Download Exploration: Traders, Explorers, and Colonists

Exploration
Focus Questions
 1. What
are some of the causes and
effects of Exploration?
 2. How did geography (where they
are located?) affect Portugal, England,
and Spain’s ability to become naval
powers and empires?
 3. How did the Renaissance help
bring about the Age of Exploration?
Trade Between
Europe and Asia
A. For centuries
before the
Renaissance,
European traders
traveled back and
forth across the
Mediterranean.
B. Merchants
commonly
journeyed from
southern Europe
to North Africa
and the eastern
Mediterranean.
C. Spices were one
of the most
important items
traded at this time.
The Spice Trade
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A. Spices were in
great demand by
Europeans.
B. Before
refrigeration, meat
and fish spoiled
quickly.
C. To help preserve
food and to improve
its flavor, people used
spices such as pepper,
cinnamon, nutmeg,
and cloves – from
Asia.
The Spice Islands
The Italian Peninsula
Controls Trade
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A. For centuries, Italian
merchants from Genoa and
Venice controlled the spice
trade.
B. They sailed to ports in
the eastern Mediterranean
(Holy Land), where they
would purchase spices and
other goods from traders
who had traveled across
Asia.
C. The Italian merchants
would then bring these
goods back to Europe.
D. Many countries wanted
to enjoy the wealth that the
Aristocrats in Italy were
enjoying!
The Possibility of
Great Wealth
A. Transporting goods across these
great distances was costly.
B. Everyone along the way had to be
paid and wanted to earn a profit.
C. By the time the spices reached
Europe, they had to be sold at extremely
high prices…….Also, the Muslims and
Mongols (Huns) had control of the trade
routes…..sometimes they did not play
nicely………especially after the
Crusades!
D. European merchants and rulers knew
that if they could trade directly with
people in Asia, they could make
enormous profits.
E. Goal – find a new trade route to
Asia!
Leaders In Exploration

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The small country of
Portugal is at the
westernmost part of the
European continent.
Portuguese sailors had
navigated the waters of
the Atlantic Ocean for
centuries.
They traveled down the
west coast of Africa and as
far was as Madeira, the
Azores, and the Canary
Islands
Portugal
Wins!
A. In the early 1400s, Portugal’s
Prince Henry the Navigator sent
explorers farther down the
African coast – he believed a
shortcut to Asia was around
Africa.
B. Bartolomeu Dias rounded the
southern tip of Africa in 1488.
C. Vasco da Gama and his crew
reached the Indian coast less
than one year later.
D. Now, the riches of Asia could
be brought directly to Europe –
after setting up trading posts
along the way – Portugal ruled
these waterways!
Christopher
Columbus
Under the patronage of
King Ferdinand and Queen
Isabella of Spain, Italian
Christopher Columbus
completed four voyages
across the Atlantic Ocean.
Those voyages, and his
efforts to establish
permanent settlements on
the island of Hispaniola,
started the Spanish
colonization of the “New
World” and the quest for
other questions to gain
control of the “New
World” and a trade route
to Asia.
Europe Enters A New Age

A. Spain

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B. England

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Christopher Columbus
Ferdinand Magellan
Amerigo Vespucci
Francisco Pizzaro
John Cabot (Giovanni
Caboto)
Sir Francis Drake
C. Netherlands

Henry Hudson
The Race is on for:
wealth, glory, gold,
land & power, and
anything else
Europeans can steal!
 Wars, violence, and
general competition
broke out for control
of the “New World.”

Explorers and the Countries
Exploring
The Outcomes of Exploration

A. Clash of Cultures

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Empires – countries such as Spain, Portugal, England, France became world powers because
of the great wealth gleamed from the products and control of land.
Wars – these countries often fought one another over territory.
Imperialism – controlling another countries government and economy.
Colonialism – having colonies outside of your nation.
B. Religious Conversion


Protestant
Catholic
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C. The Spread of Diseases

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Society of Jesus - Jesuits
Europeans brought diseases to indigenous inhabitants (native people) that they were not
immune to.
Tens – Hundreds of thousands of natives were killed.
D. Slavery

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Indigenous people were enslaved to work in the gold & silver mines and on sugar
plantations.
Africans were brought in to work after the indigenous peoples were killed.
The Triangle Trade!