Magellan-Elcano Expedition: Westward Voyage to Spice Islands - Essay Sample

Introduction

Ferdinand Magellan led an expedition with a fleet known as the Armada de Molucca to the Spice Islands, which was the other name of the Moluccas. Magellan died shortly after embarking on their journey in the year 1521, and his role was taken over by Juan Sebastian, who took over the return journey. The purpose of the Magellan Elcano expedition was to find a route to access the Moluccas from the West. The group left Spain and sailed across the Atlantic, making several discoveries. The trip was made up of about 270 men who used five ships for their voyage. It was financed by King Charles I of Spain with the hope of success in finding the route.

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The men sailed across the Atlantic and the Pacific and faced many challenges in the course of their voyage. They had several mutinies and wars, and some of them did not survive. They finally managed to reach the Moluccas but with fewer men and lesser ships as some of them got spoilt and had no people to lead them. They were forced to leave them behind and go along. They reached the island and were hosted there before returning to Spain. After the return of the trips from Magellan's Elcano expedition, Charles V sent another expedition led by Garcia Joffre de Loaisa to claim and occupy the island Moluccas (Elliott, p. 50). His reason was that it was his zone of the Treaty of Tordesillas, and thus, he every right to claim it.

The Reason Why Spain’s Real de a Ocho Became the First Global Currency

The Silver peso was the initial worldwide currency because they were coins from Spain, which was a global empire by then. The currency were printed in the outstanding Casa de Moneda also known as the Royal Mint. From the makers of the coins, they were distributed throughout the Empire in the Philippines, South American, and Spain. The coins enabled the first-ever international trade system. The global silver trade was a spillover of the Columbian exchange and happened between the Americas, China, and Europe. The trade had a great effect on the global economy at the time. The trade on silver was global, although most of the commodity found its way to the Chinese people. They were the first to acknowledge and use it as a form of currency. The trade put into moving many political changes in that era and supported the Spanish Empire.

Spaniards discovered a lot of silver reserves from river Potosi which was used to fuel their economy. They mined the silver and minted it to peso de ocho and used them as means of exchange. Due to the spread of the currency, even the Americas accepted it as a medium of exchange. There was the discovery of even more silver from Potosi river, and the use of silver as a medium of exchange was even amplified. The Chinese particularly had a lot of them as they were the main supplier porcelain and other materials needed by these other countries. They would thus end up with more silver than the other countries. That way, silver became a global currency because it was valid and could be processed abroad.

How the Spanish Empire Attempted at Controlling the ‘Mosaic of Ethnicities’ That Flourished in the Colonies

With the arrival of Christopher Columbus, the Spanish Empire, which was initially just covering the Caribbean and only three countries, increased to cover vast areas past the Caribbean Islands, most of Central America, part of South America, and North America, which is present-day Mexico. They would continue to expand their colonial Empire, which meant that there were even more different cultures and people in the Empire. The Spaniards set up mission stations for spreading Christianity to the locals. That was not the only aim as they served to cement their claim of the place. Religion thus played a significant role in the political space as well as the spiritual space.

The objectives and the missionaries aimed to convert the local Americans to Christianity. The reason behind it was that Christianity was seen as a requirement of the religion. The viceroyalties in the Empire had the same system as the Vice-royalties in the Spanish provinces. Despite the calls for religion and all, the Spaniards treated the locals with extreme violence, tortured them, killed some of them, raped, and enslaved many others. They were superiorly armed as compared to the indigenous Americans, and thus, they could easily crush any form of resistance that came from the local inhabitants. They had guns, swords, cannons, and crossbows for that purpose.

Why Mexicas and Incas Suffered the Impact of Guns, Germs, and Steel

There existed a link between agriculture and war; farming makes it possible to develop technology inclusive of that one used in the military. War was not a new invention, and throughout history, groups of people have been competing for better resources. Groups that developed advantageous ways would win and even drive their rivals away. There has always been some reward of some kind to those who developed more potent technology military included. The Spaniards used military technology to defeat Mexicas and the Incas. The first few minutes of the battle of Cajamarca saw about 7000 Incas dead, yet the Spaniards were even fewer in number. After the war, not a single Spaniard laid down dead. The Spaniards had steel swords for the battle, while the Incas, on the other hand, only brought wooden clubs to the battle.

The Spaniards also used biological weapons in the battle to fight their enemies through the deploying of germs smallpox included. It was estimated that more deaths on the battlefield were more due to disease instead of military injuries sustained in the battle. In the first epidemic, more than about 50% of the Incas died due to smallpox. The reason why they were able to infect the Mexicas and Incas is that most of them were not exposed to the illness. They did not have a strong enough immune system to fight the disease and thus ended up contracting it in large numbers.

Why Spain Circumnavigated the Globe First Than Portugal

Spain was the first to circumnavigate the globe through the efforts of Ferdinand Magellan, who set out for the trip to look for a Western Route to the Moluccas. He was Portuguese, but the fact that the King of Spain is the one that sponsored the trip, it is considered that Spain was the first country to circumnavigate the globe. They had better machinery as compared to the Portuguese and more supplies, which enabled them to chart the uncharted paths. Magellan set out for with about 300 men in five ships in what was later came to be known as the Magellan Elcano expedition.

Spain’s Manila Galleons and Whether They Mattered to China

The Manila galleons were Spanish ships used for trading, which operated for about 250years. The trading ships operated and linked Mexico and the Philippines through the Pacific ocean and made at least one trip per year. The voyages of the ships were inaugurated in 1855 after the return route was found from the Philippines to Mexico. The route did not last long as the Mexican War of Independence broke out and stopped the trade. The ships mainly carried goods such as porcelain and spices, which were exchanged for silver, a medium of exchange at that time. There were changes in the ways of life of the people and communities as they borrowed a lot from their trade partners. The Chinese cared for and were concerned about the Spanish Manila galleons as they enabled the flow of trade, and in return, China would get more silver after successful sales.

Plantations and if They Mattered for England More Than for Spain

The plantations owned by the Spaniards in America were made and consisted of mainly cash crops. The cash crops planted in the plantations include sugar cane, citrus fruits, and bananas. They also introduced animals in the US at that time. The animals include pigs, horses, cats, rats, dogs, cows, and the other animals found in the Caribbean Islands. They first used enslaved indigenous Americans to work on their farms would treat them violently. They used a lot of brute force on them and forced them to work so hard on the plantations. However, as the years progressed, they went for African slaves who were targets for cheap labor, and thus they would get the plantations worked on even at a cheaper cost from the African slaves.

The English had their plantations too during the season, and they grew their fair share of cash crops. Prominent crops grown by them include cotton, sugarcane, tobacco, figs, rice, among other plants. The economy of South America depended much on what was going on in the plantations, which was mainly agriculture. England was more than concerned with the returns and invested more on the plantations, unlike Spain. That, however, cannot be used to say that the Spanish Empire did not care about the plantations as hard. They did too because likewise, the plantations were a source of food and income for the Empire.

The Atlantic Geography and Whether It Favored Spain’s Imperial Goals More Than Pacific Geography

The Spaniard's agenda for overseas focused on the extraction of wealth, with secondary goals that ranged from the relocation of armies, conversion of the locals to the Roman Catholic doctrines, and revamping of the feudal social order which was common in Spain. The first expedition focused on capturing Inca and Aztec empires, which they were eventually able to take over from the indigenous people. They took so many minerals with them from the empires and took the valuables back to Spain. The expeditions also provided overseas jobs for people who fought in the Reconquista hence mitigating the effects of them remaining unemployed after the war in Iberia. The conquistadors were provided with a form of slavery; an Indian population was given to the Spanish Empire. Consequently, the treasury demands were alleviated, and social hierarchies of the Spanish people transferred to the colonies.

The Spaniards embarked on their trip around the globe to look for a Western Route to the Moluccas. The previously used route, which was the Eastern route, was challenging to navigate and quite far, making the journeys even longer and tiring. They thus embarked on the Magellan Elcano expedition to look for the route where they could be getting their supplies from the rest of the globe, especially the Philippines and China. Magellan was the leader but later died, and somebody else took over the leadership of the return trip back to Mexico. The geography of the Atlantic was favorable to the imperial goals of Spain as they were able to discover shorter routes where they could access their colonies with ease. The Atlantic geography provided that with its numerous capes and bays. That was unlike the Pacific, which was difficult to cross and longer.

Why England Did Not Reach Asia First Than Spain

The English arrived late for the scene of colonization, and thus they were not able to colonize earlier than the 17th century. Several reasons led to the unfolding of England, not reaching Asia first before Spain. Firstly, in the age of Columbus, they were involved in several fights, which they failed to conquer the land entirely. There was war after another, and it was just hard for them to get to win and focus on other things like looking for new colonies. Secondly, their motives for exploration was not to establish colonies but intended to conquer people for reason of spreading Christianity. The country was also still small and did not have the muscles to enable them to face the resistance. Spain, on the other hand, faced little opposition compared to England.

Work Cited

Elliott, John H. Empires of the Atlantic world: Britain and Spain in America, 1492-1830. Yale University Press, 2006.