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Chapter 23- Transoceanic Encounters and Global Connections
Before 1500, there was considerable cross-cultural interaction between Europe and Asia and, to a lesser extent, with sub-Saharan Africa. With the
voyages of discovery of the fifteenth century, these contacts accelerated and became global in reach. Russian adventurers built an empire that
stretched across Eurasia, and they began to explore in the Pacific Ocean basin. Meanwhile, the Chinese and the Ottomans ventured into and explored
the Indian Ocean basin. The impact of European contact on the previously isolated societies of the Americas and the Pacific Islands was profound and
devastating and will be discussed in detail in Chapter 25. This chapter considers the motives and methods of European trade and exploration between
the fifteenth and the eighteenth centuries. Some common themes of this era include:
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Mixed motives. European explorers acted from a complex mix of greed, daring, and missionary zeal. Christian princes, such as Prince Henry of
Portugal, and Ferdinand and Isabel of Spain, underwrote voyages to expand Christianity. Equally compelling were the profits to be made in
the spice trade, especially if Arab intermediaries could be eliminated.
New technologies used in navigation. From Arab traders, the Portuguese borrowed the astrolabe and the cross staff and used these tools to
determine their north/south position. Other new technologies included the magnetic compass, more flexible combinations of sails, improved
shipbuilding, cannons, and more accurate navigational charts.
Adventure. Curiosity and a sense of adventure also drew Europeans out into the world. Between 1500 and 1800, European mariners charted
the oceans, seas, and coasts of the entire globe. Important geographic questions were resolved: the circumference of the earth, the quest for
a northwest passage across North America, and the patterns of winds and currents.
The Columbian Exchange. Contact with European diseases was a demographic catastrophe for the populations of the Americas and the Pacific
Islands, who usually suffered 80 percent to 90 percent mortality within the first generation. The cross-cultural exchange was more beneficial
for Europeans, who gained significant new food crops.
Directions: Printout and review the Chapter outline prior to reading the Chapter. Not all terms or people are to be found in the chapter, for
these, you are expected to research their relevance and include them. Terms with an asterisk beside them can be found in the glossary.
People & Terms
Study Questions
Study Questions
Prince Henry
Volta do mar
 What specific motives prompted European
Vasco da Gama
Seven Years’ War
overseas voyages?
In fifty words or less explain the relationship
Christopher Columbus Columbian Exchange
 What factors contributed to the dramatic
between each of the following pairs, How does
Ferdinand Magellan
Galleons
economic growth and the ensuing
one lead to or foster the other? Be specific in
Vitus Bering
Joint-stock companies
population growth of Russia during the
your response.
James Cook
English East India
eighteenth century?
Afonso d’Alboquerque Company
 Compare the Spanish conquest of the
 Reconquista and Columbus’s voyage
Reconquista
VOC
Philippines with the Dutch conquest of
 The cross staff and the settlement of
Cross staff
Indonesia. What kind of colony emerged in
Cape Town
each case?
 Corn-and-potatoes and global
 What were some of the positive aspects of
migrations
the Columbian exchange? What were some
 Spice trade and missionaries
of the destructive aspects of this exchange?
 Small pox and population growth