Download The Age of Exploration - White Plains Public Schools

The Age of Exploration: Adventure on the High Seas
Global History and Geography I
Name: _______________________
E. Napp
Date: _______________________
Before the Age of Exploration, most Western Europeans only knew about the
European continent. Travel and trade were difficult and dangerous before the Age
of Exploration. Few maps existed and few people could read or write. However,
with the Age of Exploration, Western Europeans began to explore “new” lands.
Western Europeans began to seek adventure and travel. The Age of Exploration
began in the 1400s.
Questions:
1- Why did most Western Europeans know little about other continents before
the 1400s?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
2- What happened in the 1400s to change this lack of knowledge?
__________________________________________________________________
Of course, some Europeans did travel before the Age of Exploration. For example,
Marco Polo traveled on the Silk Road to Kublai Khan’s China in the 1200s. After
Marco Polo returned to the Italian peninsula, he was captured as a prisoner of war.
In prison, he told a fellow prisoner about his travels. The fellow prisoner was a
writer and wrote a book called The Travels of Marco Polo. Marco Polo’s book
encouraged other Western Europeans to travel. In particular, Christopher
Columbus read Polo’s book and took careful notes on it. Columbus dreamed of
finding his way to the east one day.
3- Who was Marco Polo?
_________________________________________________________________
4- What happened to Marco Polo when he returned to the Italian peninsula?
_________________________________________________________________
5- Why was a book written about Marco Polo’s travels?
_________________________________________________________________
6- What famous explorer was inspired or encouraged by Marco Polo?
_________________________________________________________________
7- What did this explorer dream of doing?
_________________________________________________________________
8- Why do you think he dreamed of doing this?
_________________________________________________________________
Christopher Columbus was a famous explorer during the Age of Exploration.
Columbus was born in Genoa, a town in Italy, in 1471. Columbus was very
interested in exploration. So, he moved to Portugal. The rulers of Portugal
encouraged exploration. In fact, Prince Henry the Navigator had built a school for
mapmakers (cartographers) and sea captains. So, naturally, Columbus wanted to
live in Portugal. In Portugal, Columbus became a skilled navigator.
Question:
9- Why did Columbus move to Portugal?
__________________________________________________________________
10- Who was Prince the Henry the Navigator and why was he important?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Columbus said that he wanted to explore for “Gold, God, and Cathay.” Gold
meant that he wanted riches by trading in spices and silks. He also wanted to
spread Christianity to non-Christian lands (“God”). Finally, Columbus wanted to
visit China (Cathay was an ancient name for China). He wanted to see the land
Marco Polo visited.
Question:
11- Why did Columbus want to explore?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Columbus knew that the world was round as did other educated people. He
concluded that if he traveled west, he would arrive in the east. So, rather than
sailing around Africa to arrive in Asia, he would sail west across the Atlantic Ocean
to Asia. Of course, Columbus did not know that the Americas existed. Few people
would give Columbus money for ships. They believed that the world was bigger
than Columbus imagined and that he would run out of food and supplies. They
believed that Columbus would die on his journey. In 1492, Queen Isabella and King
Ferdinand of Spain gave Columbus the money he needed on the condition that any
new lands he discovered would belong to Spain.
Questions:
12- How did Columbus plan to travel to Asia?
__________________________________________________________________
13- What ocean would he cross?
__________________________________________________________________
14- Why were people not willing to give Columbus money for ships?
__________________________________________________________________
15- Who finally gave Columbus money for ships?
__________________________________________________________________
16- Why were they willing to give Columbus money?
__________________________________________________________________
Columbus set sail in 1492 with three ships. Columbus traveled for many days and
started to run out of supplies. But fortunately, before his crew became angry, a
sailor spotted land. The land was an island in the Caribbean. He thought he was
near Asia. Columbus did not realize that he had arrived in the Americas.
Columbus’ arrival in the Americas was a turning point. The Europeans would
conquer the Americas and the Native American Indians would lose control of their
lands.
Questions:
17- Where did Columbus finally arrive?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
18- How did Columbus’ arrival change world history?
__________________________________________________________________
This is a diagram of the Columbian Exchange.
Questions:
1- Why is the exchange called the “Columbian Exchange”.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
2- What event led to the beginning of this exchange?
__________________________________________________________________
3- What products did the Americas send to Europe, Asia, and Africa?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
4- What products did Europe, Asia, and Africa send to the Americas?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
5- Look at this question from the New York State Regents:
What was a significant effect of the Columbian exchange?
(1) The Aztec conquered a vast empire.
(2) Potatoes were introduced into the diet of some Europeans.
(3) Prince Henry the Navigator established a school for sailors.
(4) China closed its borders to foreigners.
What is the correct answer? Why is it the correct answer?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
“Not only did you get the wrong country but the wrong continent!”
Ferdinand Magellan: To Circumnavigate the World
Because the spice trade could make them wealthy, explorers were motivated to find
a faster and cheaper sea route. The European routes were controlled by the Italian
city-states of Venice and Genoa and later the Ottoman Turks of Constantinople
(present-day Istanbul). After Vasco da Gama's famous voyage around the Cape of
Good Hope to India, the Portuguese had to battle Muslim forces and rival traders to
gain a piece of the spice trade. The rulers of Portugal and Spain sought different
routes to the Indies.
On June 7, 1494, the Spanish and Portuguese signed the Treaty of Tordesillas to
divide the world in two. The dividing line ran through the Atlantic with Spain
gaining lands to the west including the Americas. However, Brazil was granted
Portugal. The eastern half including Africa and India was given to Portugal.
Questions:
1- Why did European explorers want to find faster and cheaper sea routes?
_______________________________________________________________
2- Who controlled the “traditional” routes?
_______________________________________________________________
3- What did Vasco da Gama accomplish?
_______________________________________________________________
4- What was the Treaty of Tordesillas?
_______________________________________________________________
The first circumnavigation of the globe (sea voyage around the world) was led by
Ferdinand Magellan. Magellan was Portuguese. Like Columbus before him,
Magellan believed he could get to the Spice Islands by sailing west. He knew he
would have to sail around or through the Americas to do so. Although the
Portuguese king would not help him, Magellan easily convinced the teenaged
Spanish king to provide ships.
Question:
1- Why did Magellan want to sail west?
________________________________________________________________
A good deal of what we know of the voyage of Magellan came from an Italian
crewmember, Antonio Pigafetta. According to Pigafetta’s diary, Magellan's fleet
set sail for Brazil on a southwest course. He eventually anchored off the coast of
present-day Rio de Janiero. After stocking up on fresh food and water, the fleet
made its way down the east coast of South America looking for a passage to the
Pacific Ocean. Finally, the fleet saw a strait and started through it.
Having no idea of the immense size of the Pacific Ocean, the voyage across took
approximately four months. Conditions aboard the ships were terrible. The crew
began to starve as food was depleted. The water turned putrid and yellow in color.
The crew survived on sawdust, leather strips from the sails, and rats. Without the
benefit of vitamin C in fresh fruits and vegetables, the men also came down with
scurvy. Finally in January, 1521, the crew stopped off at an island. Magellan was
killed in a tribal battle. [April 27, 1521]. However, eighteen members of his crew
finished the journey.
2- What happened to Magellan?
_________________________________________________________________
http://www.mariner.org/educationalad/ageofex/images/pdf/disease_worksheet.pdf
Word Bank:
Malaria, Seasickness, Dysentery, Typhus, Syphilis, Scurvy
Le corsaire le grand Coureur
In order to rest from fighting
We have with our meals
Dried beans and rancid bacon
Vinegar instead of wine
Already rotten biscuit
And camphor every morning
Word Bank:
Columbus, Cathay, Malaria, Magellan, Exploration, Vasco da Gama,
Christianity, Bartolome Dias, Compass, Columbian, Tordesillas, Potato, Spain,
Marco Polo