Early Western America
Discover: Uncharted America.
The Spanish and English are credited with discovering and charting present-day California. The present-day version of California is replete with Spanish influence as a result of their early exploration of the region.
The exploration and charting of California and its coastal regions has a long history, credited to a few explorers.
During the Age of Discovery, Europeans also explored other parts of the world, which helped with map-making, leading to future discoveries. These areas included the coasts of Africa, India, and Southeast Asia. Eventually, explorers sailed entirely around the globe, which fostered increased globalization.
Exploration of the world increased connectedness between people which allowed for more trade and exchange of ideas and things, including plants, animals or livestock (domesticated animals), materials, technologies, and even germs!
This global exchange became known as the ‘Columbian Exchange’ after Christopher Columbus. Many of the crops first shared through this ‘Exchange’ now feed people across the globe.
Of all the commodities in the Columbian Exchange, sugar was the most important. In fact, sugar carried the same economic importance in the colonial era as oil today. For Europeans, tobacco also had great value as a cash crop – which is a crop cultivated for sale instead of personal or individual consumption. Indigenous people in the early Americas also introduced Europeans to chocolate. Made from cacao seeds and used by the Aztecs in Meso-America as currency, the Meso-American Indians consumed unsweetened chocolate in a drink with chili peppers, vanilla, and a spice called achiote.
In addition to the search for both gold and glory, the concept of “liberty” was an underlying theme among the early explorers.
Little Patriots
Sir Francis Drake image from: https://www.cnn.com/style/article/francis-drake-wart-authentication-intl/index.html.
Sebastian Vizcaino image from: https://oldmontereyfoundation.org/category/past-events/.
