1.2 Discovery of America(1492) Europeans'outward thrust began in the 10th century when Norse adventurers reached North America, but their colonies collapsed eventually.As a series of crusading armies after 1096 tried to wrest Palestine from Muslim control,European attention turned eastward.A brisk trade with the Middle East began and brought silks and spices to Europe.Marco Polo(1254-1324),the most famous Western traveler,and other 13th-century merchants had even traveled overland through the Silk Road to East Asia to buy directly from the Chinese.In the 14th century,Italian merchants grew rich from the spices and silk trade and used their fortunes to finance the Renaissance(1300-1650)and overseas expansion.In the mid-15th century,Europe experienced renewed prosperity and population growth.Competing for commercial advantage,the newly centralized European states projected their power overseas,and improved maritime technology permitted this European expansion.By that time,shipbuilders had added the triangular Arab sail to their heavy cargo ships.They created a highly maneuverable ship,the caravel,to sail the stormy Atlantic.Further,the growing use of the compass and astrolabe permitted mariners to calculate their bearings on the open sea.Hand in hand with the technological advances of this"maritime revolution,"Renaissance scholars corrected ancient geographical data and drew increasingly accurate maps,while new findings in astronomy and sophisticated use of Arabic mathematics sharpened Europeans'knowledge of the world. The Portuguese first felt the itch to explore new worlds.Their zeal for continuing the struggle against the Muslims,recently driven from Portugal,combined with an anxious search for new markets.In 1488,the Portuguese reached Africa's southern tip,the Cape of Good Hope,opening the possibility of direct trade with India.In 1498,Vasco da Gama(1469-1524)led a Portuguese fleet around the cape and on to India For more than a century,the Portuguese remained an imperial presence in the Indian Ocean and the East Indies,which later became modern Indonesia.But far more significantly,they brought Europeans face to face with black Africans and profited a great deal from the lucrative African slave trade.Europeans had used slaves since ancient Greece and Rome,but ominous changes took place in European slavery once the Portuguese began making voyages to Africa.By 1450,the Portuguese had created large slave-labor plantations on their Atlantic and Mediterranean islands.Race became the explicit basis of the slavery system. Africans'blackness and alien religion dehumanized them in European eyes.As racial prejudice hardened, Europeans found it easy to justify black slavery.Because the victims of the slavery system were physically distinctive and culturally alien,slavery became a lifelong hereditary and despised status. The fascinating,contradictory figure of Christopher Columbus (1451-1506)embodied European's varied motives for expansion.The son of a weaver from the Italian city of Genoa and an expert sailor, Columbus became obsessed with the idea that Europeans could reach Asia by sailing westward across the Atlantic.Combining an overestimation of Asia's eastward thrust with an underestimation of the earth's circumference,he came to the conclusion that the world was small,and that the open-sea distance from Europe to Asia was roughly 3,000 miles,instead of the actual 12,000 miles.Religious fervor led Columbus to dream of carrying Christianity around the globe,but he also hungered for wealth and glory.Nevertheless, what distinguished Columbus was his persistence in hawking his "enterprise of the Indies"around Europe's royal courts and his final success with Spain.There was gold in Asia,Columbus persuaded the Spanish royalty,and certainly silks and spices:Marco Polo and others had brought back marvelous things from their overland expeditions centuries before.Now that the Turks who had conquered Constantinople and the eastern Mediterranean had controlled the land routes to Asia,a sea route was needed.Eventually,as the Portuguese sailors were working their way around the southern tip of Africa,Spain decided to gamble on a long sail across an unknown ocean. In 1492,the rulers of newly united Spain,Isabella of Castile (1451-1504)and Ferdinand of Aragon 11.2 Discovery of America (1492) Europeans’ outward thrust began in the 10th century when Norse adventurers reached North America, but their colonies collapsed eventually. As a series of crusading armies after 1096 tried to wrest Palestine from Muslim control, European attention turned eastward. A brisk trade with the Middle East began and brought silks and spices to Europe. Marco Polo (1254–1324), the most famous Western traveler, and other 13th–century merchants had even traveled overland through the Silk Road to East Asia to buy directly from the Chinese. In the 14th century, Italian merchants grew rich from the spices and silk trade and used their fortunes to finance the Renaissance (1300–1650) and overseas expansion. In the mid–15th century, Europe experienced renewed prosperity and population growth. Competing for commercial advantage, the newly centralized European states projected their power overseas, and improved maritime technology permitted this European expansion. By that time, shipbuilders had added the triangular Arab sail to their heavy cargo ships. They created a highly maneuverable ship, the caravel, to sail the stormy Atlantic. Further, the growing use of the compass and astrolabe permitted mariners to calculate their bearings on the open sea. Hand in hand with the technological advances of this “maritime revolution,” Renaissance scholars corrected ancient geographical data and drew increasingly accurate maps, while new findings in astronomy and sophisticated use of Arabic mathematics sharpened Europeans’ knowledge of the world. The Portuguese first felt the itch to explore new worlds. Their zeal for continuing the struggle against the Muslims, recently driven from Portugal, combined with an anxious search for new markets. In 1488, the Portuguese reached Africa’s southern tip, the Cape of Good Hope, opening the possibility of direct trade with India. In 1498, Vasco da Gama (1469–1524) led a Portuguese fleet around the cape and on to India. For more than a century, the Portuguese remained an imperial presence in the Indian Ocean and the East Indies, which later became modern Indonesia. But far more significantly, they brought Europeans face to face with black Africans and profited a great deal from the lucrative African slave trade. Europeans had used slaves since ancient Greece and Rome, but ominous changes took place in European slavery once the Portuguese began making voyages to Africa. By 1450, the Portuguese had created large slave–labor plantations on their Atlantic and Mediterranean islands. Race became the explicit basis of the slavery system. Africans’ blackness and alien religion dehumanized them in European eyes. As racial prejudice hardened, Europeans found it easy to justify black slavery. Because the victims of the slavery system were physically distinctive and culturally alien, slavery became a lifelong hereditary and despised status. The fascinating, contradictory figure of Christopher Columbus (1451–1506) embodied European’s varied motives for expansion. The son of a weaver from the Italian city of Genoa and an expert sailor, Columbus became obsessed with the idea that Europeans could reach Asia by sailing westward across the Atlantic. Combining an overestimation of Asia’s eastward thrust with an underestimation of the earth’s circumference, he came to the conclusion that the world was small, and that the open–sea distance from Europe to Asia was roughly 3,000 miles, instead of the actual 12,000 miles. Religious fervor led Columbus to dream of carrying Christianity around the globe, but he also hungered for wealth and glory. Nevertheless, what distinguished Columbus was his persistence in hawking his “enterprise of the Indies” around Europe’s royal courts and his final success with Spain. There was gold in Asia, Columbus persuaded the Spanish royalty, and certainly silks and spices; Marco Polo and others had brought back marvelous things from their overland expeditions centuries before. Now that the Turks who had conquered Constantinople and the eastern Mediterranean had controlled the land routes to Asia, a sea route was needed. Eventually, as the Portuguese sailors were working their way around the southern tip of Africa, Spain decided to gamble on a long sail across an unknown ocean. In 1492, the rulers of newly united Spain, Isabella of Castile (1451–1504) and Ferdinand of Aragon 1