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The Age of. Exploration And Expansion For thousands of years the major civilizations of the world thrived in isolation from one another. These civilizations had very little contact with one another, and in many cases had no knowledge of each other.
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The Age of
Exploration And Expansion For thousands of years the major civilizations of the world thrived in isolation from one another. These civilizations had very little contact with one another, and in many cases had no knowledge of each other. This all began to change during dark ages. Both Western Europe, and China began to send out explorers in an effort to learn about the world around them. These explorers helped to expand the knowledge of their people. As a result of their explorations, trade routes opened up between civilizations. Each nation specialized in certain types of products and goods. These goods would be shipped to far away nations, in exchange for the goods that they specialized in.
Trade Becomes More DifficultIn the 1300s A.D. trade had become more costly, and more difficult. The Mongol Empire had offered protection to travelers who carried trade goods. As the Mongol Empire collapsed, it became too dangerous to travel between Asia and Western Europe using overland routes. This meant that spices from Asia could only reach Europe by going around Asia, and through the Italian Peninsula. These spices were in high demand. They were used by Europeans to flavor their food, to preserve their meats, to make medicines, and even in perfumes. Yet the cost of transporting these spices to Europe made them very expensive for the struggling nations of Western Europe to afford. These nations began to look at other ways of transporting spices into Western Europe. Many adventurous businessmen began to look at the sea. If they could find a way to sail from Europe to Asia over the sea, they could make a fortune.
Factors Leading to Exploration During the 1400s and 1500s European explorers—inspired by greed (gold), the desire for glory, and the opportunity to spread Christianity (God), and aided by new technologies—sailed to many previously unknown lands. Goldwas a hot item that explorers were looking for. However, it was really wealth, not just gold, that explorers were looking for. Europe needed gold to fuel the rising banking system. Europeans also desired spices. Likewise, other natural resources could be sold be sold for profit (timber, sugar, tobacco, ivory, silk). Competition was enhanced by the idea of MERCANTILISM. This belief centered on the fact that there was only so much wealth in the world, and that a country must have more gold and wealth than others to be strong! Glory was a relatively new idea in Europe. It came out of the Renaissance idea of humanism and the focus on individual achievement. With the rise of the printing press, the idea of gaining fame for one’s actions became more possible. Also, king’s wanted the glory for their countries. Europeans saw the spread of Christianity as a good thing. The competition for colonies fueled the race to convert native peoples to a particular brand of Christianity. The Jesuits were the most active.
Technology Allows Exploration As civilizations around the world advanced, so did their technologies. For thousands of years it had been impossible for explorers to travel too far from their homelands. Sailors were limited by what they could see. If they traveled out into the open ocean, away from land, they would get lost. They used landmarks along the coast to help them navigate. Thus they were forced to stay near the coastlines. They were also limited by their sailing technology. Up until now ships had been equipped with square shaped sails. These sails only allowed explorers to travel in the same direction that the wind was blowing. If the wind stopped blowing in the right direction, they had to take down their sails and either paddle, or wait for the wind to change again. This made it very dangerous to travel too far from shore.
Between 1100 A.D. and 1400 A.D. new technologies emerged, which helped to overcome many of these problems. The astrolabe, which was invented by the Arabians, helped sailors measure objects in the sky such as stars, planets, the moon, and sun. Using star charts helped them to then determine their location. The compass, which was invented by the Chinese, helped them to track what direction they were traveling. By using an hourglass, they could determine how long they had been traveling.
Maps also began to improve. For centuries the maps used by travelers had been very inaccurate. These maps were handed down from civilization to civilization, and were gradually improved upon. By the A.D. 1400s they were much more accurate. About this time, map makers began to use grid lines known as latitude and longitude to help travelers measure and determine where they were. The final invention that allowed sailors to travel further from home was that of the triangle shaped sail. This new type of sail allowed ships to harness the power of the wind to travel in any direction, and not just in the direction that the wind was blowing. This made it much safer for explorers to travel away from land.
Portuguese Explorers Survey Africa Driven by a desire to find an overseas route to India, Prince Henry The Navigator who was the son of King John I of Portugal worked tirelessly to advance the exploration efforts of his father’s kingdom. Prince Henry brought together mapmakers, astronomers, and mathematicians to study star charts, and to help improve methods of ocean navigation. He also funded a number of important expeditions into the Atlantic Ocean, and down the west coast of Africa. By the late 1400s A.D. explorers from Portugal had discovered new islands, rivers, trading posts, and even a way to travel from Portugal to India over water.
Bartholomew Dias In 1487 a young adventurous explorer by the name of Bartholomew Dias set out on an expedition to find the southern tip of Africa. Up until now, many explorers from Portugal had traveled by ship to the western coasts of Africa. But no one had ever found the Southern tip of this large continent. At this time, no one knew how far South it extended. In 1488 Dias and his men arrived at the southern tip of Africa, which was later named The Cape of Good Hope. Dias’ bravery helped prove that is was possible to reach Asia by sailing around the tip of Africa.
Vasco Da Gama Following in the foot steps of Bartholomew Dias, another explorer left Portugal in 1497 hoping to sail around Africa, and reach India. This explorer was Vasco Da Gama. Da Gama set out with four ships from his homeland in Portugal. Ten months later, he and his men arrived in Calicut, India. Here they established ties with the leaders of this city, and attempted to setup a trading partnership. While their efforts to setup a partnership with Indian traders was not successful, they did prove once and for all that moving goods over the sea was possible. Vasco Da Gama and his men returned to Portugal as heroes.
Christopher Columbus Traveling to India around the southern tip of Africa was dangerous and difficult. An Italian sailor by the name of Christopher Columbus proposed finding a new route by sailing West. Columbus thought that if they sailed West, they would eventually circle the globe, and arrive in Eastern Asia. For seven years, Christopher Columbus traveled around Europe looking for someone who would finance his journey. The monarchs of Europe made fun of him, saying that it was too risky, and dangerous to attempt such a voyage around the globe. Finally, Columbus arrived in Spain. For many years, Spain had been caught up in civil war. As a result, they were behind much of Europe in their development. King Ferdinand, and Queen Isabella were anxious to prove that Spain could be as powerful and successful as their neighbor Portugal.
In August of 1492 they granted Christopher Columbus the supplies, men, and ships that he needed to carry out his expedition. Columbus was given three sailing ships. These ships were named the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. Columbus’ men were terrified that they would be lost at sea, and that they would suffer starvation. As the days wore on, these men began to turn against him. Columbus was forced to agree to turn back, f they did not find land within three days. On the night of the second day, just before he would have had to turn around, land was sighted. Columbus and his men discovered an island in the Caribbean, which they named Hispanolia. This Island is the location of the present day nations of Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. Columbus did not realize that he had arrived in a new part of the world. He was convinced that he was in India. For this reason, he called the natives who lived on these islands the Indians. Columbus returned to the Americas three more times. Each time believing that he was in India. During his life, he never realized what he had discovered.
Amerigo Vespucci It was not until 1507 that people began to realize that what Columbus had discovered was not a new route to India, but instead was a completely new world. The first person to suggest that this was the case was an Italian explorer by the name of Amerigo Vespucci. Representing Italian bankers, he traveled to the new World in 1499. He was the first to realize that a new world was a land separate from Asia. After reading accounts of Vespucci’s travels, a German mapmaker - Martin Waldseemüller -named this new land, ‘America’, in honor of him. The original map measures 34 square feet.
The Line of Demarcation Up to this time the two major powers exploring the world were Spain and Portugal. These nations worried that their new territories would be taken by each other, or by others. In order to protect their new empires these nations looked to the Pope for help. In 1493 the Pope drew a line on the globe cutting the new world in half. This line was known as the line of demarcation. Any territory discovered on the East side of the line was to be controlled by Portugal, while any lands found on the West side of the line were to be ruled over by Spain. In 1494 Spain and Portugal signed a treaty moving the line further West. This treaty was known as the Treaty of Tordesillas, and divided the new world between these two powers.
Ferdinand Magellan In 1519 a Portuguese sailor set sail from Seville, Spain in an effort to sail around the globe. This expedition was funded by Spain. After Magellan and his 260 men and five ships reached South America, they began looking for a way through the continent to the other side. After several months, they finally discovered the Southern Tip of South America, which is now known as the Straight of Magellan. As Magellan traveled through these rough waters one of his ships became separated, and was forced to return to Spain. Another ship crashed on a rocky island. The three remaining ships traveled for several more months, and finally made it to the Philippians. Magellan became involved in a local dispute with a tribal king, and was killed. His remaining crew of 18 men sailed back to Spain, arriving home after being gone for three years. This expedition was costly in both cost of goods, as well as cost of life. However, it was important, because it was the first time anyone had managed to sail around the entire globe. They proved once and for all that what Columbus had discovered was indeed a new world. They also discovered just how large the Earth really was.
Vasco Nunez De Balboa In 1500 A.D. a Spanish explorer by the name of Vasco Nunez De Balboa set sail from Spain, arriving in Columbia, South America several months later. Balboa and his partner Rodrigo De Bastidas explored the coastline of South America in search of treasure. Eventually, however, their boat began to leak, and they were forced to abandon it. This left Balboa without a boat, and without any money. Balboa attempted to survive by farming the land. He eventually moved further west with a group of Spaniards, and founded the first European colony in the new world, known as Santa Maria de la Antigua del Darien. While living in this new village he married a native, the daughter of a local tribal chief. Balboa then lead a large group made up of both Spaniards, and natives on an expedition across the Isthmus of Panama, where he became the first European to see the Eastern edge of the Pacific Ocean.
Juan Ponce De Leon Juan Ponce De Leon was the first European to set foot on the Peninsula of Florida. In 1493 Ponce De Leon sailed from Spain to the new world as a crew member on one of Christopher Columbus’ ships. Rather than returning with Columbus, Ponce De Leon chose to remain behind in Santo Domingo. Here he was made the governor of a small province known as Higuey. Ponce De Leon heard rumors of great treasures on the nearby island of Borinquen, which is the present day island of Puerto Rico. Using a small army, Ponce De Leon conquered this island in the name of Spain, and subjected the natives to extreme cruelty. For a short time, he was named governor of Borinquen, but after his cruelty became known, Ponce De Leon was removed from office in 1511. Ponce De Leon next conquered a small island in the Bahamas known as Bimini. Ponce De Leon had heard many stories about a fountain of youth, that would keep an individual young forever, giving them eternal life. As he searched for this fountain, he discovered a land covered in flowers. He named this new land ‘Florida’, which means ‘covered in flowers’ in Spanish.
Pedro Alvares Cabral After the return of Vasco Da Gama from his expedition to India, Portugal sought to control the spice trade in the Indian Ocean. Within six months of his return, they sent a fleet of 13 ships, lead by Pedro Alvares Cabral into the Indian Ocean in an attempt to control it. After fighting a bloody battle for control of Indian trading ports, and for control of the Indian Ocean, Portugal was successful in its efforts. They built trading ports, and navel bases along the coasts of Africa, and Asia, helping to insure that they could maintain their control in the region. As Cabral traveled to the Indian Ocean they stopped along the eastern coast of South America, where he claimed Brazil for Portugal. Brazil became an important outpost of the Portuguese Empire. Here, farmers were able to produce crops such as cotton, tobacco, and sugar, which could then be shipped back to Portugal, or traded with other nations. In order to provide enough labor, slaves were brought in from Africa to help farm these new crops.
Hernando Cortez In 1519 an explorer by the name of Hernando Cortez left his home in Cuba in order to explore Mexico. Cortez was a Spanish conquistador and was convinced that he could obtain more riches on the mainland, than was possible by remaining on the islands in the Caribbean. Cortez and over 500 men arrived in Mexico, and began traveling towards the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan. The Aztec Empire was wealthy, and in many ways more advanced than any European nation. However, they did not have horses, nor did they have guns. The noise of the cannon and the sight of armored soldiers on horseback filled the Indians with awe and fear. This gave the Spaniards a huge advantage. In addition, many of the peoples who had been conquered by the Aztecs were unhappy about the way the had been treated by them. The Aztecs were brutal, and often sacrificed the people they conquered to their gods. As a result, many of these people were ready to join forces with Cortez and his men to overthrow the Aztec Empire. At first the Aztecs did not fight back. They thought that the Europeans were the fulfillment of an ancient legend that spoke of white bearded gods.
Montezuma II, the Aztec emperor, greeted Cortez with great courtesy. But soon Cortez heard that the Aztecs had attacked Veracruz. He promptly seized Montezuma as a hostage and forced him to pay a large ransom in gold and jewels. Cortez put to death the Aztecs who had attacked Veracruz. The Aztecs revolted against the small force left at Tenochtitlán and Cortez returned to find his men besieged. When Montezuma tried to stop the revolt, the Aztecs showered him with stones and arrows. He either died of his wounds or was killed by the Spanish. On the evening of June 30, 1520, called by the Spanish the "dismal night," the Spaniards and their Indian allies fled from the capital on a causeway, fighting off Aztec attacks. Cortez lost half his forces. Cortez built a new army composed of hundreds of Spanish reinforcements coming to Mexico to join in the conquest and of thousands of Indians from rebellious tribes. Cortez's assault on Tenochtitlán began in May, 1521. Within just a few years, he and his small army were able to defeat one of the most advanced civilizations of the era, setting Cortez as the ruler of Mexico, in behalf of Spain.
Francisco Pizarro A few years after Cortez conquered the Aztec Empire another explorer named Francisco Pizarro discovered another wealthy empire in Peru known as the Inca Empire. Leading about 150 men, Pizarro landed on the northern coast of the Inca Empire in early 1523. The Spanish told Inca messengers that they wished only to admire the empire. Pizarro was able to capture the Incan King, Atahualpa, and hold him ransom. After the Incas paid Pizarro a ransom of 24 tons of gold and silver for the release of their leader, Pizarro had Atahualpa put to death, along with other top leaders in the Incan Government. In February 1536, an army of 200,000 Inca warriors went to fight the Spanish. But the Inca failed because most supplies had been used up in a civil war only a short time before the Spanish arrived. The Inca retreated into the Andes Mountains. There they continued to fight the Spanish until 1572, when the Spanish finally defeated them. The result was that the Incan Empire also fell.
Two Empires Destroyed Historians give many reasons for the quick Spanish conquest of the Aztec and Inca empires. First , the Spanish weapons were better. They fought with cannon and crossbow, as well as spears and swords made of iron. The Aztec, with bronze and copper shields, stone knives, and cloth armor, were no match for them. Second, the Spanish and the Aztec came from very different cultures. They had different ways of living and believing. Montezuma believed that Cortes might have been a god, so he allowed Cortez to walk freely into the capital city. But Cortes saw the Aztec culture as something evil to be destroyed and replaced by the Christian faith. The two groups even fought by different rules. The Aztec usually took captives to kill as sacrifices to their gods. The Spanish, however, fought to kill their enemies on the battlefield.
Third, the Spanish took advantage of the weakened and rebellious condition of the Aztec and Inca empires. Many tribes were angry against the Aztec, so they were willing to guide the Spanish through their territory and help them win their battles. Tragically, the Spanish then turned and fought those helpful tribes once the Spanish got what they wanted. Finally, disease brought by the Europeans killed many Aztec and Inca. Smallpox and measles, which the Aztec and Inca had never been exposed to, spread rapidly through their empires. Disease killed off many in their armies, and killed off many leaders too, leaving the Aztec and Inca even weaker. The Inca, on the other hand, did not give up after their capital city was conquered. They fought the Spanish for 40 more years. This may be because the Inca rulers took much better care of their conquered tribes- giving them both food and land. The Inca spread their culture, religion, and language throughout their empire, bonding with their subjects. The Spanish destroyed temples, artwork, and something the Inca held very sacred - the mummies of their previous rulers- as well as anything else that represented Inca culture.
Dutch Exploration While Spain and Portugal had dominated exploration, other nations also began to send out explorers. One of these nations was the Netherlands. In the late 1500s A.D. the Dutch enjoyed one of the highest standards of living among all the Europeans. They had grown wealthy through trade and commerce. However, their homeland was small, and there was little room for farming or manufacturing. The Dutch used their merchant fleet – the largest in Europe - to distribute Asian imports from Lisbon. As a result of working closely with the Portuguese they were able to collect valuable maps and sailing directions. The first Dutch trading voyage of 1595 returned with a cargo of pepper from Bantam. In order to maintain their wealth, the Dutch decided to look at colonizing new lands. Dutch leaders founded The Dutch East India Company to help expand trade throughout the Indian Ocean. They established their headquarters on the island of Batavia in Indonesia, in 1619. They then used Batavia as a base to further push their control outward in the region.
Henry Hudson Henry Hudson originally sailed for an English trading company looking for a quicker way to get from England to the Far East, by way of the Arctic Ocean – a Northeast Passage. In 1609 he moved to Holland and sailed for a Dutch trading company on the ship named Half Moon. In 1609 he set sail from Amsterdam and headed north, again trying to find a way through the Arctic to the Far East. In 1621 leaders in the Netherlands sent him to North America, in search of suitable land for setting up colonies. The Dutch Government also established The Dutch West India Company to help establish colonies in North America. The most important of these colonies was New Amsterdam, which would eventually become New York. Henry Hudson explored much of the region around New Amsterdam, and also discovered the Hudson Bay.
Giovanni Da Verrazano In 1524 France entered the exploration race. They hired an Italian explorer by the name of Da Verrazano Giovanni to attempt to find a Northern route to India around the Americas. France provided Verrazano with two ships to set sail and discover the westward passage to Asia. In January of 1524, Verrazano set sail and arrived at Cape Fear in North Carolina. He then continued northward, exploring the eastern seaboard of North America as far as Nova Scotia. He made several discoveries including New York Bay, Block Island and Narragansett Bay. He was also the first European explorer to name newly discovered North American sites after persons and places in the Old World.Without question, Verrazano was the first European to enter New York bay in 1524. It was another 85 years, in 1609, that Henry Hudson, sailing on behalf of the Dutch East India Company and the individual usually associated with the discovery, would again sail a European vessel into the area. Giovanni explored the east coast of North America but was unable to find a way through.
Jacques Cartier Ten years after Verrazano returned to France, another French explorer named Jacques Cartier set out to find a northern route around the Americas. Cartier sailed up the St. Lawrence River . He continued on, establishing Mont Real (Mount Royal) which is now Montreal, Canada. Cartier never found the Northwest Passage, but his explorations served as a basis for the French claims in the rich St. Lawrence Valley and much of Canada for the French and led to many future expeditions by France to Canada.
John Cabot England also sent out explorers to find new land and wealth in the new world. In 1497 King Henry VI sent a captain by the name of John Cabot to attempt to find the new world that Columbus had recently discovered. Cabot convinced him that it was possible to reach Asia on a more northerly route than Columbus had taken, and this route would be even shorter! The idea that a northern route existed started the search for the Northwest Passage to the Indies. Cabot became the first European explorer to discover the mainland of North America (Canada and the United States). He sailed further north, making the first recorded attempt to find the Northwest Passage, only to find ice-crusted waters.Cabot explored Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and New England, and claimed these lands for Great Britain. It would be nearly 100 years however, before England was able to establish permanent colonies.
