The Age of Exploration
Dec 25, 2015
What was the Age of Exploration?
• A time period when Europeans began to explore the rest of the world.
• Improvements in mapmaking, shipbuilding, rigging, and navigation made this possible.
• Blue water sailing, not just coastal boats.• Policy of mercantilism drives the
exploration.
What was mercantilism?
• Dominant economic policy during this period–Policy that said there was a limited
amount of money in the world. Each country needs to grab what they can before it is gone. • Export more than you import…more
money in your pocket. • Colonies and markets were needed to
keep everything in the system.
• Colonialism: the control or governing influence of a nation over a dependent country, territory, or people.
• Imperialism: the policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries, or of acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies.
A Major Concept during the Age of Exploration
• Population growth in Europe• More land needed for
natural resources.• Higher demand for goods.• Competition between
countries for land.
Why did Colonialism Begin
• 1400’s: Explorers such as Columbus find new lands.
• 1500’s: Countries become rich from goods from new lands.
• Portugal and Spain gain a monopoly over trade in Americas and East Indies because of strong fleet of ships.
• 1588: Spanish Armada is Defeated. England, France, and Denmark begin competing for colonies.
How did Colonialism Begin?
Bartolomeu Dias • Sailed around Cape
of Good Hope at southern tip of Africa.
• Found route to Indian Ocean
• Trade can go from Europe to Asia by sea.– Major stop is the
Southern part of West Africa: THE GOLD COAST
Vasco da Gama
• Landed in India in 1498.
• Important trade route from Europe to India and East Indies.
Ferdinand Magellan • His crew made first
round-the-world voyage.
• Proved for certain that the world was round.
• Magellan was killed in the Phillippines, did not make it home.
Christopher Columbus • Believed a shorter
route to Asia could be found by sailing westward instead of around Africa.
• Found the Americas instead. Oops.
What was the Colombian Exchange?
• Massive exchange of plants, animals and diseases.
• These things moved between the New and Old Worlds.
• Started with Columbus. • To the Americas: cows, horses, wheat,
smallpox, plus much more.• To Europe: potatoes, tomatoes, tobacco,
corn, plus much more.
What was the Triangular Trade?
• System of trade between Europe, Africa, and the Americas.
• Stage 1: Raw materials to Europe (tobacco, rum, sugar)
• Stage 2: Manufactured goods to Africa (guns, cloth, rum)
• Stage 3: Slaves to the Americas to make raw materials. Also called: The Middle Passage
The Slave Trade
• Europeans began to use slave labor in their colonies on sugarcane plantations, later on additional crops.
• Native Americans used for a while, but Africans began to be brought to the Americas.
• The slave trade then became the main focus of Europe’s relations with Africa.
• IMPACT: Warfare and complete culture change for the African people