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The Age of Exploration: Europe
The age of exploration was filled with courageous voyagers and
conquistadores from all over Europe, much like today, there was much
competition for land rights. The main disputes were between Spain and
Portugal. And these are the representatives from not only these two
countries, but surrounding ones as well.
Christopher Columbus was a sea captain from Genoa. He first tried
to convince Portugal, then Spain to sponsor a voyage to Asia across the
Atlantic. Columbus thought that the voyage would take two months, others
said four months, but he left with enough food and supplies for only two
months. He landed in the West Indes (Bahamas, Haiti, Cuba) when the two
months of supplies ran out. Their voyage began on August 3, 1492, from
Palos, Spain and ended on October 12 when land was sighted at the Americas.
Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian that represented the Medici Bank in
Spain, chartered the coastline of Central America and described this as the
"Mundus Novus", meaning "New World". In 1507, a German cartographer
labeled the continent America named after Amerigo Vespucci. He also
explored the coastline of Central America.
Juan Ponce de Le¢n set out to find the Fountain of Youth. He never
did find the fountain, but he discovered the land that he named "Florida".
Vasci de Balboa was the first to push through the jungle of Central America,
On the other side he discovered a vast body of water that he named "South
Sea", because he thought that it was South of Asia. This Ocean was named
the "Pacific".
Magellan, of Portagual, founded the narrow straits at the Southern
tip of South America. It was later named the "Strait of Magellan". He was
later killed by Philippine Natives and four of his ships were destroyed.
Only one ship made it back to Spain, making it the first voyage around the
World in 1522.
Eventually, Columbus claimed Cuba and Hispanola, which is now more
commonly known as Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
The Spanish Government never harmed the natives. In fact, they
supported them on the newly claimed America lands for labor purposes.
Eventually, the natives were tied to the land and lost freedom. They also
had to pay taxes and were required to devote labor.
Instead of financing expeditions dirrectly, Spanish rulers granted
conquistadores the right to establish outposts in the Americas. In
exchange, these conquerors gave the crown 1/5 of any treasure they
discovered.
Eventually, there was strong competition between Spain and Portugal
for land and wealth in the Americas. The Pope settled land disputes by
declaring a "Line of Demarcation". It said that everything on the coast of
this line was Portuguese and everything west was Spanish. The Portuguese
got cheated, because all they were able to claim was a portion of present
day Brazil. Spain claimed 95% of the Americas.
Technology aided European exploration, such as more precise travel
with the refinement of the compass and new sale designs and development.
The growth of a middle class sparked curiosity about the World. Sources:
World History: Patterns of Civilization by Prentice Hall The Funk &
Wagnalls New Encyclopedia Prodigy Membership Services Inc.
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