Slavery and Colonization

Question 1

Which nations initiated the first wave of Colonization of the Americas?

Answer 1

Spain, Portugal, Great Britain, France, Netherlands.

Question 2

Describe slavery before the colonization of the Americas.

Answer 2

Slavery was prevalent in many parts of Africa for many centuries before the beginning of the Atlantic slave trade. There is evidence that enslaved people from some parts of Africa were exported to states in Africa, Europe, and Asia prior to the European colonization of the Americas.

Question 3

What evoked the orientation and determination to find new trade routes to Asia?

Answer 3

Because the ottoman empire dominated the eastern trade routes to Asia and prevented the European nations from participating. This led to Christopher Colombus discovering the Americas, colloquially known as the ‘Age of Exploration’.

Question 4

What was the Treaty of Tordesillas?

Answer 4

The Treaty of Tordesillas, signed in Tordesillas, Spain on 7 June 1494, and authenticated in Setúbal, Portugal, divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe between the Portuguese Empire and the Spanish Empire. Spain was granted the Western Hemisphere of the New World while Portugal was granted the Easter hemisphere, primarily Brazil.

Question 5

By what percentage did the birth rate plummet between 1492 and 1650 of the Indigenous populations of the Americas?

Answer 5

80%. From 50 million to 8 million between 1492 and 1650.

Question 5

By what percentage did the birth rate plummet between 1492 and 1650 of the Indigenous populations of the Americas?

Answer 5

80%. From 50 million to 8 million between 1492 and 1650.