Download Age of Exploration

AGE OF EXPLORATION
Age of Discovery
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15th through 17th Century
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Europeans began exploring the world by sea
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In search of new trading partners, new goods and
new trade route
Learn more about the world
Reasons for Exploring
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Desire for gold and silver
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Needed a new trade route for silks and spices
 1453
Fall of Constantinople
 Taken
over by the Ottoman Empire
 European access to the area blocked
 No longer able to get to North Africa or the Red Sea
 Necessary for trading with the East
Prince Henry the Navigator
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1394-1460
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Portuguese royal prince, soldier, and patron of explorers
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Prince Henry gained his reputation by sponsoring many
voyages of discovery along the western coast of Africa
Under his direction, slave trade was increased and by
1452 thousands of african slaves had been transported
by sea to Portugal and the Portuguese Islands
Bartolomeu Dias
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Portuguese explorer
1487, headed a voyage to round the southern tip of
Africa
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find trade routes to India
His success led to the realization that Europe should be
able to trade directly with the East without expensive
overland routes.
Southern tip of Africa was named the Cape of Good
Hope
Vasco de Gama
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Portuguese explorer
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First European to reach India by sea
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1498, landed in India
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First wave of global multiculturalism
 Representing
several different cultures
Christopher Columbus
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Italian explorer, navigator and colonizer
In the 1480s, Columbus with the help of his brothers, devised a
plan to reach India by sailing West
Portugal refused to fund his expedition
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Thought his estimation for the distance was too low
Attempted to gain support from Genoa, Venice, and England
Finally received support in 1492 from Ferdinand and Isabella,
the Spanish monarchs.
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They never expected him to return
Columbus Continued
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He made 4 voyages to the New World
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First voyage:
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Second voyage:
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Dominican Republic
Cuba
Third voyage:
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The Nina, The Pinta, and The Santa Maria
Landed in the Bahamas
Explored there and Cuba
Reached South America
People revolted against him
1500, the Crown had him removed as governor, arrested, and
transported in chains to Spain
Fourth voyage:
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Attempting to find a passage to the Indian Ocean
Sailed to Central America
Legacy and Death
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Accusations of tyranny, incompetence and genocide
 Used
torture and mutilation to govern
 To control natives he used extreme violence, abuse and
manipulation
 Many became slaves
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He refused to believe that he had found a new land
and not part of the Asian continent
Columbus died in 1506
Ferdinand Magellan
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Portuguese navigator and explorer
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First person to circumnavigate the globe
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Sailed all the way around the world
1519, Sailed from Spain to Brazil, down the coast of
South America, through the Straight of Magellan to the
Philippines, around Africa and back to Spain
Magellan died when they got caught in a local war in the
Philippines
His crew returned to Spain in 1522
Pedro Alvares Cabral

Portuguese nobleman, military
commander, navigator and explorer
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Discovered Brazil and claimed in for Portugal
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First substantial exploration of South America
Map Activity
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On your blank map chart the voyages of
Bartolomeu Dias, Vasco de Gama, Christopher
Columbus, Ferdinand Magellan and Pedro Alvares
Cabral
Use different colors to represent each explorers
route
Label the Cape of Good Hope, Hispaniola and the
Straight of Magellan