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History Beyond The Textbook
The Age of Exploration
500 A.D. – 1609 A.D.
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• Which countries do you think would have
been the most powerful countries in
Europe during the Middle Ages and why?
What would have motivated people
more than 500 years ago to get in a
boat and sail around the world?
• Gold – They wanted to get rich. Also
wanted to gain land for natural resources
• God – They wanted to spread Christianity
around the world
• Glory – They wanted to become famous!
Part of this was to be the first one to find a
water route to Asia. Why was it so
important to find a water route to Asia?
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The Spice of Life
•A thousand years ago people had no
refrigeration and food often spoiled easily.
With no way to improve the flavor of their
food, the people of Europe were desperate
for a solution.
•During the Crusades (1096), knights from
Europe were exposed to new spices from
Asia.
•While Europeans could buy spices from
Italian traders (who had monopolized the
trade), they had to pay very high prices.
*Pepper was worth its weight in gold!!
Pepper
Plant
Cinnamon
(Tropical Evergreen)
•Determined to secure these spices for the
people of Europe, explorers set out to find a
water route to Asia.
•Many of the spices came from the Maluku
Islands or “Spice Islands” in present day
Indonesia.
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Trade Routes
TOOLS OF THE TRADE
How did early explorers find their
way?
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Navigational
Tools
Astrolabe
Magnetic Compass
Invented by the Greeks, it
measured the altitude of a
heavenly body above the
horizon.
Instrument that uses a magnetized
needle that points north. Invented
by the Chinese more than 2,000
years ago.
Back-Staff or Quadrant
Measured the angle of the sun to the
horizon. This improved instrument meant
that mariners no longer had to stare into
the sun. Invented in 1594 by John Davis.
Hourglass
Measures time
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Cross-Staff
Measured the angle of the sun to
the horizon. Invented by Claudius
Ptolemy, who lived around 150 A.D.
The Caravel
• The caravel was an
improvement on older
ships because it could sail
very fast for the time
(about 5 miles per hour)
and also sail into the wind
due to its triangle shaped
sails!
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The Galleon
“Ship of the Line”
• A galleon was a large,
multi-decked sailing
ship used primarily by
the nations of Europe
from the 16th to 18th
centuries.
• Galleons were an
evolution of the
caravel and carrack.
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Martin Waldseemuller’s 1507 Map
This is the first known map to label the New World as America.
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Early Explorers
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Marco Polo
ca. 1254-1324
• As a teenager Marco
Polo traveled to China
(then known as Cathay)
with his father and uncle.
• After his return to Venice
Polo collected the stories
of his travels into a book,
The Travels of Marco
Polo.
• His stories of the East
would inspire future
European explorers like
Christopher Columbus
and Vasco Da Gama.
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Bartolomeu Dias
1450-1500
• Portuguese explorer who
rounded the southern tip of
Africa, which he named the
Cape of Good Hope in
1488, paving the way for
future expeditions to India.
• In 1497 Dias accompanied,
but in a subordinate
position, Vasco da Gama's
expedition to India.
• He died off the Cape of
Good Hope in a storm on
May 29, 1500.
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Vasco Da Gama
1469-1524
• Portuguese explorer
who was the first
European to sail directly
from Europe to India.
• He reached India in
1498 and built a trading
post, loaded up his ships
with as many trade
goods as they could
carry and headed back
to Portugal to report his
triumph.
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Christopher Columbus
1451-1506
• Italian explorer who sailed for
Spain in search of a western
water route to Asia.
• Columbus left from Palos,
Spain on August 3, 1492 with
three ships; Nina, Pinta and
his flag ship the Santa Maria.
• A lookout named Rodrigo de
Triana spotted land (probably
San Salvador) at 2:00 a.m. on
October 12, 1492. Thinking he
had landed in India, he called
the native Taino people
“Indians”.
Replicas of Columbus’ ships
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Ferdinand Magellan
1480-1521
• Spanish explorer who
led the expedition that
was the first to
circumnavigate the
globe (sail around the
world). 1519-1522
• Unfortunately,
Magellan was
captured by natives in
what is now the
Philippines and eaten.
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Spanish Explorers
Hernando Cortes’
1485-1547
Spanish conquistador who
conquered the Aztec empire with
the help of native allies and the
fact that the Aztecs believed him
to be the god Quetzalcoatl.
However, modern historians are
beginning to question this.
The Spaniards also brought
European diseases with them
such as smallpox, which wiped
out millions of Native Americans
in a span of fifty years.
Tenochtitlan
(Aztec Capital)
Aztec Temple
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Vasco de Balboa
1475-1519
• Spanish explorer who
traveled throughout
Central America.
• The first European to
set eyes on the
western ocean, which
he named “Pacific”
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Francisco Pizarro
1478-1541
• Spanish conquistador
who traveled through
much of the Pacific coast
of America along Peru.
• He conquered the Incan
empire in 1533.
• He was later
assassinated by some of
Cortez’s men, who
wanted the Incan
treasure for themselves.
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Juan Ponce de Leon
1460-1521
•Ponce de Leon set out
through what is today Florida
in order to find the famed
“Fountain of Youth”.
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Francisco de Coronado
1510-1554
• A Spanish explorer, he
was the first European
to explore North
America's Southwest.
• He spent his life
searching for the fabled
seven Golden Cities of
Cibola in Northern
Mexico.
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Hernando De Soto
c. 1500-1542
• Spanish explorer who
was the first European
to explore Florida and
the southeastern US.
• De Soto helped Pizarro
conquer the Incan
empire and is believed
to be the one who
strangled the Incan
ruler Atahualpa.
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French, English, and Other
Explorers
Jacques Cartier
1491-1557
• French explorer who led
the first three expeditions
to Canada, in 1534,
1535, and 1541.
• He was searching for the
Northwest Passage (an
all water route to Asia).
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Samuel de Champlain
1567-1635
• French explorer and
navigator who mapped
much of northeastern North
America and started a
settlement in Quebec.
• Champlain also discovered
the lake named for him
(Lake Champlain, on the
border of northern New
York state and Vermont,
named in 1609.
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Robert LaSalle
1643-1687
• A French explorer, he
was the first European
to explore and travel
the length of the
Mississippi River
(1682).
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Henry Hudson
1565-1611
• English explorer and
navigator who explored
northeastern North
America.
• Hudson was also searching
for a Northwest Passage.
• The Hudson River and
Hudson Bay are named in
his honor.
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Sir Francis Drake
1545-1596
• A English explorer and
privateer, He was the
second explorer to sail
around the world.
• Drake was also famous
for defeating the Spanish
Armada in 1588.
• This caused England to
become the world’s most
powerful country.
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