Unit 3 : New Worlds - Sir Ali Raza

Early Global Awareness before Medieval Times

Ancient European civilizations knew their neighbors around the Mediterranean Sea through trade, war, and conquest.
Civilizations in eastern Asia also had knowledge of nearby peoples.
However, Europe in the west and Asia in the far east were mostly unaware of each other’s existence.

Real and lasting contact between East and West began in the 13th and 14th centuries when merchants traveled along the Silk Road between Italy and China.
When the Silk Road declined, people turned to sea routes.
This shift opened the way to the Age of Exploration (15th to 17th centuries).

Exploration happened for many reasons:

A need for new trade routes and curiosity about faraway lands.
A search for valuable goods like spices, gold, silver, and other resources not found in Europe.
Fear of Islam’s spread in Asia, which encouraged Europeans to spread Christianity.
A desire for knowledge of the unknown.
Above all, the pursuit of wealth.

Europeans led this era, with Portuguese and Spanish explorers taking the first major journeys.
Early explorers sailed around the coast of Africa to reach India.
Later, explorers discovered the Americas and the Caribbean Islands.
Spain and Portugal claimed new lands, often ignoring the rights of native peoples.
Famous explorers include Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand Magellan, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Jacques Cartier.
Later expeditions crossed the Pacific Ocean, reaching islands such as Polynesia.
Ferdinand Magellan was the first European to reach Polynesia.
The first European to discover New Zealand was Alvaro de Mendaña of Spain in 1595.
New Zealand was explored more thoroughly in 1642 by Abel Tasman.

The Americas already had advanced and thriving societies before Europeans arrived.
Civilizations like the Maya, Inca, and Aztec flourished in Central and South America.
These powerful empires were destroyed within just a few decades after European contact.

The Aztecs lived in Mexico and were an alliance of different ethnic groups.
Their civilization thrived during the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries.
The Aztec empire was destroyed by Spanish invader Hernán Cortés.
The Spanish used violent tactics, but the deadliest blow came from European diseases that devastated the Aztec population.

The Inca empire was based in Peru, South America.
Their downfall came mainly from disease, especially smallpox, which killed over half their population.
Around 20 million people died from these new diseases brought by Europeans.

The Spanish colonized vast areas and used indigenous people as laborers.
Spain’s goals included wealth, land, and above all, spreading Catholicism.
They believed their culture was superior and forced natives to adopt Spanish customs.
Treatment of indigenous people was often harsh and cruel.
Both the Old World (Europe) and the New World (Americas) underwent huge lifestyle, cultural, and dietary changes after this contact.
Indigenous populations suffered from mistreatment and from exposure to new diseases to which they had no resistance.
Spain gained immense wealth and resources from the Americas.
Even today, Spanish culture influences much of the Americas: Spanish is widely spoken, and Catholicism remains a dominant faith.

The Old World had established civilizations for over 1,100 years before these explorations.
In 1521, the Dutch colonized Indonesia.
By 1665, the Dutch had also colonized South Africa.
In the 1620s, the British colonized large parts of North America and Australia.
Trade from these colonies generated business across Europe.
Precious metals like gold and silver were shipped from colonies to Europe, leading to a major increase in European wealth.