Download Causes of European Exploration

Causes of European Exploration
After the Crusades, Europeans wanted
Asian goods
Cause
Italy dominates trade because it had
developed a trade network in the
Mediterranean during the Crusades . Italy
begins making a bunch of money selling
Asian goods in Europe
Cause
Other European Countries want a share of
the profit to be made by trading and
selling Asian goods.
Cause
These nations begin looking for a water
route to Asia.
Why was finding a water route so important? Why not just
continue using the Silk Road (the Overland Route)?
 Ships could carry more than carts, wagons, and camels
 Sea routes were safer than over land routes – like the
Silk Road
 Raiders and Plunders
 Sea routes were generally faster than overland routes
Motivation for Exploration
God (spread Christianity)
Gold (riches/wealth)
Glory (own land/be famous)
Portugal Leads the Way
 Portugal took the lead in the search to find the first
water route to Asia.
 Portugal decided to spend as much money as was
needed to reach the goal.
 The Portuguese were the first Europeans to explore the
unknown world, and they were the first to sail around
the southern tip of Africa.
Prince Henry 1394-1460
 Prince Henry established a
school for the study of
navigation, mapmaking, and
shipbuilding in 1420.
 His goal was to find a route to
the rich spice trade of the
Indies and to explore the west
coast of Africa.
Designing New Ships
 The ships of the day were too slow and too heavy to
make long ocean voyages.
 Under Prince Henry’s direction, a new and lighter ship
was developed, the caravel, which would allow sea
captains to sail further and faster.
Caravels
 The caravel was an improvement on older ships
because it could sail very fast and also sail well into the
wind.
 Caravels had 2 or 3 masts with square sails or
triangular sails.
 They were up to about 65 feet long and could carry
roughly 130 tons of cargo.
Explorers in Search of a Water
Route to Asia
Vasco da Gama (1497-1499) –
First person to find an all water
route to Asia
Christopher Columbus (1492)– Believed
he could find a faster water route to Asia
by sailing west. He discovers island in
the Caribbean “America”.
Vasco da Gama 1497-1499
 Vasco da Gama sailed around the Cape of Good Hope
to India. He was the first European to chart an all
water route to Asia
 He took four ships and 170 men.
 After reaching Calcutta India, he sailed back to
Portugal with his ship full of spices but only returned
with 55 of his sailors.
 Da Gama finally found a sea route to Asia.
Christopher Columbus 1492
 Columbus believes he can reach the Indies by sailing
west from Europe.
 Europeans did not know that the America’s existed.
 Columbus begins his first voyage in 1492 and
“discovers” the Americas.
 Really he discovered the Island in the Bahamas.
Line of Demarcation 1493
 A boundary set by
Pope Alexander VI to
settle disputes over
which nation could
claim the newly
discovered lands.
 Portugal received the
lands to the east
 Spain received the
lands to the west
Treaty of Tordesillas 1494
 Moved the Line
of Demarcation
800 miles to the
west.
 Who did this move
benefit?
Conquistadors
 Spanish soldiers who
explored and claimed much
of South and Central
America for Spain.
 Extremely brutal
treatment of the natives.
 Most famous Hernan
Cortez.
Explorers
Amerigo Vespucci (14991504)– First to realize that
they hadn’t found Asia but a
whole new continent. The
Americas are named after
him.
John Cabot – Explored the East coast of
the North American continent and
claimed land for England while looking
for a Northwest Passage (water route
north of North America to Asia).
Continuing to look for a Northwest
Passage to Asia in the 1600’s
John Cabot
1497
 John Cabot explored the East Coast of North America
while searching for a Northwest Passage.
 The Northwest Passage was a fabled water route through
the North American continent to Asia.
 England would later claim the East Coast of North
America as its own due to Cabot’s exploration.
 England (Britian) established the 13 original colonies
in the territory Cabot explored.
Amerigo Vespucci 1499 -1504
 Amerigo Vespucci was the first person to suggest that
Columbus did not find the Indies, but a new continent
previously unknown to the Europeans.
 Vespucci explored the east coast of what is now Brazil
and Argentina.
 The Americas are named after Amerigo Vespucci.
Ferdinand Magellan (1519-1522) – First
person credited with sailing around the
world. He, however, did not make it all
the way around the world he was killed
in the Philippines.
Ferdinand Magellan 1519-1522
 Magellan is the explorer who is credited with being the
first person to sail around the world.
 Magellan was killed in the Philippines during the
voyage, however.
 His men and ship continued on and finished the
journey though.
Land Claims and Riches
A. European Explorers claimed land in
North America for the country they were
exploring for.
B. Spain, England, France, and Holland
(the Dutch) all claimed land on the
North American continent.
C. All of these countries wanted land and
hopefully gold from the new world
 Why did they expect to find gold in the
New World?
Effects of Exploration
 The search for the fabled Northwest Passage will
lead to European control of all of North America
 European settlements are founded
 Trade and mercantilism grows
 European nations compete for colonies
 Conflicts with Native Americans develop
 Slavery is introduced to the Americas
 Three Cultures Clash--- NA/African /European
The Columbian Exchange
The Columbian Exchange
 The Columbian
Exchange
 The transfer of
various goods
between the
Eastern and
Western
Hemispheres
 Plants, animals,
germs etc that
previously did
not exist in one
hemisphere were
transferred there
by the explorers
and colonists
The Columbian Exchange
•
Europeans, from the eastern
hemisphere, introduced







Horses
Cows
Pigs
Onions
Coffee beans
Iron making technology
And many diseases
to the western hemisphere
• Germs and Diseases brought to
the Americas by the Europeans
Killed and estimated 60 million
Native Americans
Assignment:
 Page 66
 Main Ideas: 1-3. Use complete sentences.