Causes of European Exploration After the Crusades, Europeans wanted Asian goods Cause Italy dominates trade because it had developed a trade network in the Mediterranean during the Crusades. Italy begins making a bunch of money selling Asian goods in Europe Cause

Other European Countries want a share of the profit to be made by trading and selling Asian goods. Cause These nations begin looking for a water route to Asia.

Ships could carry more than carts, wagons, an camels Sea routes were safer than over land routes – like the Silk Road Raiders and Plunders Sea routes were generally faster than overland routes Why was finding a water route so important? Why not just continue using the Silk Road (the Overland Route)?

Portugal Leads the Way Portugal took the lead in the search to find the first water route to Asia. Portugal decided to spend as much money as was needed to reach the goal. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to explore the unknown world, and they were the first to sail around the southern tip of Africa.

Prince Henry Prince Henry established a school for the study of navigation, mapmaking, and shipbuilding in His goal was to find a route to the rich spice trade of the Indies and to explore the west coast of Africa.

Designing New Ships The ships of the day were too slow and too heavy to make long ocean voyages. Under Prince Henry’s direction, a new and lighter ship was developed, the caravel, which would allow sea captains to sail further and faster.

Caravels The caravel was an improvement on older ships because it could sail very fast and also sail well into the wind. Caravels had 2 or 3 masts with square sails or triangular sails. They were up to about 65 feet long and could carry roughly 130 tons of cargo.

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama sailed around the Cape of Good Hope to India. He was the first European to chart an all water route to Asia He took four ships and 170 men. After reaching Calcutta India, he sailed back to Portugal with his ship full of spices but only returned with 55 of his sailors. Da Gama finally found a sea route to Asia.

Columbus believes he can reach the Indies by sailing west from Europe. Europeans did not know that the America’s existed. Columbus begins his first voyage in 1492 and “discovers” the Americas. Really he really discovered the Island in the Bahamas. Christopher Columbus 1492

John Cabot explored the East Coast of North America while searching for a Northwest Passage. The Northwest Passage was a fabled water route through the North American continent to Asia. England would later claim the East Coast of North America as its own due to Cabot’s exploration. England (Britian) established the 13 original colonies in the territory Cabot explored. John Cabot 1497

Amerigo Vespucci was the first person to suggest that Columbus did not find the Indies, but a new continent previously unknown to the Europeans. Vespucci explored the east coast of what is now Brazil and Argentina. The Americas are named after Amerigo Vespucci. Amerigo Vespucci

Magellan is the explorer who is credited with being the first person to sail around the world. Magellan was killed in the Philippines during the voyage, however. His men and ship continued on and finished the journey though. Ferdinand Magellan