Settling of the New World

Pangaea 225 million years ago, it is believed the Earth

consisted of one single super continent

Due to land shifts, oceans were formed and the continents as we know them today

Great Ice Age 2 million years ago, the Great Ice Age

allowed for thick sheets of ice to expand over the Americas, as well as Europe and Asia

Due to the ice age, the ocean levels dropped & allowed for the emergence of of a land bridge connecting Eurasia to North America

This is believed to have allowed for the first human inhabitants of the American continents for over 250 centuries

The Earliest Americans

Viking Explorers As the Ice Age ended & sea levels rose, the

American continents re-entered a time of isolation for the rest of the world

Until about the year 1000, a Scandinavian explorer by the name of Leif(v) Erikson explored what is now today Nova Scotia

The Crusades The Crusades (11th to 14th centuries) also had

an indirect influence on the founding of the New World

Christian crusaders from Europe traveled to the holy land to defeat the Muslims

On these conquests, the Europeans acquired a taste for the goods from this region (sugar, silk, drugs, perfumes, etc.)

This would then foster the exploration of Europeans to the East to acquire these goods

Rivalry Due to the desire to travel East, the

Portuguese were innovators & developed the caravel ship

This allowed the Europeans to travel along the forbidden African coast

The sea fearing Portuguese pushed even farther, and Vasco de Gama reached India by 1498

The successes of Portuguese discovery fueled rivalry with Spain, who would pursue their own discovery, conquest, & colonization

Columbus & the New World

Christopher Columbus persuaded the Spanish monarchs to support his sea adventure to the “Indies”

October 12, 1492-Columbus sighted an island in the Bahamas, accidentally

This discovery initiated an explosion in international commerce and globalization with the Columbian Exchange

Spanish Conquistadors

Spain became the dominating power of the New World by the 1500s

Conquistadors, conquerors, spanned across the Caribbean and onto the mainland of the American continents seeking gold and fortune Were the conquistadors immoral?

Read pages 18-19 in text & discuss

The Spread of Spanish America

Within half a century since Columbus’ arrival, the Spanish Catholic empire extended from Colorado from Argentina

However, other European powers were eager to place their mark on the map as well

This fueled the Spanish to further secure their empire and North American lands. Mainly through the conversion of the natives to Christianity.