Download Exploration

Age of Exploration
- Prior to the Crusades Europeans did not travel or trade far from their manors.
- During the Crusades Europeans traveled to the Middle East and learned about new fabrics (silks) and spices.
- When Europeans went back home after the Crusades they realized they could trade silks and spikes from Asia to
people in Europe and make a lot of money.
o Muslims and Italians controlled the Silk Road – land route to Asia
o Silk Road was dangerous and slow so people started looking for a better, faster, easier trade routes to
Asia. –everybody wants to make money and get rich!
 New technologies make exploration easier:
 Caravel: faster sailing ship
 Magnetic compass: determine directions
 Astrolabe: determine latitude
 Mercator Projection: more accurate map system
 Printing press: books are published about exploration that make people curious
 De Gama (Portugal) sails east around Africa to India.
 Christopher Columbus (Spain) believed you could sail west across the Atlantic to reach Asia.
 Convinces Spain to fund his voyage and he “discovers” North and South America in 1492
 His discovery sets off the Columbian Exchange – a worldwide exchange of goods
o Positives: new food and crops
o Negatives: Disease will kill many Native Americans
 Other countries begin to explore so they can find a Northwest Passage – an all water route
through the Americas to Asia (spoiler alert: there is no Northwest Passage but Europeans spend
A LOT of time looking for one!)
 Henry Hudson:
o explores for England and the Netherlands
o He is looking for a Northwest Passage.
o Explores NYS
o He is credited with discovering the Hudson River.
 Samuel de Champlain
o explores for France
o He is looking for a Northwest Passage
o He is credited with exploring the Great Lakes and beginning the French trading
city of Quebec in Canada.
 Giovanni da Verrazano
o Explores for France
o He is looking for a Northwest Passage
o He is credited with exploring New York and Manhattan
 There are MANY explorers but what they all have in common is that they are looking for a
Northwest Passage – an all water trade route to the Pacific Ocean and Asia.