The Beginning of Our Global Age: Europe and the Amercias

The Tanios, with open hands were very generous towards the Spanish. However Colombus had no interested in their hospitality and assaulted Taino men and women. Colombus wanted the Tainos land, and seized some Taino people to take to his Spanish king. He tortured anyone who refused to pay him with gold. Colombus encounter was repeated by Spanish "conquistadors," whom seized the Native Americans' gold. 

Francisco Pizarro was interested in Peru's Inca empire, which had even more riches than the Aztecs. He arrived in 1532 just when a civil war was over. Pizarro wanted Atahualpa to become a Spanish vassal and convert to Christianity. They killed Atahualpa. His superior weapons the Inca were weakened by European disease. In little time Spain had a much larger empire spread to South America.

Spain had many claimed empires, stretching from California to South America. In order to keep a strict empire he  put a viceroys in each province. Spain wanted all their empires to be part of the Christianity so the Church worked with the royal official and helped to regulate the activities of Spain settlers. As Spain expanded, so did Church authority. They built missions. To fill the labor shortage, they brought workers from Africa. They worked on Farming, mining, and metalworking.

Unit 1 Chapter 3

1. How did the Portuguese control the spice trade?
-The Portuguese had military and trading outposts on the southern seas. They seized cities on to the east coast of Africa. 


2.Why was Spain able to conquer the Philippines easily?
-They were able to conquer them easily, because the Philippines was yet, not a union. They were very divided with many tribes whom were at war with one another, which made them easily to dominate.


3.How did Britain gain control of India?
-The British came to India to look for spices, gold and silver, but when they saw the Indians fighting among themselves they eventually took control over India.


4.Why did the leaders of the Netherlands give so much power to the Dutch East India Company?
-Dutch merchants traded in every continent and captured the major share of the world's carrying trade.


5.Why was the location of the Philippines an asset for Spain?
-Spain only focused in one purpose only, and it was to acquire a share in the spice trade.

Turbulent Centuries in Africa

1. Why did the Portuguese and other Europeans want slaves?
-Portuguese wanted slave to perform labor on their plantations, as for the Europeans they just wanted them as household servants.

2. Identify two effects the slave trade had on African states.
-Two effects caused by slave trade are:

• More and more women and men were taken, that resulted in some small states to disappear.
• Other people depended on the slave trade, so the rulers of the new states allowed slave trade to continue, and decreasing agriculture area.

3.In your own words, how did Portugal build a trading empire in South and Southeast Asia? (trading = comercio, trueque)
-Portugal began to trade, because they had a succesful journey which led to more trading activity on sea. Soon the Dutch had made Netherlands as one of their leaders in commerce (exchange of goods.)  This led to Dutch power set up by colonies and other trading post around the world.

4.In your own words, how did the Dutch come to dominate trade in Southeast Asia? 
-The Dutch gained their power by using different strategies leading them to a more secure foothold in their region. Then a group of merchants came together building the "Dutch East India Company" which led it to be one of the most powerful company. This company had what is called "Sovereign" powers meaning they have their own power, their own way of doing things.

5. In your own words, why did the Chinese demand that the Portuguese traders pay for Chinese silks and porcelain with gold or silver?
-The Chinese wanted the Portuguese to pay with gold and silver, because they didn't have much to exchange with them. Any European textile or metalwork were inferior to Chinese silks and porcelains.

6. Write one or two paragraphs explaining your opinion on any of the material covered in these pages.
- Slavery is something very common on those centuries, they felt like not everyone had the same benefits as white or other races did. I strongly disagree, because a wise man once said "All man are created equal." Where was the equality and same benefits on those centuries? Did it seem humane to use people as servants, and treat them like a piece of trash? No one belongs to anyone, and when strong leaders fought they should have won, because they were trying to show them how bad they lack on ethics and values.

The Scientific Revolution

How were the scientists of the Scientific Revolution influenced by Renaissance ideas?
-They allowed new, fresh ideas come, despite what classical thinkers believed. They tried to reason why everything worked the way it did.

What is heliocentric?
-Belief that the sun is the center of the universe
Why was Copernicus’s theory seen as radical?
There wasn't any way to explain his theory except for what was logical or not. Even if he had the moon as proof he did not quiet solved the whole mystery of how the whole process works.


How did Bacon and Descartes each approach the new scientific method?
-They rejected Aristotle's scientific assumptions. They also challenged the scholarly traditions of the medieval universities that sought to make the physical world fit in with the teachings of the Church. Argued that the truth is not known at the beginning of inquiry but at the end, after a long process of investigation.


How did newton use observations of nature to explain the movement of the planets?
-He saw an apple fall from a tree, he then wondered whether the force that pulled the apple to Earth might not also control the movements of the planets. Then he perfected his theory, showing that a single force keeps the planets in their orbits around the sun. This is called Gravity.

The Renaissance

The Renaissance, began in Italy around 1300-1600. It begun because of several reasons, such as the following:

• Architecture around Rome
• Invention of the Printing-Press
• Deathly diseases
• Reformation 

The way of painting changed in this era giving the paintings a more realistic form, a better way to look at how things should have been. The discovery was called "perspective." Many famous painters used this new discovery such as : Leonardo Da Vinci, and Michelangelo. Another invention was engravings, by Albrech Durer.

The invention of the printing press allowed, to publish books, newspaper faster. The first book was the Bible. The creator of the printing press was Johann Gutenberg. He made the process of writing books faster, since the printing press made it all possible. 

Deadly diseases spread through Europe. Mainly caused by rats. This disease was called bubonic Plague which killed a very large percentage of the population, mainly the northern population. 

Reformation caused criticism towards the church. It was mostly criticized by its political power, luxuries, indulgences fees and much more. Martin Luther made the 95 theses and spread it through Germany.