The Age of Exploration:
• What possible rewards might come from
exploring the seas for new lands?
• What are the risks involved in embarking on
a voyage into the unknown?
• It is a gray and windy morning in 1430. You are standing on a dock in the European country of Portugal staring out at the dark and mysterious Atlantic Ocean. You, like most people at the time, have no idea what lies beyond the horizon. Now you may find out. You have been asked to go on a voyage of exploration…
• You’ve heard all the terrifying stories of sea monsters and shipwrecks. You’ve heard the warnings that the currents along parts of western Africa are “so terrible that no ship having once passed… will ever be able to return.” You also have heard that riches await those who help explore and claim new lands. Now, as the captain calls for you to come aboard, you must decide.
Would you go? …
…The large hold of your ship could carry back gold, jewels, and other valuable items found in distant lands…
…Raging waves could destroy your ship and leave you at the mercy of the sea…
Motivations for
Exploration
GOLD, GOD, and GLORY!
GOLD! (WEALTH!)
• New spices in Europe (introduced during the Crusades) = demand for the spices
• Europeans wanted to cut out the middle man!(Italy and the powerful Ottoman Empire controlled trade between Europe and the east)
• Europeans try to find new trade routes because they want new sources of wealth
Italians
sell it
to Europe
for
MORE $$$
Europe buys
it for a
higher price
Muslims sold
Spices to Italians
for lots of $
But $ was NOT the only reason for exploration…
Many sought to convert other populations to Christianity
GOD (Spread of Christianity)
• The Crusades pushed Christians to feel it was their duty to
spread their religion and convert people to Christianity
(and not to be Muslim)
• Bartholomeu Dias – “ To serve God and His Majesty, to
give light to those who were in darkness, and to grow rich
as all men desire to do.”
GLORY !
• BEING “The FIRST!”
• First to: Find a spice?
Find an area?
Create a trading port?
Control a COUNTRY!?
TECHNOLOGY HELPS!
Caravel: stronger, sturdier ship with triangular
sails (adopted from Arabs) made travel easier
– 65 feet long = more space for food/people
– Able to explore close to shore
– Larger sails for easier
movement and power
(made it possible to sail
against the wind)
New Maritime Technologies
Hartman Astrolabe (1532) –Developed by the Greeks and
perfected by the Arabs; used to determine latitude (sail by stars)
Better/More Accurate Maps [Portulan]
Sextant
Mariner’s Compass – Chinese invention; magnetically tracked direction
New Weapons Technology
Marco Polo
• Traveled to China
[court of Kublai Khan]
and brought back
stories and goods to
Europe
Portugal was the early leader in the
Age of Exploration
In Portugal, Prince Henry the Navigator started a school of
navigation to train sailors
He brought in Europe’s best map-makers, ship-builders, &
sailing instructors
He wanted to discover new
territories, find a quick trade route to Asia,
& expand Portugal’s
power
Vasco da Gama was the 1st explorer to find a direct trade route to Asia by
going around Africa to get to India
Portugal gained a sea route to Asia that brought them
great wealth
Prince Henry’s navigation school & willingness to fund voyages led the Portuguese to be the 1st
to explore the west coast of Africa
During the Age of Exploration, Portugal
created colonies along the African coast, in Brazil, & the Spice Islands in Asia
The Spanish government saw Portugal’s wealth & did not want to be left out
More than any other European monarch,
Ferdinand & Isabella of Spain sponsored &
supported overseas expeditions
Columbus reached the Bahamas in America
but thought that he had reached islands off the
coast of India
He made 4 trips to “India” never knowing he was in “America”
Like most educated men of the Renaissance, Columbus
believed the world was round & thought he could reach Asia by sailing west
Despite the fact that Columbus never found
Asia, Ferdinand Magellan still thought he could
reach Asia by sailing West
Magellan became the first explorer to
circumnavigate the Earth (go all the way around)
During the Age of Exploration,
Spain created colonies in North & South America
Spain sent explorers called conquistadors to the New World to find gold, claim land,
& spread Christianity
Cortez conquered the Aztecs
Pizarro conquered the Inca
The influx of gold from America made Spain the most powerful country in Europe during the early
years of the Age of Exploration
Amerigo Vespucci
• From Italy but sailed
for Spain
• Sailed around the coast
of South America &
concluded it was not
Asia but a new land
• America was later
named after him for
this vital discovery
The French explorer Samuel de Champlain searched Canada for a northwest passage to Asia
After failing to do so, Champlain founded the
French colony of Quebec
The French would soon carve out a large colony along the Mississippi River from Canada to New Orleans
Unlike other European nations whose kings paid for colonies, the English colonies
were paid for by citizens who
formed joint-stock companies
English colonies formed along the Atlantic Coast of North America by
colonists motivated either by religion
or wealth
The English explorer James Cook was the first European to make contact with
Australia, New Zealand, & Hawaii
Like England, the Netherlands (the Dutch)
allowed private companies to fund exploration
The Dutch had colonies in America & Africa, but the
Dutch East India Company dominated trade
in Asia
The Effects of the European Age
of Exploration on the Americas
The Columbian Exchange & Global Trade
Definition
Columbian Exchange — widespread exchange of crops,
animals, diseases, culture, and ideas between the Eastern
(Old World) and Western (New World) hemispheres
NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA EUROPE, AFRICA and ASIA
THE NEW WORLD THE OLD WORLD
Which 5 do you think had the most significant impact?
Effects of the Age of Exploration• Diseases killed native populations in the Americas
• Slavery (Africans)
• God: Europeans spread Christianity
• Gold: Europeans got money from their colonies
• Glory: Europeans got land & power
• New trade routes
• Migration-movement of millions of people
• Rapid population growth in Europe
• Columbian Exchange
Key Vocabulary
• Mercantilism- a policy set up by Kings and
Queens in which their country would export more
than it import so that they can make money.
• Colonialism- the control of a country to use it for
its resources (human and natural resources)
• Imperialism- extending rule over lands to build an
empire.
Write a summary in complete
sentences.Be sure to include the following information:
• Explain what the 3 G’s are and how
• What new technologies helped Europeans to explore the
world?
• Who were the key explorers and who did they sail for and
where did they explore?
• What was the Triangular Trade?
• What was the Columbian Exchange?
• What were the effects of the “Age of Exploration”?