Abraham ORTELIUS,

Transcription

1 Tools of the Trade

2 Spain laid claim to the entire west coast of North America, though by the mid 1700s they had not settled further north than Monteray. -Spain s authority for their claim came from the authority of the Pope. -What form of Christianity did the Russians practice? The British? -Would they listen to the Pope? -Why were Russians able to get to Alaska before anyone else? The Spanish Again

3 When Europeans first sailed into the Atlantic the human cost was extremely high (Magellan 18 of 239 survived, De Gama 54 of 170 survived). -While stepping on a ship and venturing into the unknown never became something we could call a safe job, the profession saw incredible advancements by the late 1700s. -Strong Navies had also become important symbols and tools of government: the World Powers had strong navies! Changing Seas

4 Prevailing Problems Nearly 300 years after the Portuguese began mapping the African coast, Europeans faced many of the same problems those early explorers had faced. -Poor and inaccurate maps, scurvy, high death rates and unreliable navigational techniques. Nicolas Sanson s map of New Mexico and Florida offered Europeans their first detailed view of the American Southwest, and for decades convinced many that California was an island s/maps-and-the-beginnings-ofcolonial-north-america

5 Right The Company of the West, which controlled trade between France and its North American colonies, commissioned this map of the Mississippi River and its environs to highlight the territory s commercial potential Bottom Abraham ORTELIUS, In 1570, Ortelius published the atlastheatrum Orbis Terrarum (Theatre of the World), which contained a general map of the world, Typus Orbis Terrarum. The first edition was published in Latin, but over the next 41 years it was translated and republished with various revisions and corrections. This map is from one of the 1571 Latin editions. It shows Terra Australis nondum cognita (The Southern Land Not Yet Known). This imaginative depiction of the mysterious Southland was to influence European maritime exploration for the next 200 years.

6 Navigators Navigators were truly jacks of all trades. -Had to be literate, able to calculate complex mathematical equations, able to keep meticulous records and able to survive the rigorous life on a ship. -Navigating was a difficult and dangerous job and many navigators could severely damage their eyes trying to utilize the tools of their trade. - Pirates Navigate the High Seas.

7 1700s navigators only had a limited amount of information that they could use to figure out where they were. -Marine Sextants were used to determine the angle between the horizon and a fixed position in the sky (sun, moon, north star). -Compass could tell a ship what direction they were heading. -Chip logs were a piece of wood attached to a knotted rope a navigator counted knots on the rope as they went into the water to estimate speed. Tools of the Trade

8 It was safer for ships to travel North to South than it was for a ship to travel East to West. -What made East to West travel dangerous? Where are we? Lost at Sea: the Search for Longitude maybe!!! 3:40-5:20 (knots)

9 Longitude Without accurate readings of Longitude navigators had to rely on Dead Reckoning, to determine their location. - Dead Reckoning was a process of estimating ones location based on their last known location. -What happens if that last location was miscalculated? -To locate one s position of Longitude you must calculate the time difference between where you are and another fixed point. Meridian Room (or Cassini Room) at the Paris Observatory. The Paris meridian is traced on the floor

10 The Prime Meridian The Prime Meridian can be located anywhere in the world. -All the Prime Meridian does is offer a point of origin for anyone attempting to calculate their position of Longitude. -The real key to calculating Longitude is an accurate clock. -Clocks are quite complicated to create, lots of moving parts that could be damaged from years at sea. Lost at Sea: the Search for Longitude 16:58-18:50 Markings of the prime meridian at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich

11 The Clock that Revealed the World! -Longitude was a problem that had to be solved, especially in an age where fortunes could literally sink. -The Royal Society and Parliament both offered prizes to anyone that could create a device to accurately calculate Longitude at sea. -John Harrison spent 5 years to create several versions of the Marine Chronometer to finally solve this challenge for sailors. John Harrison tube.com/watc h?v=nenpdt4 LASw Lost at Sea: the Search for Longitude 24:40-26:05 & 52:30-53:22

12 North to Alaska! Below El Galeon Andalucia, Right HMS Endeavour

13 Captain Cook Cook spent most of his career working to help solve navigational problems for the British government. -Cook created very accurate maps during his lifetime by combining land and sea navigational techniques. -Cook carried Harrison s clock with him during his second voyage as he worked to disprove the existence of another popular European myth. Harrison's "Sea Watch" No.1 (H4), with winding crank

14 -The Hidden Great Southern Continent was believed to exist as a balance to the large land masses of the Northern Hemisphere. -As more of the world was explored the land shrank but did not disappear. -Sailors were afraid of Terra Australis because of legends that existed about that land. What legends did Europeans have about unknown lands? Terra Australis Incognita Guillaume Le Testu s 1556Cosmographie Universel, 4me projection, where the northward extending promontory of the Terre australle is called Grande Jaue.

15 Though there were profits to be made in the new world, most European countries still merely looked at America as an obstacle that prevented them from getting to Asian markets. -Traveling south around South America or Africa was time consuming, expensive and dangerous, particularly for Great Britain, France and the Netherlands. -Discoveries of St Lawrence River, Hudson Bay and other waterways that penetrated deep into the American continent fueled hope of an all water passage to the Pacific. Northwest Passage

16 Why do nations compete against one another? -Potential resources drove much of the exploration in the 17th and 18th centuries. -Empty pieces of the worlds map were places of myth and wonder that caught the attention of sailors and kings alike. -Northwest Passage was another point of competition between European nations; competition to have the greatest scientists. Competition A circa 1720 map. Totius Americae Septentrionalis et Meridionalis Novissima Repraesentatio..., by Homann, Nuremberg

17 Control If there was a Northwest Passage what would be the benefit of controlling that passage? -A Northwest Passage would drastically reduce the time it took to reach Asia and could allow nations to avoid Spanish and Portuguese territories. -The search for this passage lasted for hundreds of years.

18 The Original Mythbuster -Cook was to sail as far South as he could to find Terra Australis. -Cook showed that there was no such continent and revealed much of the South Pacific to Europe. -Sent to investigate another popular legend, the Northwest Passage. James Cook, portrait by Nathaniel Dance- Holland, c. 1775,

19 Cooking with Alaska s Natives Cook s journal shows the excitement that trade generated among the Dena ina of Cook Inlet met his ships and bartered their (otter) skins: after which they sold their garments, till many of them were quite naked. Yet, these Natives did not take everything that the Brits offered them; they had an abundance of copper and would not accept that as a trade item

20 -The British arrival changed the international dynamic in AK, Why? -Cook revealed Alaska to the world, he literally placed the territory on the map. -While countries like Spain kept their discoveries secret, Cook s journals were published after his death revealing its location, coastline and potential trading locations. -Additionally, Cook proved there were answers to the scurvy problem, as well as the longitude problem. Legacy

21 The British are Coming Reconstruction of Fort San Miguel. Spanish Fort at Nootka The British were the world s superpower at the time of Captain Cook s voyage, their arrival in Alaska meant that they would soon control the territory if the Russians and Spanish did nothing to stop their advance. -Cook s presence in the Pacific Northwest caused a flurry of exploration and an expansion of settlement by both Spain and Russia. -The British Hudson s Bay Company would also create an outpost in Alaska.

22 Voyages of Necessity The British and Russian presence in Alaska scared the Spanish government into action and spurred several expeditions over the last two decades of the 1700s. -Some of the first expeditions were intended to just observe where the British and Russians had spread and survey potential settlement locations. -Spanish exploration was slow though we still see their mark on Alaska today. -Why were they unable to quickly settle Alaska?

23 The Spanish Lose Ground The Spanish were more concerned with colonization and finding metals and minerals rather than establishing trade outposts that were better suited to Alaska. -The first Spanish voyages to Alaska only reached the Southeast areas, found no Russians and were contented to believe that foreign settlement in the Pacific Northwest was exaggerated. -As Spanish voyages ebbed, Britain, France, Russia and America were beginning to visit Alaska each summer. Spanish Presence in America.