Chapter Five

Focus 5-1  

The Age of Exploration

Classroom Discussion

Summary

- Europeans wanted more and

more goods as time went on

- As a result of the spread of

ideas across Europe many new

materials, spices, scents,

precious stones, ivory, furs, etc.

were wanted

- these things were in huge

demand and there was a lot of

money to be made

- England, France, Spain and

Holland began to go beyond

their countries by crossing the

huge oceans in ships

- trade was increasing and so

was manufacturing or making

new things out of raw materials

- the humanists valued

questioning and exploration and

as these ideas spread many

people wanted to sail the

oceans and find out what was

out there

- certain countries began to

send out explorers

- some of the kings and queens

of the time (1400’s-1500’s)

wanted to finance these trips

- one of the most famous was

Queen Isabella and King

Ferdinand of Spain who

financed Christopher

Columbus.

- in 1492, Christopher

Columbus had three ships -

The Nina, the Pinta, the

Santa Maria

- they set out trying to find a

shorter route to the East in

order to bring back the

expensive goods that Europe

wanted

- these early explorers ran into

several problems:

a. -poor navigation so they often

went off course

b. - security was a problem in

that they faced many unknown

dangers - (weather, animals,

unknown people and cultures,

the sea and many other

dangers)

c. - poor attitude on the part of

the Explorers - they were

superior and believed they had

the right to take what they

wanted. Other cultures were

often seen as inferior or being

animal-like. They were there

to serve the Europeans.

- as a result of several wars in

the East, many of the traditional

trade routes were no longer safe

- Mongol Empire collapse made

passage to China dangerous

- When the Muslim Turks took

over Constantinople, trade with

Europe was in danger of stopping

- these are only two reasons why

explorations was necessary

Europe Needed More Gold

And Silver

- money in Europe was made

of gold and silver

- the mines in Europe were

running out of these metals

- in order to make more money

they needed more metal

- they needed to start going

further and further away to

find these metals. Their

economies depended on it.

Europeans Wanted To Spread

Christianity

- in Mark 16:15 in the Bible

is says,” Go into all the world,

and proclaim the good news to

the whole creation.”

- Europeans believed it was

their job to spread Christianity

to other nations

- they believed it was what

Jesus would have wanted to

spread the gospel

- list the Five Pillars of Faith

found in the Qur’an.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

- the Muslims believed that

they were to spread their faith,

as well.

- this lead to many conflicts

between Christians and

Muslims which continues

today

Europeans Wanted to Demystify

The World

- with the humanist ideas about

wanting to know things,

exploration became important

- Europeans wanted to know

what was out there beyond all

that water

- they hoped there would be new

things that they didn’t know

about that would make

European culture better

- humanist thinking made them

curious

Expanding Navigational

Technology

- technology used while out on

the sea was not perfect

- by travelling more, this

technology began to improve

- Prince Henry of Portugal

was one of the first people to

take this seriously and work on

inventing new technology that

improved sailing

- ship design also began to

change and improve as

Europeans learned how

challenging the sea really was

- the attitude known as

“expansionism” became

important

- this is the idea or belief that

one wants to increase power

and territory by taking over

other lands

- the expansionist mentality

changed European behavior in

other countries

- this expansionist thinking

caused Europeans to be very

aggressive and often mean and

cruel in order to do a complete

take-over.

- Europeans went from sailing

nearby seas to sailing the entire

world within a hundred years.

- Portugal was the first nation

to really begin exploration

- other European countries

followed soon

- these countries began

“colonizing” other lands all

over the world

- some famous explorers were

Christopher Columbus and

Ferdinand Magellan,

- this expansionism caused

Europeans to end up living all

over the world. New colonies

were developed and these

slowly expanded and took over

the lands they were in.