European Explorers Flashcards
Main Idea
Driven by the desire for wealth and Christian converts, Europeans began an age of exploration
Relevance
European exploration was an important step toward the global interaction that characterizes the world today.
Caravel
Ship used by explorers with shallow bottom-larger cargo area to bring food and bring back trades
Christopher Columbus main achievement
sailed across Atlantic in search of western sea passage to India
Christopher Columbus nickname
Admiral of Ocean Seas
Christopher Columbus goals
Convert natives to claim land and find western passage to India
Why explore?
Triple G’s-God, Gold, Glory
Columbian Exchange
widespread transfer of animals, plants, culture, human populations, and diseases between the Americas and the Old World in the 15th and 16th after Columbus’s voyage
What led to E exploration?
Crusades, invention of printing press, monarchs trying to increase wealth with new routes bc old routes are blocked by Muslims, and cartographic technological advances.
What was published by Greek cartographer Ptolemy? What was wrong with it and how was that fixed?
Guide to Geography-Europeans couldn’t read it and in Columbus time it was translated it to Latin
How might Columbus’s view of the Taino Indians have led to the Spanish thinking they could take advantage and impose their will on the natives?
Might’ve taken their generosity and naivete about the worth of the material goods they were given as an invitation to take whatever they wanted and probably assumed that the natives’ gentleness meant they were easily subdued.
Why were Native Americans called Indians? When did this happen?
Leaving Spain and landing in San Salvador in the Bahamas in Oct 1492, Columbus believed it to be India.
What did the nakedness of the Indians represent to Columbus?
Lack of culture
What led Columbus to begin exporting slaves? What did La Casas say about the enslavement of the Indians?
He wasn’t making money/he was angry
Aside from enslaving Indians, what does the La Casas source accuse Columbus of?
Pillaging
Where were the triple G’s at work in the story of Columbus and the Taino Indians?
His motives.
What supports the concept of Columbus as a hero?
Brave explorer who valiantly discovered New World/Western civ continues to reap benefits of his discovery and he provided opportunity for immigrants to thrive
Conquistadors
Spanish conquerors