New World In 1492: The First European Exploration

Charles C. Mann is an American journalist and author. Along with being a three-time finalist for the National Magazine Award, Mann has also received many writing awards from the American Bar Association, the American Institute of Physics, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and the Lannan Foundation. He is also the author of national bestseller 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, which won the National Academies Communication Award for "Best Book of the Year." Mann's purpose for writing this book is to educate and inform people about the real situation of people before and after Columbus.

WEEK 2: Forging a New World: how contact with natives made Englishmen into Americans READINGS: Boyer, Ch. 1 and 2; Steven W. Hackel, “Facing East, or Looking Outward and Inward” (Review of Daniel K. Richter’s Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early America) Reviews in American History 31, No. 2 (June 2003): 184-91; Boyer, Ch. 1 & 2. 1) Use these sources and this documentary or your Boyer readings to paint a picture of native society in the parts of the present-day United States where first European contact took place.

In the novel, 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created, Charles C. Mann enlightens and captures how Columbus’s expeditions united the lands of Eurasia and America. It is a well-written and informational book that successfully displays much of the development and foundation of our present all from the European discovery of the new world. Charles C. Mann’s main objective with this book was to extend on the geographer, Alfred W Crosby’s explanation of “Ecological Imperialism.”

Most of all, the Europeans were seeking wealth. When they arrived, not only did they find that there were already people here, but they also came to realize that the gold they were seeking didn’t exist. Rather

Charles Mann’s 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created is a very informative book that is the sequel to Mann’s, 1941: New Revolutions of the Americas before Columbus. The purpose of the book is to educate the reader on globalization, the effects after Columbus discovered the Americas, as well as to persuade the reader to interpret history a bit differently than they had previously. Through educating his audience, Mann argues about many important issues such as: global economy, trade, agriculture, environment, as well as a large section of his book is dedicated to the African slave trade. In my opinion, Mann’s argument is unbiased and he interweaves research in order to back up his claims with great detail. The book is very engaging,

The time period of 1492 to 1750 was an era of conquest and innovation. Arounnd this time was when there was more interactions between the Eastern and Western hemispheres of the world. These interactions had major impacts on the world as a whole at the time, both good and bad. During this time in the Atlantic world, European dominance and the demand for God, gold, and glory remained constant, while there were significant social changes in the Native American population and the attitude that native had towards the Europeans.

First encountering new Atlantic seas then the new environment of the Americas Columbus was the first European to view the new environments. Often described with fertile land and accessible ports Columbus made North America sound very appealing eventually leading to the European exploration of

In 1492 Columbus set out to find a shorter route to Asia by sailing west to get east.

One of the most popular reasons Europeans came to the Americas was during their search for new trade routes. Europeans desired spices and other items from India and China, but the only way to reach them was through Muslim territory in the Mediterranean. Explorers at first tried sailing around Africa, but the trip was long and treacherous. Eventually, Spain set out to travel east across the world in order to reach Asia. They sent Christopher Columbus across the Atlantic Ocean, but instead of reaching Asia, he landed in the Caribbean. The explorers did not reach their intended target of the spice trade, but rather landed on a previously undiscovered world between the two continents.

Several European nations explored and settled the “New World.” Summarize how each nation below established itself in the New World, addressing motivation and method of exploration/settlement.

Columbus, the first Spanish explorer to reach America, initially thought that the he had landed in the East Indies, which had been his ultimate goal. “His sea wanderings would have been written off as an expensive failure, once it was realized that he had not found the illusive water route to India, had it not been for the discovery of gold on Hispaniola in 1493”(Nash, 18). Once it became known that there were gold and other precious metals on this continent, people from Spain began to journey to America in hopes of gaining immense wealth. The Spanish claimed Panama, Mexico, parts of South America, and southern areas of what is now North America and these expeditions were typically led by military figures. The Spanish viewed America as land to be conquered and they viewed Native Americans

On the other side he discovered a vast body of water that he named "South

European explorers first landed on the shores of what would later become North America more than 500 years ago. Not long after the first explorers had entered the "New World" they found out that they were not alone on this new frontier. Their neighbors in this new land were the Native Americans who had been there for centuries, virtually unaware of life outside the continent. Thus began an inconsistent and often times unstable relationship between the European settlers and the North American Indians. Two nations who had particularly interesting relationships with the Native Americans were the British and the French, both of whom took different approaches to their relations with the Indians economically as well

Until the late 1400's, Europeans did not know the existence of the two American continents ( North and South America ). To the European explorers, exploring the other side of the Atlantic was like exploring an entire different world, hence the name- the New World. In 1492, Christopher Columbus unknowingly discovered the new continent. His original motives for exploring was to find an easier route to Asia but instead, he discovered the New World. Thus; Spain, France and England began sending out conquistadors and explorers to the uncharted terrains of the new continent. Motives for the Spanish, French, and English explorers varied greatly, however, they were similar in some ways. The motives of the Spanish explorers were acquisition of

On the way to discover a new sailing path to India, Christopher Columbus discovers another continent believing e to be India. The continent is later visited by Americo Vespucio who determines it is not India and names it America. The Ottoman Empire had blocked the previous path to India and deprived the Europeans from the spices and silk they were accustomed to. After its discovery, the new continent became the destination for unwanted people in Europe, including prisoners. This was followed with massive