Download The Age of Exploration - Mr. O`Sullivan`s World of History

The Age of Exploration
A Map of the Known World,
pre- 1492
What was the Age of Exploration?
• A time period when Europeans began to
explore the rest of the world.
• Improvements in mapmaking, shipbuilding,
rigging, and navigation made this possible.
• Blue water sailing, not just coastal boats.
• Policy of mercantilism drives the
exploration.
Foundations of Exploration
• Renaissance spirit of discovery and innovation in Europe
• Spirit led Europeans to set sail on voyages of discovery
• Period is sometimes called the Age of Exploration
Drive to Explore
• Search for wealth
• Europeans desired
expensive luxury
goods
• Flow of goods
controlled by Italian
merchants
• Charged high prices
for these rare goods
New Routes
Faith, Curiosity
• Hoped to find new,
faster routes to Asia
to gain trade foothold
• Wealth not only goal
• Some set out to find
fame, glory
• Hoped making great
discoveries would
bring honor to their
names
• Other explorers
hoped to spread their
faith into new lands
• Another motive—
simple curiosity
• Writings like Marco
Polo’s very popular in
Europe, intrigued
many with tales of
exotic lands, peoples
Advances in Technology
• Whatever reasons for exploring, Europeans could not have made voyages of
discovery without certain key advances in technology
• Some advances made in Europe during Renaissance
• Others borrowed from people with whom Europeans had contact, especially
Chinese, Muslims
Navigation
• Sailors needed precise means to calculate location
• Compass brought to Europe from China, let know sailors know which
direction was north at any time
• Europeans learned to use astrolabe from Muslims
• Navigators could chart location based on sun, stars in relation to horizon
New Maritime Technologies
Better Maps
[Portulan]
Hartman Astrolabe
(1532)
Mariner’s Compass
Sextant
Shipbuilding
Improvements
• Just as important as advances in navigation were advances in shipbuilding
• Europeans learned to build ships that rode lower in water than earlier ships
• Deep-draft ships could withstand heavier waves; also had larger cargo holds
Caravels
• Caravel, light, fast sailing ship; two features made it highly maneuverable
• Steered with rudder at stern, rather than with side oars
• Also lateen, triangular, sails; could be turned to catch wind from any direction
Popular for Exploratory Voyages
• Caravel would also be equipped with weapons, including cannons
• Ships could face off against hostile ships at sea
• Maneuverability, defensive ability made caravel most popular for exploring
What was mercantilism?
• Policy that said there was a limited amount
of money in the world.
• Each country needs to grab what they can
before it is gone.
• Export more than you import…more
money in your pocket.
• Colonies and markets were needed to
keep everything in the system.
Other Voyages of Exploration
The Explorers and their Journeys around the World
Map Key:
The Travels
of Marco Polo
•One of the earliest travellers.
•1271, left Venice to explore
China.
•Explored huge parts of Asia for
many years.
•1298, told his story to a fellow
prisoner while in jail in Genoa.
•Showed the value of exploration.
The Explorers:
Portugal
Prince Henry, the Navigator
School for Navigation, 1419
Prince Henry the Navigator:
Henry the Navigator seldom left Portugal, but he helped make it possible for the first
Europeans to explore Africa. In Henry’s time, the ocean was very dangerous and Africa
was a mysterious place that seemed to contain endless miles of sand. Today we know
this sand as the Sahara Desert. Although it isn’t endless, the Sahara is the largest
desert in the world. On the other side of the Sahara were many great cultures that were
isolated from the rest of the world.
Henry wanted to find a water route to India. The passage to India over land was long,
slow, and dangerous. A ship could carry more goods to and from India than the largest
caravans, but Europeans could only guess that sailors could circumnavigate, or go
around, Africa.
Prince Henry helped unlock the secrets of Africa. Henry set up a school for sailors to
learn the secrets of the ocean. He paid for many sailing expeditions out of the
Portuguese treasury. Henry also employed cartographers who created the most
sophisticated maps of their time. The maps made it possible for sailors to learn from
previous expeditions.
Bartolomeu Dias
• Sailed around Cape
of Good Hope at
southern tip of
Africa.
• Found route to
Indian Ocean
• Trade can go from
Europe to Asia by
sea.
Vasco da Gama
• Landed in India in
1498.
• Important trade
route from Europe to
India and East
Indies.
Ferdinand Magellan
• His crew made first
round-the-world
voyage.
• Proved for certain
that the world was
round.
• Magellan was killed
in the Phillippines,
did not make it
home.
The Explorers:
Spain
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus
• Believed a shorter
route to Asia could be
found by sailing
westward instead of
around Africa.
• Found the Americas
instead. Oops.
The Treaty of Tordesillas, 1494 &
The Pope’s Line of Demarcation
What was the Colombian Exchange?
• Massive exchange of plants, animals and
diseases.
• These things moved between the New and
Old Worlds.
• Started with Columbus.
• To the Americas: cows, horses, wheat,
smallpox, plus much more.
• To Europe: potatoes, tomatoes, tobacco,
corn, plus much more.
The Slave Trade
• Europeans began to use slave labor in
their colonies to grow crops, mine, etc.
• Native Americans used for a while, but
Africans began to be brought to the
Americas.
• The slave trade then became the main
focus of Europe’s relations with Africa.
What was the Triangular Trade?
• System of trade between Europe, Africa,
and the Americas.
• Stage 1: Raw materials to Europe
(tobacco, rum, sugar)
• Stage 2: Manufactured goods to Africa
(guns, cloth, rum)
• Stage 3: Slaves to the Americas to make
raw materials.
The Triangular
Trade