Age of Exploration (1450 - 1750) “God, gold and glory”

I. Motives for Exploration “God, gold and glory” I. Motives for Exploration A. Technological Advances 1. improved navigational methods: - magnetic compass and astrolabe - improved maps and charts

2. improved ship designs - the caravel

3. improved weapons - gunpowder and cannons Why would this be important?

B. Desire for wealth 1. gain access to the spice trade (also sugar and silk) Arab and Italian merchants had a monopoly 2. find new sources of gold and silver

C. Growth of Nation-States 1. centralized power at home allowed for an outward push and colonization of new lands. D. Religious devotion / Crusading Spirit 1. desire to convert new people to Christianity 2. to strike a blow against the Muslims

E. Renaissance Spirit and Values 1. desire to learn about the world (intellectual curiosity) - Marco Polo returns with stories of the riches in Asia. 2. desire for adventure, fortune, fame and glory.

II. Portugal and Spain A. Portugal 1. Portugal led the way in exploration a. Prince Henry the Navigator encourages exploration and the study of improvements in seafaring.

b. location –. Portugal was. well situated. to explore. based on b.location – Portugal was well situated to explore based on routes available to explore.

2. Portuguese. sailors. explored the. coast of. Africa in an 2. Portuguese sailors explored the coast of Africa in an attempt to find a water route to Asian trade.

3. Portuguese explorers included: Bartholomeu Dias - first to sail around the southern tip ofAfrica Vasco da Gama - discovered an all water trade route between Portugal and India.

B. Spain     1. Columbus sails West in an attempt to reach Asia. a. opened the Americas to European colonization and trade.

Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) - Spain and Portugal sign a treaty dividing the newly discovered lands between the two nations How would you view this treaty if you were the English, French or other Europeans

Amerigo Vespucci – Explored the coast of the newly discovered lands Suggested Columbus had actually discovered a new world Vespucci’s name begins to appear on maps of the New World

Ferdinand Magellan – attempted to find a Western route to Asia, one of his ships will complete the first circumnavigation of the earth. (1519-1522)

Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes arrived in Mexico in 1519. Cortes along with native allies defeated the Aztec.

The “Columbian Exchange” What is it? The “Columbian Exchange” refers to the vast exchange of people, plants, animals, ideas and diseases that began with the “Age of Exploration”

The “Columbian Exchange” Squash Avocado Peppers Sweet Potatoes Turkey Pumpkin Tobacco Quinine Cocoa Pineapple Cassava POTATO Peanut TOMATO Vanilla MAIZE Syphilis Trinkets Liquor GUNS Olive COFFEE BEAN Banana Rice Onion Turnip Honeybee Barley Grape Peach SUGAR CANE Oats Citrus Fruits Pear Wheat HORSE Cattle Sheep Pigs Smallpox Flu Typhus Measles Malaria Diptheria Whooping Cough