European Exploration
UNIT 2: CHAPTER 4: THE AGE OF EXPLORATION
LEQ:
What were the
motives behind
European
exploration?
Drill:
“gold, glory, and God” is a
phrase used to describe
the motives for European
exploration during the
15th and 17th centuries.
What does this phrase
mean?
The Age of Exploration
•Describes the time between 1400 and 1600 when Europeans
began leaving their native countries to explore distant lands
•New technology in ship building and navigation made longdistance sailing possible
Astrolabes
•used to show how the sky looks at a specific place at a given time
•helped sailors identify latitudes
Magnetic Compass
•By 100 CE ancient Chinese discovered that if a magnet swings freely,
it will always point north = first magnetic compass
•The Arabs improved the magnetic compass and brought it from
China to Europe by the 15th century
The Caravel
•A ship first used in the Arab world
•Improved on by the Portuguese in the 15th century
•Had triangular sails to sail against the wind, a large cargo hold, and
moved quickly
Motives
1.Trade
2.Knowledge
3.Wealth
4.Religion
5.Power
Homework
10/14
Read pages 407- 410 in Age of Exploration
•Available on Mrs. Leonard’s website on the World History tab
and on the Homework Calendar
•Available in print beginning at 1:55; first come first serve, 35
copies total
LEQ:
What were the
results of
European
conquests in
foreign lands?
Drill:
Why were Europeans
able to conquer far
away lands? What
advantages might
they have had?
Pop-Quiz
1. List three of the five motives for European exploration in the years
between 1400 and 1600.
2. ______________ _____________ wrote about his experiences in
China in a book titled The Travels.
A) Christopher Columbus
B) Henry the Navigator
C) Marco Polo
Pop-Quiz: True or False
3. The English lead the race in exploration.
4. Europeans acquired much of their knowledge about sailing from the
Arabs.
5. The main motive for Portuguese exploration was for conquest and
land.
Portugal
•Portuguese explores sailed along the western coast of Africa and
discovered a source of gold; sighted the Congo in 1482
•Portuguese empire in Africa was the earliest and longest lived of the
colonial empires, lasting from 1415 until 1974
•Vasco da Gama sailed around Africa to India
•Pedro Álvares Cabra makes it to Brazil (on accident)
Portugal
•The motives of the Portuguese were essentially commercial (trade)
•1440-1640, Portugal had a monopoly on the export of slaves from
Africa
• It is estimated that during the trans-Atlantic slave trade, Portugal
was responsible for transporting over 4.5 million Africans
Spain
•Conquistadors allowed the Spanish to establish an overseas empire
•Sponsored Columbus expedition in 1492 giving Spain claim to the Americas
•Hernan Cortes conquered the Aztecs of central Mexico in 1520
•Fransico Pizarro conquered the Inca of modern day Peru in 1532
**The Aztecs and Inca had complex and diverse civilizations; were not “savages”**
Historical Significance of Columbus
•Europeans flooded the New World after Columbus’ voyages =
permanent settlements = colonies that added wealth to the Mother
Country
• Supported the rape, murder, and enslavement of natives and
eventually Africans
•90 % of the Native Americans were wiped out by diseases = land is
easier to take
LEQ:
What were the
results of
European
conquests in
foreign lands?
Drill:
What impact did
Columbus, Cortes,
and Pizarro have on
the indigenous
populations of the
Americas?
History of Belgium to 1830
•Was part of the Roman province of Belgica; Conquered by Julius Caesar in 57–50 B.C
•Overrun by the Franks (a Germanic Tribe) in the 5th century A.D
•Ruled by Philippe II, king of Spain in 1555 and remained in Spanish control until
1713
•Occupied and later annexed to France
•Rebelled in 1830 and declared independence
Leopold II
•King of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909
•Wanted to establish Belgium as an imperial power, he led the
first European efforts to develop the Congo River basin
•The regime under Leopold’s control, became notorious for its
exploitation and mistreatment of the colony’s inhabitants
A Devil in the Congo
The Congo
Physical Features:
Congo River – 2,900 miles long
Tropical Rainforest
Plains
Mountain Ranges
Volcanoes
Grassland Plateaus
Climate:
Tropical w/Rainy and Dry Season
Natural Resources: oil, natural gas, gold, wood,
zinc, copper, uranium
Primary Exports: diamonds, lumber, and
petroleum
LEQ:
Which label best
describes European
immigration to the
Americas in the late
fifteenth to early
sixteenth centuries:
explorers, missionaries,
merchants, or
conquerors?
Drill:
Why do you think
the Europeans felt
entitled to the
lands they
“discovered”?
LEQ:
Which label best
describes European
immigration to the
Americas in the late
fifteenth to early
sixteenth centuries:
explorers, missionaries,
merchants, or
conquerors?
Drill:
Get into your
groups from
yesterday
Which label best describes…
Explorers
Missionaries - a person sent by a church into an area to
complete a mission
Merchants - a businessperson who trades in commodities
produced by others, in order to earn a profit
Conquerors
LEQ:
How did colonies
increase the wealth
of European
nations?
Drill:
What was the
Columbian
Exchange?
The exchange of
resources, ideas,
and diseases
between the
Americas,
Europe, and
Africa in the 15th
and 16th
centuries
Colonies and Mercantilism
Colonialism - the policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political
control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting
it economically
Mercantilism - economic theory that a nation's prosperity depends on
its success in accumulating wealth by exporting more than it imports,
thereby earning profits from its exports
◦ Raw Materials from colonies sent to Mother Countries to be manufactured and
exported
The Atlantic Slave Trade
•enslavement and transportation, primarily of African people, to
the colonies of the New World
•lasted from the 16th to the 19th centuries
•most of the enslaved were taken from West and Central Africa
•sometimes called the Maafa by African and African-American scholars,
meaning "holocaust” or "great disaster" in Swahili
Effects of Colonialism
•Increased European Trade
•Destroyed native cultures and populations
•Atlantic Slave Trade
•European Rivalries
Word Art: Colonialism
Colonialism
LEQ:
How did the
commercial revolution
transform European
economic life?
Drill:
In what ways might
Europe of benefited
from expansion and
colonization?
The Commercial
Revolution was a
period of European
economic expansion,
colonialism,
and mercantilism