Transcript Monday, September 29th

The Age of Exploration
• As the European civilization continued to
expand, its quest for more land and treasure,
particularly into Asia, increased.
• Land exploration proved to be too tough. The
Europeans looked to find a route to Asia by sea.
• There were three main reasons that the
Europeans had for exploration into other parts of
the world: the desire for wealth, the desire to
spread the Catholic faith to people across the
world and the desire for adventure and glory (1)
The Age of Exploration
• By the 15th century, the Europeans had
developed their power and resources to
afford regular, long voyages.
• Technological advances from the Arab
nations also made it possible for increased
explorations.
The Age of Exploration
• Three things that the Europeans relied on
were: (2)
• Cartography – the art and science of
map making (3), had progressed
through the efforts of the Arabs
• The Compass – showed the ship’s
direction
• The Astrolabe – showed the ship’s
latitude (or distance from the equator)
The Portuguese Trading Empire
• The country of Portugal (4) took the lead in
European exploration
– In 1420, Prince Henry the Navigator (5) sponsored
expeditions along the western coast of Africa. These
trips resulted in accumulation of greats amount of
gold.
– In 1498, Vasco da Gama (6) went all the way around
the coast of Africa and made it to the port of Calcutta
in India. Once in India, da Gama and his crew took on
what was considered to be a very valuable
commodity: spices (7). This trade route to India
became very popular and resulted in a vast amount of
wealth for the Portuguese.
– The Portuguese eventually expanded the trade route
all the way over to the coast of China and a group of
island called the Moluccas, or the Spice Islands.
Voyages to the Americas
• The Spanish had more wealth and people than the
Portuguese and were able to go to greater distances
around the seas.
• One explorer that took advantage of the Spanish
people’s ability to finance exploration was Christopher
Columbus (8). Queen Isabella (9) gave the Italian
explorer the resources necessary to attempt to find a
trade route to India by heading west.
• In 1492, Columbus landed on the coast of Cuba (10),
thinking that he had made it to Asia. He made four trips
(11) back and forth from Spain to the Caribbean Islands
and parts of Central America, thinking the whole time
that he was in China and India.
The Age of Exploration
• With Spain and Portugal battling for exploration
supremacy, the two feared that the other would
try to take over their newly found trade routes.
• In 1494, the two countries signed the Treaty of
Tordesillas (12), which placed an imaginary line
from north to south through the Atlantic Ocean.
The Portuguese would continue to explore the
territories on the eastern side of the line, and the
Spanish would explore the western side.
The Age of Exploration
• As other countries realized that Columbus had
discovered a new frontier, these countries sent
out explorers to become a part of the race to the
“New World”
– England sent John Cabot (13) to the New England
coastline.
– Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci (14) went on
voyages and wrote letters describing what he saw in
the new world. These letters led to the name
“America” (after Amerigo) for the new lands that he
explored.
The Spanish Empire
• Because of advanced weapons and fierce
determination, the Spanish conquerors, or
conquistadors (15), had incredible success
overtaking the new lands.
• By the late 1500s, Spain controlled much of
what is known now as northern Mexico and
Central America.
• As the European nations began to overtake
these new lands, their religion, culture,
language, and government (16) replaced the
Native American structures that were already in
place.
The Economic Impact
• Once in these new lands, the Europeans
found the resources and wealth to be far
more abundant than they could have
imagined.
– The Spanish explorers sent home gold, silver,
sugar, cotton, dyes, vanilla, and hides from
livestock. (17)
– The Portuguese sent eastern spices, jewels,
silk, carpets, ivory, leather, and perfumes from
India and China (18)
Competition for Land
• Explorers from the Netherlands began exploring
both towards the east and the west. The Dutch
formed the East India Company (19) after
landing in India in 1595.
• They also formed the West India Company for
trade with those people that had established
colonies in America (19) in order to establish a
trade route from India to America.
• The Dutch established a colony in present-day
New York called “New Netherlands”. (20)
Competition for Land
• After 1650, rivalry with the English and the
French ended the Dutch commercial enterprise
in the Americas.
– The English seized New Netherlands and renamed it
New York. (21)
– The land that is part of present-day Canada became
a French colony. (22)
• The English also established the Massachusetts
Bay Colony in 1630. (23) By 1700, England had
established a colonial empire along North
America’s eastern seaboard.
Establishment of American
Colonies
• During the 1500s and 1600s, many
European nations established colonies in
the Americas, particularly along the East
coast
• A colony is a settlement of people living in a new
territory, linked with the parent country by trade
and governmental control. (24)
Establishment of American
Colonies
• These colonies greatly increased international
trade. They also played an important role in the
theory of mercantilism. (25)
• Mercantilism is a theory of economics that states
that a nation’s prosperity depends on a large
supply of bullion (gold and silver) (26) because
bullion gave a country a favorable balance of trade
– the difference in value between what a nation
imports and what it exports over time. (27)
Establishment of American
Colonies
• A favorable trade balance means that the value of
exported goods is greater than the value of imported
goods. Basically, the stuff we are selling makes us more
money than the stuff that we are buying.
• The governments of these colonies did several things to
ensure a favorable trade balance: (28)
• They gave money (granted subsidies) to new
industries and businesses
• They improved transportation systems
• They placed high tariffs (taxes) on foreign goods to
keep them out of the country
Establishment of American
Colonies
• The colonies were important for two
reasons: (29)
– The colonies were important as sources of
raw materials for companies to make goods
that were exported to foreign countries
– The colonies were also important for
establishing markets that sold the companies
finished goods