EXPLORATION OF THE

NEW WORLD
 What made people set sail
Westward?
The need for trade became too much to
bare, and traveling Eastward became too
troubling, so the nations began to look for
alternative travel routes.
No one ever set sail Westward in fear of
wives tales where the earth falls off, or
there were sea creature lurking out there,
and so on.
 Who was willing to risk the
travel?Cristoforo Colombo,
A man named Commander
or better known as Christopher Columbus, was
a skilled mariner who had experience sailing to
Ireland, Africa, Iceland, and the
Mediterranean.
Given his experience, Spain was one of the
first to think of sending him Westward because
he had the skills that they were looking for.
 Was Columbus willing to go?

There were two things that Columbus

saw as a gain if he accepted the
voyages: bragging rights to be the first
to set sail to the West, and the belief
God would bless him for his sacrifices.
 Bragging Rights

Given Columbus in depth experience

with traveling, he would be able to have
a sense of pride that no one could take
away and his name would be marked
down in history forever, which it
already is.
 Blessings from God

Columbus was Christian and believed

that by risking his life and setting sail in
the name of God, that he would be
blessed and in doing so, he would be
sending out Gods message of the
Gospel to any Indian natives.
 Christopher Columbus Accepts
Offer
On August 3, 1492 Columbus sets sail
from Palos, Spain with three small ships:
the Santa Maria, the Pinta, and the Nina.
On October 12, only two months later, he
landed around the Watling Island in the
Bahamas, but Columbus thought he was
the Indies.
 The Landings
Columbus soon sailed to present day
Cuba where he thought he was in
mainland China.
A month later he landed in Hispaniola
which he thought was Japan.
Columbus returned to Spain in march
1493 with riches, gold, and Indian
captives where his bragging rights
came in and was honored by the
Spanish Courts.
 Meeting the Natives for the First
Time
The first natives Columbus
came into contact with were
called the Arawak.
Columbus stated that the
Arawak swam out to the get a
closer look at the new comers
and see their boats and to
investigate who they were.
 Meeting the Natives for the First
Time cont.
One cant help but try to think as to how
the natives approached the new comers.
According to Columbus, the Indians
were remarkable (European observers
were to say again and again) for their
hospitality, their belief in sharing.
 Meeting the Natives for the First
Time cont.
Columbus described them like so: They ... brought us parrots and balls
of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged
for the glass beads and hawks' bells. They willingly traded
everything they owned... . They were well-built, with good bodies and
handsome features.... They do not bear arms, and do not know them,
for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut
themselves out of ignorance. They have no iron. Their spears are
made of cane... . They would make fine servants.... With fifty men we
could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.
Slavery was one of the first things Columbus thought of when he saw the
natives, and soon implemented this.
 Things that Columbus didnt like
about the Natives
Marriage laws are non-existent men and women alike choose their
mates and leave them as they please, without offense, jealousy or
anger. They multiply in great abundance; pregnant women work to
the last minute and give birth almost painlessly; up the next day,
they bathe in the river and are as clean and healthy as before giving
birth. If they tire of their men, they give themselves abortions with
herbs that force stillbirths, covering their shameful parts with
leaves or cotton cloth; although on the whole, Indian men and
women look upon total nakedness with as much casualness as we
look upon a man's head or at his hands. -Columbus
 Things that Columbus didnt like
about the Natives cont.
As he stated himself, he didnt like how equal the Natives
were with each other, how they walked around naked
without shame, and how they gave themselves abortions
as if it was no big deal.
These attributes of the natives moved Columbus to think
that they needed salvation, and salvation by force.
 Columbus beliefs rubbed off
Cortes is known onto Cortes
as the man who
conquered Mexico and the
Aztecs.
Unlike Columbus, Cortes was
brutal and relentless.
When the Aztecs first laid eyes on
Cortes and his men, however, they
saw them as friend and not foe.
 When the AztecasAztec Beliefs
saw the Spaniards,
they believed their prophecy came true
because they had a belief that their God,
who left 300 years prior, would come
back and return with the Quetzalcoatl.
When the Aztecs saw the Spaniard, they
believed their God has came back to
them, so they opened their arms widely
with hospitality in the form of gold. This
caught Cortes eye.
 Cortes Turns Aztecs against
each
In order to collect all of the goldother
her
could, Cortes knew he had to take
down this giant civilization.
Cortes marched from town to town
massacring Aztec leaders and
peoples alike to start crumbling their
government system.
The Aztecs fought back, but by the
time they did, their numbers were
scattered and no one could tell who
was friend or foe.
 The Beginning of the New World

After the Aztec empire fell, the Spanish were on the top of
the pecking order and swept through Mexico conquering
each native tribes they came into contact with.
When word spread as to how much gold Spain was
getting, other nations sent over their ships where some
landed in Mexico, and others landed in a place called
Jamestown where the Old World before settlers came to
a crumble.
 Sites Sources Page
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/columbus-reach
es-the-new-world
http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-35/w
hy-did-columbus-sail.html
http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/zinncol1.html