Getting to Asia The Age of Exploration

I. Marco Polo A merchant from Venice, Italy. Traveled overland to East Asia. Lived in China from 1275-1292. Returned with stories of the wealth and grandeur of the East.

I. Marco Polo (cont.) His book greatly influenced Europeans to find a water route to Asia. “I didn’t tell half of what I saw, because no one would have believed me.” – Marco Polo

II. Portugal Convinced the best water route to Asia is going SOUTH around Africa. 1) Bartolomeu Dias – 1488. First European to successfully round the Cape of Good Hope.

Cape of Good Hope

II. Portugal (cont.) 2) Vasco da Gama – 1497. Rounded Africa and continued on to India. First European to successfully sail to Asia and back.

India

II. Portugal (cont.) 3) Pedro Cabral – 1500 Sailed for India but drifted west of da Gama’s route. Landed on present-day Brazil. Claimed the land for Portugal. (Treaty of Tordesillas - 1494)

Spain Portugal Spain Line of Demarcation Brazil

III. Spain Sold on the idea that the short cut to Asia was going WEST to get east. 1) Christopher Columbus – 1492 Sailed west and landed in the Bahamas; thought he was near India and China.

Indies

III. Spain (cont.) Columbus would make 3 more trips. Explored the entire Caribbean looking for a path to Asia. Established the first European colony in the Americas on Hispaniola.

III. Spain (cont.) 2) Amerigo Vespucci – 1499, 1501. Followed up on the voyages of Columbus. Coined the phrase “New World.” Americas are named after him.

North America Old World New World South America

III. Spain (cont.) 3) Vasco de Balboa – 1513. Hacked through the jungle in Panama and reached the “South Sea.” Claimed the sea and all surrounding lands for Spain.

Pacific Ocean (a.k.a. “South Sea”) Hispaniola Pacific Ocean (a.k.a. “South Sea”)

III. Spain (cont.) 4) Ferdinand Magellan – 1519-22. Set out to finish the voyage of Columbus. Can you go west to get east? First voyage to sail all the way around the world.

First circumnavigation of the globe Magellan killed Strait of Magellan

IV. England Believed in the existence of a “Northwest Passage” to Asia. 1) John Cabot – 1497. Reached the east coast of what is today Canada. Claimed the lands for England.

Newfoundland

IV. England (cont.) 2) Sir Francis Drake – 1577-80. Set out to raid Spanish settlements on the west coast of the Americas. Traveled as far north as S.F. bay looking for west end of NW Passage. Finished by going around the world.

Nova Albion (New Britain)

IV. England (cont.) 3) Henry Hudson – 1609, 1610. Sailed in search of the N.W. Passage. Explored Hudson River for the Dutch. Led to the establishment of “New Amsterdam.” Explored Hudson Bay for England.

Hudson Bay Hudson River

V. France Also sent explorers in search of the fabled Northwest Passage. 1) Giovanni da Verrazano – 1524. Explored the east coast of what is now the U.S.. Claimed the land as New France.

New France

V. France (cont.) 2) Jacques Cartier – 1534, 1535. Followed up Verrazano’s voyage. Explored the St. Lawrence River. Got as far inland as Montreal.

Montreal

The Americas ca. 1750