Download European Exploration

EUROPEAN EXPLORATION
A CHANGING WORLD

Several different factors influenced exploration
of the new world:
 The
Growth of Trade: Merchants could make a
fortune trading goods from Asia.
 The Growth of ideas: Scholars wanted to learn more
about different people around the world.
 The Renaissance: A period of intellectual and
artistic creativity that made people want to learn
more.
POWERFUL NATIONS EMERGE
During the 1400s, the population of Europe
increased.
 Merchants and bankers wanted to expand their
businesses
 Explorers began to look for an alternative path to
the overland route to the Middle East
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TECHNOLOGY IMPROVES: MAPS
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Early maps were inaccurate because they were
hand drawn based on mistaken impressions
Better instruments were used for navigating the
seas.
Sailors used an astrolabe, which measured the
position of stars.
Europeans also acquired the magnetic
compass, which was invented in China.
TECHNOLOGY IMPROVES: BETTER SHIPS
Advances in ship building allowed explorers to
cross oceans.
 The stern rudder and the triangular sail made it
possible for ships to sail into the wind.
 In the late 1400s, the Portuguese developed
the caravel, which had three masts. It sailed
faster than earlier ships and carried more cargo
and food supplies.
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SEEKING NEW TRADE ROUTES
The maps that Columbus and the first
European explorers used did not include
America.
 They showed three continents- Europe, Asia,
and Africa.
 Portugal took the lead in exploring boundaries
of the known world.
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PORTUGAL: PRINCE HENRY THE NAVIGATOR
Fascinated by what lay beyond the known
boundaries for the world
 Set up a center for exploration in Portugal
 He brought astronomers, geographers, and
mathematicians to share their knowledge
 Sailors from his school moved south along the
West Coast of Africa, where they established
trading posts
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PORTUGAL: BARTHOLOMEU DIAS
In 1487, the king sent Bartholomeu Dias to
explore the southernmost part of Africa
 He ran into storms that carried him off course
and around the Southern Tip of Africa.
 Upon learning of Dias’s discovery, King John II
renamed this southern tip of lad the Cape of
Good Hope
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PORTUGAL: VASCO DA GAMA
The first Portuguese voyages to India were
made years later.
 Vasco Da Gama rounded the Cape of Good
Hope and visited cities around the East coast of
Africa.
 He made it all the way to India in 1498
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THE SPANISH: VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA
Conquistador who was the first European to
see the eastern shore of the Pacific Ocean.
 He hiked through the jungle in what is now
Panama.
 Claimed all of the lands that touched the ocean
for Spain.
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THE SPANISH: HERNANDO CORTEZ
Sailed to America to seek his fortune.
 He became a wealthy landowner in Cuba, but
wanted more.
 He was picked to lead the expedition to Mexico
 He defeated the Aztecs, took over their capital
city, and used the Natives to mine gold (which
he sent back to Spain).
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THE SPANISH: FRANCISCO CORONADO
Traveled throughout Mexico, into what is today
Arizona and New Mexico.
 He searched for “gold cities” but was
unsuccessful.
 He is credited for discovering the Grand Canyon
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THE SPANISH: FRANCISCO PIZZARO
Led an expedition of 180 men into Peru.
 Fought against the Inca Empire and killed
thousands.
 Pizzaro took control of the Inca territory, which
became Peru.

THE SPANISH: HERNANDO DE SOTO
Traveled into Florida in hopes of finding gold.
 He traveled North through Georgia, and into the
Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina.
 He did not find any gold, but severely
mistreated Native Americans (they made fun of
him in the “booger dance”)
 He eventually discovered the Mississippi River.

THE ITALIANS: CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
Columbus was an Italian explorer who sailed for
SPAIN.
 He took four separate voyages across the
Atlantic Ocean, taking specimen of plants,
animals, and people back to Spain.
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THE ITALIANS: AMERIGO VESPUCCI
An Italian explorer who set out to find a water
route to Asia.
 He realized that the land he saw was not Asia,
but was a New World
 A German mapmaker was so impressed by
Vespucci’s account of the lands, that he named
the continent “America”

THE ITALIANS: JOHN CABOT
One of the first explorers to chart a northern
route across the Atlantic Ocean in search of
Asia.
 He crossed the Atlantic Ocean and landed in
what is now Newfoundland, Canada.
 He claimed the land for England.
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THE FRENCH: JAQUES CARTIER
Sailed the St. Lawrence River in to what is
today Montreal.
 He was blocked by rapids, which ended his
hopes of finding the Northwest Passage.
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THE FRENCH: GIOVANNI DA VERRAZANO
Set sail in order to find the Northwest Passage.
 He explored the coastline of North America, but
there was no passage to be found.
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