Essential Question:

What factors encouraged the

European Age of Exploration?
Warm-Up:

Have a seat! We will go over your

assignment from yesterday as your
warm up.
Make sure you have something to write
with!!!

From the 1400s to the 1700s, Europe experienced an Age of

Exploration
The Renaissance encouraged
curiosity & a desire for trade

Motivations:
Motivations
Why did Europeans want to explore?
As a result of exploration, European
nations grew powerful & spread their
influence throughout the world

Discussion Questions: Why was Europe interested in the Asia? What

was the major dilemma in getting what they wanted?

Europe wanted to trade in Asia, but hated and was afraid of

Muslims in between them. No land or routes to trade around them
yet and the Muslims would only trade Asian goods with Italy.

Gold (Money)
lookingof
forwealth
quick,was
direct
AMerchants
desire forbegan
new sources
thetrade
main
routes
to Asia
avoid Muslim
& Italian
reason
for to
European
exploration
merchants & increase profits

The Crusades & Renaissance

stimulated European desires for
exotic Asian luxury goods

Glory
Kings
sponsored
voyages
of possibilities
exploration
The who
Renaissance
inspired
new
gained overseasforcolonies,
sources of wealth
power &new
prestige
for their nation, & increased power

Exploration presented Europeans

the opportunity to rise from poverty
and gain fame, fortune, & status

God

European Christians, especially Catholics,

wanted to stop the spread of Islam &
convert non-Christians to the faith

Explorers were encouraged to

spread Christianity or bring
missionaries who would focus
only on conversions

Means:
Means
The Age of Exploration
How were explorers able to sail
so far & make it back again?

Before the Renaissance, sailors did not have the

technology to sail very far from Europe & return

Navigation
Trade & cultural diffusion during the Renaissance introduced
new navigation techniques to Europeans

Astrolabe
Maps
usedwere
starsmore accurate and
Magnetic compass
made
to show direction
used longitude & latitude
sailing more accurate

What made exploration

possible?
Technology:
Smaller, sturdy ships called
caravels with a smaller crew.
More accurate maps
Mariners compass
Weapons: Cannons and
guns.

European shipbuilders built a better ship;

The caravel was a strong ship that could travel
in the open seas & in shallow water
Caravels had
triangular lateen
sails that allowed
ships to sail
against the wind

Cannons & rifles

gave ships protection

A moveable
rudder made the
caravel more
maneuverable

The
of Exploration
Who were
theAge
explorers,
where did they go,
& how did they change world history?

Europeans were not the first to explore the

oceans in search of new trade routes

Islamic merchants explored the Indian Ocean

& had dominated the Asian spice trade for
centuries before European exploration

Early Exploration

From 1405 to 1433, Zheng He led

the Chinese treasure fleet on
7 expeditions to SE Asia, India, &
Africa during the Ming Dynasty

What do you know about

Portuguese exploration?
1. Small country with big interest. Prince
Henry the Navigator spends his own
money on expert group to secretly
prepare a crew.
2.

Set up trade and colonies on east coast of

Africa. Used cannons to negotiate trade
rights with locals.

3.

Dias and da Gama = India. Kick out

Muslims, set up trade rights with locals.

4.

Competition with Italy for Asian goods

means cheaper items for Europeans,
demand goes up, Portugal makes money.

5.

They had nothing to trade to Asia, must

pay in gold. Not powerful enough to
colonize Asia, like they did in the Central
and South America.

But in the late 1400s, the European sailors did

what neither Muslim nor Chinese explorers could:
Begin global (not regional) exploration &
create colonies to increase their wealth & power

In Portugal, Prince Henry

the Navigator started a
school of navigation to train
sailors
He brought in Europes best
map-makers, ship-builders,
& sailing instructors
He wanted to
discover new
territories, find
a quick trade
route to Asia,
& expand
Portugals
power

Portugal was the

early leader in the
Age of Exploration

Prince Henrys navigation school &

willingness to fund voyages led the
Portuguese to be the 1st to explore the west
coast of Africa
Vasco da Gama
was the 1st explorer
to find a direct
trade route to Asia
by going around
Africa to get to
India
Portugal gained a
sea route to Asia
that brought them
great wealth

During the Age of

Exploration, Portugal
created colonies along the
African coast, in Brazil, &
the Spice Islands in Asia

The Spanish government

saw Portugals wealth &
did not want to be left out
More than any other
European monarch,
Ferdinand & Isabella
of Spain sponsored &
supported overseas
expeditions

Like most educated men of

the Renaissance, Columbus
believed the world was
round & thought he could
reach Asia by sailing west

He made 4 trips to
India never knowing he
was in America

Columbus reached the

Bahamas in America
but thought that he had
reached islands off the
coast of India

What is the Columbian

Exchange?

Term was coined by

Historian Al Crosby of the
University of Texas
Contact between any two
peoples geographically
separated from one
another results in an
exchange of physical
elements
The three main elements
are animals, plants and
microbes

Native Americans
Spanish conquistadors made
slaves work in sugar
fields and mining
operations.
Columbian Exchange:
Transfer of goods
between Eastern and
Western Hemisphere.
There was good and bad.

- Millions of natives

were killed off by

disease brought by
Europeans, like Small
pox and syphilis
-Sweat baths made
worse
-Animal domestication
-Deliberately:
infected
Exchange
blankets?
Chart

Animals
Llama was the only
domesticated
animal in Latin
America
Cattle, horses pigs
and sheep =>
Americas
None => Europe

Animals
Significant environmental
impact
Animal fertilizer became an
important part of the
agricultural system

Plants
Europeans brought
cash crops to Americas
and brought crops back
Maize, potato, tomato,
tobacco, beans, cacao
and cotton => Europe
Sugar, rice, wheat,
coffee, bananas and
grapes => Americas

Plants
New crops flourished in Americas
Many indigenous plants were
crowded out by new crops and
weeds
Old world crops stronger because
they had a more competitive original
environment
Economy shifts to large scale
agricultural production, labor
intensive
Europeans adopt crops from
Americas

Old World Microbes

European disease was particularly

virulent
Smallpox, measles, diphtheria,
whooping cough, chicken pox,
bubonic plague, scarlet fever and
influenza were the most common
microbial diseases exchanged
Nearly all of the European diseases
were communicable by air and touch
The pathway of these diseases was
invisible to both Indians and
Europeans

European Belief
There was no germ theory at
the time of contact
Illness in Europe was considered
to be the consequence of sin
Indians, who were largely
heathen or non-Christian were
regarded as sinners and
therefore subject to illness as a
punishment

Disease Raced Ahead

In most cases, Indian people
became sick even before they
had direct contact with
Europeans
Trade goods that traveled from
tribe to tribe through middlemen
were often the vector of disease
There is little evidence to think
that Europeans intentionally
infected trade items for trade
with Indians to kill them

Smallpox
Central Mexico 25 million in
1519 to less than one million
in 1605
Hispaniola One million in
1492 to 46,000 in 1512
North America 90% of Native
Americans were gone within
100 years of Plymouth landing

Native Americans

Why were Europeans

immune?
Has everything to do with their
original environments
Most pathogens originate with
animals or insects
Domesticated animals and plants
were more numerous in Europe
Human exposure to greater
diversity meant more ecological
protection

Demographic Significance
Native American population
decreases
Europeans need labor so they
import African slaves
Europeans move to Americas to
oversee economic production
Mixing of all three populations
occur in varying degrees

Myth

Lets set the record straight

Christopher
Truth
Columbus
discovery America
America existed long before
Christopher
Christopher Columbus was alive.
Columbus landed in
It was inhabited by millions of
the USA
Indigenous Peoples without
Columbus
their own culture, language,
befriended the
government, and trading
Indigenous people
systems.
http://www.history.co
He landed in what we know as
m/topics/exploration/
the Bahamas , present day Haiti
christopherand the Dominican Republic
columbus

He used Indigenous people for

information on the land, to work,
for entertainment, and for gold

Despite the fact that

Magellan became the
Columbus never found
first explorer to
Asia, Ferdinand Magellan circumnavigate the Earth
still thought he could
(go all the way around)
reach Asia by sailing West

Explain what Magellan did

in 1519

First to circumnavigate the world

Sailed west from Spain, cut through S. America at the Straight of
Magellan to Pacific, sailed and starved for one month to Asia.
Magellan dies in Philippians. Crew finishes without him.

During the
Age of Exploration,
Spain created colonies in
North & South America

Spain sent explorers called conquistadors

to the New World to find gold, claim land,
& spread Christianity
Cortez
conquered
the Aztecs

Pizarro
conquered
the Inca
The influx of gold from
America made Spain the
most powerful country in
Europe during the early
years of the
Age of Exploration

How did the Pope keep Spain and

Portugal from fighting over newly
discovered lands?
Line of Demarcation:
Demarcation Spain tells Pope about discovery.
Pope divides non-Christian world between Portugal
and Spain so they dont fight.

England, France, & the Netherlands became involved

in overseas exploration & colonization as well

After failing to do so,

Champlain founded the
French colony of Quebec
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

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

The English explorer James Cook was

the first European to make contact with
Australia, New Zealand, & Hawaii

Like England, the

The Dutch had colonies in
Netherlands (the Dutch) America & Africa, but the
allowed private companies
Dutch East India
to fund exploration
Company dominated trade
in Asia

Conclusions

As a result of the Age of Exploration, European