AGE OF EXPLORATION World History --- Woodland Hills Junior High

Age of Exploration  From the 15 th to 17 th century when Europeans began exploring the world by sea  Two Purposes 1. Find new goods to trade and people to trade with New Trade Routes 2. Learn more about the geography of the world Some thought the earth was flat

The New World  With no maps or satellites, people only knew about land they were connected to.  No one knew if land existed across the ocean  This means: North America, South America, Antarctica, Australia were yet to be found.  North America Explorers Link North America Explorers Link

Go West !  European Explorers traveled west.  Why? This Way

The New World  Europeans thought the land they found was ‘New’  In North America, Native American had lived on the continent for centuries – the land was not new  Europeans claimed the land for them own

So what are you looking for…?  Explorers were sent by the government of their country  Anything they found would be claimed for the country  Ships and supplies were provided by the government  Early explorers were looking for riches and land  Spices In the 1400s, there was no refrigeration. To prevent meat from spoiling, people drowned their meat in salt to preserve and dry it (like beef jerky). Also used spices like pepper to cover up the taste of the salted or spoiled meat.  Gold  Silk Rare and desirable  Cable TV

Christopher Columbus  Italian Explorer  Tried to find a water route to India in order to trade spices  Columbus sailed for King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella of Spain  Columbus led an expedition with three ships, the Niña the Pinta and the Santa Maria (captained by Columbus  About 90 crew members on each ship  Set sail in Aug 3, 1492 from Spain----landed on the Caribbean islands off southeastern North America in October 11, 1492  They were met by the local Taino Indians,  Many were captured by Columbus' men and later sold into slavery.  Columbus thought he had made it to Asia, and called this area the Indies, and called its inhabitants Indians

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