Age of Exploration
What was the Age of Exploration?
•Period when Europeans began to explore the rest of the world.
•Improvements in mapmaking, shipbuilding, technology and navigation made it possible
•Policy of mercantilism drives exploration.
What was Mercantilism?
•Policy that said there was a limited amount of money in the world.
•Each country needs to grab what they can before it is gone.
•Export more than you import…more money in your pocket.
•Colonies and markets were needed to keep everything in the system.
1500-1800 Dynamic Energy in Europe leads to European Expansion
Why would they risk so much to explore?
•The 3 G’s: God, Gold, Glory
•Europeans risked dangerous ocean voyages to discover new sea routes.
•Spain and Portugal control the “New World”
•Early European explorers sought gold in Africa, then began to trade slaves.
The Explorers: Portugal
Bartolomeu Dias
•Sailed around Cape of Good Hope at southern tip of Africa.
•Found route to Indian OceanTrade can go from Europe to Asia by sea.
Vasco da Gama
•Landed in India in 1498.
•Important trade route from Europe to India and East Indies.
Ferdinand Magellan
•His crew made first round-the-world voyage. (circumnavigate)
•Magellan was killed in the Philippines, did not make it home.
The Portuguese explored the GoldCoast
•Southern coast of Africa along the Atlantic = “The Gold Coast”
The Explorers Spain
Christopher Columbus
•Believed a shorter route to Asia could be found by sailing westward instead of around Africa.Found the CaribbeanIslands.
Voyages to the Americas-Both Spain and Portugal feared the other would claim some of its newly “discovered” territories.
•In the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas, they decided on a north-to-south line through the Atlantic Ocean and the easternmost part of South America.
•Portugal claimed the unexplored territories east of the line, Spain to the west.
Amerigo Vespucci
•Wrote letters of the New World. Led to naming of America.
Disease Ravages America: Smallpox, measles, typhus
•Hispaniola – pop. 250,000 in 1492 pop. 500 in 1538
•Mexico – pop. 25 Million in 1519 pop. 1 Million in 1630
What Was the Columbian Exchange?
•Massive exchange of plants, animals and diseases.
•These things moved between the New and Old Worlds.Started with Columbus.
•To the Americas: cows, horses, wheat, smallpox, plus much more.
•To Europe: potatoes, tomatoes, tobacco, corn, plus much more.