1 / 15

Why did explorations happen when they did?

Why did explorations happen when they did?. A variety of factors all came together to make the time period (1450-1700) the “age of exploration” Some of these factors were pushes , external forces acting on Europe Some were pulls , motivations and things that attracted the Europeans.

milly
Download Presentation

Why did explorations happen when they did?

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Why did explorations happen when they did? • A variety of factors all came together to make the time period (1450-1700) the “age of exploration” • Some of these factors were pushes,external forces acting on Europe • Some were pulls, motivations and things that attracted the Europeans

  2. What is the easiest way to remember it all? • The Three G’s: • Gold • Glory • God

  3. The First G: Gold • Gold was a hot item that explorers were looking for, but remember that it is really wealth, not just literal gold that explorers were after. • Europeans also desired spices • (Da Gama’s voyage to India made him a 3000% profit!) • Other natural resources - timber, sugar, tobacco, ivory, etc. • Competition between nation-states

  4. The second G: Glory • Came out of the Renaissance ideal of Humanism, and the focus on individual achievement • With the rise of the printing press, the idea of gaining fame for one’s actions was more possible and desired • Also, individual kings wanted glory for their kingdoms. The Triumph of Fame, a Flemish tapestry from 1502.

  5. The third G: God • Christians wants to spread religion • New converts • Right thing to do “white man’s burden” • Competition amongst religions • Colonization will become a race to convert native peoples to a particular brand of Christianity • Jesuits (Catholics) are some of the most active

  6. How did these explorations begin? • Prince Henry of Portugal - first to encourage new ship explorations • Started an institute for seafaring and exploring • By the time of his death in 1460, Portuguese had sailed as far south as the Gold Coast of West Africa “Prince Henry the Navigator”

  7. What were the new technologies that enabled explorations? • Caravel • Compass, astrolabe, maps and other technologiesfrom asian and Islamic culture

  8. What factors were pushing Europeans to explore? • Decline of Mongol Empire in 1400s made goods from the east harder to get, more expensive • Fall of Constantinople (1453) • Desire to get trade goods cheaper.

  9. Effects of Age of Exploration • Europe • Growth of wealthy European monarchs • Increased competition (economic = political)

More Related