CHAPTER 3 How Did the Western Worldview - Grade 8 · How Did the Western Worldview ... How Did the Exchange of Goods and Products Change the World? How Did Imperialism ... movement

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C H A P T E R 3

How Did the Western WorldviewGrow Out of the Renaissance?

As Western Europeans experienced changes to their political,economic, and social systems during the Renaissance, their values andbeliefs about life on this Earth also changed. Individuals became opento examining new ideas about religion and about national identityand citizenship. A focus on exploration also grew. The modernWestern worldview, from which the worldview of many Canadianscomes, is considered to be similar to that held by Western Europeanstowards the end of the Renaissance.

In this chapter, you will explore information to help you answerthese questions:

*()+*()+*()+*()+How Did New Religious Views Become Part of the Western Worldview?

How Did Ideas of National Identity and Citizenship Begin toDevelop During the Renaissance?

How Did a Spirit of Exploration Become Part of the Western Worldview?

How Did the Age of Exploration Begin?

How Did the Age of Exploration Lead to Imperialism?

How Did the Exchange of Goods and Products Change the World?

How Did Imperialism Affect European Worldviews?

Focus on Inquiry: How Do Thoughts and Feelings Affect Research?

Gr8SS-AB-Ch03GOOD 2/25/07 7:16 PM Page 88

How Did the Western Worldview Grow Out of the Renaissance?

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Worldview InvestigationMany people from other countries have made Canada their home. Thinkabout a family of newcomers. What languages do they speak? What doyou know about the country they came from and the worldviews theybrought with them?

What must it be like for a new immigrant family to fit into Canadiansociety? What details about our society would be valuable for this familyto know to be successful in Canada? How would you describe Canada’spluralistic worldviews? How have Canada’s First Nations, Métis, and Inuitdetermined who Canadians are? What would you say about the politicaland economic systems? What are Canadian beliefs about how we shouldact as citizens? What do we value in our social systems? How would youdescribe the culture? Canadians are so diverse that the elements of oursociety might be described in many different ways. Think of the worldviewmodels: how have geography, contact with other people, and ideas andknowledge shaped our worldview?

Use a Roundtable Discussion (see below) to create a summary of lifein Canada for a new immigrant. Decide how your group will share yourinformation — a brochure, poster, mind map, or other product. Youmight use a model such as the one at the right to organize yourinformation, adding specific details to each circle.

This investigation helps you to think about the Westernworldview as we experience it in Canada. As you read this chapter,think about how the ideas and events of the Renaissance contributedto our Western worldview.

pluralistic:describing asociety in whichmembers ofminority groupsmaintain theirdifferent culturaltraditions

SKILLS CENTRE

Turn to How toCommunicate Ideasand Information inthe Skills Centre toreview other ways tohold a successfulgroup discussion.

Roundtable Discuss ionThe Roundtable method of group work allows everyone in the class toparticipate in a discussion. Work together in groups to hold the discussion.

• Sit in a circle.• Everyone in the group thinks for a few minutes about the topic for

discussion and specific questions asked.• Discussion moves around the group with each student expressing an

opinion or sharing an idea. A student may pass if he or she does nothave anything to say at that point. Everyone in turn has the chance toexpress ideas.

• Keep short notes of the discussion, but always keep focused on thediscussion, not the notetaking.

Worldview: Values and

Beliefs

CulturePolitical

and economicsystems

Social systems



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How Did New ReligiousViews Become Part of theWestern Worldview?Humanism and other Renaissance ideas that began in Italy graduallyspread to western and northern Europe towards the end of the15th century. Although the rest of Europe experienced its Renaissancelater than Italy, the effects were just as significant. As Renaissanceideas spread beyond Italy, they were changed and adapted by thecitizens of other parts of Europe to reflect their societies.

Two views of religion existed in the Western worldview of thetime: one believed that individuals should follow the rules, rituals,and teachings of the Roman Catholic Church; one believed thatindividuals should question and respond to the Bible personally.

Humanists and their followers questioned the behaviour of some ofthe popes and clergy. They also questioned the necessity of followingthe Church laws and rituals that the Church expected people to followwithout question. Many wanted to see reforms but did not want abreak from the Roman Catholic Church. This desire for reform andchange within the Church became the basis of the ProtestantReformation. The Reformation began as a movement to bring aboutchanges in the Roman Catholic Church, not to separate from it.

Initially, there was no desire to form a new church. However, thereform movement created major division among Christians that ledto religious wars and new religious ideas that became the basis forProtestantism. The invention of the printing press was an importantfactor in the Reformation because short fliers and tracts urging churchreform could be easily produced and distributed.

After the printing press was invented, the Bible was translated into vernacularlanguages, which meant more people could read it in their mother tongue.As more people became literate, there was less need for the clergy tointerpret the Bible for them. The printing press led to an increase in literacyand the spread of ideas, including those of humanism.

Protestant Reformation:the 16th-century movementto reform the doctrinesand practices of the RomanCatholic Church, whichresulted in the formationof Protestant churches

mother tongue: one’s nativelanguage from birth

literate: able to readand write


P R O F I L E

Martin LutherMartin Luther (1483–1546), a German priest and professor at theUniversity of Wittenburg, was one of the most important reformers.He wanted to reform some practices of the Roman Catholic Church.

Luther believed that• following the rituals of the institution of the Church was not

enough to get into heaven• individuals should seek personal religious understanding• individuals should not pay the Church to receive forgiveness

for their sinsSome scholars supported Luther’s ideas because they promoted the

importance of the individual expressed in humanism. German princesand members of the new merchant class also agreed with Luther’s callsfor reform. Much of their support was based on political and economicreasons, as they wanted more power in their regions. The idea of religiousreform spread throughout Germany. In fact, the calls for Church reform,printed in the German language, helped create a sense of nationalidentity and pride among many Germans. This sense of nationalism andidentity as citizens of a state was becoming an important part of theEuropean worldview.

In 1517, Luther began to speak publicly of his concerns with Churchteachings and practices. He wrote a pamphlet that listed 95 Churchreforms he felt were necessary. The pope at the time, Leo III, declared41 of these to be heresy, for they did not fit with all the beliefs and ruleswithin the Roman Catholic Church. Luther’s books were publicly burnedin Rome. Luther was expelled from the Roman Catholic Church in 1521.In protest, he started a church that many Germans joined. Because theywere protesting some of the practices of the Roman Catholic Church,they became known as Protestants. This Protestant movement spreadacross western Europe.

Luther, other Reformation leaders, and many other Christians saw thismovement as an opportunity for greater freedom and individual choicewithin Christianity. Individual freedom and choice, as well as freedom ofreligion, became important values in the Western worldview.

In 1521, Martin Luther wasforced into hiding. Thisportrait of him was done byhis friend Lucas Cranach.

On April 17, 1521, Lutherappeared before the leadersof the Roman CatholicChurch and was askedwhether he still believedin his writings.

Protestant: a member ofany of the WesternChristian churches that arenot Roman Catholic

I wonder … what werethe reasons for theRoman Catholic ChurchexcommunicatingMartin Luther?

Many of the southernGerman states remainedstaunchly RomanCatholic and did notparticipate in theProtestant movement.


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KINGDOM OF

FRANCE

K I N G D O M O F S PA I N

KINGDOM

OF

ENGLAND

KINGDOM OF

SCOTLAND

SWITZERLAND

Rel ig ious ReformReligious change spread throughout western Europe. Religion becamemore individualized and influenced both the formation of newchurches and reforms to the Roman Catholic Church itself. TheRoman Catholic Church looked seriously at its practices and madechanges to ensure the proper behaviour of its clergy and that it wasdoing everything according to Christian principles.


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Huguenot cross. French humanists wereinterested in Luther’s works; some leftthe Roman Catholic Church to becomea Protestant group, the Huguenots.A series of religious wars betweenCatholics and Huguenots lasted foralmost 40 years. The Roman CatholicChurch supported persecution andmassacres of the dissidents. In the end,France granted freedom of worship toProtestants in 1598.Family of Henry VIII,

1570–1575. TheReformation inEngland, whichresulted in theChurch of England(the AnglicanChurch), developedfrom King Henry VIII’s(1509–1547) desireto control the property of the Church in Englandand to have his marriage to Catherine of Aragonannulled. Henry VIII is shown seated with his sonEdward VI to his right and Edward’s mother, JaneSeymour, to his left. Seymour had already diedwhen this picture was painted.

Statue of John Knox, St. GilesCathedral, Edinburgh, Scotland.John Knox (1505–1572) led theProtestant rebellion in Scotland.Knox created Presbyteries, orcouncils of men, to govern theChurch. This change in Churchstructure and hierarchy developedinto the Presbyterian Church.

Virgin of the Catholic King and Queens, Spanish School, 1490. The Spanishmonarchy did not allow the practice of

any religion other than Roman Catholicism, making it the state religion.In 1492, Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand reinstituted the Inquisition,a religious court that was ordered to find heretics or disbelievers. Thousandsof Jews and Muslims were persecuted and expelled from the country.Heretics and unbelievers were often jailed, tortured, or put to death.

John Calvin (1509–1564)introduced a strict form of Protestantism based on a singleideal — believe and practise onlywhat is written in the Bible. Calvinbelieved people should conducttheir lives according to a strictmoral code and that church andstate should not be separated.



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1. Today, the Western worldview values personal rights and the freedom tohave personal views. During the Renaissance, the idea that people withdifferent religious beliefs could live in one country was quite unusual.Today, in Canada’s pluralistic society, individuals and groups with widelydifferent religious faiths and spiritual practices live together peacefully. a. What makes this possible? b. Are there difficulties or problems that come from this?c. Brainstorm how Canadian society is enriched by this situation.

2. Pick one topic to discuss.a. Why did the religious reform movement begin in western Europe?b. How did the printing press enable religious reform?c. How does a citizen’s questioning of established social structures

play a part in today’s Western worldview?d. How did Luther’s beliefs and actions show how an individual

can initiate change and reshape worldviews?

R E F L E C T A N D R E S P O N D

The Protestant Reformation is an example of the rapid flow ofideas across Europe, from Germany, to France, to Switzerland, and tothe northern reaches of the British Isles. Reformation leaders sharedideas back and forth across the continent through travel, diplomacy,and the use of printed materials.

The hostility between Roman Catholics and Protestants in westernEurope was often used for political purposes. Leaders appealed tocitizens’ beliefs to increase support for their political causes. Protestantand Catholic states were often at war during the late Renaissance,as political leaders used citizens’ religious beliefs to help build theirpolitical power.

The Renaissance began with most Europeans practising onecommon religious belief, Roman Catholicism, tied together througha common language, Latin. By the end of the Renaissance, Europewas a patchwork of differing Christian denominations. Differencesof religious belief often created splits among people and frequentlyled them to follow different leaders. The fight for religious freedomcreated a sense of solidarity and common identity among peoplethat influenced the formation of countries.


How Did Ideas of NationalIdentity and CitizenshipBegin to Develop During the Renaissance?If you were to examine a political map of today’s world, what wordswould you use to describe the major areas that divide up thecontinents? You would most likely use words such as countries ornations. The idea of nation began to develop in the Renaissanceand became part of the way we see the world — part of our Westernworldview.

Towards the end of the Renaissance, small political units joinedtogether to form larger states. There are many reasons why thesestates began to develop into countries:

• Societies became more urban; power was shifting to the citiesrather than rural areas. Monarchs supported the growth of thecities by improving trade laws and lifting trade barriers and, inturn, the cities gave them allegiance and even more wealth.

• Citizens developed new identities of belonging to a state as wellas to their local communities, recognizing such commonelements as language, religion, and beliefs in what life should be.

• Gunpowder was introduced from China, which changed thenature of the battles between monarchs and the nobles whoowned feudal properties. Monarchs used taxes from the cities topurchase gunpowder and to hire mercenary soldiers, whichmeant they could overpower the nobles. Eventually, the kingsgained control of the nobles’ lands and formed increasinglylarger states.

• The invention of the printing press and the use of locallanguages helped create national identities. Books were writtenon the histories of the countries, providing common historiesand heroes for people.

• Exploration of new lands also led to a sense of greater nationalidentity. Citizens developed collective pride in these discoveriesof new parts of the world. Explorations often led to theestablishment of colonies, which brought prestige and wealthto the founding country.

No single factor led to the formation of countries. Individualstates developed because all these factors came into play in Europeat approximately the same time — a result of changes in ideas andthinking that came out of the Renaissance.


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nation: a group of people,mainly of common descent,history, and language, oftenforming a state orinhabiting a territory

mercenary: selling servicesfor money, especiallymilitary services


Same Time, Different Place

Formation of Nat ions, 1800sAlthough the seeds of nations were present bythe end of the Renaissance, true nation-statesdid not appear until the 18th and19th centuries.

I ta ly

In the Middle Ages and for most of theRenaissance, the peninsula known today asItaly consisted of a number of independentcity-states. It was not unified as the Kingdom of Italy until 1861.The province of Venezia, which includes Venice, joined the nationin 1866. Rome joined in 1870 to create the modern state of Italy.

Germany

Germany also did not form a unified nation until the 1870s. Previously,this area consisted of several sovereign states with their own history,distinct regional dialects, culture, and religious beliefs. The largest werePrussia and Austria, who were in competition over control of the others.Otto von Bismarck became president of Prussia and worked to unify thesmaller states. The Franco-Prussian war convinced many of them to jointogether with Prussia to form the German state.

Canada

French traders, explorers, and early settlers had been in Canada since theearly 1500s; the English followed in the next century. By the mid-1800s,the Europeans had settled most of the areas of present-day southernOntario, Québec, and the Maritimes. The separate colonies decided thatin order to protect themselves from the expanding United States and bein charge of their own economic and political futures, they would join toform the new country, Canada.


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Changes in European Societ iesShow Changing WorldviewsAs people became accustomed to living in a country or state,instead of a feudal property or city, their worldviews began tochange. Worldviews changed in terms of the social systems,political and economic systems, and culture of each country.

Socia l Systems

• People began to see themselves as citizens of a country andbecame more willing to give their allegiance to the monarchs.

• Exploration of new lands promoted personal feelings of optimismand the importance of exploring all the possibilities that the worldhad to offer. These ideas became part of European worldviews.

• Citizens were more free to move out of their class, althoughserfdom continued for centuries in some parts of Europe.

• Some public services began to be provided by central government.• The growth and power of the modern states put them in

competition with the authority of the Church.

Pol i t ica l and Economic Systems

• Rulers headed strong central governments. They were very powerful,but limited by custom and the necessary support of their nobles.By the 1600s, monarchs began to centralize their governmentstructures and clearly defined lines of authority.

• Government policies were set up to ensure political andeconomic independence.

• Permanent armies were established, paid for by taxes levied by the government.

• Resources were provided for largeprojects of nationalimportance, such as war orvoyages of exploration.

• Centralized laws and ruleswere set in place by theking and his court for theentire country.

• National economicpolicies, such astrade rules and taxrules, controlledtrade andbusiness.


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Beliefs

Culture Political and economic

systems

Social systems


Culture

• Common national languages unified the citizens.• More middle and upper class people became literate and could

read works in their own language. They became more consciousof their society’s history.

• Religious literature was published in the vernacular languagesand this, too, advanced the development of a national identity.

• A single, unified language chosen from the various dialects becamethe national language of each country. These national languagesexpressed a shared culture.


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Language and CultureThe Francophones, one of Canada’s founding peoples, know the central role the Frenchlanguage plays in ensuring the vitality of their identities, cultures, and worldviews.Rights providing for the use of French and English as Canada’s official languages, as wellas education for official language minorities, are enshrined in the Canadian constitution.Francophone schools and communities are present across Canada.

First Nations, Métis, and Inuit are revitalizing their languages through programsin schools across Canada. They recognize that many concepts in a culture cannot beexpressed in another language. In order to preserve their culture, they must ensurethe continued use of their languages.

Many Albertans believe that a diversity of languages provides cultural as well aseconomic benefits. The government believes knowing more than one language isvaluable and has supported language programs across the province. School districtsin Alberta have developed language programs such as Arabic, Blackfoot, Cree,German, Hebrew, Japanese, Mandarin, Punjabi, Russian, Spanish, and Ukrainian.

1. a. How would the establishment of countries affect the worldview ofthose societies?

b. How do Canada’s social systems compare to those of European states in the Renaissance?

c. What do Canada’s and Alberta’s policies about language educationshow about our worldview?

2. Explore the variety of languages students in your classroom (or your school)study or speak. Take a survey of as many students as you can. Record thelanguages studied and spoken. Present your findings in graph form. Are yourresults representative of languages spoken across Alberta? across Canada?



How Did a Spiritof Exploration Become Partof the Western Worldview?By the Renaissance, Europeans had traded with peoples beyond theirborders for thousands of years. During the Greek and Roman Empires,land trade routes were expanded, so more exotic goods from societiesbeyond the edges of the empires made their way back to Europe.Throughout the Middle Ages, city-states such as Genoa and Veniceexpanded their trading areas in the Eastern Mediterranean and theBlack Sea. They traded with Islamic and Asian civilizations for luxurygoods desired by consumers in Europe’s growing wealthy middle andupper classes. Trade was becoming increasingly profitable.

During the Renaissance, city-states in Italy gained power andwealth. Both the governments and the traders worked to expand theircontrol of trade around the Mediterranean. In the rest of Europe, thefeudal system declined and larger centralized states came under thecontrol of monarchs who also wanted the wealth that came from tradewith the East. This competition spurred the need for new trade routes.With increasing geographic knowledge and new sailing technologies,the Age of Exploration, sometimes called the Age of Discovery, arrived.

The Age of Exploration began during the Renaissance in the early15th century and continued into the 17th century. A European desireto expand their influence to other areas of the world became a majorpart of their worldview. European expansionism would spread theWestern worldview to all the inhabited continents of the world.


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expansionism: a governmentpolicy encouragingterritorial or economicexpansion to othercountries, often by force



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Riva degli Schiavoni,Venice, gondolier market,Leandro da Ponte Bassano

Factors Affect ing Expansionism

The Need for New Trade Routes

For centuries, Europeans had used the Silk Road to trade with theFar East. But the trade was limited and did not meet the demandfor goods in Europe. Ways of doing business were changing. Severalmerchants would form a company and pool their money to fundtrading trips to bring back spices and other goods. They would sharethe profits from the sale of these goods. Making a profit throughtrade became a more important part of the European worldview.In fact, many Italian merchants often wrote “In the Name of Godand of Profit” on the top of their account books.

Some countries in western Europe — Portugal, Spain, France,and England — were too far from the East to deal directly with theproducers of these exotic products. Instead, they had to deal throughItalian or Muslim traders on the Mediterranean Sea who had controlover the trade. As the focus on making a profit increased, merchantsno longer wanted to deal with these Mediterranean traders (ormiddlemen). They wanted to deal directly with the regions supplyingthe goods. As Portugal, Spain, France, and England became morecentralized states, their rulers became more powerful. Monarchs andwealthy merchants paid for voyages of exploration to find new seatrade routes to the East.

When Constantinople was conquered by the Turks in 1453, theygained control of the straits that connected the Mediterranean to theBlack Sea. Traders from Venice and Genoa were no longer allowed topass through the straits. The flow of goods from Asia was nearlyhalted. As a result, finding new direct sea routes to India and Chinabecame even more important for Western European countries.


The world’s earliest surviving maps, starting with ancientBabylonian clay tablets from the 6th century BCE through earlyGreek maps of the 3rd century BCE, typically show the world asa small land mass entirely encircled by a ribbon of water. Thisclay tablet map, 700 to 500 BCE, was found in southern Iraq.

New Ideas and Knowledge

Geography

As taught centuries earlier, by the Greek philosopher Aristotle, manypeople still believed that the world was round and flat, like a circulardish or plate. Others followed the teachings of Ptolemy, an Egyptiangeographer, and believed the world was shaped like a sphere or balland that there was only one ocean. Sailors and others thought thatif ships sailed west, they would eventually reach the eastern shoresof Asia. Ptolemy had miscalculated the circumference of the Earth,which led European explorers to greatly underestimate the time itwould take to sail westward to Asia.

Knowledge gathered by Islamic scientists, and then Europeanscientists such as Copernicus, seemed to confirm that the Earthwas spherical. This gave sailors confidence to sail westward acrossthe unknown ocean, believing that theywould not fall off the edge of the world.It is not known how much knowledgeWestern European explorers had ofthe earlier voyages of the Vikings tothe New World.


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Map of Ptolemaicworld, 1486

Sir Francis Bacon (1561–1626)was an English philosopher whopromoted ideas of scientificexperimentation, observation,and critical thinking.


Interest in Learning More About the World

Humanism was a new way of thinking that encouraged individualsto question and to explore their ideas, lives, and worlds. It broughtabout a renewed interest in geography and a willingness to challengeolder geographical beliefs.

Travel writers during the 16th century also created interest in tradeand exploration. The travel writers promoted the idea that one shouldexperience and observe the world as much as possible. There was adesire to learn more about the world and explore what it had to offer.

During the Renaissance, interest in navigation increased as Italiantraders, and then others, sailed the Mediterranean and Black Seas.Their voyages made them, the merchants, and the city-states in whichthey lived, fabulously wealthy. To remain competitive in trade,sailors and ships had to have better technologies and knowledgethan their rivals. Technological advances in cartography, navigation,and shipbuilding meant that ships could travel further. The carrackand the caravel were two new ships that combined the navigationaland design technologies of the Arabs with European design.

Knowledge about navigational tools also improved. Although thecompass was brought from China to Europe in the 12th century, itwas only used for land travel, not sailing. During the 15th century,European sailors began to use the astrolabe, an instrument developedby Islamic inventors that allowed navigation by stars at night.Previously, sailors used landmarks and the sun for navigation, sothey could not travel any distance during the night or anywhere toofar from land. The astrolabe allowed journeys farther from the sightof land, leading to the discoveries and explorations of new worlds.

The invention of the printing press spurred wide distribution ofmaps and navigational tables. This made it possible for new sailingknowledge and charts to be easily shared across Europe.


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The carrack was the beastof burden of the Age ofExploration. Magellan hadan all-carrack fleet with whichhe set out to circumnavigatethe globe in 1519. The vessels,cramped and crowded bytoday’s standards, offeredroom for a large crew andprovisions, as well as for cargoto be brought back home.

Christopher Columbus’s flagship, the Santa Maria, wasalso a carrack. His two other ships, the Pinta and the Niña,were caravels, which were designed to take advantageof wind from any direction. The shallower hull and betterlines of the caravel made them easier to sail than the bulkycarracks, but they could not carry as many provisions,which created hardship for the sailors.

Did you know that West Edmonton Mall, in Edmonton,has a full-size replica of the world’s most famous carrack,Columbus’s Santa Maria?

cartography: the science ofmapmaking

circumnavigate: to goaround the whole of theEarth’s circumference


I N F L U E N C E

Henry the NavigatorHenry the Navigator (1394–1460) was a Portuguese prince who setup a school of navigation in 1419 in Portugal. Under his direction,scholars came from all over Europe and the Middle East and perfectedsailing techniques, instruments, designs for sails, and mapping,including the idea of latitude. New navigational tools such as thequadrant, which could be used to determine a ship’s location duringthe day, were developed. New mathematical tables for determininglatitude were made. The caravel, far more sea worthy than earlierships, was also developed in his school.

Henry is credited with establishing many practices used byexplorers:

• He was the first to require his captains to keep logs, or diaries,of their journeys. He believed that information learned anddocumented from one expedition should be used in theplanning of the next expedition. This process continues to beused today by sea captains and other travellers.

• He also required his captains to conscript speakers of thelanguages of the explored areas. Local inhabitants becameinterpreters and helped the explorers learn how to interactappropriately with the colonized people. The interpretersalso provided information about their land and its productsand resources.


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Henry the Navigator,detail from thePolyptych ofSt. Vincent, 1465.Henry did not goon any expeditions,but he was a patronof expeditions tothe African coast.

conscript: toforce someone tojoin or enlist inan enterprise

1. The desire for wealth was the main reason for the Age of Exploration.For what other reasons did Europeans explore?

2. a. In what ways did Henry the Navigator help spread ideas and knowledge among nations?

b. How did his ideas and work impact the Age of Exploration?

3. Use the Roundtable method to discuss the following:

The importance of trade and making a profit became a part of theRenaissance worldview. What evidence is there that they are still a part of the modern Western worldview?

4. Although the reasons were mainly economic, there was a desire during the16th and 17th centuries to explore unknown and uncharted lands. Thisencouraged scientific and technological advances that enabled explorers tomove far beyond their homelands. The spirit and fearlessness of these famousexplorers have inspired men and women of today to explore new worlds.Travelling the frontiers of space has led to many inventions: the personalcomputer, the microwave, new fabrics, the Internet. List both the positiveand negative influences the need to explore has had on your daily life.




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Explorers from Portugal andSpain began the EuropeanAge of Exploration.

consumerism: focusingon collecting and usingmaterial goods or products

Portugal controlled andadministered the colonyof Macau, situated on anarrow peninsula andtwo islands off thesoutheastern coast ofChina, for 442 years,before handing controlto China in 1999.

I wonder … why didPortugal hand control ofMacau back to China?

Portuguese and Spanish Explorations, 1480–1550

SPAINPORTUGAL

AtlanticOcean

PacificOcean

IndianOcean

PacificOcean

Macau

N

S

W E

5000 km0SCALE AT EQUATOR

Southern Ocean

How Did the Age ofExploration Begin?As Portugal, France, Spain, and England became more powerfulunited countries, many factors set them up to become the leadingplayers in the Age of Exploration:

• Each had an Atlantic coastline, which put them in the bestposition to explore unknown parts of the world to the west.

• The monarchs of these countries financed overseas explorations,hoping to establish independent connections with the Far East.

• The new ship designs, navigational tools, and navigationalinformation they gathered enabled explorers to sail to theNew World and other far-off lands.

New values favouring travel and exploration, increasedconsumerism, and accumulation of wealth, fueled the race for newtrade routes. Portugal and Spain were especially anxious to find newtrade routes to the East. Their willingness to fund large expeditionsprovided the motivation for wealthy merchants to do the same.England and France joined the race to the New World after hearingabout the great wealth being accumulated by Portugal and Spain.

PortugalIn the early 1400s, Portuguese sailors headed south and east alongthe western coast of Africa in hopes of finding a new route thatwould allow ships to sail around Africa to India and China. Theywere so successful in finding new trading areas that Lisbon becameEurope’s new trade capital.

Navigational Astrolabe.This simplified astrolabewas further developed inPortugal in the 15th century,allowing ships to sailanywhere, day or night.



In 1487, Bartholomew Diaz sailed along the coast of Africa andwas the first European to reach the Cape of Good Hope, thecontinent’s southern tip. About ten years later, another Portugueseexplorer, da Gama, was the first European to cross the Indian Oceanto India. He returned to Portugal with his ships full of valuable jewelsand spices. A sea route to the wealth of the East was now established.Portugal defeated Arab strongholds in the area and set up tradingposts stretching along the coasts of Africa and into India. ThePortuguese gradually expanded eastward to China, establishing thefamous port city of Macau.

SpainSpain was envious of Portugal’s wealth and power and decided tosend its own expeditions to the Far East. The pope had already givenPortugal the coasts of Africa and India, so Spain decided to find moredirect routes to Asia by sailing west across the Atlantic to China andIndia. Spain and the rest of Europe, however, were unaware that twocontinents, the Americas, lay between them and the Far East.

The Roman Catholic Church was very involved in the exploration of the newlands since it wanted to spread Christianity. In 1493, the pope divided theworld outside of Europe between Portugal and Spain. Spain and Portugal didnot agree with the decision and reached their own agreement on how todivide the world between them. It later proclaimed that the Roman Catholicfaith was the only Christianity allowed in the new lands.

Cristóbal Colón(Spanish), or CristoforoColombo (Italian), wasborn in Genoa, Italy,and is best known in theEnglish-speaking world asChristopher Columbus.In 1476, Columbus ledhis first commercialsailing expedition intothe Atlantic Ocean.His ship was attackedby French pirates off thecoast of Portugal andburned. Some sources sayhe swam ten kilometresback to shore.

King Ferdinand andQueen Isabella of SpainBidding Farewell toChristopher Columbus at His Departure for the Indies in1492, Theodore de Bry, 1596.

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Vasco da Gama, 1524


Although Columbus is credited as the European discoverer of the Americas,North America and South America are named after Amerigo Vespucci, an Italianmerchant and mapmaker who, in 1501, was part of an expedition that exploredwhat is now the coast of Brazil. Cartographer Martin Waldseemüller first usedVespucci’s name for the new continents.

Columbus

In 1492, Columbus set sail from Spainand after almost ten weeks at sea,sighted an island that he believed wasclose to Japan. In fact, it was an islandin the Caribbean. Columbus madethree more trips to the Caribbeanbetween 1494 and 1504, but neverreached mainland North America.He still believed he had sailed all theway to Asia. Explorations by othersconvinced Europeans that Columbushad, in fact, discovered a worldpreviously unknown to Europeans.

He first asked the Portuguese kingin 1485 to sponsor him on a westward voyage to reach Asia, but wasturned down. No one in the Portuguese court believed that the Earthwas spherical, so they did not believe it was possible to sail westwardto the other side of the Earth. He next approached Queen Isabellaand King Ferdinand of Spain for support. After many years oflobbying, he finally convinced them to support his venture in 1492.


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Voyages of Christopher Columbus

1492–14931493–14961498–15001502–1504

Voyages

AtlanticOcean

PacificOcean

SPAIN

CUBA

HISPANIOLA

M

ESOAMERICA

Caribbean Sea

2000 km0

N

S

W E

Amerigo Vespucci(1451–1512)


Magel lan

In 1519, Ferdinand Magellan explored the east coast of SouthAmerica. He discovered a passageway at the tip of South America,now known as the Strait of Magellan, that led to another ocean,as he had predicted. He named it the Pacific Ocean because of itscalm, pacifying waters. He continued sailing west across the SouthPacific until he finally reached some islands in Indonesia. There,he learned other Europeans had already visited and realized that hehad reached the eastern part of Asia. Although Magellan was killedin the Philippines, one of his five ships finally returned to Spain,the first to successfully circumnavigate the globe.


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Ferdinand Magellan fighting Indigenous people

on Mactan Island in 1521

indigenous: referring tothe original inhabitantsof a region


EnglandAt the beginning of the 16th century, England was more interested intrade within Europe and did not rush to fund exploration. One of thefew voyages supported by the monarchy was Giovanni Caboto’s visitto Newfoundland in 1497, where he claimed parts of North Americafor England. Known in English as John Cabot, he was the firstexplorer since the Vikings, 400 years earlier, to reach North America.

It was not until the reign of Queen Elizabeth I in the last halfof the 16th century that the English showed any great interest inexploration. Because Spain and Portugal had become so wealthy fromtheir claims in the New World, England decided it was time to focuson expansionism — getting involved in exploration and conquest.In 1560, a group of English merchants funded Martin Frobisher tosearch for a northwest passage through the islands of northernCanada to India and China because Spain and Portugal controlledthe other sea routes to the East. Between 1576 and 1578, Frobisherand another explorer, John Davis, explored the North Atlantic coast.Queen Elizabeth then sponsored colonies in the New World. By thebeginning of the 17th century, England had established morecolonies along the North American Atlantic Coast and in the WestIndies than any other European power.


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Canada is becomingmore focused on itsnorthern waterways.Each summer, Arcticsea ice is meltingmore than in the pastand the NorthwestPassage, searched forby Frobisher, Davis,and other explorers,may be open for shiptraffic. Canada wantsto maintain controlover ship trafficthrough its territory.

Martin Frobisher sailsdown the Thames, passingGreenwich Palace on hisexpedition in search of anorthwest passage.


FranceIn the early Renaissance, France was distracted byits ongoing war with England and, for the firsthalf of the 16th century, its wars in Italy.However, after Portugal and Spain found wealthin the Americas, France decided it also wantedsome of the riches from the new lands. After aFrench expedition to Florida was defeated by theSpanish, the French monarchy decided to financeexpeditions to areas farther north and west. In1534, Jacques Cartier sailed to the New Worldand explored the St. Lawrence River as far as theHaudenosaunee settlement of Hochelaga (thelocation of present-day Montréal). He set thestage for France’s future exploration andcolonization in the New World.


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1. What values and beliefs were shown in the fact that Europeans thoughtit was acceptable to divide the world and its inhabitants outside Europebetween Spain and Portugal?

2. How do you think Europeans reacted to their discovery that there wereentire continents that they had known nothing about? How would thatknowledge change their worldviews?

3. Use the Roundtable method to discuss one of the following: a. How does the modern space program reflect a spirit of exploration?

Do you think there are also expansionist motives to the space program? b. Is there evidence that modern governments have expansionist worldviews

similar to those of Western Europe during the Renaissance?


Jacques Cartier claiming land along the St. Lawrence River for the king of France in 1534


How Did the Ageof Exploration Lead to Imperialism?Greek, Roman, Islamic, and other historical Empiresexpanded their territories to protect their original homeareas, but also to exert control over more and more landand its resources. They established systems of governmentto maintain control and, often, they spread their religionsand philosophies to all peoples in the empire.

During the Age of Discovery, European nations reachedlands and societies around the world that they previouslyhad not known about. They soon recognized the wealth these landsand peoples could provide and began to establish control over them.Over time, some countries, such as Spain and Britain, had built somany colonies around the world that they had their own empires.It was a natural progression that policies of expansionism would leadto imperialism. Through their policies of imperialism, these countriesmaintained control of the new lands and their inhabitants.

The imperialism of the Western European countries was built onthe desire to increase their wealth and power. Their view was that thecolonies and lands they controlled were to further the interests andincrease the wealth of the controlling country. The countries becamevery competitive, each wanting superior economic power.


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European imperialism grew out of the Renaissance and the Age of Exploration.By the 1700s, Western European countries dominated the globe.

Roman ruins in Tipasa, Algeria, North Africa

Imperialism has existedas part of humancivilization from earlytimes, but historiansdid not use this worduntil the 19th century.

SPAIN

NETHERLANDSFRANCE

PORTUGAL

ENGLAND

AtlanticOcean

PacificOcean

IndianOcean

PacificOcean

SCALE AT EQUATOR

Portuguese

Spanish

French

English

Dutch

5000 km0

N

S

W E

European Empires in Early 1700s

Southern Ocean

imperialism: the policy of acountry or empire to extendits authority or dominationby political, economic, ormilitary means


The European View of the Rest of the WorldEuropean discovery and colonization of lands around the world hastraditionally been recorded from the European perspective. Areas inAfrica, Asia, North America, and South America were called newlands, despite the fact that people had been living in those regionsfor tens of thousands of years.

Europe’s imperialist nations thought that they had the right tocontrol their colonies based on a belief of cultural and politicalsuperiority. They believed they had a right to exploit both thepeoples and the resources of the areas they discovered. Indigenouspeoples and their cultures were usually not viewed as their equals.Although they had established diverse and complex societies, theEuropeans often had little regard for these indigenous peoples andtheir cultures. Within European societies, there were strict guidelinesand belief systems that were followed by “civilized” people. Thosewho did not follow these guidelines were considered to be savageand barbarous.

This belief in the superiority of one’s own culture is not limitedto European countries. Most societies practise some degree ofethnocentrism — feeling their beliefs, values, and ways of life arebetter than those of other societies. Some say this is a basic part ofhuman nature.

• The Aztec and Inca of the Americas, who had highly developedand sophisticated societies and cities much larger and greaterthan many in Europe, were treated as inferiors.

• The Chinese and Indian civilizations, thousands of years olderthan any European civilization, were thought to be barbarous.


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I wonder … do somepeople today still haveattitudes that othercultures are inferior totheir own?

Tapestry showingVasco da Gama in Calcutta, May 20, 1498

ethnocentrism: a belief thatone’s own race or culture issuperior to others


• Traditional methods of governancewere replaced with the Europeansystem, as were other social structures.European culture was often imposedon the colony.

• In many places, colonists completelytook over the land as their own,displacing the indigenous populationwho either had to stay to work theland or move on to find other ways ofsupporting themselves.

• In many colonies, European colonistsused the original inhabitants as slavelabour to work on farms and inconstruction and mining; after mostof the indigenous population died off,and as demand for labour increased,Europeans brought Africans to theNew World.

• Ancient African civilizations werealmost wiped out through the slave trade.

• Christians believed that Christianity was the only true religionand it was their religious duty to carry the faith around theworld and convert those who followed other religious andspiritual practices.


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1. What beliefs in the Western European worldview led to Europeanimperialism over much of the world?

2. It has been written that European countries pursued exploration andimperialism under the motto “For God, Glory, and Gold.” Explain howthe motto was appropriate.

3. The United Nations’ Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoplesstates the following:

Indigenous peoples have the right to self-determination. By virtue ofthat right they freely determine their political status and freely pursuetheir economic, social and cultural development.

How does this statement compare with European views that imperialism wasacceptable? How does it show that some worldviews have changed from thento now?


Timucuan Indian slaves searching for gold in Florida.Indigenous peoples were the first slaves of the Europeansin the New World.

SKILLS CENTRE

Turn to How toInterpret and MakeMaps in the SkillsCentre to reviewhow informationis shown in maps.


corn, potatoes, tomatoes,beans, peppers, peanuts,

pineapple, chocolate, squash,pumpkin, vanilla, avocado,

tobacco, and turkey from the Americas

cattle, horses,pigs, sheep, andchickens from

Europe

citrus fruits, pears,apples, peaches,bananas, wheat,

barley, and oats fromAsia and Europe

olives and grapesfrom the

Mediterranean

sugar cane,coffee, and

tea from Asia

How Did the Exchangeof Goods and ProductsChange the World?European exploration, discovery, and colonization led to theredistribution of plants and animals around the world. It also hadbeneficial and destructive effects on the populations and ecosystems ofEurope, Asia, Africa, and the New World. The exchange of foodstuffs,metals, plants, animals, and diseases affected economies and changedtraditional ways of life of people around the world.

Europeans transformed the Americas with the introduction of theirmetals, the wheel, work animals (such as the horse and ox), and theirfirearms and war technologies. Products of the Americas also impactedcultures around the world: rubber, canoes, snowshoes, toboggans,chewing gum, new dyes and woods, and pharmaceutical plants.


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Many crops and animals nowraised in North America werebrought over from Europe,Asia, or Africa. Corn, potatoes,tomatoes, beans, and othercrops from the New Worldtransformed European ways of life.


The exchange of diseases had, perhaps, the greatest impact onindigenous societies of the Americas. European diseases haddevastating effects on the local populations. Never having hadcontact with Europeans, indigenous populations from the Arctic tothe tip of South America lacked immunities to the diseases broughtby the Europeans. Smallpox, measles, and tuberculosis were especiallydestructive. It is estimated that between 75% and 90% of theAboriginal population died as a result of exposure to Europeandiseases. Many of their political and spiritual leaders and Elders died,resulting in the loss of many of their traditions and the shatteringof families. In some cases, whole cultures were destroyed. Theirweakened societies could not defend themselves against theEuropean imperialists.


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It is believed that the common bean originated in southern Mexicoand Central America over 7000 years ago. It has been found in theruins of prehistoric dwellings. Today, beans and other legumesform the main protein component of many diets around the world.

Corn was first domesticated in Meso-America about 9000 yearsago. It spread across the American continents and became a staplefood for many Aboriginal peoples. European explorers spread cornaround the world. Corn is an important part of the diet of today’sMeso-American people, who eat it in tortillas, tamales, and manyother dishes.

Europeans sawAboriginal team sportsfor the first time. Theywatched the Aztec playa game using a balland hoops and NorthAmericans playinglacrosse.

Meso-America: a regionstretching from centralMexico to Nicaragua,usually used in terms of theregion’s ancient civilizationsand Aboriginal cultures

Horses came to the NewWorld on the ships of theSpanish conquistadors.Horses revolutionized theculture of the First Nationson the Great Plains.

1. How do you think European society was changed by thenew plants from the Americas being taken back to Europe?



How Did Imperialism AffectEuropean Worldviews? Ideas and KnowledgeThe explorations of new lands and new peoples altered Europeanknowledge of geography and history. Europeans realized that therewere people with entirely different civilizations and histories thantheir own.

Although the European worldviews led them to consider their wayof life superior to other cultures, European leaders and scholars wereimpressed by aspects of the North American indigenous peoples’ways of life:

• their personal liberty• their ideas about leadership and consensus government • their lack of emphasis on individual property ownership

The First Nations way of life led some European thinkers to questionthe inequalities of their own government systems. These ideasof personal freedom and leadership became a part of the Westernworldview and were later incorporated into the French and Americanconstitutions after their revolutions in the late 1700s.

The traders and colonists who lived with the First Nations peoplesunderstood that their societies were much more complex than

philosophers such as Montaigne imagined.Their societies had structures and systems inplace to deal with all aspects of life, just asEuropean states did. Like all societies, theywere not utopias.

Many European citizens saw the newlands offering new opportunities to liveindependent lives, not held back by thetraditional restraints of European society.Many chose to take the offer of free land in the colonies in order to escapereligious persecution in their homelands.Some settlers set up religiouscommunities of only one faith, whileothers lived together in communitieswhere everyone had the freedom toworship as they wished. This beliefin religious freedom was eventuallymade into law in the Canadianand American constitutions. Theimportance of individual choiceof religion is a key part of themodern Western worldview.


Montaigne compared the Aboriginal way of life to

European society. He thought indigenous peoples

were innocent and pure because they had not

been exposed to European ways. Montaigne wrote

…I do not find that there is anything barbaric

or savage about this nation, according to what

I’ve been told, unless to call barbarism

whatever differs from our own customs.

Indeed, we seem to have no other standard of

truth or reason than the opinions and customs

of our own country … In them the most

natural virtues and abilities are alive … They

are still ruled by natural laws, only slightly

corrupted by ours. They are still in such a state

of purity that I am sometimes saddened by the

thought that we did not discover them earlier,

when there were people who would have

known how to judge them better than we …

— Michel de Montaigne:

On Cannibals (1580)

Astronauts often sayhow flying on the spaceshuttle and viewing theEarth from space hasforever changed theirperspective of theplanet and its people.They recognize theEarth’s beauty and theoneness of humanity.

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Economic SystemThe economy of mostEuropean countries endedup being thrown intoturmoil by the wealthflowing in from thecolonies. Before they hadgained control of the newcolonies, there had been asteady, limited supply ofgold and silver in Europe.

After they conqueredother lands, especially theAztec and Incan Empires,Spain used the vastamounts of gold and silvercoming from its coloniesto purchase goods andsupplies from the rest ofEurope. As more gold andsilver came into Europe, itsbuying power was reduced. The more money in circulation (goldand silver), the less it was worth. As a result, inflation occurredacross Europe: more money was needed to purchase everyday goods.The price of goods and supplies rose for all Europeans, not just theSpanish. This resulted in hardship for the common people who didnot have the wealth coming from the colonies.

Since they had taken so much gold and silver from Central Americaand South America, Portugal and Spain had no need to developindustries or manufacturing facilities; they chose to purchase all thesupplies they needed from other countries. England, Germany, andthe Netherlands developed manufacturing facilities to provide goodsnot only for their own countries and colonies, but for those of Spainand Portugal as well. This initial industrial development in northerncountries set the situation up so that by the end of the 17th century,financial power shifted to them from Spain and Portugal.


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1. a. What attitudes and worldview does Montaigne present in his description of First Nations?

b. How do you think people of the First Nations might have felt abouthis description of them?

2. In groups, discuss the changes in American and European societies thatcame about because of European imperialism. Present these changes inan appropriate graphic organizer.


Gold and silver from theAmericas were shipped backto Spain and Portugal. Theylost some of their riches topirates, whose ships sailedfaster and were moremaneuverable. Elizabeth I ofEngland sent Sir Francis Drake(above), one of the mostsuccessful of the privateers, orpirates, to the Caribbean toraid and destroy Spanish ships.

inflation: an increase inprices and a decrease in thepurchasing power of money

Cerro Rico, a mountainat Potosi, Bolivia, wasso rich in silver that itproduced enough silverto triple what wasalready in circulationin Spain.


F O C U S O N I N Q U I R Y

How Do Thoughts and FeelingsAffect Research?During this case study, you learned how the exchange of ideas andknowledge during the Renaissance shaped the worldview of theWestern world. Today, the Western worldview is considered to be thevalues and beliefs about life held by Europeans, by the descendantsof European settlers in the Americas, Australia,and New Zealand, and by those whohave adopted that way of thinking.It developed from the Renaissanceworldview and includes many ofthe same basic values. Like mostworldviews, the Western worldviewundergoes changes because of

• geography• ideas and knowledge • contact with other groups

As you learned about people,places, events, and ideas during this casestudy, you probably thought of additional things that would beinteresting to know. For example, the I wonder … questions are onesthat other students might ask. When you ask questions like these,you are involved in inquiry.

You have also learned and practised how to• use an Inquiry Model to plan a research project to answer

important questions• use key words to locate information in print and online sources• search the Internet for suitable sites, such as museums and

art galleries


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I wonder … what aresome other values andbeliefs in today’sWestern worldview?

I wonder … how arethe values and beliefsof the Renaissanceworldview reflectedin Canada today?

I wonder … is there justone Canadian worldview?


Beliefs

Geography

Ideas and knowledge

Contact with other

groups


To reflect is to think carefully about something you are doing, whyyou are doing it, and what you are learning. Reflection involves boththoughts and feelings. During inquiry, you should think about theprocess and how well it is working. You should also think about howwell you are working to answer the inquiry questions and how youfeel about it. People who know how to reflect talk to themselves(by thinking, not out loud) as they work.


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This chart lists someof the thoughts andfeelings you may haveduring the phases ofan inquiry project.

Thoughts

• I need to get a picture of the whole projectand all phases of inquiry (visualize).

• I wonder if my topic is okay.• I need more questions.• I have made a schedule to complete the work.

• I need to brainstorm for possible sources.• I have listed key words.• I remember different ways to find information.• I need to revise my topic because of the

resources I found.

• I need to find information related to my topic.• I have organized ideas and information.• I need to ask different questions and find

more resources to answer them.

• I was pretty creative when I made my product.• I know my product is finished. • I have some ideas for ways to improve the

next time.• I have imagined giving my presentation

ahead of time.• I have thought about the audience.

Feelings

• I feel optimistic about my project,but a little uncertain and worried.

• I feel excited, but confused.• I wonder if I will be able to do

this project.

• I feel confident and interested,but a bit overwhelmed.

• I feel satisfied to have my productcompleted.

• I feel pressured to finish myproject.

• I feel excited or nervous aboutpresenting my information.

Phase

Planning

Retrieving

Processing

Creating andSharing

Does this sort of self-talk sound familiar?• What do I know about this topic or question already?

• What do I want to know about this topic? What questionsare related to my topic question?

• How well did I do that? What do I need to learn or practiseso that I can do better next time?

• Am I asking the right questions? Perhaps I should changethe focus of my research.

• I’m feeling a little confused because I have too muchinformation. What should I do next?

• Wow! That’s something that I have never before considered.


Using Your Inquiry Sk i l l sIn this activity, you will learn more about and practise the core phaseof the Inquiry Model — Reflecting and Evaluating. Review and usewhat you learned about the first two phases of the inquiry process —Planning and Retrieving — to plan a research project to answer oneof your own I wonder … questions. You can work alone, in pairs, or ingroups. Talking to others about your ideas is a good way to thinkthrough your plan.

Planning Phase

Step 1 — Select a topic

Review all the I wonder … questions that you recorded during thiscase study. Select one question that you want to explore by usingstrategies such as one of these:

• Use a highlighter pen to mark the most interesting questions yourecorded in your notebook.

• Conduct a Think–Pair–Share discussion where you talk aboutwhich questions you find most interesting.

• Select an interesting question and revise it based on what youknow now.

• Finally, pick one inquiry question to focus on and write about whyyou are interested in this topic.

Reflecting on the process: What were you thinking andfeeling as you selected a topic?

Step 2 — Write a research plan

First, write the topic of your plan and the inquiry questions that willguide your research. Include the following in your plan:

• where you might find information to explore your questions

• a schedule for the project

• what your final product or presentation will be

• how you will evaluate your work

• how you will know if your inquiry was successful

Reflecting on the process: What were you thinking andfeeling as you made a research plan?


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Planning

Reflectingand

Evaluating

Processing

CreatingandSharing

Retrieving


Retr iev ing Phase

Step 3 — List key words

Write a list of key words that you can use to begin your search forinformation. Ask yourself questions like these to generate ideas:

• Is there another way to say or spell this topic?

• Is there a larger subject that might include this topic, or a smaller one?

• Does this topic overlap with another one? What key words would I use for that topic?

• When and where did this occur?

Reflecting on the process: What were you thinking andfeeling as you brainstormed for key words?

Ref lect ing and Evaluat ing Phase

Step 4 — Think about ref lect ing

Reflecting on the process is part of every phase of inquiry. Lookback at the notes you made about your thoughts and feelings forSteps 1, 2, and 3. Think about what you can learn about yourselfand about the process of inquiry.

• What have I done well? What could I have done better?

• How did I feel during each step? Why did I have those feelings?How did they affect my work?

• What skills and strategies did I learn, practise, or use?

• What are my personal goals for the next time I do a researchproject?

• What have I learned about inquiry from this experience?


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End-of-ChapterConclus ion By the 16th century, the ideas of the Renaissance had spreadthroughout Europe and into European colonies. These ideas beganto change the way that people in western Europe thought aboutreligion and their homelands. New churches were formed. Freedom ofreligious choice began to become valued in the Western worldview.The boundaries within Europe changed as small political units joinedto form states. People began to identify as citizens of their countries.Economic and political power moved from the Mediterranean Italyto Western European countries such as Portugal, Spain, England,and France.

Expansionist values were part of the worldviews of the newlyestablished states. They looked to exploration as a way of increasingtheir power and wealth. As the merchant class grew larger and richer,new attitudes developed towards trade and profit that spurred thedesire to seek new trade routes to the East.

The Age of Exploration was accompanied by the rise of imperialism.European governments claimed lands along the coast of Africa, theMiddle East, South Asia, the Far East, and in the New World. WesternEuropeans felt their culture was superior to other cultures. Theybelieved that they had the right to impose their ways and worldviewson peoples around the world and to claim the world’s riches.

New ideas and knowledge about geography, religion, citizenship,national identities, and food crops changed the way WesternEuropeans lived and thought about life.

Many societies of today, including Canada, have worldviewsthat developed out of the worldview of Europe at the end of theRenaissance. These Western worldviews include these beliefs and values:

• the importance of the individual• a high material standard of living• the importance of education • governments based on democracy• laws that guarantee the rights and freedoms of citizens


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Review and Synthes ize

1. Make a list of the new ideas, knowledge,and discoveries that were made duringthe Renaissance. Hold a RoundtableDiscussion to reach consensus aboutwhich ones were the most important.What criteria will you use to decidewhich are important? Create a poster ordisplay of your selection to add to theRenaissance Hall of Fame.

2. Exploration in the Renaissance had bothpositive and negative effects. Write ascript of two people discussing whetherthe monarch should support a missionto new lands. Present the pros and consof the mission. With a partner, presentthe discussion to your class.

3. Think about the Worldview Investigationin this chapter. Share what you havelearned about the Western worldview ina Roundtable Discussion. To prepare,create a summary that describes theWestern worldview, in particular, valuesand beliefs from the Renaissance. Use anappropriate organizer to organize yourfacts and ideas. Highlight those valuesand beliefs that are present in today’sWestern worldview.

Inquiry

4. Create a research plan to compare theeffects of the printing press on theWestern worldview during theRenaissance with the effects of theInternet on the Western worldviewtoday. In what ways were the effectsof the printing press similar to the effectsof the Internet? In what ways were theydifferent? You do not have to carry outthe research plan; you should show thatyou can plan effectively and reflect onthe process of inquiry.

Show What You Know

5. Make a concept poster to defineimperialism that clearly explains what theconcept means. Include examples fromthe Renaissance and other historicaltimes. Use words, pictures, colours,textures, or other artistic strategies.Use definitions, examples, stories, orother ways of communicating the ideaof imperialism.

6. Explain how religious reform in Europechanged the Western worldview.Begin by describing in general termswhat happened and how the Westernworldview was affected. Then, pickone aspect to describe in detail.

7. Select one key value or belief that ispart of the Western worldview today.Explain how this idea began during theRenaissance and how it affected the livesof the people at that time. How does itaffect the lives of people today?

Closure

8. Share: Create a classroom displaycalled Influences on the Renaissance.Add posters, reports, or cards aboutnew ideas, knowledge, or discoveries.On each, identify who, what, when, andwhere, and list the influences this personor knowledge had on the Renaissance.

9. Discuss: Conduct a RoundtableDiscussion to choose an example ofmodern imperialism presented in themedia. Create a list of details to supportthe argument that this is imperialism.

10. Reflect: Spend a few minutes inpersonal reflection. What has thischapter shown about how to treatother people? Do you think yourculture or country is superior to someothers? How can you become moreunderstanding of others? Record yourthoughts in your journal.


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C A S E S T U D Y O N E

ConclusionWho Are You? A CanadianThink about what you have learned throughout Case Study Onethat can affect you in your daily life. In this case study, you learnedthat the Western worldview developed from the ideas and beliefs ofpeople who lived in Europe during the Renaissance. Canadians withEuropean ancestry have inherited the Western worldview from theirancestors — people with British, French, German, Greek, Italian,and other Western European backgrounds. Much of our Canadianway of life — the social systems, political and economic systems,and culture — are based on this Western worldview.

There are many groups of people in Canada with non-Europeanorigins whose ancestors had other worldviews. There are manydifferent First Nations, Métis, and Inuit groups. There are peoplefrom many other countries. As well, many Canadians have ancestorsfrom more than one area of the world and culture. Canadians pridethemselves on their multicultural country that includes people ofmany different origins with differing values, beliefs, and worldviews.

Think about the diversity of people in Canada and what it meansto you.

• Throughout your life, you will meet many people withbackgrounds and worldviews that are different from yours.Be open-minded about the differences and show respect fortheir values and beliefs.

• Try to learn more about the cultures and worldviews of othergroups of people. If you understand what they value and believe,you can be considerate of their needs, ideas, and perspectives.

O u r Wo r l d v i e w s

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diversity: variety

Cultural Groups in Canada Languages in Canada Religions in Canada


How Did the Exchange of Ideas and Knowledge During the Renaissance Shape the Worldviews of the Western World?

123

1. Learn more about others.• Invite guest speakers to class who represent the diversity of groups in

Canada. Develop powerful questions to ask that will help you understandtheir beliefs, values, and worldviews. Listen carefully to their perspectiveswith an open mind. Think about what you learn from each person.

• Take a field trip to a church, mosque, synagogue, or other place of worship.Think about how religion reflects the values and beliefs of a group of people.

• Invite Aboriginal Elders to class. They can help you to learn more about thediversity of Aboriginal cultures in Canada.

• Conduct a Roundtable Discussion in which each person shares somethingof his or her culture or background that will help other students understandwhat he or she values and believes.

2. Think about diversity by discussing ideas with others. Conduct aThink–Pair–Share discussion.• Are there some values and beliefs that are common to all people,

regardless of their worldviews?• How does diversity in Canada enrich our lives?• How do new Canadians adapt to life in Canada? Do they feel a need to

change some of their values and beliefs in order to fit in?

3. Think about your worldview.• Continue to develop the picture of your worldview that you started during

the Introduction to this text. Perhaps your thinking has grown and changed.Add to it and make changes to show what you now understand aboutyour worldview.

• What does it mean to be a Canadian? Write in your notebook or journal.

T H I N K A B O U T I T

This is a typical group of Canadianteenagers who have different originsand may have differing worldviews.

Gr8SS-AB-Ch03GOOD 03/13/2007 10:15 am Page 123

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