Transcript Powerpoint - Getting to Asia

Getting to Asia
The Age of
Exploration
I. Marco Polo
 A merchant from Venice, Italy.
 Traveled overland to East Asia.
 Lived in China from 1275-1292.
 Returned with stories of the
wealth and grandeur of the East.
I. Marco Polo (cont.)
 His book greatly influenced
Europeans to find a water route
Asia.
to
 “I didn’t tell half of what I saw,
because no one would have believed
me.” – Marco Polo
II. Portugal
 Convinced the best water route to
Asia is going SOUTH around Africa.
1) Bartolomeu Dias – 1488.
 First European to successfully
round the Cape of Good Hope.
Cape of
Good
Hope
II. Portugal (cont.)
2) Vasco da Gama – 1497.
 Rounded Africa and continued on
to India.
 First European to successfully sail
to Asia and back.
India
II. Portugal (cont.)
3) Pedro Cabral – 1500
 Sailed for India but drifted west of
da Gama’s route.
 Landed on present-day Brazil.
 Claimed the land for Portugal.
(Treaty of Tordesillas - 1494)
Spain
Portugal
Line of
Demarcation
Brazil
Spain
III. Spain
 Sold on the idea that the short cut
to Asia was going WEST to get east.
1) Christopher Columbus – 1492
 Sailed west and landed in the
Bahamas; thought he was near
India and China.
Indies
III. Spain (cont.)

Columbus would make 3 more trips.
 Explored the entire Caribbean
looking for a path to Asia.
 Established the first European
colony in the Americas on
Hispaniola.
III. Spain (cont.)
2) Amerigo Vespucci – 1499, 1501.
 Followed up on the voyages of
Columbus.
 Coined the phrase “New World.”
 Americas are named after him.
North
America
Old
World
New
World
South
America
III. Spain (cont.)
3) Vasco de Balboa – 1513.
 Hacked through the jungle in
Panama and reached the “South
Sea.”
 Claimed the sea and all
surrounding lands for Spain.
Hispaniola
Pacific
Ocean
(a.k.a.
“South Sea”)
III. Spain (cont.)
4) Ferdinand Magellan – 1519-22.
 Set out to finish the voyage of
Columbus.
 Can you go west to get east?
 First voyage to sail all the way
around the world.
First circumnavigation
of the globe
Magellan
killed
Strait of
Magellan
IV. England
 Believed in the existence of a
“Northwest Passage” to Asia.
1) John Cabot – 1497.
 Reached the east coast of what is
today Canada.
 Claimed the lands for England.
Newfoundland
IV. England (cont.)
2) Sir Francis Drake – 1577-80.
 Set out to raid Spanish settlements
on the west coast of the Americas.
 Traveled as far north as S.F. bay
looking for west end of NW Passage.
 Finished by going around the world.
Nova Albion
(New Britain)
IV. England (cont.)
3) Henry Hudson – 1609, 1610.
 Sailed in search of the N.W. Passage.
 Explored Hudson River for the Dutch.
 Led to the establishment of “New
Amsterdam.”
 Explored Hudson Bay for England.
Hudson
Bay
Hudson
River
V. France
 Also sent explorers in search of the
fabled Northwest Passage.
1) Giovanni da Verrazano – 1524.
 Explored the east coast of what is
now the U.S..
 Claimed the land as New France.
New
France
V. France (cont.)
2) Jacques Cartier – 1534, 1535.
 Followed up Verrazano’s voyage.
 Explored the St. Lawrence River.
 Got as far inland as Montreal.
Montreal
The Americas ca. 1750