The Explorers and their motivations

 They had ambitious leaders  They lacked a Mediterranean port so therefore did not have access to the profitable trade between Asia and Europe  They wanted a more direct way to get African gold.

Prince Henry of Portugal aka Henry the Navigator -he was fascinated by what lay beyond the boundaries of his country and the maps of the day - he brought in astronomers, geographers and mathematicians - with his leadership, ships began to sail along Africa’s west coast (nick named Gold Coast) and they began to make accurate maps

 Bartholomeu Diaz – storm carried him around the tip of Africa – became known as “Cape of Good Hope.”  Vasgo da Gama – first trip to India  Four ships  Charted the East Coast of Africa  Then made it to India Pedro Alvares Cabral – followed da Gama’s route and swung wide and hit Brazil giving Portugal an early stake in the Americas

 Leif Erickson explored the land west of Greenland and named it “Vinland” about 1000AD. Archeologists have found artifacts in present day Newfoundland from former Viking settlements.

 Inspired by the books of Marco Polo and the science of Ptolemy (estimated the size of the earth), he set about to find someone to finance a trip to find a western route to Asia  Based on his calculations, he thought it would take about two months to reach Asia  He asked many countries to sponsor his trip, and he finally convinced Queen Isabella by promising 1. to convert any people in lands he discovered to Christianity 2. that he would find riches for Spain like Portugal had gotten

 Columbus finally sets sail  3 ships – The Nina the Pinta and the Santa Maria  He thought it would take two months  At one point the crew was so upset because of how much time the trip was taking, they threatened to throw him into the sea!  He even began to alter the ship logs so that the crew did not know how far they had actually traveled.

 On October 12, 1492 at 2am Christopher Columbus and the crew reach the Bahamas  Read p. 593 primary source Christopher Columbus thinks he has arrived in the Indies and so believe the inhabitants of the island are “Indians” He claims these lands for the Queen

 Queen Isabella is very happy about of Columbus’s discovery and finances his future voyages  Went back in 1493, 1498, and 1502  He and his crew explored Haiti, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Jamaica, and Central America  He claimed all these lands for Spain

He left not knowing where he was going, upon arriving, not knowing where he was. He returned not knowing where he had been. He died penniless, but now he is celebrated here in America for being one of the greatest explorers. Does he deserve the acclaim? You decide. If no, who does?