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The Fall of the Roman Empire/Start of the Middle Ages
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Beginning:
Fall of the Roman Empire -
Vikings led by Leif Erikson reach Nothe America and are the first to encounter the New World.
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Beginning: The Crusades, a series of wars fought to gain control of the Holy Landfrom the Seljuk Turks (muslims), start in the Middle East.
Results of Crusades:
- Europeans learn to build better sailboats
- People develop a taste for new foods and items (foods, silks, spices)
- More awareness of the rest of the world
- Increased trade
- A sense of other cultures -
Marco Polo returns from China.
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Bartolemeo Dias sails for Portugal around the tip of Africa and finds the Cape of Good Hope. He never makes it to India
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Christopher Columbus was the first European to have a lasting impact on the hemispheres. He founded Hispaniola and started the Columbian Exchange, in which Europe traded goods such as sugar and pig for corn (maize) and squash. He was sponsored by Queen Isabelle and King Ferdinand, and was very harsh to Native Americans there. He lied to Spain, saying there was plenty of gold, even though there wasn't that much of it. In the end, he was labeled a traitor.
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The Pope had Spain and Portugal sign an agreement that Spain could settle to the West of the Line of Demarcation in South America, and Portugal could settle to the East.
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Vasco Da Gama explored a way of getting to India by sailing around the Cape of Good Hope. He was the explorer to make it to India.
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Antón Montcino spoke out against the harsh treatment of Native Americans, saying that they had they had lived in peace before the Spanish arrived.
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Hernando Cortes was a Spanish conquistador who conquered the Aztecs in Mexico. He allied with the enemies of the Aztecs, and assainated Montezuma, the Emperor of the Aztecs. He had only 400 soldiers and 16 horses.
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Fransico Pizarro was a Spanish conquistador. He conquered the Incas in Peru. The Incas were in the midst of a civil war, allowing Pizarro to launch a surprise attack and kill Sapa Inca, The ruler of Peru. He had only 200 men. Because of the agreement the conquistadors had made with Spain (Spain would get one fifth of everything the conquistadors gained in exchange for the conquistadors setting up outposts in the New World), both Spain and the conquistadors became rich.