1. Age of Discovery/Exploration God, Gold, and Glory
9/7/2016 8:08 AM
Age of Discovery/Exploration God, Gold, and Glory
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2. Motivation for Exploration
God – Religious Devotion – convert more people to Christianity
Gold - Desire for Wealth – Find new/better routes to India and Asia - new products and spices
Glory – Expand their Control = More land = More Power
Adventure and Fame – sparked by
Marco Polo’s travels through Asia

3. Marco Polo Merchant and adventurer from Venice
One of the first to travel to Asia during the middle ages.
Traveled the Silk Road for over 24 years and detailed his experiences in the
Book of the Marvels of the World, also known as The Travels of Marco Polo, c. 1300
His story inspired many including mapmakers and Christopher Columbus.

5. New Technology - Developments and advancements that allowed people to explore further than ever:
Cartography
Caravel
Magnetic Compass
Cross Staff
Astrolabe

6. Portugal Leads the Way
Portugal’s location gave them an advantage in looking for a new route to Asia.
They were the first to try sailing south around the tip of Africa to gain access to Asia

7. Prince Henry the Navigator
Heard tales of gold in Africa and financed numerous expeditions along the African coast
These voyages helped compile knowledge about navigation and the geography of the Atlantic Ocean.
1419 set up school and naval observatory

8. Bartholomew Dias
Portuguese explorer – 1st to round the southern tip of Africa Cape of Good Hope in 1488 and into the waters of the Indian Ocean
Found the route that would allow Europeans to trade directly with India and Asia

9. Vasco da Gama 1st European to reach India by sea
Establishes foundation for Portuguese settlements
Why is the voyage a big deal?

10. SPAIN In competition with Portugal to find a route to Asian trade Opened the Americas to European colonization and trade

11. Christopher Columbus Born in Italy but studied in Portugal.
His study of math, astronomy, cartography, and navigation led him to believe that he could find a faster route to Asia by sailing West across the Atlantic
He took his idea to Portugal and England but neither were interested
Ferdinand and Isabella (King & Queen of Spain) agree to fund his trip across the Atlantic
On August 3, 1492 Columbus set sail with three ships: the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria

12. Let’s set the record straight
Myth
Truth
Christopher Columbus discovered America
Christopher Columbus landed in the USA
Columbus befriended the Indigenous people
America existed long before Christopher Columbus was alive. It was inhabited by millions of Indigenous Peoples with their own culture, language, government, and trading systems.
He landed in what we know as the Bahamas , present day Haiti and the Dominican Republic
He used Indigenous people for information on the land, to work, and for gold

13. Effects of Western Exploration
Columbian Exchange
Slavery
Conquistadors , Explorers, and Missionaries began to flood the North American Continent

14. Columbian Exchange
refers to the vast exchange of people, plants, animals, ideas and diseases that began with the “Age of Exploration”

15. Results of the Columbian Exchange
Colonization of North American
Increases the population in Europe, better diet
Wipeouts civilizations….Incas, Aztecs
Native American population decreases…disease and labor but get horses and new technology
Create the slave trade in Africa and Americas

16. Slavery
Because many Indigenous people of the Americas were being killed or died by diseases, settlers required other people to do the work for them .
These people were refereed to as slaves.
By the late 1400s European Explorers in West Africa were trading guns and other goods for slaves
Slavery began in the “ New World” in the 1500s.

17. Conquistadors and Missionaries
Though Columbus didn’t find the Western route to Asia, his discovery of the Caribbean Islands gave Spain claim to new lands and opened the door for Spanish explorers for the next 150 years
The Conquistadors found greater riches than could be earned through trade with Asia
Missionaries were sent to convert the Native people to Christianity.

18. Conquistadors and Missionaries
Conquistadors are Spanish soldiers-explorers who murdered and took over the native peoples of Mexico and Peru
Missionaries are people who travel to spread the word of God and convert people to Christianity