The Age of Exploration Causes of European Exploration

The Age of Exploration

Causes of European Exploration • The Crusades had exposed Europe to luxury goods from Asia • The Black Death and the dissolution of the Mongol Empire had disrupted Asian trade routes • As Europe pulled itself out of the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance, demand for Asian goods had increased. • Goods included silks and other luxuries, but the most valued trade items were spices • Cloves, cinnamon, pepper, etc. • Used to preserve and add flavor to food, make medicines, make perfumes

Motives for European Exploration • Trade between Europe and Asia was dominated by Italian and Muslim merchants at this time • As a good passed from merchant to merchant its price increased drastically • To avoid increased costs, Europeans wanted to find their own trade routes and get the items for much less • Goal was to find routes to Asia that bypassed the Mediterranean Spice trader Muslim merchant to Italy Italian Merchant to Europe Bought by European

Improved Technology • Printing Press allowed new books to be printed, including geography, sea travel, and technology • Gunpowder was used to help equip ships with cannons • Improvements in naval technology helped European explorers cross oceans • Cartographers created more accurate maps • Astrolabe- instrument used to help determine latitude location in the ocean • Caravels- ships developed by the Portuguese that combined European square sails and Arab triangular sails, made it easier to sail across/into the wind

Portugal Leads the Way • The Portuguese led as early pioneers, exploring and searching for a passage to India • Prince Henry (known as Henry the Navigator) was enamored with Africa • Felt he could convert Africans to Christianity • Wanted to find the source of the gold controlled by Muslim traders • Wanted to find an easier way to reach Asia that bypassed the Mediterranean • Founded a school to teach mapmaking (cartography), sailing techniques and training for captains and crew. • Established small forts in West Africa to collect food and water and make repairs

Bartholomeu Dias • Explored the Western Coast of Africa with his crew. A storm blew them off course, but luckily carried them past the southern-most tip of Africa in 1488. • This is a turning point in the search for a sea route to India. He named the southern tip of the continent the Cape of Good Hope, because it gave hope of reaching the spice lands.

Vasco da Gama • Da Gama led a group of Portuguese sailors around the Cape of Good Hope and into the Indian Ocean. He is the first European to reach the Indian Spice market directly. • Da Gama landed in Calicut, India and loaded tons of spices onto his ships. In India he paid a mere 6 cents per pound of spice. In Europe, he sold them for nearly $6 a pound. • Left Portuguese merchants in India whose job it was to buy spices when prices were low and store them until fleets returned

Christopher Columbus • Italian navigator from Genoa who wanted to reach the East Indies (part of today’s Indonesia) by sailing west across the Atlantic • Portugal refused to sponsor him, but he convinced Ferdinand Isabella of Spain to finance his voyage • It took Columbus and his crew 10 weeks to reach the Caribbean Islands • When Columbus landed in the Americas he believed he had reached the East Indies, so he called the people of the region “Indians” • Later Europeans realized that Columbus had found a route to continents previously unknown

New World Fight • Portugal and Spain each wanted to claim the islands Columbus had discovered • With support of the pope, both countries signed the Treaty of Tordesillas, which divided the non-European world into two zones • Drew line of demarcation- Spain had trading and exploration rights to the West, Portugal had same rights to the East • Allowed Spain and Portugal to claim vast areas in their zones, and spurred other European nations to challenge Spanish and Portuguese clams and build their own trading empires

Magellan • Once the Europeans realized that there were other continents in the way of India, they began to search for a route around or through the Americas to reach Asia • Portuguese nobleman Ferdinand Magellan got funding from Spain to find a way to reach the Pacific • Found a passage in the southern tip of South America that was later named the Strait of Magellan • Crew wanted to return the way they had come, but Magellan insisted on pushing across the Pacific to the East Indies • Although Magellan didn’t make it, those who did were the first to circumnavigate the globe

Europeans in Africa • Other European countries followed Spain and Portugal’s examples and sought to expand their own trade networks • Dutch, French, and English established footholds only the coast of West Africa • Dutch settled at the southern tip of Africa and built the city of Cape Town, the first permanent European settlement in Africa

Europeans in Asia • After Vasco da Gama, another Portuguese explorer named Afonso de Albuquerque headed back to the Indian Ocean and worked with Indian princes to establish holdings along the coast of the Indian Ocean • A group of Dutch merchants form the Dutch East India Company, which had full sovereign powers to build armies, wage war, negotiate peace treaties, and govern overseas territories • Spain captures an archipelago and names it the Philippines after Spanish king Philip II- this becomes a key link in Spain’s trading empire

China’s Explorer • From 1405 -1433, Chinese explorer Zheng He led 7 expeditions to explore the coasts of East Africa, Southeast Asia, and India, as well as the entrances to the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf • However, Zheng He was not impressed by the technology of other civilizations. He believed China’s civilization and accomplishments far exceeded those of the Europeans.

Isolation • As the Europeans continued to find quicker and more direct routes to trade, they established trade routes to South East Asia, including China. • However, the Chinese, Japanese and Koreans did not find value in the barbarians from the west, so they chose to isolate themselves

Chinese Isolation • Ming China- had no interest in Europe • “Our empire owns the world” • Portuguese wanted to trade for spices, but since their goods were inferior to China’s, the Chinese demanded payment in gold/silver • Only allowed European traders to trade at trading post at Macao under supervision of imperial officials, and had to leave at end of trading season • Qing China- dynasty established by the Manchus from the northeast • Maintained Ming policy of restricting trade, but Europeans kept pressing • 1793 - British Lord Macartney brought samples of British goods, Chinese thought they were tributary gifts to the emperor • Macartney insisted on an audience with the emperor but refused to perform the traditional kowtow, and further insulted the Chinese by speaking of the natural superiority of the English • Isolationist policy proves disastrous for China in the long run

Tokugawa Isolation • Japanese welcomed Western traders at first • However, Tokugawa shoguns grew increasingly hostile towards foreigners, especially after hearing the Spanish had taken the Philippines • By 1638 the Tokugawa barred all European merchants and forbade Japanese citizens from travelling abroad • Japan remained isolated for more than 200 years, and flourished