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Europeans explore the East.
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By the early 1400s, Europeans were ready to venture beyond their borders.
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The Renaissance encouraged, among other things, a new spirit of adventure and curiosity.
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Europeans also had other reasons to explore the world.
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At first Europeans, who until that time had little interest in the world outside of Europe,
desired to spread Christianity to the rest of the world.
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In 1275, Marco Polo had reached the court of the Kublai Khan in China, and had told
Europe of a land filled with spices and gold.
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It was not long before Europeans began to thirst for the wealth of foreign lands.
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The spice trade emerged as products from the east became sought after by Europe.
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As you know from the study of the Renaissance, the Italians and the Muslims controlled almost all
the trade from east to west. Other parts of Europe wanted in on the action.
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Portugal and Spain were some of the first to put real efforts into finding alternate trade routes that
were not controlled by the Italians of the Muslims.
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Prince Henry of Portugal promoted exploration and even started a school of navigation.
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Technological advancements made longer sea voyages possible.
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Triangular Sails on new ships called caravels made it possible for ships to sail against the
wind.
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The astrolabe helped sailors keep their bearings at sea, by using the stars to navigate, and
mark Latitude and longitude.
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The Magnetic compass also made it possible for sailors to tell what direction they were
heading.
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The Sextant was also used to measure the height of stars, to determine latitude and
longitude, and could also be used to tell time.
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These New advantages combined with the thirst for wealth fueled the determination of these
countries to find better trade routes.
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Portuguese Sailors, like Bartolommeo Dias, and Vasco De Gama explored the coast of Africa, and by
going around Africa, established a trade route in which their cargo could bring back more than 60
times the cost of the voyage.
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De Gama’s route which was 27,000 miles long had given Portugal a direct sea rout to India.
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Spain sent Italian Christopher Columbus on a voyage westward in the hope that the growing belief
that the world was round was true, and that they could find a rout that was even more direct than the
one the Portuguese had found.
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In a happy accident Spain stumbled across the Continents of North and South America.
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Because Portugal already had a route to the east. Spain was able to claim the greater part of the
Americas.
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This became extremely important when huge amounts of Silver was discovered in the Andes
Mountains, catapulting Spain into becoming the Major world power for decades to come.
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Spain and Portugal became bitter rivals. Pope Alexander the VI created the line of Demarcation to
separate the lands controlled by Portugal and Spain, and create peace.
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The Treaty of Tordesillas was signed by Portugal which started the age of exploration in earnest.
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The Portuguese overcame the Muslim navy with cannoned ships, and established trade in the Indian
ocean.
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As with many situations in which one group has sole control of a situation for a long period of time,
other countries soon attempted to get a piece of the pie.
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The Dutch East India Trading Company soon began to encroach on Portugal’s trade routes.
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The British and the French also began to seek their fortunes in the New world. Soon they would
establish Colonies in North America.