Transcript Age of Exploration

Age of Exploration
Europeans Explore the East
Background
• Crusades of Middle Ages
• 1275 – Marco Polo visited Kublai Kahn in
China
• Renaissance spirit of adventure & curiosity
“God, Glory, Gold”
• Find new sources of wealth
– New trade routes
• Spread Christianity
“To serve God and His Majesty, to
give light to those who were in
darkness and to grow rich as all
men desire to do.”
~Bartolomeu Dias
New Technology
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Cartography – map-making
Caravel – sturdier ship
Triangular sails – better against wind
Navigational techniques
– Astrolabe (Muslims)
– Magnetic compass (Chinese)
Portugal Leads the Way
• Strong gov’t support of exploration
• Prince Henry the Navigator
– Sought treasures & spread of Christianity
– Founded navigational school
• Est. trading posts on coast of Africa
• Began attempt to find
sea route to Asia
Early Portuguese Exploration
• 1488 – Bartolomeu Dias – sailed to Cape of
Good Hope (tip of S. Africa)
• 1497 – Vasco da Gama – reached port of
Calicut, India
– Direct sea route to Asia
Da Gama
Spain Follows Portugal’s Lead
• 1492 – Christopher Columbus – reached island
in Caribbean
– Increased tensions between Spain & Portugal
• Pope Alexander IV created Line of
Demarcation
– Lands to the west of the line = Spain’s
– Lands to the east of the line = Portugal’s
• 1494 – Treaty of Tordesillas
– moved line farther west
Portugal’s Trading Empire
• Took control of spice trade form Muslim
merchants
• Controlled of the Straits of Hormuz, Strait of
Malacca
• Broke Muslim-Italian dominance on trade
– More Europeans could afford goods
Spain’s Trading Empire
• 1521 – Ferdinand Magellan arrived in
Philippines
– Claimed & settled the islands
Other European Exploration
• England, Netherlands, France
– Created companies to mint $, make treaties, raise
armies
• Dutch Republic (Netherlands) – independence
from Spain in 1581
– Leading sea power – largest fleet of ships
– Dutch East India Company
Other European Exploration
• Dutch made trade headquarters @ Batavia on
island of Java
– Ruled Indonesia & controlled Indian Ocean trade
– Controlled Cape of Good Hope
– Amsterdam became
leading commercial center
Other European Exploration
• England – English East India Company
– Outposts in India – traded Indian cloth
• France – French East India Company
– Struggled for outpost in India (not profitable)
• European influence in
inland S.E. Asia was limited