societies to innovations in ship building and navigation.
- Spain and Portugal were devoutly
Catholic countries which had experienced centuries of being front line
regions in the historic confrontation between the Christian and Muslim
worlds; both societies were strongly influenced by the passionate desire
for reconquista.
- Both states had established centralized monarchies and
strong commercial interests.
Everything
was in place for Portugal
and Spain
to play an increasingly prominent role in the 15th century. The "Iberian
Phase" of European expansion (the mid 1400's -1600's) was the period
when Portugal and Spain took the
lead as sea-faring powers. These two states paved the way for the later
exploits and empires of other countries such as the Netherlands,
France and England.
The global spread of these three later participants in European expansion is
termed the Northern European Phase of colonization; it took place
between the late 16th - 18th centuries.
PORTUGAL
Based on its lead in using
and applying maritime technology, Portugal began sending exploration
expeditions in the mid-1400's. These expeditions were backed by the Portuguese monarch,
Prince Henry the Navigator. His nickname makes clear his personal and political
fascination with maritime science and sea exploration. With Prince
Henry's support and funding, Portugal
sent ships to explore waters west and south of the Iberian
peninsula. The initial goal was to establish a strong
Portuguese presence in West Africa to
establish control of trade in gold, ivory, and slaves. Starting with the Azores
islands in the Atlantic Ocean, the Portuguese established trading bases and
asserted control of the seas in the southern Atlantic.
Continued expeditions carved out sea routes which bypassed traditional Trans-Saharan
land routes and the Mediterranean sea trade; the Portuguese were thus able to
circumvent control of the Islamic North African Berber tribes and the Ottoman Empire. These were very successful
ventures; Portugal
enjoyed immediate returns in terms of wealth, increased economic power - and
therefore continued their expeditions.
In addition to the
establishment of its trading presence in Africa, another goal of these
Portuguese expeditions was to plot a sea route around Africa and reach the
lucrative markets of the Indian Ocean and the
Pacific. Portugal
wanted direct access to the markets and goods of India,
the "Spice Islands" of Indonesia,
and of course, many desired goods from China. (see overview)
The Portuguese had the use of the astrolabe, and thus could plot North/South
location. However, once out of sight of land, it was still impossible to
accurately determine a ship's position East/West thus, in a series of voyages
undertaken throughout the late 1400's, Portuguese expeditions traveled south by
hugging the African coastline, finally reaching the continent's tip and then
continuing eastward. The limits and inaccuracies of European geographic
knowledge at that time became immediately clear; Africa proved to be much
larger than the Portuguese (and the rest of Europe)
imagined. Thus, it took several expeditions over a period of decades to
round the end of the continent - a feat finally achieved by Bartholomew Diaz in
1487.
Subsequent Portuguese
voyages continued to explore territories East of the southern tip of Africa
(which the Europeans named the Cape of Good Hope).
Portuguese expeditions plotted new sea routes and trading lanes along the
Western and Eastern coasts of Africa.
Once entering established sea lanes of Indian Ocean
trade, the Portuguese established trading links with Arabian ports. Vasco da Gama
established communications and relations with port cities in India by
1498. Further expansion established trading contacts with islands of Indonesia, with China,
and ultimately reached Japan
in 1543. In one significant miscalculation, a Portuguese expedition in
1500 traveling down the coast of West Africa was blown far off the
African coast. The sailors ultimately sighted land; it proved to be the
coast of what became known as South America.
This episode later became the foundation for Portugal’s
claims to the American territory
of Brazil.
During these voyages, the
Portuguese established control of a series of territorial footholds (trading
bases) along the coasts of Africa and Asia.
Even more importantly, they asserted naval control of profitable sea lanes
linking Europe to Asia. This was a violent
process, resulting in naval battles with the Ottoman Empire over dominance over
sea travel in Indian Ocean. However, the
naval might of Portuguese caravels, armed with mounted cannons, proved
superior; the Portuguese proved more persistent and determined. Thus, Portugal became the dominant sea power in the Indian Ocean, enjoying the wealth and control of trade
which resulted from this dominance.
SPAIN
Portugal's neighbor Spain
quickly recognized the need to compete with Portugal's growing naval and
economic power. Under the newly unified and fervently Catholic monarchy of
Isabella and Ferdinand, Spain funded its own expeditions
with the goal of establishing a global, Catholic presence. However, instead of
heading East (and competing with Portugal
and the Ottoman Empire), the first Spanish
expedition headed West. Contrary to popular myth, in the 15th century it
was accepted by many in the maritime, seagoing community that the earth was
round. There were, however, glaring
errors in European, Asian and Islamic geographic understanding. For
example, Europeans believed the earth was much smaller than it proved to be and
they did not know about the land mass of the Americas that lay west. The
assumption was that by going West from Spain,
ships would reach the coast of Asia
within a few weeks.
In 1492, Christopher
Columbus led a Spanish expedition of three ships headed west. He
expected to make landfall in Cipango (Japan)
or someplace on the mainland of Asia. After 33
days, Columbus'
ships sighted land. Columbus declared they had reached "the Indies"
(believing them to be islands somewhere off the coast of India), and claimed
the land for the Spanish crown -- this claim was made in spite of the fact that
there were people there to greet them on the shore! Although they
did not realize this at the time, the Spanish had not reached Asia; the
landing took place on an island in the Caribbean.
This epic event is often
referred to as the "discovery"
of the Americas - however recognize it was only a discovery from the
viewpoint of the Europeans; the Americas had actually been
"discovered" and populated since at least 20,000 BCE/AD by those
later called Native Americans. While not exactly a discovery of this land
mass from a literal perspective, Columbus's
expedition was historically a critical event. It marked the
dramatic end of over 15,000 years of isolation for the civilizations and
peoples of the Americas.
After 1492, the peoples in the Americas
became tied, forcibly and forever, to the economies, peoples, diseases,
politics, and religions of Europe/Africa/Asia.
The Spanish continued to
send expeditions to explore the regions they had claimed; for a while they
still believed were somewhere near Asia.
Spain ultimately realized
that its new territorial possessions were not islands off the coast of Asia but in fact were part of a whole new continent.
A long period of conquest and brutal suppression of native peoples
followed these initial voyages of exploration and "discovery". (see
map) The Spanish, over the course of a century and a half, built an
enormous empire in the Americas;
they also continued to pursue their initial goal of establishing a western
route to Asian markets. They sent expeditions to go around the southern tip of
South American and continue West towards Asia.
Spain’s contact and established
relations with Asian markets were finally achieved with the Magellan expedition.
Launched from Spain in 1519,
Spanish ships headed West across the Atlantic, rounded the southern tip of
South America (Cape Horn) and crossed the Pacific, ultimately landing in the Philippines
(1520). On the basis of this landing, Spain
later claimed the Philippines
as a Spanish colony; Spain
held onto this colony until 1898! Magellan and some of the crew were
killed in a conflict with Philippine natives, but his expedition
continued under the leadership of El Cano. Two ships continued westward, using
the established sea lanes in the Indian Ocean
and facing threats such as battles with the Portuguese and a shortage of
supplies. Only one ship the Victoria,
with only 18 crewmen, made it home; it ultimately rounded the Cape of Good Hope
reaching home port in Spain
in 1522.
This lengthy expedition
accomplished something never before achieved -- the entire world had
been circumnavigated! Peoples across the entire globe were now tied
together – it was a truly global world for the first time. The
Magellan expedition also made clear the wealth to be had. The spice cargo
from the Victoria,
the only ship that made it paid for all expenses of the
entire 2 1/2 year expedition, and reaped substantial profits as well!
By the turn of the 16th
century, Iberian power and control extended in two directions. The
European powers had established firm control of regions in the Americas, which they called a "New World" and which they claimed as their territory
based on their "discovery." Iberian powers also established
critical economic control of sea lanes of trade connecting Europe to
Africa, Asia and the Pacific, in particular via the Indian
Ocean. These territories in Africa and Asia were referred to as
the "Old World", meaning a world
already known by Europeans but in which they now asserted a greater role
through control of sea trade.
NORTHERN EUROPE
Spain and Portugal,
by the end of the 15th and early 16th centuries, had
empires that spanned the entire globe. They derived staggering wealth
from the trading bases they established in the "Old World" which
enabled direct control of sea routes to Africa and Asia, and in particular
enjoyed control over the stunning resources and riches of the Americas.
By the mid-1500's (16th
century), however, three other European powers were in a position to challenge
Iberian prominence and began sending out expeditions and conquering troops of
their own. The Netherlands
(the Dutch) established a strong presence in South
Africa and most visibly controlled substantial territory
in the islands of Indonesia.
Ultimately, the Dutch became the dominant western presence controlling the
spice trade centered in Indonesia.
The Dutch East India Company emerged as a powerful force in expanding world
trade.
The British and French
pursued global expansion in earnest in the early 1600's and continued their
aggressive expansion well into the 1700's. Like the Spanish, Portuguese, and
Dutch, these powers established territorial claims in the Americas - the "New World" - in
particular in the Caribbean. They also
established colonial control over trade bases and routes in the "Old World". Wealth came from control of trade,
from direct access and control of raw materials such as gold and silver, and
the long term wealth from use of conquered lands for agriculture.
A global age of dynamic and
influential interaction and interchange had begun, initiated and controlled by
Western European states. In the next chapter, we focus more directly on some
of the dramatic consequences resulting from this age of exploration and expansion.
Interesting
Related Web Sites
1492: AN ONGOING
VOYAGE
COLUMBUS
NAVIGATION HOMEPAGE
COLUMBUS AND THE AGE OF
DISCOVERY
DISCOVERERS WEB HOMEPAGE
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