Download The Foundations of European Exploration

The Foundations of
European Exploration
C16, S2 pp. 388 - 391
Improvements in Technology
• Mapmaking
– More accurate
• Navigation– Compass- enabled ships
to sail beyond sight of
land & not get lost
• New ships– traveled further, faster, &
through harsh weather
conditions
Economic Changes
• Commercial Revolution- (1400s-1700s)
– Standardization of money
• Banks could store & lend large sums of money to
governments or businesses wanting to explore
– Joint-Stock Company
• Money raised by selling shares (stock) to investors
• Raise large sums of money to finance exploration
– European Monarchs (1400s-1500s)
• sought riches through conquest & discovery that would
make them more powerful than rival countries
Mercantilism
• Belief that there is a fixed amount of money available
in the world and it is the job of the government to do
all that it can to increase the country’s wealth
– Measured by gold & silver
• Favorable Balance of Trade– Tariffs- reduced the amount of goods from other countries
– Subsides- encouraged new industries for export
• Role of Colonies– Colonies not allowed to manufacture or import goods
– Forced to buy manufactured goods from home country
Social Change
• Social changes
– Curiosity & spirit of discovery from the
Renaissance & Scientific Revolution
– Hope of wealth or gain land
– Escape religious persecution or spread
religion
Portugal’s First Explorers
• Prince Henry- “The Navigator”
– Wanted Gold for Portugal
• Bartolomeu Dias- (1488)
– Cape of Good Hope
• Vasco da Gama– Indian Ocean
• Both found trade route from
Europe to India & the East
Indies
Christopher Columbus
• Wanted to find shorter route to Asia
• Landed in modern day Bahamas
I’m not as
nice as you
think
• Thought he found an island off the coast of
India; called the “West Indies”
Impact of Columbus’
Voyages
Dividing the New Lands
• Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)
– Spain and Portugal most
powerful countries split the
world in half
Vespucci, Balboa, &
Magellan
• Amerigo Vespucci- America named
after him
• Vasco Nunez Balboa (Spain)Panama
• Ferdinand Magellan (Portugal)- 1519
– Pacific Ocean (pacificus = calm)
– 1st round-the- world voyage
Look at map on page 396
• Copy the voyages onto the blank map
• Answer the following questions on the
back:
– How did Dias and Da Gama enable
Portugal to trade directly with Asia?
– Why did Portugal take the lead in finding a
sea route?
– How did these explorations give Portugal a
trade advantage over other European
nations?
The Slave Trade
• Triangular Trade- goods
to Africa, slaves to the
Americas, products to
Europe
• Not all African kingdoms
participated in slave trade
Portuguese Expansion
• Conquered most of Asian Islands, East African
coast, and Brazil
• BUT…..
Portuguese Empire
Weakens
• Portuguese government
– Weak
– lacked wealth & population for
expansion/colonization
• In 1580, Spain annexed Portugal
– Regained independence in 1640
Spanish Colonial Empire
• Conquistadors- Spanish Conquerors
• Cortez conquered Aztecs
– Seized Montezuma
– Pizzaro claimed Peru for Spain
–Set up colonies
–disease weakened Aztec
populations; Spain grew
wealthy
Your taking a trip
• You are about to embark on a journey at sea. What items
would you need to survive the adventure?
– Choose the most important people needed to run a ship (a captain?
a cook? a doctor? a navigator? a crewman? all of these people?)
– What type of ship will you take their journey in?
– Where are you sailing from and where do you expect to go?
– What food and drink will you take to last the journey
– If you must stop along the way to resupply, where do you plan to
get their supplies?
– Will you take extra clothing or bedding?
– How will you maintain hygiene?
– Does the group want to include medical supplies? What kind of
medical supplies do you think you will need?
• What scientific/math knowledge would you need to steer
the ship?
• What supplies will be needed to keep the ship sailing?