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Published byFranklin Leonard Modified over 9 years ago
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AGE OF EXPLORATION A SEARCH FOR SPICES
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REASONS FOR EUROPEAN EXPLORATION
European demand for gold, spices, natural resources Support for diffusion (spread) of Christianity Political & economic competition between European empires
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WHY ARE SPICES IMPORTANT?
spices originally lure Europeans preserve & improve food, make medicine, cosmetics & perfumes “SPICE ISLANDS” – East Indies (present day Indonesia, Malaysia & New Guinea), & India
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WHERE DO THE SPICES GO? Muslims/Arab traders
go to eastern Mediterranean ports w/ spices, then… Italian traders get spices & travel west across Mediterranean to sell for 40x original price! Portugal & Spain seek new route to Asia b/c routes were no longer safe & wanted to make $ by obtaining spices w/o Arab middlemen
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REMEMBER: 3 G’s and a T GOLD: some seek riches/power
GLORY: Some want to learn about new people/ideas & take credit GOD: some want to spread Christianity TECHNOLOGY: made voyages possible
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TECHNOLOGY: MERCATOR PROJECTION
Cartographers make maps New kind of map that showed true direction (latitude/longitude)
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TECHNOLOGY: ASTROLABE
Used to determine latitude at sea Originally used by Ancient Greeks, then improved by Muslims Brass circle w/ adjustable rings sights stars for direction
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TECHNOLOGY: CARAVEL larger, faster, & more maneuverable
Multiple masts, triangular sails & new kind of rudder enabled sailors to steer into the wind Cannons on side
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TECHNOLOGY: COMPASS Magnetic
First developed by Chinese & Europeans improved it for sailing
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WHO STARTS SAILING FIRST?
PORTUGAL leads the way Prince Henry (“the Navigator”) builds school for navigators, cartographers & explorers sponsored voyages along west coast of Africa searching for route to Asia for spices & gold from Africa
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BARTOLOMEU DIAS rounded southern tip of Africa Cape of Good Hope
(they were hopeful they would find a route to Asia) Got beaten up by a storm & had to go back
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VASCO DA GAMA sails around Cape of Good Hope all the way to Calicut, India buys spices (like pepper & cinnamon) & sells them at 4,000X the original price!
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CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS Spain joins the race! Hires Columbus (Italian) to sail west hoping to hit EAST INDIES Instead reached WEST INDIES (Bahamas off Florida) But thought he reached Asia tensions growing between Spain & Portugal
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MORE ON COLUMBUS Made several more voyages through Caribbean islands
Wrote King Ferdinand & Queen Isabella (Spain) that native people, the Tainos, were easy to convert & enslave (brain pop video)
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FERDINAND MAGELLAN In search of westward route to “Spice Islands”
1519 – reaches water passage at southern tip of South America (Strait of Magellan) Connects to Pacific Ocean & his crew CIRCUMNAVIGATES the globe He dies in Philippines Out of 237 men, only 18 make it home
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JACQUES CARTIER 1534 French explorer
Reached a gulf off east coast of Canada Led to a river he named “St. Lawrence” & he followed it inland to Mont Royal (Montreal) Helped to start New France
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SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 1580’s English captain
Raided Spanish ships & colonies Eventually leads British navy to victory over Spanish Armada in 1588
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NATIONALISM The Dutch (Netherlands) create a bustling trading empire
throughout Indian ocean Pride in your country Driving force behind competition for exploration Colonies set up in newly conquered lands to establish control (harsh) All leads to decimation of indigenous (native) peoples
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