The Foundations of European Exploration SWBAT: IDENTIFY THE CAUSES OF EUROPEAN EXPLORATION. HOMEWORK: VOCABULARY DUE TUESDAY DO NOW: IF ANOTHER COUNTRY HAS SOMETHING YOU NEED TO MAKE YOURS MORE SUCCESSFUL, WHAT DO YOU DO TO GET IT?
The Beginnings of Exploration Since the time of the Crusades, Europeans knew about the riches of the far East. Silk Spices Jewels Became highly coveted items and Europeans wanted more. Problem? Traveling by land took too long. Traveling by sea took too long. Europeans realized they needed to better way to travel
The Three Foundations- Why exploration occurs Improvements in technology Economic Changes Mercantilism
New Technology
But, how to make it better? Needed to find better and faster routes to the East How? Mapmaking Navigation Ships In short, they needed better technology.
Activity 1: Map According to Ptolemy What areas are shown on the map? What areas are missing? What do the numbers along the sides of the map represent? Given what is included, how accurate would you say the map is? How do you think Ptolemy was able to create parts of the world he’d never seen before? What inferences could you make about Ptolemy’s opinion regarding the shape of the world? If you were using this map to navigate, how do you think reaching the Far East would be best?
Map According to Ptolemy
Mapmaking Improvements Mapmakers took information they received from traders and added it to the map. Africa and Asia started to look like they look on maps today. Made it easier for traders and eventually explorers to navigate.
Navigation If you were a sailor in 1000 CE, what tools could you use to know what directions you were sailing? The compass allowed sailors to know what direction they were traveling even if it was cloudy. Would take a needle a rub it against lodestone (magnetized rock) Would put the needle on water and it would immediately point north thanks to the Earth’s magnetic field. Sailors would eventually fix the needle to a card marked with directions.
New Ships Prior to 1400: ships would sail using wind power only and could only sail in the direction the wind blew. If they needed to sail in an opposite direction, sailors had to use oars. After 1400: Ships were bigger and longer to accommodate more trade. Increased the size of the sails. Took the rudder from the side of the ship to the back allowing ships to sail against the wind. Ships now traveled more quickly, were easier to use, and were safer than before.
Economic Changes
Commercial Revolution Prior to the revolution, the value a coin had depended on how much metal was in it. It wasn’t until the late 1200s Italians started to standardize what coins were worth. Why is this a foundation in European exploration?
Mercantilism
What is mercantilism? A theory that stated a country’s government should do all it could to increase the country's wealth, which was measured by the amount of gold and silver the country possessed. In order to increase wealthy a country could do 2 things: Could mine gold and silver. Could sell more goods than it bought from other countries creating a favorable balance of trade.
But how to create a favorable balance of trade? A country could do several things: 1. Could place import taxes on goods coming from other countries. Why might this be help stop imports? 2. Could encourage exports by giving subsidies to help people start new businesses. 3. Could take control of someone else’s raw materials and precious metals.
Exit Question Using the cartoon to the right, answer the following questions: In order to take control of someone else’s raw materials and precious metals to maintain a favorable balance of trade, what will countries do? What is the attitude of the mother country in the cartoon?