1. Chapter 14 Section 1: The Search for Spices
The Age of Exploration
Chapter 14 Section 1: The Search for Spices

2. Why Sail?
As Europe’s population began to grow again, they became driven to return to the quality of life they had before the plague killed off large population centers.
They craved luxury goods that they had traded for from Asia.
The primary items in demand were spices:
Used to make food taste better
Used to preserve food
Used to make medicine
Used to make perfumes

3. Ships such as these played an important role in the spice trade.
16th Century Caravels
Ships such as these played an important role in the spice trade.

4. Gardener harvesting herbs, 1477

5. An early European herb garden.

6. Ginger, 1492

7. Cloves, 1487

9. Where Can I get my Fix? The primary source of spices was the Moluccas:
An island chain in present-day Indonesia
AKA the Spice Islands
In the 1400’s most of the trade routes were controlled by Arab and Italian merchants.
Other Europeans became driven to find their own direct routes to Asia for more profit from trading.
Many also were growing in curiosity of what was beyond their own borders.

10. Prince Henry the Navigator

11. Where was He From?
Prince Henry was responsible for cementing one mighty nation’s place in history of world exploration.
He was from the mighty nation of……
He wanted to target one primary area….Africa

12. Why Africa? There are several reasons why Portugal turned to Africa:
Religious converts. Save them from Islam or their crazy tribal religions.
We could discover what made the Muslims rich!
Help find an easier route to Asia.

13. Lets focus on #3
In the city of Sargres, Henry started gathering scientists and cartographers:
Map makers
This area became known as Prince Henry’s School of Navigation.
At his school they did the following:
Redesigned ships
Created Maps
Trained Ship Crews

14. Much Progress
Much Progress was made by the individuals at Henry’s school.
To further their knowledge, they began exploring the western coast of Africa.
This map shows how far they made it.
Unfortunately, Henry died in 1460, and he did not live to see if his schooling was successful.

15. Success in Henry’s Name
Bartholomeu Dias
Rounded the Cape of Good Hope in 1488

16. Seeking India

17. One Man was Successful
Vasco da Gama

18. Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama (a Portuguese explorer) followed in the steps of Bartholomeu Dias.
Da Gama and his crews rounded the Cape of Good Hope but had the drive to go farther.
The goal was to discover a sea route to India
It took da Gama and his crews 10 months to reach the port of Calicut, which was one of the greatest spice ports in the world.

19. Tragedy Strikes
On the voyage home the Portuguese lost half of their ships (2 of 4) and many of their sailors died of scurvy.
Scurvy is very scary…as we will notice on the next few slides.
The upside is that da Gama made a boatload of money which was used to outfit a new fleet.
Da Gama’s explorations were critical to cementing Portugal’s place as a global superpower.

20. The Effects of Scurvy

21. Do You Have Scurvy?

22. The Solution #2

24. One Last Bad Scurvy Joke
One Last Bad Scurvy Joke

25. Columbus and His Voyage
Famous for taking a wrong turn?

26. Da Gama’s Influence
The success of Vasco da Gama spurred others to look for a sea route to Asia.
A man by the name of Christopher Columbus
An Italian navigator from Genoa
wanted to reach and explore the East Indies by sailing west across the Atlantic

27. Um….What about the Americas?
Columbus knew that the earth was a sphere.
He just didn’t know that there were two continents in his way.
He believed heading west would bring him directly to Asia
However, he underestimated the worlds size.

28. Reaching Far Away Lands
Columbus originally went to the king of Portugal, but he got shot down.
He eventually garnered support from King Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain.
They hoped that he could help increase their global authority.

29. The Journey Begins On August 3, 1492 Columbus set sail with 3 ships.
Nina
Pinta
Santa Maria
He spent much time on the water with his crew with no findings. As the crew grew anxious, and food/water ran low, Columbus and his crew spotted land on October 12, 1492.

30. Dividing the Globe
In 1943 Ferdinand and Isabella went to the pope (from Spain), to find ways to cement their dominance.
The pope established the Line of Demarcation
This divided the Non-European world into two zones:
Spanish Territories and Portugese Territories
The goal was to cement Spanish control over the “New World”

31. How was the Line Established?
The Line of Demarcation was established in the Treaty of Tordesillas.
The problem was that the line was imprecise because they had no specific method of measuring geography.
This also began to anger other European nations because they Spain and Portugal were showing true arrogance, as they were not the only European nations.

32. The Naming of the West
Another prominent Italian, Amerigo Vespucci, wrote a journal describing his voyage to Brazil.
Eventually, a German cartographer named Marten Waldseemuller, used Vespucci’s descriptions to create a map of the region which he named “America”
The Caribbean Islands become known as the East Indies.

33. What Comes Next? Explorations of Africa and the Slave Trade
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Explorations of Africa and the Slave Trade
South and Southeast Asia
East Asia
Conquests in America
Spanish and Portuguese Colonies in America.
French and English Colonies
Atlantic Slave Trade (Triangle Trade)
The Colombian Exchange