Motivations for Exploration Gold Demand for gold spices

Motivations for Exploration

Gold ► Demand for gold, spices, natural resources for Europe § Inflation in Spain ► Wealth that could be gained from trade with India and China ► Wealth that could be gained from cheap land § Colonies ► New products (Columbian Exchange)

God ► Support for the diffusion (spread) of Christianity ** --Migration of colonists to new lands --Influence of Catholics and Protestants who carried their faith as missionaries to new lands --Conversion of indigenous people ► Desire for religious freedom

Glory ► Political and economic competition between European countries § Colonies § Development of Empires (British Empire) ► Desire to be the first to discover something or successfully complete a dangerous voyage

Gadgets ► Innovation in navigational arts—European and Islamic ideas—made it possible to safely cross oceans § Compass § Astrolabe, Sextant § Mapmaking techniques § Shipbuilding

MERCANTILISM ► Economic principle based upon gaining wealth by taking it from someplace else. (Mercantilism assumes there is a fixed amount of wealth in the world. ) In the age of exploration, “someplace else” meant colonies.

European nations gained wealth from colonies in three ways: ► A. Accumulation of gold and silver— accomplished by mining gold and silver.

Mercantilism: Colonies ► B. Importation of cheap raw materials such as sugar and spices from colonies and exportation of expensive finished goods. This created a favorable balance of trade. ► Balance of trade--the difference between imports and exports. Countries want a favorable balance of trade so they try to sell more goods than they buy.

Mercantilism: Colonies ► C. Trade with colonies—colonies provided an easy market for finished products because the colonists could only get them from the “mother” country.