EQ: WHAT WERE THE CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF
EUROPEAN EXPLORATION OF THE AMERICAS?
Focus Q:How did the search for a water route to Asia
affect both Europe and the Americas?
 Section 1: The Age of Exploration.
Chapter key terms
Date: 10/2/13
Bellwork (right side)
1. Columbian Exchange = An exchange of products,
ideas, and people between the Eastern and Western
hemisphere.
2. Vikings = European sea going people who were the
first to explore the North America.
3. Francisco Coronado = Spanish explorer. searched
for fabled golden cities in North America
unsuccessfully.
(L) Causes of European Exploration
turn notebook sideways
Date:
Section 2. 1: Write causes and effects of European
Exploration, slides 5
Causes
1. ________________________________
2. Amerigo realizes that Columbus
discovered a new continent.
3. Magellan wants to find passage to Asia
4. Balboa hacks his way through Panama
Effects
1. Columbus discovers America
2. Europe continues to find a route to
Asia. Spain continue to explore and
colonize.
3. ________________________________
and also is the first to ________________
4. New crops and animals were found in
the Americas that do not exist in the
Eastern Hemisphere.
4. The ____________________________.
This also brings disease to Native
Americans.
**People of
Interest:
Christopher
Columbus
Christopher Columbus was
born in Italy. He wanted to
find a shorter route to Asia.
Everyone in Europe wanted to
find this route because they
wanted to trade with Asian
market which could Nations
rich. He reaches America, but
thinks he found the West
Indies which is close to Asia.
**Person of
Interest: Vasco
Nunez de
Balboa
He was a Spanish
colonist that explored
the Caribbean coast of
what is mostly Panama
today. After hacking his
way through the
forests, he is the first
European to gaze at the
Pacific Ocean.
Key Term: Strait
A strait is a
narrow
passage
that
connects to
bodies of
water.
Key Term:
Circumnavigate
Circumnavigating
is to travel around
something.
**Person of
Interest:
Ferdinand
Magellan
He was a Portuguese explorer that
wanted to find an Atlantic-Pacific
passage to Asia by going south. He
moved down South America
looking for a strait, a narrow
passage to the other side. Finally he
found a narrow passage to the other
side at the tip of South America.
Today this is called “Strait of
Magellan”. He was the first to
circumnavigate the earth.
Sadly he died by a Filipino attack.
The Age of Exploration: First
Visitors From Europe
 Believe it or not,
Christopher Columbus’s
voyage was not the first
European voyage made.
The first actual one
might have been from
the Vikings looking for
more land after settling
Greenland. They sailed
west and made
temporary settlements.
First Visitors From Europe: The
Voyages of Columbus
 Christopher Columbus
moved to Portugal, studied
cartography, and proposed
the idea he had to the king
of Portugal. He declined,
so he went to Spain to ask
the king and the queen of
Spain for ships for the
expedition. They gave him
the green light, but it took
six years before it actually
took place.
First Visitors From Europe: Setting
Sail
 On August 1492 about 90
men set sail on three tiny
ships: the Nina the Pinta and
the Santa Maria. Columbus
thought due to the wind on
their side, they would hit Asia
in 21 days. They haven't
spotted land in over a month
and the crew talked about
mutiny and rebelled. Finally
on October 12, they spotted
land and claimed the land for
Spain. He traveled south to
where he thought was
Japan but was Cuba.
First Visitors From Europe: Spain
Backs More Voyages
 Columbus’s report to
Spain stated that there
was a lot of gold in West
Indies. He claimed it for
Spain. His second
expedition he found
islands like Puerto Rico.
His third he landed in
the northern part of
South America where he
was convinced it was the
Asian mainland.
The Age of Exploration: The
Continuing Search For Asia
 Many of the explorers after
Columbus followed the same
path. An explorer Amerigo
Vespucci, explored the new
lands. His report said that
this was not Asia and that it is
an entirely new land.
 A colonist named Vasco
Nunez de Balboa explored
the Panama coast line.
Portuguese explorer
Ferdinand Magellan
wanted to look for a AtlanticPacific route. He was the first
to circumnavigate the earth.
The Age of Exploration: The
Columbian Exchange
 Because of the Spanish
voyages, a great exchange
between the Eastern and
Western Hemisphere started.
The Europeans introduced
cows, hogs, and other
domestic animals to the
Western Hemisphere. In
return, Native Americans
gave them food plants like
wheat and oats. But by
accident Spaniards gave them
smallpox, chickenpox,
measles, and other
contagious diseases.
**The Columbian Exchange
America Got from Eastern
Hemisphere
Horses
Cows
Diseases
Sugar
Banana, orange
Coffee
Eastern Hemisphere Got from
America
Tabaco
Turkey
Potato
Corn
Beans
Squash
Pumpkin