Columbus Flashcards
Who was the famous explorer known for discovering the Americas?
Christopher Columbus
Italian Sailor
was commonly considered a holy figure
Christopher Columbus’s sponsors were who?
the Spanish Monarchs
Ferdinand and Isabella
the Spanish Empire had recently gained lots of land and power and if Columbus could do what he said he would, the investment he asked for would be insignificant compared the impact it would bring
What were Columbus’s initial goals?
to sail to Asia by sailing West instead of East
wanted passage to India and China, Europe previously had control of overland trade routes but when Constantinople fell to the Ottomans in 1453, land routes to Asia were no longer cheap nor easy; this caused Portuguese sailors to travel South around Africa to get to Asia but Columbus wanted to get there by sailing West.
What were Columbus’s 3 ships called?
Niña, La Pinta, La Santa Gallega
Where and when did Columbus set sail? How long was his journey?
Columbus set sail on September 6th, 1492 from the Canary Islands. He sailed for 5 weeks on in the Atlantic til he spotted what is now the Bajamas on October 12th, 1492.
How were the relationships between Columbus and the Natives when he landed on his first voyage?
They were friendly towards each other
the indigenous people were used to tribes passing through as they were a common trading post and just thought that the Europeans were a tribe farther away passing through and wanted to have a good relationship; Europeans were friendly because they knew that the Indians could wipe them all out at any point
What indigenous people did Columbus first encounter?
Arawaks, Lucayan, and Taino
What did Columbus do when he arrived to the Americas on his second voyage?
Attacked and took 500 indians as slaves
sailed back to the New World with weapons and soldiers; took 500 slaves; “About 200 of these Indians died”, a passenger recorded, ”We cast them into the sea”; Indians were paraded around as humiliation, and many rebelled or committed mass suicide
What were the effects of Columbus’s attack?
many Indians died of disease from the Europeans; launched the Transatlantic trade; launched the Encomienda System
Transatlantic trade was a trade exchanging Afrian Slaves to the Americas
Encomienda System was a reward for the conquerors granting them land and slaves
What were the effects of Columbus’s attack?
many Indians died of disease from the Europeans; launched the Transatlantic trade; launched the Encomienda System
Transatlantic trade was a trade exchanging Afrian Slaves to the Americas
Encomienda System was a reward for the conquerors granting them land and slaves
What was the importance of sugar civilization in Americas?
Made lots of money
was made into rum and sold; many became rich off this; used slaves to harvest sugar
What happened in order to construct and run the sugar colonizations?
The Conquering of the Carribean Islands and the enslaving of the Indians that lived there
What was the Encomienda System?
Conquistidors being rewarded ruling over a chunk of land.
- Conquistidors became encomenderos
- Collected tributes from Amerindians of certain cultures
- Were supposed to protect & convert Indians
What were the conditions for Indians in the Encomienda System?
They were considered expendable and not seen as humans. They were forced to provide gold that wasn’t abundant and faced brutal punishments if their quota wasn’t filled.
Bartoleme de Las Casa’s Origin
His father was an original Conquistidor and brought back riches that facinated Bartoleme
