Age of ExplorationPart I – Coming to

the New World Do you remember what

happened when the Europeans heard of the riches Marco Polo

found in Asia?

European Exploration: Part I

Cause

Result

• Europeans needed spices from East Asia quickly & safely• Tried to find a way to reach Asia faster than the Silk Road• Whichever country found the way first would dominate

spice trade and be wealthiest. (How would being wealthy help these countries?)

• After Columbus “discovered” America & rumors abound, the new race began between France, Spain, & England to see who could claim the most land for their country.

(Why did these countries want the most land?)

France

• 1562, Exploring North America for gold, religion, & spices, especially international prestige (3 G’s)

• Huguenots (religious group) were looking for a place to worship freely

• Founded South Carolina colony: Charlesfort• Explorers ran out of food & supplies • Returned in 1565 but settlers had vacated (life

was too hard there)• Founded colony, 1564, Florida-Ft. Caroline

England

• Queen Elizabeth I (ruled 1558-1603) leader during exploration period.

• England was a Protestant country (enemy of Spain who was Catholic

• 1588 British Navy defeated the Spanish Armada• British naval dominance allowed for American

explorations• Hoped to find gold & discovered making money with

copper & furs• Wanted to spread their Protestant religion.• Also came for overpopulation in cities/mercantile

system • Traded Native American slaves (resulting in Native

American deaths)• Native Americans also became involved in selling

slaves• Few records exist to verify what actually happened

Spanish

•Looking for wealth in North America (God, Gold, & Glory)•Destroyed French Fort Caroline in competition over land.•1568, built first missions in Florida where Fort Caroline had been.•Missions were built to spread Catholicism and to convert Native Americans to a new form of society

•Missions were ruled by Spanish colonial governments

•Indian Chiefs were under Spanish rule-local leaders•Missions were communication points for Spanish with the Indians•Natives & Europeans traded at the missions•Hernando DeSoto one of best know Spanish Explorers for Spain. (Spanish explorer to explore what would become Georgia)

Age of ExplorationPart II – European Impact on Native

AmericnasWhat happened to the Indians due to all the

exploration?

Spanish Explorations: Part II

Explorers• Ponce de Leon, Cortez, Pizarro, Allyon, & De Soto

Lost

Colony

• Lucas Vazquez de Allyon, 1526, brought 600 settlers to Georgia

• Some from Africa- (first Africans in America)

• Settlement: San Miguel de Guadalupe on the Sapelo Sound

• First European in GA & first formed settlement in N. America

• Settle doomed to fail; settlers were unprepared for the winter.

• Did not discover any means of wealth.

Early

Spanish

• Most explorations of the new world were done by the Spanish

• Many Spanish colonies were based in the Caribbean

• Missions were built on the barrier islands for easy access to the mainland

• Missions were built to convert to Catholism and ”civilize” the Native Americans

• Natives used the missions to integrate/assimilate with the Europeans

Spanish Explorations: Part II

Spanish Missions

• Spain considered the French a threat to the efforts in the New World.• Sent Pedro Mendez de Avilles (soldier/sailor) to retain territory in the

Americas.• Traveled from St. Augustine, FL, went to St. Catherines Island• Established Guale (Wallie) (named after an indian friend) with 30 men• First mission was Santa Catalina• Many missions failed; King Phillip II set up additonal missions on barrier

islands; established 70 mission & 40 missionaries in GA• Friars (catholic priests) wanted to civilize the Natives who “ruled over

them”• Juanillo Revolt-local disagreement resulting in killings and abandoned

missions• Missions lasted over 100 years

• Ended with British aiding Natives in driving out the Spaniards from Georgia.

Juanillo Revolt

• In the late fall of 1597, Guale Indians murdered five Franciscan friars stationed in their territory and razed their missions to the ground. The 1597 Guale Uprising, or Juanillo's Revolt as it is often called, brought the missionization of Guale to an abrupt end and threatened Florida's new governor with the most significant crisis of his term. To date, interpretations of the uprising emphasize the primacy of a young Indian from Tolomato named Juanillo, the heir to Guale's paramount chieftaincy. According to most versions of the uprising story, Tolomato's resident friar publicly reprimanded Juanillo. In his anger, Juanillo gathered his forces and launched a series of violent assaults on all five of Guale territory's Franciscan missions, leaving all but one of the province's friars dead.

Friar (Catholic Priests) - Missionaries

Missionaries were sent to work at the many Missions established on the barrier islands by the Spanish. They were responsible for converting the Native Americans to Catholicism (Christianity). They were also sent to assimilate the Natives to European lifestyle.

Example of Spanish Mission

Spanish Missions

Spanish Explorations: Part II

Hernando

De Soto

• First European to search the interior of Southeast United States.

• Looking for gold; landed in Florida first, went through GA, SC, NC, TN, & AL

• Brought 600 men, 200 horses, mules, and dogs

• Traveled up Mississippi; landed close to Albany, GA, 1540

• Introduced natives to white men and horses for first time

• Better weaponry; guns, horses, crossbows, and body armor

• He took advantage of the Native Americans and many Indians died

• He died somewhere along the Mississippi without ever finding gold

• Left notes/writings about his exploration

Spanish Explorations: Part II

Outcome from De

Soto

• Europeans robbed & killed approx. 11,000 Native Americans• Many Europeans died on the explorations; most of De Sotos

army was lost to starvation and disease• Native Americans died from killings & diseases

• Measles, smallpox, influenza, & whooping cough• Many European nations established settlements

• European settlements competed with each other as well as Native Americans

Hernando de Soto

Hernando De Soto• Hernando de Soto is widely known for his expiditions, and

his discoveries and is considered the first white man to see the Mississippi River. However in my research and reading the stories of his many conquest, I found that he was a vicious fighter, frequently raiding Native villages, killing or enslaving all in the way of his quest to discover riches. He would have the elders of the villages shot in open fields in execution lines, he made examples out of the warriors, placing them in chains, he also took many as slaves and guides on his expeditions. Most history books and educators will tell you of his brave struggles to explore. But in my reading and researching the subject of Hernando de Soto, I was quite surprised to see what a gold greedy and pitiless conqueror he was and his blatant mistreatment of the Native American Tribal People. Sometimes, he never even attempted to talk to them first, he would scout out their villages and attack without warning, pillaging for treasure.

• After many years of intimidation and ill treatment of the Native American tribes he encountered on his quest, Hernando de Soto died on May 21, 1542 of a fever. His body was wrapped in skins weighted with sand and dumped into the Mississippi River, in order to prevent the desecration of his body by the Indians, whom he had intimidated and ill-used . There is a cross marker commemorating the explorer and his discovery on the banks of the Mississippi, in the city of Memphis TN.

Painting of DeSoto burial in Mississippi

• Although the expedition of deSoto ended drastically and with little success in the venture for riches, it was one of the most elaborate and persistent efforts made by the Spaniards to explore the interior of North America. It was the first extensive exploration of at least six of the Southern states: South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas, and their written history often begins with narratives which tell the story of de Soto's expedition. From these same narratives we also get our first description of the Cherokees, Seminoles, Creeks, Appalachians, Choctaws, and other famous tribes of southern Indians.