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Age of Exploration (1450 - 1750)
“God, gold and glory”
“God, gold and glory”
I. Motives for Exploration
A. Technological Advances
1. improved navigational
methods:
- magnetic compass and
astrolabe
- improved maps and
charts
2. improved ship designs
- the caravel sailed faster and
better into the wind, were lighter
3. improved weapons
- gunpowder and cannons
Why would this be important?
B. Desire for wealth
1. gain access to the spice trade
(also sugar and silk)
Arab and Italian merchants
had a monopoly
2. find new sources of gold and
silver
If you’re going from Europe to China, which
way is easiest… the red or blue route?
WHY!?
Muslims vs. Christians during the crusade. Muslims won,
closed access to Silk Road to Europeans.
https://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=VbA7o
wKfOHo
Crusades!?
C. Growth of Nation-States
1. centralized power at home
allowed for an outward push
and colonization of new lands.
D. Religious devotion / Crusading Spirit
1. desire to convert new people to
Christianity
2. to strike a blow against the
Muslims
E. Renaissance Spirit and Values
1. desire to learn about the world
(intellectual curiosity)
- Marco Polo returns with
stories of the riches in Asia.
2. desire for adventure,
fortune, fame and glory.
II. Portugal and Spain
A. Portugal
1. Portugal led the way
in exploration
a. Prince Henry the Navigator
encourages exploration and
the study of improvements in
seafaring.
b.location –
Portugal was
well situated
to explore
based on
routes
available to
explore.
2. Portuguese
sailors
explored the
coast of
Africa in an
attempt to
find a water
route to Asian
trade.
3. Portuguese explorers
included:
Bartholomeu Dias - first to sail
around the southern tip ofAfrica
Vasco da Gama - discovered an
all water trade route between
Portugal and India.
B. Spain
1. Columbus sails
West in an
attempt to reach
Asia.
a. opened the
Americas to
European
https://www.yo
colonization and utube.com/wat
trade.
ch?v=Kmwriy3a
6sc
Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)
- Spain and Portugal sign a treaty
dividing the newly discovered lands between the
two nations
Amerigo Vespucci –
•Explored the coast of the newly discovered lands
•Suggested Columbus had actually discovered a new world
• Vespucci’s name begins to appear on maps of the New
World
Ferdinand Magellan –
attempted to find a
Western route to Asia,
one of his ships will
complete the first
circumnavigation of the
earth. (1519-1522)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM-igYjn6E4
Conquistadors
• Conquistadors were
soldiers, explorers,
and adventurers at
the service of the
Spanish Empire and
Portuguese Empires
• They conquered and
claimed MANY
lands in Central and
S. America
Francisco Pizarro
• Rumors about a very wealthy
Inca Empire in S. America were
circulating.
• Craving wealth and excitement,
Pizarro set out in 1524 in
search of this empire.
• After many years of failed
attempts, Pizarro finally found
the empire, which is centered in
what we now call Peru.
• Pizarro was excited by the
immense riches (GOLD!) that
were in this new land.
Pizarro con’t
• He sent “secret service agents” to the Inca
empire to infiltrate the home of the
Incan ruler, Atahualpa.
• They discovered Atahualpa’s weaknesses
and told Pizarro (it was his love for his
family and himself).
• Pizarro then lead a surprise attack killing
thousands of Incas.
• Pizarro was able to bribe Atahualpa by
promising to spare his family in exchange
for vast supplies of silver and gold.
• However, after Atahualpa turned over the
riches, Pizarro had Atahualpa killed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKeB82retL
• Finally, in 1533 Pizarro conquered Peru.
Spanish conquistador
Hernan Cortes arrived in
Mexico in 1519.
Cortes along with
native allies
defeated the
Aztec.
Looking for “El Dorado”
The “Columbian Exchange”
…the vast exchange of people,
plants, animals, ideas and
diseases that occurred during
the “Age of Exploration” (and
still continues today!)
The “Columbian Exchange”

Squash

Avocado

Peppers

Sweet Potatoes

Turkey

Pumpkin

Tobacco

Quinine

Cocoa

Pineapple

Cassava

POTATO

Peanut

TOMATO

Vanilla

MAIZE

Syphilis

Trinkets

Liquor

GUNS

Olive

COFFEE BEAN

Banana

Rice

Onion

Turnip

Honeybee

Barley

Grape

Peach

SUGAR CANE

Oats

Citrus Fruits

Pear

Wheat

HORSE

Cattle

Sheep

Pigs

Smallpox

Flu

Typhus

Measles

Malaria

Diptheria

Whooping Cough
Flow of Conquest &
Colonization
Explorers
Official
European
Colony!