UNIT 8: EUROPEAN EXPANSION
IN THE WORLD
In What Context Did Explorers
Set Out To Discover The World?
 As we know, during the Renaissance there was
immense scientific and technological progress.
 This gave the Europeans enormous confidence
 In the 15th and 16th centuries they set out to
explore the world.
 They discovered places they had no idea existed.
Questions to be answered
during this unit:
 1) Why did they explore?
 2) How were they able to explore the world?
 3) When specifically did each explorer sail?
 4) Who were the explorers?
 5) What were the effects on the colonized
peoples?
Why Did Europeans Set Out To
Explore The World?
 1) Economic motives
 2) Political motives
 3) Religious motives
Economic Motives
 Gold!
 Gold was the main currency used for world trade
during the Renaissance.
 Large increase in population = more trade =
greater demand for gold
 Europeans mined gold in Europe and Africa.
 Both places were running out.
 Marco Polo reported that China and Japan were
brimming with gold and other precious resources
Economic Motives Continued…
 Trade by land from Asia to Europe
was becoming too expensive because
duties (government taxes) were too high.
- Asian merchandise destined for Europe had to travel
through Constantinople, which in 1453 was captured by
Muslim Turks
- As we learned earlier, it was renamed Istanbul.
- The Muslim Turks imposed harsh duties on imports and
exports
- European countries, therefore, decided to bypass them all
by going to fetch the coveted goods themselves
- They raced against each other to find new maritime routes
to India and China
Political Motives
 European monarchs (kings or queens) tried to increase
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their territory.
It was difficult for European powers to expand in Europe,
as it led to conflict with other European powers.
2 main reasons for European powers trying to increase
their territory:
1) So they could gain access to more resources
2) Control larger populations
Religious Motives
 Asians and Africans were not Christians , and the
Church wanted to bring Christianity to all pagans
(a person who practices a religion other than
Christianity, Judaism or Islam)
 Counter-Reformation – was a reaction against
Protestantism
 Society of Jesus (Jesuits) –
Mission was to bring the
Catholic faith to all pagan
peoples
How Were They Able To
Explore?
 Knowledge and Technology were needed in
order for the explorers to set out across
unknown waters.
Advances in Astronomy
 Middle Ages
 People generally believed that the world was
flat, as the Church taught
 Sailors afraid to go too far in case they fell off
 However, scholars rediscovered the writings
of classical antiquity in the 15th century and
became convinced that the earth was round.
 Look at the timeline on page 46
Advances In Navigation
 Several technological inventions contributed
to the voyages of European maritime
explorers of the 15th and 16th centuries.
1) The Caravel
2) The Astrolabe
3) The Compass
4) The Portolan
The Caravel
 15th century – Portuguese developed a new ship called
the Caravel
 Small ship with high sides
 Wide bottom made it stable on sea crossings
 Triangular sail – lateen – meant it could make use of
winds coming from sides and front
 Sternpost rudder – Attached to a post at the back (stern)
of the ship and made it easier to steer
The Astrolabe
 Arab invention
How it works:
1) Aimed pointer at the Sun or the North Star
2) Navigators could then read its height from
the horizon
3) They then could calculate the ship’s latitude
(distance from the equator)
The Compass
 Introduced into Europe from China in the 12th century
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1)
2)
3)
and improved by the Portuguese in the 15th century
How it works:
Small box filled with water or oil with a magnetic
needle floating on top
Needle points to the magnetic north
Can be used in any weather and at night and as well as
in daytime
The Portolan
 Portolans were navigation charts
 They illustrated shorelines, islands, and the
location of ports
 Made by Italians, Portuguese, and Spaniards
 Used alongside the astrolabe and the
compass to determine a ship’s position and to
set it on the right course