Download Exploration and Technology - St. Jane de Chantal School

Exploration and Technology
• Explain the reasons for European
exploration
• Explain the technology that made
ocean exploration possible.
1450 – Johannes Guttenberg develops a
new kind of printing press
1492 – Christopher Columbus lands at
San Salvador
The 1400’s was an age and advancement of learning , science, and art
It was the Renaissance
Gutenberg Press
-helped the spread of
ideas
-before, most books
were hand-written
-made it much faster
to print books
Renaissance Paintings
Renaissance Architecture
A Rush of New Ideas
“The Travels of Marco Polo”
written almost 200 years earlier – his trip to Cathay (China).
Europeans were amazed to read about Chinese inventions such as the compass
and gunpowder. Europeans also wanted the silks and spices Marco Polo wrote
about…
Europeans did
not travel by
boats to Asia,
they took
difficult land
routes, and had
to cross
mountains. The
Silk Road
How were people traveling during the 1400’s?
What was easier, horse and wagon or boat?
What kept Europeans from sailing to Asia?
Sailors lacked the technology, or
scientific knowledge, to reach Asia
by sea. They had no accurate maps.
So scientists and sailors began
working to solve these problems.
The World Awaits
Prince Henry, of Portugal, opened a school of navigation.
Navigation is the science of planning and following a route.
New Technology
the caravel – were smaller, lighter, and faster ships of the
time.
the astrolabe – used to figure out the positions of the sun,
moon, and stars
the compass – used to help sailors find their longitude, or
distance east or west of the prime meridian
Nautical technology from the
east brought a wave of sailing
possibilities. It changed
history – the lateen sail and
the stern post rudder.
Viking Ship
Lateen sail
Stern post rudder
Sternpost rudder with lateen sail
The Ottoman Empire takes Constantinople – 1453
A new route other than the Silk Road, was
needed.
Few Europeans had any idea that there were
other continents beyond Europe, Africa, and
Asia.
In A.D. 1000 Leif Erikson led the Vikings
from Norway and sailed west across the
Atlantic Ocean, stopping in Greenland,
Canada, and present-day Newfoundland.
The Vikings fought with Native Americans,
and later chose to leave. They did write about
their voyage, but few people read about them.
Sailing west across the
Atlantic was not considered
until Christopher Columbus.
America at the time
South America – Incan Empire
12 million citizens
Central America – Aztec Empire
5 million people live under Aztec rule
covered 80,000 square miles of present day Mexico.
North America – Native American people living
from Eastern Woodlands to The Southwest desert
Ptolemy was a Greek Astronomer who
lived in the second century. He was the
first person to put north at the top of a
map and the first to use longitude and
latitude.
Ptolemy’s maps greatly influenced
Europeans in the 1400’s.
His maps only showed what continents?
Columbus believed he could reach Asia
by sailing west across the Ocean Sea, the
Atlantic. He thought it would be a more
direct route to Asia than sailing around
Africa.
Proving this took money.
The Business of Exploring
Entrepreneurs – a person who sets up or runs a business. In the case of
Columbus, the business was an expedition west. And the cost was ships, crew,
and supplies.
Cost – effort made to achieve or gain something.
Risks – a ship could sink, an explorer might not find any valuable goods.
Benefit – is a reward gained, the chance of finding riches or land. The riches
could potentially repay the money paid by the trip’s supporters.
Christopher Columbus , an
Italian
King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain
The Reconquista – In Spain,
Muslims had to give up their
religion. By 1492, the King
and Queen had claimed all
lands once held by Muslims.
They also forced many
thousands of Jews to leave
Spain.
Religion is a major force in
Europe. Catholic beliefs
helped Christopher
Columbus win support. He
also promised the king and
queen great riches and new
lands and said he would
bring Catholic beliefs to the
people of Asia.
1492 – Columbus and his crew traveled about 4,100 miles to an island in
the Caribbean.
The Nine, Pinta, and the Santa Maria
He claimed the land for Spain, and called it San Salvador.
Columbus thought he reached Asia, or the Indies.
They did not find any silk or spices.
The Taino people welcomed Columbus and his people. Columbus
believed he had reached Asia and was now in the Indies. This belief
explains why he called the people he met on the island Indians.
Columbus Returns to Spain
When Columbus and his crew got back
to Spain, they were treated like heroes.
They had crossed the crossed the
Atlantic ocean and returned home.
When King Ferdinand and Queen
Isabella saw the gold, animals, plants,
and people from the Indies, they paid
for another expedition. The Spanish
rulers made reasons for this second
expedition clear. Columbus was
expected to find more riches, start
settlements, and convert the people he
met to the Catholic religion.
Summary
In the 1400’s, stories of riches in Asia made sailors want to explore. Faster
ships and new tools made exploration possible. While most people looked
to the east for a route to Asia, Columbus sailed west and reached land
across the Atlantic Ocean.