Download Age of Exploration: a period of European exploration and discovery

Age of Exploration: a period of European exploration and discovery that lasted from about 1418
to 1620.
Two main reasons:
 Europeans of this time had several motives for exploring the world.
 Advances in knowledge and technology made it possible
Motives:
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Find sea route to Asia
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The desire to spread Christianity
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To find new sources of gold and silver; find new sources of wealth (natural resources)
•
Desire for increased world power through territorial expansion (colonize land)
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Intellectual curiosity
Technology:
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Improved navigational instruments; compass and astrolabe
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Improved maps
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Improved ship designs; the caravel
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Improved weapons; cannons and gunpowder
Portugal Begins the Age of Exploration
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The major figure in early Portuguese exploration was Prince Henry nicknamed “the
Navigator,”
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About 1418, Prince Henry started a school of navigation where sailors and mapmakers
could learn their trades. His cartographers made new maps based on the information ship
captains brought back.
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Henry’s early expeditions focused on the west coast of Africa.
Portuguese Explorers
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Bartolomeu Dias - the first European to sail around the southern tip of Africa
•
Vasco da Gama - first European to establish a direct route to India
Other Explorers
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Columbus – sails west in attempt to reach Asia
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Doesn’t reach Asia; landed in the Caribbean islands
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Amerigo Vespucci -First to recognize North & South America as distinct continents
•
Ferdinand Magellan - One of his ships will be the first to circumnavigate the earth
(1519-22)
New World – western hemisphere, specifically the Americas.
Old World - Africa, Asia & Europe