What Happened From 1500-1600
By David Sakowski 2/7/2007
The things of importance in this period were the
Renaissance, the age of discovery, and the Reformation.
Europe
In Europe the Renaissance was starting to go into full swing, with any
changes in the arts, science, religion, ect.
In Germany, Martin Luther, a German priest, was one of many starting the
Reformation. Because of the abuse of power by the Catholic church and the
Pope of Rome, Luther wrote 95 thesis in 1517 defining the abuses of money
and power within the Catholic church, supposedly he nailed them on a
Catholic church door, although historic scholars do not know for certain.
After Martin Luther did this, many countries in Europe turned Protestant.
Including England, Holland, France, and Germany. This resulted in a war
between the protestants and Catholics; this war went on for 40 years. King
Henry of England closed down 800 monasteries and enslaved 10,000 monks. In
France, the Huguenots (protestants) and the Catholics were fighting over
religion. Spain remained Catholic and exiling all non-Catholics out of
Spain between 1300-1516.
During the age of exploration, the European explorers were sent out to
discover new lands to get gold and to find new lands, natural resources,
and people. One of the explorers was Magellan; he sailed around the world
in 1519-1522. Sir Francis Drake sailed around the new world plundering
Spanish Galleons and taking their gold. On one of the Spanish galleons,
Drake seized 10 million dollars worth of riches. Drake was a privateer for
England; in his home country he was considered a hero, but in Spain he was
a criminal.
North America
In North America the Indians were starting to be impacted by the
Europeans. In 1565 Ponce De Leon established St. Augustine, Florida, for
Spain; it was the first settlement in North America. Because the Spaniards
were getting so rich in the Americas, England tried to establish a colony
in the new world. this colony was called Roanoke, VA, and was established
in 1587 by a group led by sir Walter Raleigh. A year or two later, Roanoke
was expecting supplies from Raleigh in England, but Queen Elizabeth was
gathering all the ships in England to fight the Spanish Armada a fleet of
ships. The English defeated the Spanish Armada, but it took 3 years for
sir Walter Raleigh to return with supplies to Roanoke. By the time they
got there, there was no sign of the colony, all were gone. This is why it
is referred as the lost colony of Roanoke. The next colony Jamestown was
not established until 1607.
South America
During the 1500s in South America, Spain was starting to control with an
iron grip. They started to put the Incas of Peru, and the Mayans and
Aztecs of Mexico to work in mines, or they killed them. Spain’s impact on
the Americas was great. The dominant language of South America,
California, and Mexico is Spanish and the religion is Catholic. A few of
the reasons the Spanish took South America was they had horses, steel,
guns, and ships, they also plagued the Indians with diseases.
Middle East
The Ottoman Turks were gaining power and controlled the trade routes of
the Mideast. They were also threatening the European countries and powers
of France, Italy, and Germany.
Africa
The Ottoman Turks were gaining power along the Mediterranean sea, Also,
slave trade started.
Asia
In Asia China and Japan were having the Samurai wars with each other.
India still remained isolated and protected by the Himalayas.
