Exploration and Expansion Section 1

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Exploration and Expansion Section 1

Essential Questions

• What were the foundations upon which the Age of Exploration was built?

• What discoveries were made by explorers from Portugal and Spain?

• What drove explorers from the rest of Europe?

Main Idea

During the 1400s and 1500s European explorers—inspired by greed, curiosity, and the desire for glory, and aided by new technologies—sailed to many previously unknown lands.

Voyages of Discovery

Exploration and Expansion Section 1

• Renaissance spirit of discovery and innovation in Europe

• Period is sometimes called the Age of Exploration

• Search for wealth

• Europeans desired expensive luxury goods

• Other explorers hoped to spread their faith into new lands

Gold & God- Some set out to find

fame, glory

- Another motive—simple curiosity

- Writings intrigued many with tales of exotic lands, peoples

Glory & Curious

• Hoped to find new, faster routes to Asia to gain trade foothold

New Routes

Foundations of Exploration

Exploration and Expansion Section 1

Navigation • Sailors needed precise means to calculate location

• Compass brought to Europe from China

• Europeans learned to use astrolabe from Muslims

• Navigators could chart location based on sun, stars in relation to horizon

Advances in Technology• Whatever reasons for exploring, Europeans could not have made

voyages of discovery without certain key advances in technology

• Some advances made during renaissance & others borrowed from people with whom Europeans had contact (Chinese, Muslims)

Exploration and Expansion Section 1

Improvements • Just as important as advances in navigation were advances in shipbuilding

• Europeans learned to build ships that rode lower in water, to withstand heavier waves; also had larger cargo holds

Popular for Exploratory Voyages• Caravel would also be equipped with weapons, including cannons

• Ships could face off against hostile ships at sea

• Maneuverability, defensive ability made caravel most popular for exploring

Caravels

• Triangular-shaped sails; could sail against the wind

• Multiple sails = made ships faster

Shipbuilding

Exploration and Expansion Section 1

Summarize

How did advances in technology aid exploration?

Answer(s): new ships faster and more maneuverable, could better handle sea voyages; navigational instruments allowed for voyages of exploration

Exploration and Expansion Section 1

As a result of their location facing the Atlantic Ocean, Portugal and Spain were well suited to kicking off the Age of Exploration.

• Portugal was first country to launch large-scale voyages of exploration

• Begun largely due to efforts of Prince Henry the Navigator, not himself explorer

• He was a supporter of those who wished to explore

The Portuguese• Henry established

schools to which he brought sailors, mapmakers, astronomers

• Expeditions sent west to islands in Atlantic, south to explore western coast of Africa

Navigation Schools

Explorers from Portugal and Spain

Exploration and Expansion Section 1

Water Route to India

• Prince Henry’s ultimate goal—find water route around Africa to India

• 1488, Bartolomeu Dias became first to sail around southern tip of Africa

Results

- Portugal established trading centers; became rich, powerful European nation

da Gama and Cabral

• 1497, Vasco da Gama set out for India, stopped at several African ports

• da Gama’s trip inspired another expedition to India, led by Pedro Cabral

• Sailed west; sighted, claimed land that became known as Brazil

Exploration Attempts

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• Still believed he had reached Asia

- Error not realized until about 1502, when explorer Amerigo Vespucci sailed coast of South America, concluded it was not Asia

- Knowing they had found new land, they set out to explore it

- Núñez de Balboa became first European to see Pacific Ocean

3 More Voyages

- 1492, Spanish rulers agreed to pay for voyage by Italian sailor Christopher Columbus

• Columbus believed he could sail west from Spain, reach China, he was correct in theory, but figures he presented about earth’s size wrong

• Columbus reached island in Caribbean after about two months at sea

• Believed he found new route to Asia, hailed him as hero

Italian Sailor

The Spanish

Exploration and Expansion Section 1

After Balboa’s discovery, the Spanish realized they needed to cross another ocean to reach Asia.

• What Spanish did not know was how large ocean might be

• Ferdinand Magellan decided to sail west around world

• 1519, Magellan set out for Spain with five ships, 250 men

West Around World

• Journey long, difficult; some men mutinied, rebelled

• Magellan killed in fight with Philippine natives; his men sailed on

• 1522, 18 survivors of original fleet arrived back in Spain, first to circumnavigate world

Perilous Voyage

Ferdinand Magellan

Exploration and Expansion Section 1

Analyze

What did da Gama, Columbus, and Magellan accomplish?

Answer(s): da Gama—reached India via sea; Columbus—landed in the Americas; Magellan—circumnavigated the earth

Exploration and Expansion Section 1

• By early 1500s the English, French, & Dutch were exploring northern parts of the Americas.

• 1497, English voyage of discovery launched John Cabot, he sailed to Atlantic coast of Canada

• Sir Francis Drake sailed north to seek route around North America

The English

Explorers from the Rest of Europe

• Sent Dutch-born sailor Henry Hudson to find shorter route to Asia

• Hoped to find NE Passage around Europe, but failed

Henry Hudson

Exploration and Expansion Section 1

• Also wanted to find passage to Asia

• Sent explorers to look for Northwest Passage

• 1534, Jacques Cartier sailed into St. Lawrence River, claimed land as province of New France, now Canada

The French

• By 1600s Netherlands powerful trading nation, hoped to find new products, trading partners

• 1609, Henry Hudson set out to find Northwest Passage

• Did not find passage, but did explore river now named for him

The Dutch

French & Dutch

Exploration and Expansion Section 1

Find the Main Idea

What did English, French, and Dutch explorers hope to find?

Answer(s): a shorter route to Asia