U.S. History / Unit 1: Colonial America
1.2 European Exploration and the Columbian Exchange
Notes
In the 1400s, Europeans looked for sea routes to Asian trade. Their voyages connected two hemispheres for good.
- Motives: "God, gold and glory": spreading Christianity, wealth from trade and gold, and national power.
- New technology helped: the caravel, the magnetic compass and the astrolabe.
- Christopher Columbus, sailing for Spain, reached the Caribbean in 1492.
- Spanish conquistadors such as Cortés (Aztec Empire) and Pizarro (Inca Empire) conquered huge empires.
- The Columbian Exchange moved plants, animals, people and diseases between the Americas and the rest of the world.
| From the Americas | To the Americas |
|---|---|
| maize, potatoes, tomatoes, tobacco | horses, cattle, pigs, wheat, sugarcane |
| cacao, peppers | smallpox, measles |
- European diseases like smallpox killed a huge share of Native people, who had no immunity.
Practice
Which item traveled from Europe to the Americas in the Columbian Exchange?
Horses came with Europeans and changed life on the Great Plains.
What was the leading cause of the dramatic decline in the Native American population after 1492?
Native peoples had no immunity to diseases like smallpox, which killed far more people than warfare did.
The phrase "God, gold and glory" describes:
Explorers sought to spread Christianity, gain wealth and win fame and power for their nations.
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