The Story of the Exploration Age

There were several reasons for the Age of Exploration of the 1400s – 1600s. One main reason why explorers were looking for a new route to Asia in the first place was because there were some difficulties traveling over land to China and India from Europe. One practical problem was that no matter if you were coming or going, if you were a trader, you were always loaded with either stuff to trade or the cash to buy the stuff to trade, often in the form of gold and silver. If the bandits didn’t get you on the way there, they might get you on the way back. After all, there were only about 3 roads in the world which you would obviously have to travel. Then, you would still have to overcome two other obstacles: Muslim tribes who didn’t like invaders and were often at war with other tribes, and some rather large geographical features known as the Himalayas, the highest mountains in the world. Then there were a three more reasons. These are most easily remembered as God, Gold, and Glory.

God: Kings, queens, and popes wanted to spread Catholicism around the world, especially to natives in faraway lands who needed to be “civilized”.

Gold: Well… enough said, really. Everyone likes gold. And there was a lot of it in Africa and the Americas, as well as silver, emeralds and numerous other resources that could make you rich.

Glory: Some people thrive on danger and adventure, and can’t stay in one place for too long. Exploring the “New World” or searching for a new route to Asia provided a perfect situation too tempting to pass up for many explorers, conquerors, priests, businessmen, and adventurers. Many would become famous during their lifetime, but many would die trying.Even more would lose their lives at the hands of many of these men as well as the empires and technology behind them. Most of all, though, it was disease that killed up to 90% of the native population in the Americas, wiping out complete tribes of indigenous people. But it is those relatively few explorers that have had a relatively immeasurable impact on our lives, even today.

In 1492, the world was forever changed when an Italian explorer named Christopher Columbus, sailing for Spain and looking for Asia, landed in the Bahama Islands in the Caribbean Sea in North America. On the first of four voyages, Columbus was given 3 ships by Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of what is today Spain; the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. Not realizing he had discovered the “New World” of the Americas, Columbus thought he had landed somewhere in the continent of Asia, near the East Indies, so he called the native peoples he met here “Indians”. Even though he would never find what many European explorers were looking for, a westward sea route to Asia, he went to his grave thinking he had found just that.

In the years that followed, another country, Portugal, surpassed even Spain and paved the way for others to follow their lead in the Exploration Age. First, was Prince Henry the Navigator. He built a navigational school that helped train sailors and then he helped fund their voyages. His school still stands today. Many of these Portuguese explorers were the first in the world to accomplish what they did.

In 1488, Bartolomeu Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope near the southern tip of Africa.
Ten years later, in 1498, Vasco da Gama took Dias’ maps and discoveries and went further, all the way to India.
Probably one of the biggest accomplishments of the Portuguese was between 1519-1522 when one of Ferdinand Magellan’s five ships was the first to circumnavigate (go all the way around) the world.

In 1494, the Pope decided to draw a line in South America to keep two of his Catholic countries, Spain and Portugal, from fighting one another. The effects of the Treaty of Tordesillascan still be seen today, as the countries west of the line in 1494 still speak Spanish today, and the area to the east, today the country of Brzail, still speaks Portuguese.

But Spain wouldn’t play second to Portugal for long and soon had just as many important explorers with just as many important accomplishments.

In 1513, Juan Ponce de Leon was the first known European to reach the U.S. mainland and explored the area known today as the state of Florida, named for its many flowers.
In 1513, Vasco Nunez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama and became the first known European to reach the Pacific Ocean.
In 1519, Hernan Cortes sailed from Cuba to Mexico and over the next two years conquered the Aztec civilization with only 600 soldiers.
In the early 1500s, Francisco Pizarro explored the northern part of South America along with Balboa. In 1534, along with the help of Hernando de Soto, he conquered the Inca of Peru.
Between 1539-1543, Hernando de Soto explored the Mississippi River. He died alongside the river he discovered.
In the years 1540-1542, Francisco Coronado explored the American (U.S.) southwest, looking for the Seven Cities of Cibola, a.k.a. the “Seven Cities of Gold”.

Italy also had some important accomplishments.

In 1492, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, sailing for the country of Spain, is credited with “discovering” the Americas.
In 1502-1504, Amerigo Vespucci, working for the Medici Bank, joined an expedition as an observer. But his observations would change the world. Historians think he was the first to realize that Columbus had not reached Asia at all, but an entirely “new world.”

England’s most famous contribution was Sir Francis Drake’s 1580 trip around the world. His was only the second in history to do so after Magellan nearly 60 years earlier.

The Geography of the Exploration Age

The “Old World” consisted of Asia, Europe, and Africa. The “New World” was actually the continents of North and South America, including the islands in the Caribbean south of Florida where some of the earliest discoveries were. The Columbian Exchange, as it was eventually called, was the transfer of plants, animals, and more from the Old World to the New and vice versa. These exchanges have a profound effect on our lives today as well. Here are some examples:

Old World to New World

Cattle, horses, pigs, spices, and silk were both traded and brought for practical reasons, and eventually became part of our experience here in the New World. Native Americans, for example, would become some of the best horseback riders in the world. But the 3 biggest examples of influence today in the New World is the transfer of language, religion, and the devastating effects of diseases like smallpox, measles, and typhus that wiped out entire peoples.

New World to Old World

Tomatoes, potatoes, corn, tobacco, and chocolate are some of the foods that have changed the Old World forever. Italy is today known for its pasta dished with different kinds of tomato sauces like lasagna, spaghetti and marinara sauce, but the tomato that makes it all possible was originally from the Americas.

Though Germany and Switzerland are known for some of the best in the world, chocolate made from the cacao bean is a Maya creation from Central America. And corn and potatoes have kept entire populations from starving all in parts of Europe and all over Africa and the rest of the world today as well.

The Triangular Trade

The Columbian Exchange was possible geographically because of the three regions of the world that were now connected through travel on water over great distances. The three regions that made up the triangle are Europe and Africa to the east, and the Americas to the west. Ships would leave Europe and carry rum, textiles, and other goods to Africa. These ships would pick up slaves in Africa and bring them to the Americas to work on the sugar plantations. These ships would then leave the Americas with the sugar, cotton, and tobacco harvested by the Native American and African slaves. These products were then brought back to the Old World where the sugar was turned into rum, the cotton turned into textiles and the whole process would begin again.