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Early Voyages of Exploration
Section 1Chapter 2
Focus Questions
How did the Portuguese seek direct trade with Asia?
Why did Christopher Columbus make his voyage across the Atlantic Ocean?
How did Europeans react to Columbus’s voyages?
The Search for a Sea Route
During the 1400s Venice (Italy) held a monopoly, sole control, on European trade with Asia
Prince Henry of Portugal wanted to find a sea route to the East (Asia)
The astrolabe allowed sailors to travel open seas by charting the position of stars
Prince Henry brought some of the best navigators, shipbuilders, and mapmakers to Portugal and they designed the caravel, small sturdy ship made to be fast and easily managed
The Portuguese were very successful in exploring the west coast of Africa
The Search for a Sea Route
Bartolomeu Dias led an expedition along the African coast in 1487 and successfully navigated around the southern tip of Africa (“Cape of Good Hope”)
The Portuguese set up trading posts along the coast of Africa where they traded for gold, ivory, and slave (felt it was alright to enslave non-Christians)
Columbus’s Bold Idea
Christopher Columbus was an Italian sailor who was convinced that he could reach Asia by sailing west over the Atlantic Ocean
He convinced King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain to fund this voyage
He was told to claim any lands he finds for Spain
Columbus’s Bold Idea
He set sail on August 3, 1492 with three ships the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria
On October 12, 1492 land was spotted
Where he landed is not for sure known but most believe it was somewhere I the Bahamas
Columbus’s Bold Idea
He called this island San Salvador (“Holy Savior”) and he believed he was near China or Japan
Columbus explored other islands and met the Taino on Hispaniola
He called these people Indians
Forty men stayed behind at a colony called La Navidad as Columbus set sail back to Spain in January of 1493
Europeans Learn of Columbus’s Voyage
Columbus returned to a hero’s welcome
Columbus had claimed all of his new lands for Spain and to establish these rights Ferdinand convinced Pope Alexander VI to grant rights to all these rights to Spain
The Pope created the Line of Demarcation– boundary of Spain’s exploration and monopoly rights (land west of the line was Spain’s and land east of it was Portugal’s)
Europeans Learn of Columbus’s Voyage
In 1494, the Treaty of Tordesillas moved the line farther west but gave Portugal rights to all of Africa and what is now Brazil
Columbus made three more voyages to the Caribbean but lost his popularity with both the people and the King and he died in 1506
Focus Questions
How did the Portuguese seek direct trade with Asia?
Why did Christopher Columbus make his voyage across the Atlantic Ocean?
How did Europeans react to Columbus’s voyages?
