1. European Exploration
Exploring the East

2. Why Explore? With a partner discuss the following questions?
Why would Europeans want to explore outside of their known area?
What historical events motivated European exploration?

3. For “God, Glory, and Gold”
As wealth began to increase in Europe during the Renaissance, merchants began looking for new sources of products to sell.
An emerging European market at this times was for spices from Asia that Europeans were introduced during the Crusades.
The market for spices ran through Italy who charged high prices to the rest of Europe.

5. For “God, Glory, and Gold”
Countries such as Portugal had strong government support for exploration which allowed the Portuguese to take the lead on overseas trade.
Portugal began sending explorers such as Bartolomeu Dias and Vasco da Gama to cities in Africa, the Middle East and India to trade for their exotic goods such as pepper, cinnamon and silk.
These expeditions were not only important because they brought back goods, they also established new trade routes and put new places on the map.

6. For “God, Glory, and Gold”
Spreading Christianity was also a high priority for Europeans, especially monarchs.
Stemming from the time of the Crusades, many Christian Europeans believed that they had a duty to convert Muslims and non-Christians.
Catholic monarchs such as “Prince Henry the Navigator” spent their fortunes sending expeditions to places like Africa to convert non-believers.

8. For “God, Glory, and Gold”
Spain watched Portugal with envy, which an Italian named Christopher Columbus took advantage of by promising to find a faster trade route to Asia.
When word made it back to Europe that Columbus had discovered Asia (which was wrong), tensions grew high between Portugal and Spain.
In 1494 the Treat of Tordesillas was signed by both countries dividing the Atlantic into two parts, the west for Spain and the east for Portugal.

10. For “God, Glory, and Gold”
As countries such as Portugal, Spain, the Dutch and England began to follow these new trade paths, conflicts arose between Europeans and other empires.
Europeans were able to use their advanced weaponry to take control of port cities, straights and ultimately the Italian control spices trade.
The Dutch even created a “business”- the Dutch East India Company- that could make treaties, raise armies and mint their own money that started a dangerous trend, expansion of European rule.

11. Technology
In the early years of the Renaissance most sailors never traveled beyond the sight of the coast.
New inventions and exposure to old ones during the Renaissance made sailing away from land possible.
The magnetic compass adopted from the Chinese, triangle sails from the Arabs and the astrolabe from the Muslims all aided Europeans sailors to travel beyond their familiar territory.
Finally, new sturdy ships that could sail against the wind were created by Europeans that could travel long distances.

13. Reflection Questions With a partner discuss the following questions?
Why would Europeans want to explore outside of their known area?
What historical events motivated European exploration?
Was European exploration up to this point a greater positive or negative?