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European Exploration
and Colonization
Unit 2 Notes
 What factors encouraged the European Age of
Exploration?
 Explain how religion, natural resources, and a
market for goods contributed to European
exploration and colonization.
 Explain how Prince Henry the navigator
impacted European exploration.
 It is a gray and windy morning in 1430. You are standing on a dock in
the European country of Portugal staring out at the dark and
mysterious Atlantic Ocean. You, like most people at the time, have no
idea what lies beyond the horizon. Now you may find out. You have
been asked to go on a voyage of exploration…
 You’ve heard all the terrifying stories of sea monsters and shipwrecks.
You’ve heard the warnings that the currents along parts of western
Africa are “so terrible that no ship having once passed… will ever be
able to return.” You also have heard that riches await those who help
explore and claim new lands. Now, as the captain calls for you to come
aboard, you must decide.
Would you go? …
lands…
the
…The large hold of your ship could carry back gold,
jewels, and other valuable items found in distant
…Raging waves could destroy your ship and leave you at
mercy of the sea…
 According to legend, beyond this point in an area known as the
"Green Sea of Darkness," the sun was so close to the Earth that a
person’s skin would burn black, the sea boiled, ships caught on fire,
and monsters hid waiting to smash the ships and eat the sailors. It
took fourteen voyages over a period of 12 years until a ship finally
reached the equator.
The Crusades
The crusades were a series of holy wars called
by popes
 Military expeditions sent by the
Catholic Church to capture the Holy
Land from the Muslim Turks
 Not successful, but had a few positive
results:
 -Europeans learned to draw better maps
and build better ships
 -Exposed Europeans to spices & goods
from the East
Motivations for
Exploration
 THREE G’S
GOD
 GOLD
GLORY
Why did the Europeans Go
ExploringM?
The 3 G’s…
 GOLD
 New trade routes opened up opportunities
for wealth
 GOD
 Missionaries spread Christianity
 GLORY
 Explorers were considered heroes;
countries competed for colonies
Many sought to convert other populations to Christianity
GOD (Spread of Christianity)
• The Crusades pushed Christians to feel it was their duty to
spread their religion and convert people to Christianity
(and not to be Muslim)
• Bartholomeu Dias – “ To serve God and His Majesty, to
give light to those who were in darkness, and to grow rich
as all men desire to do.”
GOLD! (WEALTH!)
 New spices in Europe
(introduced during the
Crusades) = demand
for the spices
 Europeans wanted to
cut out the middle man!
(Italy and the powerful
Ottoman Empire
controlled trade between
Europe and the east)
 Europeans try to find new
trade routes because
they want new sources of
wealth
Muslims sold
Spices to Italians
for lots of $
Italians
sell it
to Europe
for
MORE $$$
Europe buys
it for a
higher price
GLORY !
BEING “The FIRST!”
 COMPETITION FOR NATURAL
RESOURCES
 First to: Find a spice?
Find an area?
Create a trading port?
Control a COUNTRY!?
.
But First TECHNOLOGY HELPS!
They needed better transportation
Caravel: stronger, sturdier ship with triangular sails
(adopted from Arabs) made travel easier
 65 feet long = more space for food/people
 Able to explore close to shore
 Larger sails for easier
movement and power
(made it possible to sail
against the wind)
New Maritime Technologies
Better/More Accurate Maps
[Portulan]
Hartman Astrolabe (1532) –
Developed by the Greeks and
perfected by the Arabs; used to
determine latitude (sail by stars)
Sextant
Mariner’s Compass – Chinese invention;
magnetically tracked direction
And They’re off…
Trade Routes
 1400s—major trade routes from the
East to Europe went through 2 Italian
cities (Venice & Genoa)
 -Italian merchants marked up the prices
on the goods & sold them throughout
Europe
 Other European countries resented the
huge profits made by Italians & began
to look for other routes to the East…
And They’re off…
Trade Routes
 Europeans created new trade routes to
bring products from Europe to India,
China, & the Spice Islands
 Contributed to the expansion of the
empires of Portugal, Spain, England,
and France…
 STOP HERE!
Portugal’s Empire
 15th century: led the world in sea
exploration and explored the western
coast of Africa
 Portuguese wanted to find a trade route
around Africa to Asia
 Believed they could make a lot of money as
traders if they could get Asian goods for a
cheaper price
 Also wanted to spread Christianity along
Africa’s west coast
Portugal’s Empire
 For the next 300 years, Portuguese sailors
continued to explore East Africa where they
established forts & trading posts
 By 1571, a string of outposts connected Portugal to
Africa, India, South Pacific Islands, & Japan
 Portugal grew wealthy from these trade routes,
but…
 Its most profitable colony was Brazil
Prince Henry the Navigator
EARLY LEADER OF THE AGE OF
EXPLORATION
 Portuguese Prince -Son of the Portuguese
king
 Sent more than 50 expeditions down the west
coast of Africa
 -Wanted to establish Portuguese colonies
& break the Muslim hold on trade routes
 Created a naval school that taught students
navigation, astronomy, & cartography
Institute of Sagres
Prince Henry the Navigator
 Unable to make money trading gold, so
he tried creating sugar cane plantations
 --Sugar cane was a very profitable crop,
but required lots of labor
 Henry imported slaves from Africa to
work the fields
 --This was successful & was later copied in
the New World
 --Encouraged a slave trade that lasted
another 400 years…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsyEGQmcmzE&feature=player_embedded
Spain’s Empire
 Spanish explorers were searching for a
trade route through or around North &
South America to Asia
 Wanted to find a quicker route to the gold
& spices in Asia
Christopher Columbus
 1490s—CC, an Italian, was given ships
& sailors by the Spanish monarchy
 --They wanted him to try to find a quick
route through the Atlantic Ocean to Asia
 He discovered the Bahamas, but
thought he was in Asia… “East Indies”
 --Later, it was realized that he discovered 2
new continents!
 Exploration of these areas brought great
wealth to Spain
Spain’s Empire
 Huge empire that spanned the globe
 Spanish conquistadors conquered the
Inca and Aztec civilizations in the 1500s
(South America)
 --Looking for gold & spices
 --Used missionaries to convert natives to
Christianity
 Claimed huge areas of North & South
America & ruled over them for 300 years
France’s Empire
 French possessed colonies around the
world from 1600 to 1900
 Also dominated much of the European
continent
 --By 1812, France controlled much of
Germany, Italy, & France
France’s Empire
 Established other colonies in the 16th-17th centuries:
 --Islands in the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean, the South
Pacific, the North Pacific, & the North Atlantic
 France also maintained influence in Canada, North
America, South America, Southeast Asia, & Northwest
Africa
 The famous French explorers included Jacques Cartier,
Jacques Marquette and Samuel de Champlain
The
French
explorer
Samuel
de
Champlain
Thesearched
French would
soon
carve
out
a
large
colony
along
Canada
for
a
northwest
passage
to
Asia
the Mississippi River from Canada to New Orleans
England’s Empire
 England used to be one of three
countries (England, Scotland, & Wales)
 1700s, the three united and became
Great Britain
 British empire was the largest in history
 --At its peak, Great Britain controlled:
Atlantic coast of North America (13
colonies), Canada, Australia, India, much
of Africa, and numerous islands
England’s Empire
 North America came under British control in the 1700s
 --Lost American colonies in 1776
 --Maintained control over Canada until 20th century
 Great Britain colonized Australia in 1788
 --Used it as a penal (prison) colony to relieve
overcrowded jails in England
 The English explorer James Cook was the first
European to make contact with Australia
Unlike other
European nations
whose kings paid
for colonies, the
English colonies
were paid for
by citizens who
formed joint-stock
companies
English colonies
formed along the
Atlantic Coast of
North America by
colonists motivated
either by religion
or wealth
Effects of European Exploration &
Colonization
 New colonies were founded along the coasts
of Africa and North and South Americas
 They converted conquered peoples to
Christianity
 Europeans carried diseases with them that
killed native people
 Africans and conquered peoples became
slaves to Europeans
 Columbian Exchange
Which 5 do you think had the most significant
impact?
The Effects of the European
Age of Exploration on the
Americas
1) Which 2
countries had
the largest
empire in North
America?
2) Which country
had the largest
empire in
Central and
South America?
3) Which country
had it’s empire
in Brazil?
The Effects of the European Age
of Exploration on Africa
Which
European
country had
the largest
most
colonies in
Africa?
Empires of Portugal, Spain,
England, & France
 Click here for the Empires video clip.