The Age of Exploration
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Transcript The Age of Exploration
The Age of
Exploration
15th and 16th centuries
Technological Advancements
• Renaissance ideas were applied to exploration
– Magnetic compass
– Cannon
– Caravel
• Smaller, wind-powered ship
• Portuguese invention
– Astrolabe
• Determined latitude, direction north or south of Equator
– Better Maps
1507 Waldseemuller Map
Why Explore?
• God
– Spread the Catholic religion, primarily
• Gold
– Financial opportunities: gold, silver, spices
– Leaders want more $ and support exploration (Henry
the Navigator)
• Glory
– The ability to brag or be the best Euro country.
• Gateway
– Access to other markets
#1 motive: Material Profit…$, supplies
Portuguese Symbolism in Art
Portugal: 1st to Explore
• Goals of exploration:
– Christianize
– Gold
– Access to spice markets in
India
• Supported by Prince
Henry the Navigator, King
Manuel I
• Got in on gold trade in the
Mediterranean Sea
– Made $ necessary for more
expeditions
• Will own Brazil by 1500
– Treaty of Tordesillas, 1494
Treaty of Tordesillas
Spain
Portugal
Manuelian Architecture
Portuguese Explorers
• Bartholomew Diaz,
1478
– Sailed to the Cape of
Good Hope (Africa)
• Vasco da Gama,
1497-1499
– Sailed to India,
returned with spices &
cloth
Lisbon, Portugal
Lisbon, Portugal
Entrance Port to Europe
Christopher Columbus
• An Italian who sailed for King Ferdinand and Queen
Isabella of Spain
– Cristobal Columbo
– Columbus begged K & Q for $ for exploration
• Spain had gone through the reconquista
– Expulsion of the Muslim Moors from Granada
• Bad guy in history
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–
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Raped, killed, enslaved natives,
Hispaniola, 1496 (Dominican Republic)
Didn’t find America first
Had no idea where he was. India? China?
Can we judge him?
• Maybe not…no moral compass
Spanish Governing
• Established 4 viceroyalies or divisions of
“new world” territory with 4 governors
• Mercantilism: colonies exist for the benefit
of the mother country (Spain)
• Didn’t allow for self-rule or native industry
– Perhaps a reason why much of S.A. and
Mexico are considered “3rd World” countries?
Moorish Influence
Ferdinand Magellan
• Magellan, Spain 1519
– Sailed by order of Charles
V (H.R.Emperor, Spanish
Habsburg)
– Sailed around Cape Horn
(South America)
– Explored Philippines
(named after Philip II,
H.R.E.)
– Proved earth was round,
bigger than thought
Hernando Cortes
• Cortes, Spain 1519
– Explored Mexico
– Captured Aztec
leader, Montezuma
• Montezuma’s revenge
– Made Tenochtitlan
(Mexico City) the
capital city of “New
Spain”
Francisco Pizarro
• Pizarro, Spain 15311536
– Explored Peru in S.
America
– Destroyed the Incan
Empire
– Lima became the
capital city
John Cabot
• Cabot, England 1497
– An Italian (same area
as Columbus)
– “Discovered”
Newfoundland when
trying to get to Brazil
(Portuguese land)
– No spices or gold for
Henry VII, went back
to England
Jacques Cartier
• Cartier, France 15341541
– Explored the St.
Lawrence River &
Canada
– Explored near Quebec
• Quebec is a French
speaking province of
Canada
Dutch East India Company
• Founded in 1602, The Netherlands
• Government supported company
• Explored solely for material gain
Impact of Exploration
• Columbian Exchange (Columbus)
– Exchange of plants and animals:
• Corn or maize, sugar cane
• Horses, cows, sheep
– Exchange of disease:
• Euros brought smallpox
• Natives gave Syphilis
• High death toll of natives
– Migration of people to “new world”