Age of Exploration Precedents Marco Polo Venice Silk

Age of Exploration

Precedents • Marco Polo- Venice • Silk Road • Ibn Battuta (Morocco)

Making Connections! • Indian Ocean • Zheng He – Ming Dynasty (China)

Europeans Explore the New World… • But what’s their motivation? !? • “To serve God & His Majesty, to give light to those who were in darkness, and to grow rich as all men deserve to do so…” Dias

Motivation = The 3 GGGs • GOD – Spread Christianity by fighting Muslims and converting non. Christians • GLORY - Become Famous for discovering new routes • GOLD - Find gold, become wealthy

Motivations: • Europeans wanted to “cut-out” the middle man – wanted to find a direct route to Asia to get spices/goods • Europeans wanted to spread Christianity

How Was Exploration Possible? !? • Caravel – Large vessel with triangular sails to effectively sail against and with the wind • Astrolabe – Used to measure the stars and figure out latitude and longitude • Magnetic Compass – Taken from the Chinese to track direction

On To The New World!!!! • Portugal: Leads the way! • Prince Henry creates navigation schools – mapmakers, shipbuilders, & captains all together to perfect craft • Portugal reaches Coast of North Africa Bartolomeu Dias – Reaches tip of South Africa in 1488 Vasco de Gama – Reaches Southwest coast of India in 1497 • Ferdinand Magellan- took 260 men to circumnavigate the world in 1519. Crew takes 3 years to return to Portugal with only 18 survivors. Magellan died

The Encounter!- starting in 1492

On To The New World!!!! • Spain also wanted to establish a trade route to Asia: • Christopher Columbus – Sails West across Atlantic Ocean and reaches an island in the Caribbean • France, England, and the Dutch eventually join the race to find land in the new world • China and Japan – policy of isolationism

The Aztec

Hernan Cortes & the Conquistadors

Pizarro 1532

The Inca

The Encomienda System

Columbian Exchange • Definition: The widespread exchange of animals, plants, culture, human populations, communicable diseases, technology and ideas between the American and Afro. Eurasian hemispheres following the voyage to the Americas by Christopher Columbus in 1492

Impacts of Columbian Exchange: • Capitalism – an economic system based on private ownership and the investment of resources, such as money, for profit. • Joint-Stock Company – “Modern Day Corporation” – many investors buying shares of stock in a company • Mercantilism- an economic system in which colonies exist to increase wealth of the mother country. Wealth= Power • Colonization

Did exploration cause the infamous Triangle Slave Trade?

The Middle Passage • Middle Passage- the name given for the horrendous ocean journey from Africa to the Americas. People who were enslaved were densely packed. Many died along the way.

Triangle Slave Trade Facts • • Estimated 10 Million people were kidnapped into slavery Used as a cheap source of labor Lasted throughout the 16 th to 19 th centuries Approximately 15 -25% died during the Middle Passage