IS THE WORLD BIG ENOUGH? Age of Exploration

Motives and Means Why would Europeans feel the need to explore? 1. Marco Polo and his book “The Travels” gave excitement to many Europeans about Asia. 2. The Ottoman Turks conquered the land route to China, making other ways to get there needed. 3. Merchants, adventurers, and officials wanted to expand trade and get items (spices, silk) from the East. 4. Expanding of Religion 5. RICHES!!!!

Portugal Prince Henry the Navigator Part of the royal family, the sponsor of many explorations. Began sailing to the coast of Africa around 1420 in search of Gold Bartholomeu Dias rounds the tip of Africa Vasco de Gama sails to India around Africa and re-establishes trade with the far east.

Portugal Most of the spice trade was controlled by the muslims. In 1509, a Portuguese fleet of warships defeated the muslim and Indian fleets to take the port at Goa. Admiral Afonso de Albuquerque took control of Melaka and took control of the spice trade in the area.

Christopher Columbus An Italian Sailor who was contracted by the Queen of Spain to reach India by sailing west. October, 1492 Columbus reached land by traveling west across the Atlantic. He believed that he had found a westward route to Asia. Took 4 voyages overall and explored many islands of the Caribbean as well as Honduras He died not knowing that he was the first European to sail to a new continent.

Treaty of Tordesillas Spain and Portugal were at odds over the new territory that they had been exploring In 1494, they signed this treaty setting up a line of Demarcation giving Portugal control of everything to the east, and Spain control of everything to the west of this imaginary line running through the Atlantic. This gives Portugal control of the African coast and Spain control of the undiscovered American continents.

America John Cabot- an Italian who sailed for the English and explored the coastline of what we know as New England. Pedro Cabral- Portuguese sea captain who landed in South America in Amerigo Vespucci- An Italian who mapped the coastline of the Americas. These men were key in figuring out that this was not Asia, but instead was a “New World”, an undiscovered continent.

The Spanish Empire Conquistadors- Spanish explorers/conquerors who were able to take over much of the Americas  Hernan Cortes- Conquered the Aztecs in what is now Mexico in just 3 years.  Francisco Pizarro- Took control of the Inca empire in South America in 1550  Isabella, the queen of Spain gave these conquistadors and other spanish settlers the right of encomienda, which means that they were able to use the natives as laborers as long as they protected them. However, they were used more as slave labor.

Economic Impact Many explorers were in search of Gold and Silver, especially the Spanish. English explorers set up plantations to grow sugar, cotton, vanilla, and livestock to send back to Europe They also harvested crops like potatoes, cocoa, corn, and Tobacco that were native to the americas to send back to Europe Portuguese explorers set up trade networks in Asia for spices, jewels, silk, and perfumes.

Worldwide exploration Many European countries got into the exploration and colonization game for many reasons  Spanish colony in the Phillipines for trade  English colony in northwest India for trade  Dutch East India Company for Trade in Asia  Dutch West India Company for Trade in the Americas  French Colonies in what is now Canada and Louisiana  English Colonies in what is now the eastern coast of the United States for various reasons.

Mercantilism Set of principles that dominated economic thought in the 1600’s; the prosperity of a nation would depend on a large supply of gold and silver. To bring in that gold and silver, nations would want a favorable balance of trade, meaning they would want to export more valuable goods than they import. Colonies were important because countries could get some of the goods they would normally import to help their balance of trade be favorable.