The Age of Exploration: Crash Course European History #4

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The thing about European History is that it tends to leak out of Europe. Europeans haven’t been great at staying put in Europe. As human beings do, the people of Europe were very busy traveling around to trade, to spread religion, and in a lot of cases to try and conquer other people. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Europeans developed a bunch of tools and techniques that would allow them to travel around the world, in numbers and force heretofore unseen on the planet. And a lot of the results weren’t great for the people who already lived in the places Europeans were “visiting.”

Sources
Fernandez-Armesto, Felipe. Pathfinders: A Global History of Exploration. New York: W. W. Norton, 2006.

Smith, Bonnie G. Modern Empires: A Reader. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.

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42 Comments

  1. The Portuguese had above all a naval empire as result of the superiority of their ships in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. The trading empire resulted from that. And Portugal built a lot of colonies as well. In fact, Portugal held colonies in 53 countries in the world today, a record only broken by the British in the 19th century. And let's not forget Brazil, which became the largest and wealthiest colony in South America. Interesting how there is no mention of Pedro Álvares Cabral, who actually made the first voyage between Europe, America, Africa and Asia, and gave control of the most important trade routes to the Portuguese. All that Magellan's voyage gave to Spain was the eventual Manilla galleon trade, which was always secondary to the Indian Ocean trade. Portuguese history is severely underated once again.

  2. Watching these makes this direct product of colonialism, exploitation and a tremendous lack of understanding, very happy indeed.

  3. The european conquerors raped indigenous noble women in a ritualistic domination ceremony…
    😮😮đŸ˜ĻđŸ˜Ļ
    (even though they were conquering "in the name of spreading Christianity)

    How f.d up is that. My god!

    So hypocritical. Not to mention they were welcomed and showered with gifts, all the while they prepared for a few days and sprung a kill-thy-host trick like a reverse "Red Wedding massacre".

  4. I find it interesting that this is Crash Course European History, and yet we hear little of eastern, norther, or even central European states. I mean, like, WTF is going on with the HRE? Rus', was it being ruled over by Ottomans or Eastern Orthotoxes? And, I mean… like… what about Spain? Is this the History of Europe, or the History of Italy, France, and sometimes England?

  5. when the only thing you know about the ottoman empire comes from What We Do In the Shadows

    jkjk, I know a few facts from the futile, fruitless, trivial, and my favorite…useless attempts at forcing me to learn things about old people

  6. What I find really funny other than the fact that I'm watching the European History playlist in an attempt to get more studying in for my AP test that I will be taking in three days, is that I have that exact clock (11:27). I used it throughout middle school and early high school to wake me up in the morning (I was kinda cheap it was $8), there is a light to light it up and the hands and dashes are glow in the dark. It's funny the things you pick up on when you really should be paying attention. Like in one video he had Gallifreyan on a chalkboard and I paused the video and went through the alphabet to translate it. Am I a dork, yes but thats okay!

  7. Bad episode, I'm usually a fan but you clearly went anti-Christian here. Christians were anti-slavery, especially toward the native Americans. The humanists were pro-slavery. So instead of criticizing humanism which was behind the rebirth of colonialism and slavery in Europe, you blame Christianity which is the one that ended colonization and slavery.

  8. The European history topic is so broad it has to be "selective" and I like the focus on Portugal [and Castilla/Aragon] otherwise we may not hear much about Portugal again! But a few 'global exploration' contexts: Italians important – Marco Polo, Giovanni Caboto ('John Cabot'), Amerigo Vespucci, explored different parts of globe. And crucially the fall of Constantinople had cut off Asia from European trade. The British later piggy-backed on Portuguese/Spanish/Italian exploration, maritime technologies and pacification of indigenous civilisations to build their own empire founded on violence and greed (with conversion to Christianity the excuse).

  9. man this episode is so sad. i can only imagine what the world would be if the aztecs and incas are a large part of this world's population, existing with its own architecture, way of life, and arts. europeans are the true pillagers of the modern world

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