Download Why was there a desire to search for and explore

The Age of Exploration
The
Reasons for
European
Exploration
1
Why was there a desire to search for
and explore new lands?
 During the Middle Ages, the
Crusaders who fought the
Muslims in the Middle East
learned of spices, and brought
them back to Europe.
 The Europeans wanted cinnamon,
cloves, nutmeg, and most of all
pepper to spice and preserve
meat, make perfume(s).
 The chief source of spices was
the Moluccas (in modern day
Indonesia) which they called the
Spice Islands.
2
The Muslim Situation
 Europeans wanted spices.
 Following the fall of Constantinople (it
became Istanbul), Europe no longer had
their “gateway to the East.”
 Trading over land was expensive and
dangerous.
 Muslims and Italian sailors controlled the
trade by sea.
 Other European sailing powers (Spain and
Portugal) wanted in on the riches of the
spice trade, but had to find a way to get
3
The biggest reasons for the Age
of Exploration: The 3 Gs
1. GOLD
2. GLORY
3. GOD
4
Mercantilism
 An economic system
developed in Europe,
intended to unify and
increase the power and
monetary wealth of a
nation by strict
governmental regulation of
the entire economy.
 Designed to secure bullion,
a favorable balance of
trade, the development of
agriculture and
manufacturing, and foreign
trading monopolies.
5
Mercantilism: The Intended and
the Unintended Consequences
 Societies must make economic choices. The
choices they make have both intended
consequences (what they want to accomplish)
and unintended consequences (what actually
happens that was unexpected).
 What do you think some of the intended
consequences of mercantilism were?
 What do you think some of the unintended
consequences of mercantilism were?
6
Intended Consequences of
Mercantilism
 Was for the mother country:
 To gain money in the form of gold
 Gain strength and power from the money supply
 Export as much as possible
 Import as little as possible
 Use colonies for raw materials and markets for
goods
7
Unintended Consequences of
Mercantilism “+” or “-“ ?
 Tension and wars
between European
countries for colonies
(Treaty of Tordesillas)
 Pirates sail the
Caribbean after Spanish
treasure ships
8
Unintended Consequences of
Mercantilism “+” or “-“ ?
 Natives forced into slave
labor to mine gold and silver
and to work plantations
 Natives given least
productive lands for their
own
 Mistreatment, death,
diseases between natives
and Europeans (malaria,
smallpox, measles, influenza
 Africans brought in for labor,
started Atlantic slave trade
9
Unintended Consequences of
Mercantilism “+” or “-“ ?
 Columbian Exchange of people, goods and
ideas between Europe and the Americas
 Government, law, religion, African cultures
 America’s Foods: corn, potatoes, squash,
chocolate, peanuts, tomatoes
 European Foods: sweet potatoes, pineapples,
papaya, chili peppers
 European crops: wheat, barley, chickpeas
 European livestock: horses, cows, sheep,
chickens, pigs
10
Columbian Exchange
 Italian Food Without
Tomatoes?
 Until contact with the
Americas, Europeans had
never tried tomatoes.
 Most Europeans thought
tomatoes were poisonous.
 By late 1600s, tomatoes had
begun to be included in
Italian cookbooks.
11
Simple version
12