Discovery and Colonization

Europe and the Americas Collide

What was Europe like just before the discovery of the “New World”?

• 1000-1300 THE DARK AGES!Time period dominated by RELIGION– The Crusades– The Plague

• 1300-1500 THE RENAISSANCE!Time period dominated by CHANGE– Religious change: The Protestant Reformation– Technology: Art, Literature, Navigation

(Discovery!)– Nations Organize around strong Monarchies

Europe: 1500-1700s

What was going on in the Americas prior to Columbus?

• The GREAT EMPIRES of Central and South America: Maya, Aztec, Inca

Aztec

More than 500 unique cultures existed across North America, each suited to its regional geography and climate.

What effects did the discovery of the Americas have on BOTH sides?

• The meeting of these two worlds was more of a collision… that turned into an alien invasion.

• Although the Native cultures were sophisticated in many areas, they lacked the weapons technology to defend themselves.

• European philosophy and religion made it easy for them to justify conquering and taking.

The “Columbian Exchange”

• The Europeans got: Potatoes, CORN, SUGAR, TOBACCO, chili pepper, tomato, cocoa, GOLD, SILVER, SLAVE LABOR, LAND

• The Americans got: SMALL POX, Bubonic Plague, Influenza, Leprosy, Cholera, STDs, Guns, Horses, goats, chickens, wheat, carrot, coffee, apple, CHRISTIANITY, SPANISH

What reasons did Spain used to justify seizing control of the lands it discovered and the

civilizations that lived there? • The 3 G’s:– GOD– GOLD– GLORY

• A modern political map of the Americas, like this one below, is very familiar. It's easy to take for granted that most North Americans are white and speak English and that the predominant languages in South America are Spanish and Portuguese. But how did these European people end up in the Americas?

• Now, look at this map. It represents the Spanish empire in the Americas circa 1800 (after the American Revolution). Much of the modern-day United States was Spanish.

Here’s the extent of Spain’s global empire