Encounters+With+Europe,+1450-1550

__**Western Africa**__ In western Africa, many were very eager to trade with the Portuguese. When trading it will be better for them because it would be cheaper than when they traded along the Mediterranean. Christopher Columbus wanted to make a proper negotiation with the Portuguese by having a formal ceremony with speeches about mutual benefit and goodwill. At the end of the ceremony they decided on a trading fort that will be built. The Africans made a warning to the Portuguese that if they were to be dishonest than the Africans would just move away; which would deprive them of trading and food supply. After a century of aggressive expansion, Niger Delta was at the peak of it power when it first met up with the Portuguese. The king of Niger Delta established a royal monopoly on trade with the Portuguese, selling pepper, ivory tusks, stone beads, textiles, and prisoners of war. The Portuguese in return gave them copper, brass, fine textiles, glass beads, and a horse for the king. When Portuguese tried to persuade the king of Benin to accept the Catholic faith it ultimately failed. They did however succeed when they went to the kingdom of Kongo. They were truly impressed and made it their official religion. They had to sell a lot of slaves to be able to pay the missionaries.

__**Eastern Africa**__ In eastern Africa, they weren’t sure about the Portuguese and what they have done in other places until the ruler of one of the port s saw them as a potential ally who could help them expand their trading position. For decades, Portugal and Ethiopia had been thinking of forming an alliance because they both liked Christianity. They never got a real chance to form that alliance until after Queen Helena of Ethiopia died in 1522. During their alliance the Portuguese helped the Ethiopians with their struggles and helped save their kingdom from being extinct. Having a permanent alliance failed in the end because the Ethiopians did not want to change their religion from Christianity.

__**Indian Ocean States**__ Vasco da Gama’s arrival on the Malabar Coast of India did not impress the citizens of Calicut. The ruler of Calicut and his Muslim officials had little interest with the involvement with the Portuguese as trading partners. It was later discovered by Coastal rulers that the Portuguese has no intention of remaining poor competitors in the rich Indian Ocean trade and intended on making the Indian Ocean the private property of Portugal. In 1505, a Portuguese fleet of eighty one ships invaded Swahili Coast cities. The Portuguese dominance of the western Indian Ocean was consolidated by the addition of the Gujarati port of Diu in 1535. The Malay Peninsula and Sumatra became the Portuguese focus as they had been reconnoitering the Bay of Bengal and farther east waters. Malacca had become the main place for storing and distributing goods known as the entrepot. Portuguese nearly monopolized trade between China and Japan by establishing a trade post at Macao. Portugal’s power resulted in the requirement of all spices and goods to be carried in Portuguese ships on major ocean routes. Rivalries among the region impeded the formation of a common front which allowed less capability of challenging Portuguese domination. Furthermore, they never gained complete control over the Indian Ocean trade; however their naval supremacy allowed dominance of key ports and trade routes in the sixteenth century. Portugal had small impact on Asian and African mainlands because their power was based off of controlling trade routes.

__**The Americas**__ In contrast to the trading empires that the Portuguese established, the Spanish created a vast territorial empire. However, they both had very similar motives for expansion. The Spanish settlers, rather than trade, resorted to conquest and plunder. Deadly diseases, especially smallpox, weakened the Amerindians ability to resist in 1518. The Arawak of Hispaniola were the first Amerindians to encounter Columbus. At first, the Arawak extended the Spanish a cautious welcome but later convinced them to move an by telling them stories about gold in other places. During Columbus’s second trip to Hispaniola, he brought settlers from Iberia and missionaries to try to persuade them to accept Christianity. They became violent by demanding labor for gold searching and sexually assaulted the native women. This gave the Spaniards a heavy advantage. Spanish expeditions searched for new opportunities as gold and indigenous labor became scarce in Hispaniola. This led to a forced removal of majority of the Arawaks who became slaves. Hernan Cortes undertook a new effort by bringing military tactics and political skills to the American mainland after two failed expeditions to Mexico. The Aztec emperor Moctezuma II attempted diplomacy since he hesitated to use force. Cortes demonstrated the technological advantages as he pushed towards Tenochtitlan. The Spanish stole Moctezuma’s treasury and he found himself a prisoner in his own palace. The Aztecs forced the Spanish to attempt a nighttime escape and the briefly gained the upper hand. During the battle, Moctezuma was killed. With the help of Tlaxcalans, the Spanish regained their strength. The Inca empire, built in the previous century, had a highly productive agriculture, large trading networks, stone cities, and gold and silver mines. The strong power of this empire was sustained by the belief in which he was descended from the Sun God. After the Inca ruler, Huayna Capac died, the threat of Francisco Pizarro awaited them. In 1531 Pizarro set out from Panama to conquer them. He had an arrangement to meet Atahualpa, the Inca emperor. After a massive conquest, the Spaniards gave Atahualpa a choice to either be burned at the stake as a heathen or baptized as a Christian and then strangled. He chose to be strangled as a Christian. In 1536, a native rebellion was led by Manco Inca which created a much reduced independent kingdom that survived until 1572. The conquest of the mainland continued due to the wealth of Aztecs and Inca.