PRIHIS202016-V010300

Summary

This script explores the events leading to 1492, examining the Old World's dynamics and the collision with the New World. It discusses the Ottoman expansion's impact on Europe, the push southward by Spain and Portugal, and the search for alternative routes to the East. The script highlights the discovery of new islands, the establishment of colonies, and the introduction of African slavery. It also covers the exploration of the Americas by Columbus and the subsequent colonization, emphasizing the cultural exchanges and the pursuit of wealth that shaped global history.

Takeaways

• 🌍 The events of 1492 were not just a collision between an Old World and a New World, but potentially several old worlds meeting.
• 🏰 Eastern Christendom was under pressure from the Ottomans, which pushed them to explore alternative routes to the East.
• 🛶 Russian explorations moved north and east in search of trade routes and resources like furs.
• 🏰 Western Christendom, particularly Spain and Portugal, were pushing Muslim forces south and eventually captured Granada in 1492.
• 🚢 Europeans sought alternative routes to the East due to the Muslim blockade, leading to explorations down the western coast of Africa.
• 🏝️ The discovery of islands like the Canaries and the Azores led to the first European colonies and the beginning of African slavery.
• 💰 Europeans were drawn to Africa for gold and eventually started buying slaves, in addition to gold, from African kingdoms.
• 🌬️ The discovery of equatorial currents and winds allowed Europeans to sail further into the Atlantic, which was key to Columbus's voyage.
• 📍 Columbus's navigational methods were not as advanced as others', but he was the first to make landfall in the Caribbean.
• 🌿 The Spanish began to colonize the Caribbean, using local labor to produce crops for export to Europe, leading to the death of many indigenous workers due to disease.
• 🗝️ The legend of El Dorado emerged as Europeans became more interested in the wealth of the New World rather than finding a route to the Orient.

Q & A

What was the primary reason for the exploration of alternative routes to the East during the time period discussed in the script?

The primary reason was the Muslim blockade which forced Europeans to seek alternative routes to the East for trade, leading to explorations down the western coast of Africa and eventually across the Atlantic.

What was the significance of the discovery of the Canary and Azores islands?

These islands were significant as they became laboratories for the first European colonies and the first sugar plantations, which were linked to the emergence of African slavery.

How did the exploration of the western coast of Africa impact European trade and relations with Africa?

It led to increased trade ties with powerful African polities along the coast, with Europeans procuring gold and slaves, thus impacting the dynamics of trade and cultural exchange.

What航海现象的发现对欧洲人航行至新世界至关重要？

欧洲人发现了重要的赤道洋流和风，这些可以被利用来帮助他们航行，特别是贸易风的存在，这些风是规律的，可以帮助船只跨海从西北非洲到达加勒比地区，甚至北美洲的北部海岸。

Christopher Columbus破解了哪个航海秘密，这对欧洲人到达新世界有何影响？

Columbus破解了利用贸易风和赤道洋流航行的秘密，这对欧洲人到达新世界产生了重大影响，因为它使得跨大西洋的航行成为可能。

为什么Columbus坚信他找到了通往东方的路线，即使他已经到达了新大陆？

Columbus至死都坚信他找到了通往东方的路线，因为他对地球的大小有误解，认为他的路线比实际的要短，并且他拒绝接受他已经发现了'新世界'的想法。

Columbus在与新大陆原住民的首次接触中，他采取了哪些行动？

Columbus在首次接触中尝试与原住民交换或获取他们拥有的宝贵物品，并且开始与他们建立交换关系，将原住民带上船只，训练他们学习西班牙语，并让船员学习当地语言。

为什么Columbus在发现Orinoco河是淡水而非咸水时选择离开？

因为Orinoco河的淡水表明它源自一个比他预期的岛屿大得多的陆地，这与他坚信自己找到了通往东方的路线的信念相冲突，所以他选择离开，不愿意接受这一可能性。

西班牙在加勒比海建立的第一个殖民地是如何影响全球历史的？

西班牙在加勒比海建立的第一个殖民地标志着欧洲人开始在新世界长期居住，并且开始生产热带商品出口到欧洲，这开启了一个征服与殖民的动态，对全球历史产生了深远影响。

为什么在新世界的早期种植园中，被迫工作的印第安工人开始死亡？

印第安工人开始死亡主要是因为疾病，他们被迫在早期的种植园工作，这些疾病可能是由于他们对新环境的不适应，以及欧洲人带来的疾病，如天花等。

El Dorado的传说是如何诞生的，它对欧洲人的探索有何影响？

El Dorado的传说诞生于对新世界更丰富资源的寻找，它激发了欧洲人对新世界财富的渴望，从而推动了更深入的探索和殖民活动。

Outlines

00:00

🌏 Collision of Old Worlds

This paragraph discusses the geopolitical and exploratory context leading up to the events of 1492. It highlights the Ottoman Empire's expansion affecting Eastern Europe and the push to find alternative routes to the East, which led to Russian explorations towards the north and east. The paragraph also covers the Iberian Peninsula's efforts to push Muslim forces south, culminating in the marriage of Isabella and Ferdinand and the siege of Granada. Additionally, it mentions the European search for alternative trade routes to the East, leading to the discovery of islands like the Canaries and the Azores, the establishment of early colonies, and the beginning of African slavery in the form of sugar plantations.

05:01

🚢 Nautical Discoveries and Columbus

The second paragraph focuses on the maritime advancements that facilitated European exploration in the latter half of the fifteenth century. It discusses the discovery of equatorial currents and winds that allowed ships to sail westward across the Atlantic. The paragraph emphasizes the role of Christopher Columbus in cracking the 'secret code' of these winds, despite his underestimation of the Earth's size and his reliance on traditional navigation methods. Columbus's voyage was part of a broader exchange of knowledge among Africans, Arabs, and Europeans. The paragraph also mentions other explorers like Juan Sebastian Cabot and Pedro Alvarez Cabral, who were more adept at using new navigational techniques.

10:08

🏝️ Encounters and Early Colonization

This paragraph delves into Columbus's first encounters with indigenous peoples and the initial interactions between Europeans and the native populations. It describes the challenges of communication across a linguistic divide and the role of translators in these early contacts. The paragraph also discusses the establishment of the first colonies on the island of Hispaniola, where the Spanish replicated the agricultural practices they had developed in the Atlantic islands. It highlights the use of local Indian labor to grow crops for the consumption of the settler population and the beginning of a new dynamic that blurred the lines between conquest and colonization.

15:13

🌴 The Birth of Tropical Commodity Production

The fourth paragraph explores the transformation of the Caribbean islands into production centers for tropical commodities for export to Europe. It discusses how the Europeans applied their knowledge from the Atlantic islands to create societies in Hispaniola and beyond that were designed to produce wealth for others. The paragraph also addresses the decline of the indigenous workforce due to disease and the subsequent search for new labor sources, which led to the development of new patterns of labor attachment to American land. Additionally, it mentions the emergence of the legend of El Dorado, which further fueled European interest in exploring and exploiting the New World for its potential wealth.

Keywords

💡Old World

The 'Old World' refers to the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were known to Europeans before the discovery of the Americas. In the video, it is the context in which the exploration and collision with the New World occurred. The script discusses how events in the Old World, such as the Ottoman expansion, influenced the exploration and eventual collision with the New World.

💡New World

The 'New World' is a historical term for the Americas, which were 'new' to the Europeans who discovered them in the late 15th century. The script explores the idea of the New World as a collision point between different cultures and the beginning of a new era in global history.

💡Ottoman expansion

The 'Ottoman expansion' refers to the territorial growth of the Ottoman Empire, which exerted pressure on Europe, particularly in the east. This is mentioned in the script as a catalyst for Europeans to seek alternative trade routes to the East, which led to exploration and the eventual discovery of the New World.

💡Ivan the Great

Ivan the Great was the Grand Prince of Moscow who expanded his territories north and east, seeking trade routes and resources. In the script, his expeditions are highlighted as an example of the Old World's exploration and the quest for resources, which is parallel to the later explorations that led to the New World.

💡Muslim blockade

The 'Muslim blockade' refers to the control of traditional trade routes by Muslim powers, which forced Europeans to seek alternative routes to the East. The script mentions this as a driving factor behind the exploration down the western coast of Africa and the development of new navigational techniques.

💡Sugar plantations

The establishment of 'sugar plantations' in the Atlantic islands is highlighted in the script as an early form of colonization and the first instance of African slavery in the context of production. This concept is key to understanding the economic motivations behind European expansion and the beginning of the transatlantic slave trade.

💡African slavery

The term 'African slavery' is used in the script to describe the forced labor of Africans in the production of commodities like sugar in the New World. It is a central theme in the video, illustrating the harsh realities and human costs of European colonization and exploitation.

💡Trade winds

The 'trade winds' are steady, predictable wind patterns that were crucial for European sailors in navigating the Atlantic. The script explains how the discovery and understanding of these winds were vital for the success of Columbus's voyages and subsequent European exploration and colonization.

💡Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus is a central figure in the script, known for his voyages that led to the European discovery of the Americas. His mistaken belief that he had found a route to the Orient and his insistence on the smallness of the world are highlighted to illustrate the mindset of the time and the impact of his voyages on world history.

💡Hispaniola

Hispaniola is an island in the Caribbean where the Spanish established one of their first colonies. The script uses Hispaniola as an example of how the Europeans replicated their earlier experiments in colonization, leading to the establishment of societies focused on producing wealth for others, primarily through agriculture.

💡El Dorado

El Dorado is a legendary city of gold that became a symbol of the untold wealth Europeans believed was to be found in the New World. The script mentions the legend of El Dorado as a turning point in European exploration, shifting their focus from finding a route to the Orient to seeking the riches of the New World.

Highlights

The events of 1492 marked a collision of different 'Old Worlds' rather than a single Old World and a 'New World'.

Christendom was involved in a two-front conflict, with Ottoman expansion pressuring from the east and the Reconquista in the west.

Russians explored north and east in search of trade routes and furs, leading to tales of mythical creatures and the 'golden old women of the Ob'.

The marriage of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon united two kingdoms and pushed Muslim forces further south.

Europeans sought alternative routes to the East due to the Muslim blockade, leading to explorations down the western coast of Africa.

The discovery of the Atlantic islands such as the Canaries and the Azores led to the creation of the first colonies and sugar plantations.

African slavery emerged as a form of production tied to sugar plantations in the Atlantic islands.

Europeans tapped into African sources of gold, increasing trade ties with African polities and leading to the buying of slaves.

The discovery of equatorial currents and winds allowed Europeans to sail further into the Atlantic.

Christopher Columbus cracked the secret code of trade winds in the 1490s, which would carry Europeans to the Caribbean and North America.

Columbus's navigational methods were a combination of land grabbing, commercial opportunism, and breakthroughs in geography.

Columbus believed until his death that he had found a route to the Orient, denying the existence of 'new worlds'.

Columbus's initial encounters with native peoples involved attempts at trade and communication across a linguistic barrier.

The role of translators and mediators was crucial in intercultural contacts and the conquest process.

The formation of the first colonies on Hispaniola marked a shift from temporary visits to permanent European settlement.

The Caribbean islands were repurposed for the production of tropical commodities for export to Europe.

The death of Indian workers due to disease led to a search for new sources of labor for American plantations.

The legend of El Dorado was born, reflecting the European intrigue in finding new sources of wealth in the 'New World'.

Transcripts

To understand the fateful collision that would occur after 1492, we need to

understand what was happening in the old world.

In some respects, we might even ask ourselves the basic question.

Were the events of 1492 and its aftermath the collision of an Old World and a

so-called New World? Could we conceive of these as collisions

of several old worlds? What's happening in the Eastern end of

Afro-Eurasia? I think to look at this map and consider

Christendom involved in a two fronted conflict.

On the east, of course, reeling from the pressure exerted from Ottoman expansion,

across, and up, the Balkans. And one of the effects of these was

increasing pressure to explore alternative routes to the east across the north.

Russians had become increasingly intrigued by the possibilities of their own frontier

emerging out of Muskavy. Moving further and further north and east,

Ivan the Great would send expeditions north and east in search of trade routes and

control of commerce in boreal furs, what was known as black gold.

Along the way, these excursions and expeditions would pick up stories and

fables of distended giants and men without tongues, fish with men's heads and perhaps

most famously, tales of the golden old women of the Ob, the Ob river being one of

the principal rivers flowing through Siberia.

So there was exploration north and east. To the west the forces of Christendom,

in the Far West here, were not faring, from their perspective, too badly.

In Portugal, and Spain, gradually pushing Muslim forces further south, culminating

in alliance between two kingdoms of Iberia: of Castile and Aragon, which

controlled several islands of the Mediterranean.

Here was a marriage formed between two households, sealed by a nuptial pact,

between Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon.

And together they would press the Muslim frontier ever southwards into the area of

Andalusia and by 1492 they would be pressing against the gates of the city of

Granada, the last Muslim outpost in western Europe.

But warfare was not the only way in which cultures were in contact with each other.

There were other ways in which Europeans sought alternative routes to the East once

the Muslim blockade had been consolidated. Genovese and Venetian financiers began to

support explorations down the western coast of Africa reaching ever further into

the Atlantic Ocean. Three fateful things happened in the

course of these expeditions. The first was the discovery that there

were islands in the middle of the Atlantic: the Canaries, and the Azores, in

particular. These islands became laboratories.

Laboratories for a new kind of social experiment that Europeans would devise.

The creation, in a sense, of the very first colonies.

It would be there that we would see the first sugar plantations, and then, we

would therefore also see the first form of African slavery attached to this form of

production. The second phenomenon that we see emerging

as Europeans made their way down the western coast of Africa in the fifteenth

century, was tapping into African sources of gold.

It was the sources of gold that lured Europeans ever further down that west

coast of Africa, increasing their trade ties with powerful African polities along

the coast. And with time, not only would they be

procuring gold from African merchants and kingdoms, but they would also be buying

slaves, and we're going to talk about this further in a later lecture.

The third phenomena that's very important for understanding the pattern of changes

that would occur in the latter half of the fifteenth century was the discovery that

there were important equatorial currents and winds that Europeans could tap, could

use to their advantage in sailing. Some mariners had figured out that ships

could sail west out into the Atlantic in order to reach the east the way of

tacking back and forth that would allow them to reach far beyond horizons that

they had previously known. What was most important of all was the

discovery of the existence of trade winds, and these were not just seasonal winds but

regular. And so these currents and winds could

carry ships across an ocean from northwest Africa.

Eventually they would carry Europeans curling up towards the area of the

Caribbean, and then convey them to the northern shores, to shores on North

America. This was a secret code and it was cracked

in the 1490s by Christopher Columbus. Columbus was not alone.

This experience in understanding new navigational methods was something that

Africans, Arabs and Europeans knew alike. And it was, in part because they all had

been pooling and sharing their knowledge, from the Mediterranean and the shores of

Africa. But it was the combination of land

grabbing, of commercial opportunism and important breakthroughs in navigation and

geography, would have a powerful impact on global history.

It was important also, to stress that people were not always aware of what, of

how much this was a breakthrough. Christopher Columbus was always firmly

committed to the belief that the world was much smaller than it really was, and that

his route to the east was much shorter than it turned out to be.

Its really important to pay heed to some astronomers whose calculations suggested

otherwise. The fact was Columbus was not proficient

using new devices of quadrants and nautical charts.

He was more fond of more traditional use of the stars and made constant mistakes in

his log about his whereabouts. And there were others like, Juan Sebastian

Cabot in 1497 and eventually the Portuguese Mariner Peddro Alvarez Cabral, who

would reach Brazil in 1500. That were in a sense much more, were much

more up to date in their use of navigational techniques then Columbus was.

But Columbus was the first to make landfall.

He did so as he reached the Caribbean, on behalf of the Catholic monarchs of

Isabella and Ferdinand, who had just captured, who had been leading the process

of reconquering, as it were, in quotation marks, reconquering Spain from

Muslim powers, and in 1492 were camped at the base of Grenada itself, that last

Islamic outpost in Western Europe. Christopher Columbus approached Ferdinand

and Isabella, and he made a plea to them requesting resources and support for his

expedition. And what he promised Isabella and

Ferdinand was that his expedition to the Orient would yield to Isabella and

Ferdinand the riches that would allow them to lead the final triumphal campaign to

liberate Jerusalem from the infidel. Christopher Columbus may be the man that

many feel ushered in the modern age. But the fact was his gaze was not on

something new or new world. He was still struggling in his mind to

resolve an ancient one. To his dying days he believed that he had

found a route to the Orient. He denied that he had found any "new

worlds" and when he sailed out in the Atlantic and started to bump in to native

peoples among his first questions were, "where is [inaudible]?" "Where is Japan?"

Indeed as he soon ran into larger bodies of water and larger land masses, he had a

problem on his hand. For instance when he entered the Orinoco

river on the north shore of South America, he enters the estuary of the river and

begins to sail up the river and doing the testing of the waters as his vessel is

going up stream, soon discovers that the Orinoco river is made not of salt water,

but in Spanish it would be called "sweet water." This was fresh water.

But a river of this magnitude, the Orinoco River carrying this much fresh water meant

that it was drawing upon a landscape that was much larger then the islands he was

sure that he was bumping up against. First thing he did when he came to

realized that this was not what he expected to find is, he turned his vessels

around and left. This was not a possibility he was willing

to entertain. Let's look at this image.

It's a picture of Columbus meeting Indians.

And try to imagine what it was like to make first contact with native peoples.

And what this would have looked like from a native perspective.

What would Columbus have been doing here? Jeff, can I bring you into the

conversation? Just look at this picture, what do you

think the first thing if you were Columbus, you would try to do in a

scenario such as this one. >> Columbus?

>> Yeah, well, it looks like they have something valuable, and might be to try to

exchange or take some of the valuables that the, that the natives have.

>> That's right. That was very important for the initial

relationships. As the offerings that what would be

Indians, because Columbus thought he had encountered the Indies was the discovery

that there were some precious goods to be found in these new territories.

How would you make a deal though, with the populations that you'd just met?

What would you do? >> And I would try to use sign language or

the most basic gestures to indicate what I want or how to communicate.

>> Absolutely. You have to try to imagine that here

people are trying to communicate with each other across a linguistic boundary that

nobody knew existed. Columbus had taken with him on his voyage

a translator. It is an interesting character in the

episode, and one of the important features of how intercultural contacts work, and

event conquest. The role that mediators played, and

translators were important. The problem was off-course the expectation

was that this translator would have to operate an Arabic or a Chinese and it

became quickly apparent that his linguistic [laugh] skills were not going

to work in this setting and he was useless.

One of the first things a Columbus than does, once he makes the deal and begins

to, as Jeff pointed out, make a exchange relations with the Indians.

They begin to take natives aboard ship and train them in the Spanish language and to

have people to learn indigenous language as well.

So translation is often something that happens at the very heart of the conquest

process itself. Indeed, the use of these intermediaries as

guides, translators, mariners, arbiters of knowledge that was very important for

European expansion, again, was very crucial for the entire episode.

It soon became clear, however, that this dynamic, of the Spanish visiting the

islands, was not a temporary phenomenon. That the Europeans were not just visiting

new lands. They were there to stay.

And starting on the island of Hispanola in the middle of the Caribbean, we have the

formation of the first colonies. Here we have the Spanish beginning to

replicate some of the laboratories that they had developed in the middle of the

Atlantic, using local Indian labors, to grow crops for the consumptions of a small

settler population, on the islands. Soon the Europeans discovered that they

could not only grow crops on the islands for local settler population.

But, that these islands could get refashioned in the same way that the

Atlantic islands had been done for the production of crops for somebody else's

Consumption. The production of tropical commodities for

export to Europe. This is a very important phase in world

history. And it sets in motion a dynamic.

That blurs the boundaries between conquest as we've been talking about in these

lectures and colonization. The Europeans carried over the learning

that they had devised in the Atlantic Islands, applied them in the Caribbean to

create in Hispaniola and beyond, entire societies destined for the production.

Of wealth for somebody else. Agrarian societies that would produce

commodities for other people's consumption.

Soon enough, thanks to disease, the Indian workers who were forced to work on these

early plantations began to die. And soon began a laboratory of a new

pattern, a new way to find sources of labor and attaching it to American land.

Not only that, but rumors began to arrive on the islands, that there were even more

riches to be had, elsewhere in this new world.

Now, instead of searching for a route to the Orient, Europeans began to be more and

more intrigued, lured by the prospect that there was another source of wealth to be

had. And so was born, just on the heels of

these first experiments in colonization, the legend of El Dorado.