The Age of Exploration

The Discovery of North America

Have you ever traded one thing for something you

wanted more?

The current year 2008, can you guess when the idea of ‘trading’

something first began?

You are not the pioneer of this idea…

Before the 1400's

Why was trading important?

Let's take a step back in history…

Eight hundred years ago, silk and spices from China traveled by a caravan on the Silk Road. The Silk Road was a series of trade routes between Europe and Asia. Merchants traded goods, especially Chinese silks, in hopes of earning a profit. European traders often paid with gold, because they had few goods that the Chinese wanted.

This route was dangerous. Why?

Early Trading

It ran beside the hot, dry Taklamakan Desert

It crossed high mountains

Merchants risked thirst, hunger, and attacks by bandits

Dangers of the Silk Road

The Europeans wanted to find a safer, faster route to Asia. They knew if they could do this, they could make more profit.

With the advances of technology in the 1450’s, the Europeans now had navigation tools to assist them in finding a water route to Asia-which would be much faster and safer.

Compass-A magnetic needle that always points north.

Astrolabe-Measured the angle of the stars or sun above the horizon.

Technology Impacts…

Christopher Columbus•1492•Sponsored by Spain: King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella•Believed he could find the West Indies by sailing west across the Atlantic Ocean.•Columbus faced many obstacles:• The unknown-Columbus had no

idea what he was going to face or find.• Many of his sailors wanted to turn

back.• Columbus arrived in the Bahamas

in the island of San Salvador.

Good thingsHe brought new crops such as wheat, barley, and sugar

cane to the Western Hemisphere and found ways to grow them

Brought animals such as horses, pigs and cows which had not previously lived in the Americas

Made friends with the Taino Indians and traded goods

Returned to Spain with maize (corn), peanuts, potatoes, tomatoes, cacao (chocolate) and certain peppers, beans and squashes which the Spanish had never seen before

Christopher Columbus

Bad ThingsCut down rain forests and built sugar

plantations to adapt to the environment which hurt the Taino Indians

Brought diseases that the Indians had never had and many Indians died from epidemics

Within 50 years of Columbus’s arrival, almost all of the Taino Indians had died

Christopher Columbus

John Cabot•1497•Sponsored by Italy•Cabot wanted to reach Asia•Cabot landed on the eastern coast of Canada, where fish were plentiful. (Other Europeans eventually went there to set up fishing companies.)•One of Cabot’s toughest obstacles was that he had no maps.

Juan Ponce de Leon

•1513•Travel sponsored by Spain•Ponce de Leon was in search of gold and a legendary “fountain of youth”•He was the first explorer to reach Florida•Juan Ponce de Leon faced many obstacles including fighting with Native Americans.

Vasco Nunez Balboa•1513•Sponsored by Spain•His purpose was to find new land for the Spanish settlers to exploit. In other words…he was looking for gold! He also wanted to find a quick overland route to the Pacific Ocean.•Balboa sailed to present day Panama in Central America. He crossed the mountains and jungles of Panama and was the first European to reach the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean.•Many of Balboa’s obstacles centered around fights with Native Americans while on his journeys.

Jacques Cartier•1534•Sponsored by France•Continued France’s search for a water route to Asia. • He sailed far up the St. Lawrence River in Canada-over 1,ooo miles.•Some of the obstacles Cartier faced were cold winters and many of his sailors caught deadly diseases.

Henry Hudson•1609•Sponsored by England•Hudson was looking for the Northwest Passage•Explored the Hudson River and the Hudson Bay•Hudson faced many obstacles including a crew that mutinied while experiencing a very cold winter.

Obstacles

He kept his ship in the bay too long and ice trapped the ship for an entire winter.

His crew was very unhappy with him and set him adrift in a small boat. He was never seen again.

Henry Hudson