Directions: Read the passage below. As you read the passage, answer the following questions as complete answers.
- What are some of the innovations (things that were new to Europeans) that Marco Polo saw being used in China?
- Why were the routes for getting from Europe to eastern Asia (China and India) insufficient (not good enough)?
- What was Christopher Columbus's suggestion for getting to Asia?
- Read the quote from Columbus's' journal (the bold, green text). How would you describe his attitude toward natives?
- Bonus: Consider the ripples in a lake caused from a stone being thrown in. How are Marco Polo's travels like that "stone" for American history?
Two Worlds, "Old" and "New"
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Marco... Polo!: The Age of Exploration arguably begins with "The Travel's of Marco Polo", or simply "The Travels", a manuscript about Marco Polo's journeys to the far east (China). In the manuscript, Marco Polo reverently described Khubilai Khan [koo-blahy kahn] and his palaces, precious metals and fine silks. Marco Polo described paper money, coal, postal service, eyeglasses and other innovations that had not yet appeared in Europe. These tales sparked a curiosity in Europeans, leading to a newfound desire to connect the east (Asia) with the west (Europe). Over the course of the fifteenth (1400s), sixteenth (1500s), and seventeenth (1600s) centuries, Europeans would set sail to find new routes to Asia for two main reasons.
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Gold and God: The first reason was to meet the needs of people living in Europe at that time. During this time, metals, spices, and silk were important to Europeans. They needed the metals for making coins because their existing gold supplies were running low. Coins allowed for trade and other transactions that increased their wealth. Spices were used to flavor foods, but more importantly to preserve food. This was important because there was no such thing as refrigeration during this time. Finally, royalty and members of the merchant class needed silks for clothing and other goods. All of these goods could be found in Asia, so finding a better route there became a priority for Europeans. The second reason was to spread their faith. Christian Europeans believed that it would please God if they caused "infidels" (non-Christians) to convert to Christianity. Besides the Church most European governments also had this same desire to spread Christianity. Many explorers used the promise to spread Christianity as a way to get governments to support their expedition.
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Interrupted Trade Routes: Getting to Asia was a bit of a problem, though. Land routes to Asia had always been dangerous, but trade routes became even more treacherous as Holy Wars (the Crusades) raged between Muslims and Christians. Traders and merchants could no longer use the land routes across Asia to China. A water route around Africa offered a safer path, but this journey was very long, and still came with many risks. Neither of these routes were sufficient, so Western European countries needed to find new water routes to the Far East.
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Eastern Voyages
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Sailing East or West?: At this point in time, most people understood that the Earth was round. However, what lied west was still a mystery. How big was the ocean, and what was out there? Only a few proposed going west. Most instead chose to go around the southern tip of Africa.
The Glory and Crimes of Columbus: Christopher Columbus was one of the few who proposed sailing west to reach the Indies (the Indies is what Europeans called the islands in southeastern Asia). Columbus was from Italy, but with promises of gold he managed to convince the King and Queen of Spain to fund his expedition. Hoping to be the first European to reach Asia by sailing across the Atlantic, Columbus set sail with three ships in 1492. More than a month later, the crew spotted land, but it was not the Indies, as they believed. It was new land, unknown to Europeans.
When the Columbus's boats landed, the indigenous people came out onto the beach to get a closer look. Columbus, believing he had landed in the Indies, called these people Indians. In reality, the islanders were native people who spoke a language called Taino (TIE-no). The Taino lived in a peaceful fishing community. Never had they seen people like the ones who had suddenly appeared on their shores. Yet they were friendly and welcoming. Columbus wrote:
The Glory and Crimes of Columbus: Christopher Columbus was one of the few who proposed sailing west to reach the Indies (the Indies is what Europeans called the islands in southeastern Asia). Columbus was from Italy, but with promises of gold he managed to convince the King and Queen of Spain to fund his expedition. Hoping to be the first European to reach Asia by sailing across the Atlantic, Columbus set sail with three ships in 1492. More than a month later, the crew spotted land, but it was not the Indies, as they believed. It was new land, unknown to Europeans.
When the Columbus's boats landed, the indigenous people came out onto the beach to get a closer look. Columbus, believing he had landed in the Indies, called these people Indians. In reality, the islanders were native people who spoke a language called Taino (TIE-no). The Taino lived in a peaceful fishing community. Never had they seen people like the ones who had suddenly appeared on their shores. Yet they were friendly and welcoming. Columbus wrote:
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“They are so unsuspicious and so generous with what they possess, that no one who had not seen it would believe it... They willingly traded everything they owned.… They were well-built, with good bodies and handsome features.… They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They had no iron. Their spears are made of cane.… They would make fine servants.… With fifty men we could subjugate [overpower] them and make them do whatever we want.”
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Had the natives known what Columbus and his men had in store for them, perhaps they would not have been so generous. Columbus and his men immediately went to work, to find the gold they assumed was there. They seized many of the natives and forced them to bring them gold, only there was a problem: there wasn't much gold to be found. This did not matter to Columbus. He was certain that there was gold and he was determined to get it, even if it meant enslaving and killing thousands of Indians.
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