Pangasinan State University

College of Teacher Education

Bayambang Campus

A
Written Report of Group V about:
Civilizations in Africa and Effects
of African Slave Trade

Submitted by:
Chrizelle Ann R. Agabao
Kenneth M. Aguirre
Alexis M. Aquino
Jessica R. Arellano
Glenn Marc B. Argueza
James Bryan M. Prima
Aries B. Sermonia
Margie T. Soriano

Submitted to:
Rosabella A. Mendez
Professor in World History I
Topics
1. Development of Trading Empires
a. Carthage
b. Kingdom of Ghana
c. The Kingdom of Aksum/Axum
d. Mali Empire
e. Umayyad Caliphate
f. Ottoman Empire
2. Moorish Wars
a. Reconquista
b. Juan de Pareja
c. Battle of Lepanto
3. Damages wrought by African Slave Trade
a. The Age of Discovery and Exploration
b. Treaty of Tordesillias
c. Portuguese Expansion
d. Accounts from slaves

CARTHAGE

Carthage was first started in the year 813 BCE and was founded by Elissa known
as Dido, a queen of Phoenician city of Tyre, it rose following Alexander’s destruction of
Tyre in 332 BCE.
The Greeks called the city Karchedon and the Romans turned this name into
Cartage. Originally a small port on the coast, established only as a stop for Phoenician
traders to re-supply or repair their ships. It became a large, wealthy, and most powerful
city all over the Mediterranean.
Carthage became the leader of the Phoenician colonies in the west and founded
an informal but powerful empire, which is known for its almost perennial struggle against
the Greeks of Sicily and the Romans. Carthage's most famous inhabitant in Late Antiquity
was Augustine, who had a small school in Carthage before he went to Italy and converted
to Christianity.
Rome and Carthage would fight a total of three "Punic Wars," which ultimately led
to the latter’s destruction and re-founding. The two cities were not always hostile. Before
the First Punic War started in 264 B.C., they had a long history of trade, and at one point
the two powers actually allied together against Pyrrhus, a king based in Epirus, which is
in modern-day Albania. This is known today as the Pyrrhic War.

First Punic War

In the year 264 B.C, was the first war between Carthage and Rome.They started
to prepare for it by building an army of 50,000 men and 60 elephants.The war lasted for
about 25 years. The fight took place in Sicily. The Battle was named Battle of Ecnomus
because of their navy being powerful over the seas.

Second Punic War

 Carthage attacked Italy in the year 216 BC. Rome was threatened from the north
and the south. The general that was in control for the Roman was Quintus Fabius
Maximus. In the year 216 B.C. Rome sent an army to go and face Hannibal and his army.

Third Punic War

In the year 149 B.C. Rome thought that Carthage should be destroyed. The 3rd
and finally war ended in the year 146 B.C. when Rome win again to Carthage, which
ended Carthage was burned down to the ground. It was made in territory in Rome.

Aftermath
This was not the end, however. Although the Romans had vowed never to rebuild
Carthage. Yet, even a defeated Carthage remained an important city. It still commanded
the trade route from the eastern to the western part of the Mediterranean, and became
rich again. Several Roman politicians were afraid of Carthage, and in 146, the city was
destroyed by Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus.
Several new citizens are recorded, but it was Julius Caesar, the dictator, who really
refound again the Carthage, as Colonia Junonia (44 BCE; the plan was executed after
his death). Within five years, the city had been chosen as capital of the province of Africa.
It was to have a splendid future.

KINGDOM OF GHANA

Empire of Ghana
Where was the Empire of Ghana located?
 Located in Western Africa in what is today the countries of Mauritania, Senegal,
ang Mali. The region lies just south of the Sahara Desert and is mostly savanna
grasslands.
 First of the great medieval trading empires
 Major rivers: Gambia river, Senegal river and the Niger River
 Capital City: Koumbi Saleh

Where did the empire of Ghana ruled?

 Ancient Ghana ruled from around 300 to 1100 CE.
 The empire first formed when a number of tribes of the Soninke peoples were
united under their first king, DINGA CISSE.
 Form of government: Feudal Government.

Where did the Ghana came from?

 “Ghana” was the word that Soninke people used for their king. It means “Warrior
king”.
 The Soninke people actually used a different word referring to their empire. They
called it “Wagadu”.

Iron and Gold

 The main source of wealth for the empire of Ghana was the mining of iron and
gold.
 They established trade relations with the Muslims of Northern Africa and the Middle
east.
Fall of the Empire?
 Severe drought
 Lost control of trade

THE KINGDOM OF AKSUM

The city of Aksum likely formed around 400 BCE. Legend has it that the kingdom
was first established by the son of King Solomon of Israel and the Queen of Sheba.Aksum
began to rise in power and expand around 100 CE, reaching its peak around 350 CE.
Known for its monumental obelisk and as an early center of Christianity in Africa,
Axum became one of the holiest of cities of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Despite
Axum's current state of poverty, it was once a city distinguished by prestigious power.
Axum had established its own currency,

Geography
Aksum is located southeast of Kush a rugged land on the Red sea and Indian
Ocean, very close to the Mediterranean Sea. It is located on modern-day countries,
Eritrea and Ethiopia.
In 500 B.C., the people of Axum settled in the Ethiopian highlands, near the Red
Sea. Good position for trade routes. Ethiopia’s landscape ranges from desert areas to
forested highlands. There are many mountainous regions in Axum.
Economy
Aksum’s central location on the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean made it an
ideal center trade. Aksum traded many necessities but also sold some very exotic luxuries
in exchange for things not found own made in Aksum.

Religion
Aksumites believed in one god Mahrem, but they also worshipped spirits, honored
dead ancestors, and offered sacrifices. Ezana, raised by a Christian, converted the
kingdom to Christianity. (Fun Fact: Ethiopia, present-day Aksum is now home to millions
of Christians, all because of Ezana’s converting of the empire.)

Social Life
Most of the Aksumites worked as farmers who brought mountain water to the
working fields. The main objective of their life was trading. Other Aksumites worked as
architects and builders. They built monuments, thrones and several pillars.

Architecture
Aksum’s most famous bit of architecture is the Pillars of Aksum, a series of huge
pillars placed around the kingdom, with stories inscribed on the sides. The kingdom of
Aksum once had large temples, but were replaced by richly decorated Christian temples.

Technology
The kingdom of Aksum was the first kingdom south of the Sahara to mint its own
coins. Aksum created a method of agriculture called terrace farming. They built dams and
cisterns. (Fun Fact: All coins minted in Aksum were imprinted with the saying “May the
country be satisfied.)
Literature
Ge’ez was the Aksumites’ language, and is spoken still today in Etheopia, Eritrea
and Israel. (Fun Fact: Aksum was the only African kingdom to have developed a written
language by that time.)

MALI EMPIRE

Introduction
Mali Empire was an Empire in West Africa from 1235 to 1670. It was the largest
empire in West Africa. Their common languages are; Malinke, Mandinka, Fulani and
Bozo. The empire was founded by Sundiata Keita.
Where was the Empire of Mali located?
The Empire of Mali was located in Western Africa. It grew up along the Niger River
and eventually spread across 1,200 miles from the city of Gao to the Atlantic Ocean. Its
northern border was just south of the Sahara Desert. It covered regions of the modern
day African countries of Mali, Niger, Senegal, Mauritania, Guinea, and The Gambia.

Mali’s Government
The government of the Mali Empire was led by a “Mansa”. The empire was divided
up into provinces which were led by a “Ferba” (governor). Many of the government
administrators were Muslims.
Mali’s Culture
Mali has many small tribes and cultural groups but most of them are Mande people.
People then were divided into castes.
Mande peoples, also called Mali or Mandingo, group of peoples of western Africa. The
Mande are located primarily on the savanna plateau of the western Sudan. Some of the
most well-known Mande groups are the Bambara, Malinke, and Soninke. Caste, the
system of dividing society into hereditary classes.
The religion of Islam was an important part of the Mali Empire. However, even
though the kings, or Mansas, had converted to Islam, they did not force their subjects to
convert. Many people practiced a version of Islam that combined Islamic beliefs with the
local traditions.

• Mansa (important and prosperous)

• Nobles (merchants & traders), Judges & Administrators [consisted of the wealthy]
• Farmers (highly regarded because they provided food)
• Artisans [a worker in a skilled trade, especially one that involves making things by
hand. (Craftsman)]
• Slaves (had nothing but to work for people)

Start of the Empire

The Empire began as a small kingdom. During the 11th and 12th centuries, it began
to develop as an empire when Ghana Empire started to decline.
Sundiata Keita
He is the first ruler and founder of the empire. He is a warrior-prince of the Keita
dynasty who was called upon to free the Mali people from the rule of the king of the Sosso
Empire.
He conquered the king of the Sosso Empire in 1235 which gave the Mali Empire
access to the “trans-Saharan trade routes.”

Sundiata’s Death
After Sundiata’s death in 1255, the kings of Mali were referred to by the title
“Mansa”. There were 21 known Mansas after his death.
Mansa Musa
He came to the throne in 1307 and ruled for 30 years. He was one of the first truly
devout Muslim that lead the Mali empire but did not forced the people to Islam. He made
the “Eid” celebrations at the end of Ramadan a national ceremony. He became famous
because of his lavish trip to Mecca to make a pilgrimage in 1342.
He must have made a quite impression during his trip with his large entourage and
massive display of wealth. During his travel, he gave away and spent significant amount
of gold but brought back a lot of new ideas and scholars who helped to improve his
empire.

Mansa Musa & The Empire’s Wealth

Mansa Musa made his fortune by exploiting his country’s salt and gold production.
This was due to the tax on trade in and trade out of the empire. The great wealth of Mali
came from gold and salt mines. Gold dominates Mali’s natural resource sector. In the
ancient empire of Mali, the most important industry for trading was the gold industry.

Fall of the Empire

During 1389-1545 happens the gradual loss of Mali’s northern and eastern
possessions to the rising Songhai Empire and loss of economic focus from the trans-
Saharan trade routes.
UMAYYAD CALIPHATE (661-750 C.E)
The Umayyad Caliphate was the second of the four major Arab caliphates
established after the death of Muhammad. This caliphate was centered on the Umayyad
dynasty, hailing from Mecca.
They asserted control and brought stability to the growing Muslim empire. They
established their capital at Damascus in Syria, and the Muslim faith continued to expand
eastward to India and westward across North Africa. The Umayyad Caliphate are able to
conquer the Tunisia in Africa, and the southern part of Spain. In their conquest, they tried
to enter the territory of Frankish kingdom, but failed due to Charles Martel’s command
and severely defeated at the Battle of Tours.
The downfall of the kingdom was primarily because of the uprising by the people
in some of their territories and when the Abbasids took control.
Political
It was ruled by a caliph (Arabic khalifah or “successor) who held temporal and
sometimes a degree of spiritual authority. Throughout the Islamic world, Muslims used
the term al-Andalus to describe the part of the Iberian Peninsula under Muslim control.
The Ummayad dynasty was not universally supported within the Muslim community for a
variety of reasons, including their hereditary election and suggestions of impervious
behavior user.
In Islamic History, the Umayyad family established a system of hereditary
succession for the leader of the Muslim World. The Umayyads modeled their government
after the Byzantines (Eastern Roman Empire) who had previously ruled much of the land
conquered by the Umayyads. They divided the empire into provinces that were each ruled
by a governor appointed by the Caliph. They also created government bodies called
“diwans” that handled different government agencies.

Socio-Cultural
The Umayyad period is often considered the formative period in Islamic art. The
main artistic influence came from the late antique classical naturalistic tradition, which
had been prevalent on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean. This was also
supplemented by the more formal modes developed by the Byzantines, and Sasanians,
a factor that especially affected metalwork, textiles, and the depiction of animal, vegetal
and figural motifs.
As with the arts, the Umayyad period was also critical in the development of Islamic
architecture. The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, the first major Umayyad architectural
undertaking completed under the patronage of the caliph ‘Abd al-Malik, was built on a
prominent site formerly occupied by Solomon’s Temple and later associated with
Muhammad’s ascent to heaven.
Also significant are the mosques of Damascus where the site of the former Roman
temple and fourth-century Byzantine church dedicated to Saint John the Baptist was
transformed into the congregational mosque of the Umayyad capital, and of Jerusalem.

Military
The early Umayyad period was one of strength and expansion. The army,
mainly Arab and largely Syrian, extended the frontiers of Islam. It carried the war
against Byzantium into Asia Minor and besieged Constantinople; eastward it penetrated
into Khorasan, Turkistan, and northwestern India; and, spreading along the northern
coast of Africa, it occupied much of Spain. This vast empire was given a regular
administration that gradually acquired an Arab Muslim character. Syrians played an
important part in it, and the country profited from the wealth pouring from the rich
provinces to the empire’s centre.

Religion
The majority of this new empire was of course non-Muslim, and aside from a
protection tax (jizya) the conquered people found their religions tolerated. Nonetheless
the new religion penetrated deeply, to the point where conversions were discouraged
since they might have been motivated by avoiding taxes, rather than true belief, and
choosing a religion should override such economic concerns.

OTTOMAN EMPIRE (1301-1922)

Ottoman Turks originally came from Turkistan where they were wielded into one
nation by Osman (1290-1396) who gave them his name. The Ottoman Empire was one
of the mightiest and longest-lasting dynasties in world history. This Islamic-run
superpower ruled large areas of the Middle East, Eastern Europe and North Africa for
more than 600 years. While Western Europeans generally viewed them as a threat, many
historians regard the Ottoman Empire as a source of great regional stability and security,
as well as important achievements in the arts, science, religion and culture.
In 1301, Uthman, an Uzbek of the Ottoman clan, overthrew the Seljuk aristocracy
and proclaimed himself the Sultan of Asia Minor. Later, the Ottoman Turks fought their
way westward and finally captured Constantinople in 1455, which they then renamed
Istanbul. It was Islamic in faith, Arabic in culture, and Turkish in power.
The Ottoman victors were the major Turkish force to emerge from the crisis of the
Mongol invasions that devastated the Muslim world in the 13th century and eliminated
Seljuk power. Starting in the 1600s, the Ottoman Empire began to lose its economic and
military dominance to Europe.
Around this time, Europe had strengthened rapidly with the Renaissance and the
dawn of the Industrial Revolution. Other factors, such as poor leadership and having to
compete with trade from the Americas and India, led to the weakening of the empire.

Political
The Ottoman Empire was originally built on a unique model of state and society.
The sultan was the ruler of the Ottoman Empire; he owned all the agricultural land of the
empire and was served by an army and bureaucracy composed of highly trained leaders.
Ottomans also employed a distinctive form of government administration. The top
ranks of the bureaucracy were staffed by the sultan’s slave corps. The slaves were
purchased along the borders of the empire (non-Muslims)
According to Muslim tradition, the government should welcome the conversion of
any subject who was willing to become Muslim. However, since Muslims paid lower taxes
than members of other religions, ironically it was in the Ottoman’s divan interests to have
the largest possible number of non-Muslim subjects. A mass conversion would have
spelled economic disaster for the Ottoman Empire.
Politically, the Ottoman world was opportunist and expansionist. Osman's son,
Orhan Ghazi, was able to move his capital as far west as Bursa and marry a daughter of
the Byzantine Emperor John VI Cantacuzene. This marriage epitomized the steady
increase of Turkish influence in medieval Anatolia - a process which led to Byzantine
culture gradually losing, or abandoning, its long struggle with Islam in the interior of Asia
Minor.
Under Süleyman the Magnificent, the Ottoman Turks reached their zenith
because he completely restructured the Ottoman legal, political and military empire.
Socio-Cultural
The Ottoman Empire was organized into a very complicated social
structure because it was a large, multi-ethnic and multi-religious empire. Ottoman society
was divided between Muslims and non-Muslims, with Muslims theoretically having a
higher standing than Christians or Jews.
Spectacular art and architecture were created during the reign of a sultan known
as Süleyman the Magnificent (1520-1566), who ruled the Ottoman Empire at its height.
Süleyman enthusiastically supported the arts, and this period was also known as the
Golden Age of the Arts. The Ottoman Empire's administrative seat was the Topkapi
Palace, and it included a network of imperial artists and craftspeople that came from
throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
Ottoman society and culture were profoundly Islamic, but with a distinctive ethos
derived from Central Asian nomadic antecedents. Turkish carpets, decorative calligraphy,
painted ceramics and elaborate mosque architecture are found here.
The millet system was used by the Ottomans whereby subjects were divided into
religious communities with each millet (nation) enjoying autonomous self-government
under its religious leaders. It created a powerful bond between the Ottoman ruling class
and religious leaders, who supported the sultan’s rule in return for extensive authority
over their own communities.
The Ottoman Empire was very diverse. At its height, it covered territory from the
Mediterranean Sea to China, and its rule lasted over seven hundred years.
Military
The First Ottoman Army had been composed entirely of Turkmen nomads, who
had remained largely under the command of the religious orders that had converted most
of them to Islam. Armed with bows and arrows and spears, those nomadic cavalrymen
had lived mostly on booty, although those assigned as ghazis to border areas or sent to
conquer and raid Christian lands also had been given more permanent revenues in the
form of taxes levied on the lands they garrisoned.
The Ottomans introduced the forced recruitment of Christian boys who were
converted to Islam and became the elite suicide corps called the “Janissaries”.
Under Süleyman the Magnificent, the Ottoman Turks reached their zenith
because he completely restructured the Ottoman legal, political and military empire.

Religion
After battles between Muslims and Christians, churches were converted into
mosques and mosques into churches according to who was the winner. Although Mehmet
converted many churches into mosques, he did not suppress the Christian faith itself.
There were practical reasons for this.
The institutions of the church provided a machine for implementing Mehmet's rule.
But Mehmet was also influenced by the Islamic rule that Muslims should show respect to
all religions. Mehmet not only tolerated the Christians, he made special efforts to attract
Jews to Istanbul. This was attractive to the Jews, who had previously been persecuted
by the Orthodox Christian Church.
The non-Muslim communities (millets) were controlled by the Sultan acting through
their religious leaders. These communities were given their own parts of towns in which
to live and worship. They were given a great deal of freedom to lead their lives according
to their particular faiths, and so were largely supportive of their Muslim overlords.
Christians were the largest group of the population and coexistence was likely to
be more efficient than conflict. The fall of the Holy Land and Constantinople, the eastern
bastion of Christianity in 1453 to the Ottomans, led by Mehmet II, turned the Hagia Sophia
from a Christian building, into a mosque and the Constantinople’s renaming as Istanbul,
which became the seat of Islamic sultans.

MOORISH WARS
Moors
North African descendants of Berber and Arabs who crossed the strait of Gibraltar
in early 8th century and began the Visigoth Invasion of Hispania.

Battle of Guadelete
Earliest and decisive victories of the Moors. Led by Moorish Army named Tariq bin
Ziyad against the Visigoth King Roderic. Near the Gibraltar according to modern
Surmises.

Battle of Cavadonga
North Iberian region. 722 AD. Stage battle was set when Visigoth nobleman
Pelagius refused to pay taxes levied by the Moorish administration and rebelled.

Battle of River Garone

732 AD. Led by Ommayad Governor Abdul Rahman against Aquitanian Army
under Duke Odo. Abdul Rahman led a sizable army to the city of Bordeaux at an
exceptional speed and captured the city.

Battle of Tours
732 few months after the Battle of Garrone. Abdul Rahman against Frankish army
Charles Mertel. Charles Mertel was able to display excellent generalship, forcing the
Moors to give battlefield of his own choice.

RECONQUISTA
Reconquista and Islam in Spain

What was the Reconquista?

The Reconquista is the name given to a long series of wars and battles between
the Christian kingdom and the Muslim Moors for control of the Iberian Peninsula. It lasted
for a good portion of the Middle Ages from 718 to 1492

What is the Iberian Peninsula?

The Iberian Peninsula is located in the far southwest of Europe. Today the majority
of the peninsula includes the countries Spain and Portugal. It is bordered by the Atlantic
Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Pyrenees Mountains.
Who were the Moors?
The Moors were Muslims who lived in the northern African countries of Morocco
and Algeria. They called the Land of the Iberian Peninsula “Al-Andalus.”

The Moors Invade Europe

In 711 the Moors crossed the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa and Invaded
the Iberian Peninsula. Over the next seven years they advanced into Europe and
controlled the majority of the peninsula.

Start of the Reconquista

The Reconquista began in 718 when King Pelayo of the Visigoths defeated the
Muslim army in Alcama at the Battle of Covadonga. This was the first significant of the
Christians over the Moors.

Many Battles
Over the next several hundred years the Christians and the moors would do battle.
Charlemagne would halt the Moors advance at the peninsula would take over 700 years.
There were many battles won and lost on both sides. Both sides also experienced internal
struggles for power and civil war.

The Catholic Church

During the latter part of the Reconquista it was considered a holy war similar to the
Crusades. The Catholic Church wanted the Muslims removed from Europe. Several
military orders of the church such as the Order of Santiago and the Knights Templar
fought in the Reconquista.

Fall of Granada
After years of fighting, the nation of Spain was united when King Ferdinand of
Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile were married in 1469. The land of Granada was
still ruled by the Moors, however. Ferdinand and Isabella then turned their united forces
on Granada, taking it back in1492 and ending the Reconquista

JUAN DE PAREJA
Juan de Pareja was a mullato man. He was born in Seville around the year 1610.
His mother was a slave named Zulema and his father, whom he never met, was thought
to have been a white Spaniard. Other sources say Juan de Pareja was not a slave but a
servant to Diego Velasquez. Diego taught Juan how to paint, even though it was illegal
at the time to teach a slave the craft.
Velasquez was well known for his talent in painting people’s souls rather than their
social status. Velasquez also painted a portrait of juan de Pareja. The portrait was sold
for 5.5 million dollars to the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art from London auction
house. If the Book I is accurate then this would make velasquez indirectly related to the
slave trade, which began with Portuguese adventures in 1440, because he would have
been a slave owner. Slavery was by no means a new practice in the librarian peninsula.
Portuguese explores first captured slaves and saw it as a money business. Both
Negroes, and Indians when the New world was discovered, were captured to be used as
slaves. These explores supplied Spanish and Portuguese settlements in America with
slaves: three-and-a-half million to brazil, one-and-a-half million to the American South,
and the Caribbean. Velasquez signed the document that gave Pareja his freedom, to
become effective in 1654, Pareja lived out the rest of his life as an independent painter.
Pareja’s experience was far from typical for slave in the 1600’s, but it reminds us of the
myriad forms that slavery took in this period.

BATTLE OF LEPANTO
Battle of Lepanto, naval engagement fought on October 7, 1571, in the Gulf of
Lepanto (now Gulf of Corinth) between an Ottoman fleet and that of the Holy League, an
alliance of Spain, Venice, Genoa, and the Papal States formed by Pope Julius II in 1511.
Both sides sustained heavy casualties, but the Holy League won decisively, capturing
more than 100 galleys and freeing thousands of Christian slaves. The battle was the first
major victory of the Christians against the Ottoman Empire, and as such it was
psychologically important. It was of small practical impact, however, for the Ottomans
retained supremacy on land and quickly renewed their fleet. The Spanish novelist Miguel
de Cervantes Saavedra took part in the Battle of Lepanto, and the battle figures
prominently in his masterpiece Don Quixote (Part I, 1605; Part II, 1615).
Following the death of Suleiman the Magnificent and ascent of Sultan Selim II to
Ottoman throne in 1566, plans commenced for the eventual capture of Cyprus. Held by
the Venetians since 1489, the island had largely become encircled by Ottoman
possessions on the mainland and offered safe harbor for corsairs that routinely attacked
Ottoman shipping. With the end of a protracted conflict with Hungary in 1568, Selim
moved forward with his designs on the island. Landing an invasion force in 1570, the
Ottomans captured Nicosia after a bloody seven-week siege and won several victories
before arriving at the last Venetian stronghold of Famagusta. Unable to penetrate the
city's defenses, they laid siege in September 1570. In an effort to bolster support for the
Venetian fight against the Ottomans, Pope Pius V worked tirelessly to construct an
alliance from the Christian states in the Mediterranean.
In 1571, the Christian powers in the Mediterranean assembled a large fleet to
confront the growing menace of the Ottoman Empire. Assembling at Messina, Sicily in
July and August, the Christian force was led by Don John of Austria and contained vessels
from Venice, Spain, the Papal States, Genoa, Savoy, and Malta. Sailing under the banner
of the Holy League, Don John's fleet consisted of 206 galleys and 6 gallasses (large
galleys that mounted artillery). Rowing east, the fleet paused at Viscardo in Cephalonia
where it learned of the fall of Famagusta and the torture and killing of the Venetian
commanders there. Enduring poor weather Don John pressed on to Sami and arrived on
October 6. Returning to sea the next day, the Holy League fleet entered the Gulf of Patras
and soon encountered Ali Pasha's Ottoman fleet.
Deployments
Commanding 230 galleys and 56 galliots (small galleys), Ali Pasha had departed
his base at Lepanto and was moving west to intercept the Holy League's fleet. As the
fleets sighted each other, they formed for battle. For the Holy League, Don John, aboard
the galley Real, divided his force into four divisions, with the Venetians under Agostino
Barbarigo on the left, himself in the center, the Genoese under Giovanni Andrea Doria on
the right, and a reserve led by Álvaro de Bazán, Marquis de Santa Cruz in the rear. In
addition, he pushed gallasses out in front of his left and center divisions where they could
bombard the Ottoman fleet.
The Fleets Clash
Flying his flag from Sultana, Ali Pasha led the Ottoman center, with Chulouk Bey
on the right and Uluj Ali on the left. As the battle opened, the Holy League's gallasses
sank two galleys and disrupted the Ottoman formations with their fire. As the fleets
neared, Doria saw that Uluj Ali's line extended beyond his own. Shifting south to avoid
being flanked, Doria opened a gap between his division and Don John's. Seeing the hole,
Uluj Ali turned north and attacked into the gap. Doria responded to this and soon his ships
were dueling with Uluj Ali's.
To the north, Chulouk Bey succeeded in turning the Holy League's left flank, but
determined resistance from the Venetians, and the timely arrival of a gallass, beat off the
attack. Shortly after the battle began, the two flagships found each other and a desperate
struggle began between Real and Sultana. Locked together, Spanish troops were twice
repulsed when they tried to board the Ottoman galley and reinforcements from other
vessels were needed to turn the tide. On the third attempt, with aid from Álvaro de Bazán's
galley, Don John's men were able to take Sultana killing Ali Pasha in the process.
Against the wishes of Don John, Ali Pasha was beheaded and his head displayed on a
pike. The sight of their commander's head had a severe impact on Ottoman morale and
they began withdrawing around 4 PM. Uluj Ali, who had success against Doria and
captured the Maltese flagship Capitana, retreated with sixteen galleys and twenty-four
galliots.
Aftermath and Impact
At the Battle of Lepanto, the Holy League lost 50 galleys and suffered
approximately 13,000 casualties. This was offset by the freeing of a similar number of
Christian slaves from the Ottoman ships. In addition to the death of Ali Pasha, the
Ottomans lost 25,000 killed and wounded and an additional 3,500 captured. Their fleet
lost 210 ships, of which 130 were captured by the Holy League. Coming at what was seen
as a crisis point for Christianity, the victory at Lepanto stemmed Ottoman expansion in
the Mediterranean and prevented their influence from spreading west. Though the Holy
League fleet was unable to exploit their victory due to the onset of winter weather,
operations over the next two years effectively confirmed a division of the Mediterranean
between the Christian states in the west and the Ottomans in the east.

AGE OF DISCOVERY/EXPLORATION

Age of Discovery
It took place between the 15th and 17th centuries. During this time, many countries
in Europe sent out explorers to discover new lands, find trade routes, seek treasure, and
gain territory for their country. During this time also, much of the world was mapped and
many world civilizations came into contact with each other. Colonialism and mercantilism
flourished during this time. It is also known as the Age of Exploration.

Causes of European Expansion (1450-1600)

• Revival of population and economic activity after Black Death
• Fall of Constantinople
• Reconquista
• Desire for glory and chart new waters
Age of Discovery
Individual explorers combined these motivations in unique way. Eagerness for
exploration was heightened by the lack of opportunity at home. The ambitious turned to
the sea to seek their fortunes. Whatever the reasons, the voyages were made possible
by the growth of government power. In Portugal explorers also looked to the monarchy,
to Prince Henry the Navigator in particular for financial support and encouragement.
Competition among European monarchs was an important factor in encouraging the
steady stream of expeditions that began in the late fifteenth century.
Technology and The Rise of Exploration
Technological developments in shipbuilding, weaponry, and navigation provided
another impetus for European expansion. The Portuguese developed the caravel, a
small, light, three-mast sailing ship. It can have held more cargo and was much more
maneuverable than the galley. When fitted with cannon, it could dominate larger vessels.
Ptolemy’s Geography, reintroduced to the Europeans, gave them new access to ancient
geographical knowledge.
The magnetic compass enabled sailors to determine their direction and position at
sea. Much of the new technology that Europeans used on their voyages was borrowed
from the East. Gunpowder, compass and the sternpost rudder were Chinese inventions

Portugal and Spain Rivalry

Propelled by the “Gospel, Gold and Glory,” and supported by much-improved
technology, these two Iberian superpowers of Spain and Portugal pushed through their
ultimate goals to discover the rest of the world. Portugal sailed via the southeastern route,
while the Spain sailed via the western or southwestern route. Spices was one of the
important goods during the Age of Exploration. Spices can pay dowries, liberate a city,
buy a land and pay taxes. It was also used for the preservation of foods.
While Portuguese explorers searched for a passage to the East by a southeasterly
route, the Spanish searched in a westerly and southwesterly direction. Although they
were unsuccessful in reaching their immediate goal, the result was the discovery of the
West Indies and the Venezuelan coast by Christopher Columbus between 1492 and
1502. Columbus, as his Spanish patrons realized, had greatly underestimated the
distances involved in reaching Asia by a southwesterly route, but he nevertheless pressed
on.
Christopher Columbus’ “discovery” generated misapprehension and dispute
between Spain and Portugal.

Notable Explorers
Hernan Cortes
Hernán Cortés was a Spanish conquistador who explored Central America,
overthrew Montezuma and his vast Aztec empire and won Mexico for the crown of Spain.
He first set sail to the New World at the age of 19. Cortés later joined an expedition to
Cuba. In 1518, he set off to explore Mexico.
 Cortés strategically aligned some native peoples against others and eventually
overthrew the vast and powerful Aztec empire. As a reward, King Charles I appointed him
governor of New Spain in 1522.

Francisco Pizarro
Spanish explorer and conquistador Francisco Pizarro helped Vasco Núñez de
Balboa discover the Pacific Ocean, and after conquering Peru, founded its capital city,
Lima.
In 1532, Pizarro and his brothers conquered Peru. Three years later, Pizarro
founded the nation's new capital, Lima. Pizarro was assassinated on June 26, 1541, in
Lima, Peru, by vengeful members of an enemy faction of conquistadors.

Amerigo Vespucci
America was named after Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine navigator and explorer
who played a prominent role in exploring the New World.
Explorer Amerigo Vespucci was born March 9, 1451, (some scholars say 1454) in
Florence, Italy. On May 10, 1497, he embarked on his first voyage.
On his third and most successful voyage, he discovered present-day Rio de
Janeiro and Rio de la Plata. Believing he had discovered a new continent, he called South
America the New World. In 1507, America was named after him. He died of malaria in
Seville, Spain, on February 22, 1512.

Bartholomew Dias
Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias led the first European expedition round the
Cape of Good Hope in 1488.
Dias departed circa August 1487, rounding the southernmost tip of Africa in
January 1488. The Portuguese (possibly Dias himself) named this point of land the Cape
of Good Hope. Dias was lost at sea during another expedition around the Cape in 1500.

PORTUGUESE EXPANSION AND AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE

Background of Portuguese Expansion
Blocked from access to western Europe by Spain, the Portuguese turned to the
Atlantic and North Africa, whose waters they knew better than did other Europeans.
Portugal was the first country to use innovation in seamanship and boatbuilding with the
establishment by Henry “the Navigator” of the first navigational school in the globe at
Sagres Point in1419.
In 1443, they founded their first African commercial settlement at Arguin in North
Africa. The Portuguese next established trading ports and forts on the rich-gold Guinea
coast and penetrated into the African continent all the way to Timbuktu.
Portuguese ships gradually moved along the African coast, with Bartolomew Dias
reaching the Cape of Good Hope in 1487.
When the Treaty of Tordesillas was signed which partitioned the non-Christian
world into two spheres of influence, the Portuguese started to start its exploration policy
in desires for military glory; crusades to Christianize Muslims, to locate a mythical
Christian king of Africa, Prester John; and the quest to find gold, slaves, and an overseas
route to the spice markets of India.

African Slave Trade

The Ottoman capture of Constantinople and successful Iberian Reconquista
prompted the Europeans to turned their attention to sub-Saharan Africa, which had a long
history of slave trading. As Portuguese explorers began their voyages along the western
coast of Africa, one of the first commodities they sought was slaves.
The slave trade across the Atlantic also began, starting with the first cargo of slaves
from West Africa to the West Indies in 1518 - a momentous event with tragic
consequences. The first major slave economies were created in the Spanish and
Portuguese empires, which imported about 500,000 slaves between around 1500 and
1650. The Portuguese concentrated their slaves in the sugar plantations of coastal Brazil.
In the 1440s and 1450s, the first slaves were simply seized by small raiding parties.
Portuguese merchants soon found that it was easier to trade with local leaders, who were
accustomed to dealing in slaves captured through warfare with neighboring powers. From
1490 to 1530, Portuguese traders brought between three hundred and two thousand
black slaves to Lisbon each year.
It is estimated that over 12 million slaves were dispatched to the Americas between
1450 and 1870, of whom a quarter were exported during the 19th century. The history of
slavery became intertwined with the history of sugar.
The Portuguese brought the first slaves to Brazil around 1550. Before 1700, some
20 percent of slaves died on the voyage from Africa to the Americas. The most common
cause of death was from dysentery induced by poor quality food and water, intense
crowding, and lack of sanitation.
Men were often kept in irons during the passage, while women and girls were
considered fair game for sailors. To increase profits, slave traders packed several
hundred captives on each ship. On sugar plantations, death rates among slaves from
illness and exhaustion were extremely high, leading to a constant stream of new
shipments of slaves from Africa.
In total, scholars estimate that European traders embarked over 10 million African
slaves across the Atlantic from 1518 to 1800 (of whom roughly 8.5 million disembarked),
with the peak of trade occurring in the eighteenth century.
Enslaved Africans worked in an infinite variety of occupations: as miners, soldiers,
servants, and artisans and in the production of cotton, rum, indigo, tobacco, wheat, corn,
and most predominantly, sugar.

Consequences of the slave trade

In Angola, the consequence was a demographic hemorrhage as thousands of
people were sold abroad each year, thereby undermining the capacity of communities to
renew themselves.
In Guinea the slave trade caused such acute social malaise that small communities
became dominated by secret societies which manipulated a rising fear of witchcraft.
In the Niger Basin whole communities were devastated by raids which caused
death, famine and disease on a spiraling scale. In contrast to this, some successful broker
kingdoms built up their agrarian economies with new crops and preserved their population
by refusing to sell young women captives abroad.
In the long term, however, the effects of the slave trade were to entrench violence
as a way of life and create a damaging intellectual climate which presumed that white
people were superior to black people. The decolonizing of the minds of both the
perpetrators and the victims of the slave trade was to be a slow process, further delayed
by the colonial interlude which affected Africa during the first half of the 20th century.
A number of American crops were introduced into Africa, presumably via ships
provisioned in the new world for the slave run. Maize, manioc, sweet potatoes, peanuts,
squash, and cacao quickly became staples of West African agriculture; and the first three
spread rapidly over wide stretches of the continent.

ACCOUNT FROM SLAVES

Most of the time there was more than three hundred slaves on the plantation. The oldest
ones come right from Africa. My Grandmother was one of them. A savage in Africa — a
slave in America. Mammy told it to me. Over there all the natives dressed naked and lived
on fruits and nuts. Never see many white men. One day a big ship stopped off the shore
and the natives hid in the brush along the beach. Grand-mother was there. The ship men
sent a little boat to the shore and scattered bright things and trinkets on the beach. The
natives were curious.
Grandmother said everybody made a rush for them things soon as the boat left.
The trinkets was fewer than the peoples. Next day the white folks scatter some more.
There was another scramble. The natives was feeling less scared, and the next day some
of them walked up the gangplank to get things off the plank and off the deck. The deck
was covered with things like they’d found on the beach. Two-three hundred natives on
the ship when they feel it move. They rush to the side but the plank was gone. Just
dropped in the water when the ship moved away. Folks on the beach started to crying
and shouting. The ones on the boat was wild with fear. Grand-mother was one of them
who got fooled, and she say the last thing seen of that place was the natives running up
and down the beach waving their arms and shouting like they was mad.
They boat men up from below where they had been hiding and drive the slaves
down in the bottom and keep them quiet with the whips and clubs. The slaves was landed
at Charleston. The town folks was mighty mad ’cause the blacks was driven through the
streets without any clothes, and drove off the boat men after the slaves was sold on the
market. Most of that load was sold to the Brown plantation in Alabama. Grandmother was
one of the bunch.
JOHN BROWN, enslaved in Alabama, interviewed in Oklahoma, 1937

Generally when the grown people in the neighbourhood were gone far in the fields
to labour, the children assembled together in some of the neighbours’ premises to play;
and commonly some of us used to get up a tree to look out for any assailant or kidnapper
that might come upon us, for they sometimes took those opportunities of our parents’
absence to attack and carry off as many as they could seize. One day as I was watching
at the top of a tree in our yard, I saw one of those people come into the yard of our next
neighbour but one, to kidnap, there being many stout young people in it. Immediately on
this I gave the alarm of the rogue, and he was surrounded by the stoutest of them, who
entangled him with cords so that he could not escape till some of the grown people came
and secured him. But alas! ere long it was my fate to be thus attacked and to be carried
off when none of the grown people were nigh.
One day, when all our people were gone out to their works as usual, and only I
and my dear sister were left to mind the house, two men and a woman got over our walls
and in a moment seized us both and, without giving us time to cry out, or make resistance,
they stopped our mouths and ran off with us into the nearest wood. Here they tied our
hands and continued to carry us as far as they could . . . Thus I continued to travel,
sometimes by land, sometimes by water, through different countries and various nations
[in west Africa], till at the end of six or seven months after I had been kidnapped, I arrived
at the sea coast. . . .
The first object which saluted my eyes when I arrived on the coast was the sea,
and a slave ship, which was then riding at anchor and waiting for its cargo. These filled
me with astonishment, which was soon converted into terror when I was carried on board.
I was immediately handled and tossed up to see if I were sound by some of the crew, and
I was now persuaded that I had gotten into a world of bad spirits, 2 Punctuation in the 18th
- 19th century narratives modernized by NHC for clarity. National Humanities Center, The
Making of African American Identity: Vol. I, 1500–1865. “Capture: Selections From the
Narratives of Former Slaves.” 4and that they were going to kill me. Their complexions too
differing so much from ours, their long hair, and the language they spoke, (which was
very different from any I had ever heard) united to confirm me in this belief.
Indeed such were the horrors of my views and fears at the moment, that, if ten
thousand worlds had been my own, I would have freely parted with them all to have
exchanged my condition with that of the meanest slave in my own country
When I looked round the ship too and saw a large furnace or copper boiling, and
a multitude of black people of every description chained together, every one of their
countenances expressing dejection and sorrow, I no longer doubted of my fate; and, quite
overpowered with horror and anguish, I fell motionless on the deck and fainted. When I
recovered a little I found some black people about me, who I believed were some of those
who brought me on board, and had been receiving their pay; they talked to me in order
to cheer me, but all in vain. I asked them if we were not to be eaten by those white men
with horrible looks, red faces, and loose hair. They told me I was not; and one of the crew
brought me a small portion of spirituous liquor in a wine glass; but, being afraid of him, I
would not take it out of his hand. . . .
Soon after this the blacks who brought me on board went off and left me
abandoned to despair. I now saw myself deprived of all chance of returning to my native
country, or even the least glimpse of hope of gaining the shore, which I now considered
as friendly; and I even wished for my former slavery in preference to my present situation,
which was filled with horrors of every kind, still heightened by my ignorance of what I was
to undergo.
OLAUDAH EQUIANO, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or
Gustavus Vassa, the African, London: 1789

References:

Books
Mckay, John P., Hill, Bennet D., Buckler, John, Crowston, Clare Haru, Wiener-Hanks,
Merry E., Perry, Joe. Understanding Western Society. Bedford/St. Martin’s Publishing Inc.
2012.
Black, Roger B., Black, Linda, Krieger, Larry S., Naylor, Philip C., Shabaka, Dahia Ibo,
World History: Patterns of Interaction. Houghton Mifflin Hardcourt Publishing Company.
2012
Thompson, John M., & Hedlberg, Kathleen, People and Civilizations: A World History.
Ginn and Company. 2007

e-Books/PDF
Stearns, Peter N., et. Al. The Encyclopedia of World History Ancient, Medieval, and
Modern Period, Sixth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company. 2001.
O’Brien, Patrick K., Philip's Atlas of World History. Octopus Publishing Group. 2007

McNell, William H., The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community; With a
Retrospective Essay. The University of Chicago Press. 1963

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