Age of Exploration & Discovery
• When? 1450 – 1650
• Who? The Spanish and the Portuguese
• Where? The Spanish went West / The
Portuguese went East
• Why? Why is a big question in 2nd year
history. The reasons? The causes?
• See the next slide for Why? What can you
remember before looking at the next slide?
• Ask yourself questions about the
information on this slide before you move
on
Why?
1. They wanted safer cheaper trade routes to the
spices of Asia (the land route was blocked by
the Turks)
2. Rulers of Spain and Portugal paid for the
voyages because they wanted new land, gold
and slaves. (greed)
3. Explorers like Columbus wanted to be rich and
famous
4. They wanted to convert the people in the new
world to Christianity
5. The renaissance meant that people were more
questioning and curious. They were also more
confident.
Be Active
Test yourself
Count the reasons and count
them off as you recall them
How: What made the voyages
possible?
• New Ships
1. Caravels – faster & stronger
2. Square sails that sail quickly
with the wind behind them
3. Triangular sails allowed
caravels to sail into the wind
4. The clinker built hull made
them stronger
5. Large rudders made the
ship easier to steer
Visualize the ship
Look at lots of pictures of it
• New Aids to Navigation
• Compass for direction
• A log and line measured
speed in knots
• The lead and rope measured
depth in fathoms
• Astrolabe / quadrant
measures latitude which
means ships know where
they are
• Portolan charts were
accurate coastal charts. Now
they improved maps by
being able to marks maps
with latitude and longitude
Aid to Navigation
Treaty of Tordesillas
• The treaty was an
agreement to divide
the world between
Spain and Portugal
• Any new lands found
to the west went to
Spain
• They did this to
prevent war
The Portuguese
•
There are 3 important Portuguese men to
remember. They each played a part
1. Henry the Navigator set up a school for
navigation at Sagre
2. Bartholomew Diaz sailed to the Cape of
Good Hope (the tip of Africa)
3. Vasco da Gama sailed to the Spice Islands
by sailing up the coast of Africa to Malindi
and found an Arab guide to take them
across the Indian Ocean to the Spice
Islands
Columbus Voyage
• He was Italian
• His idea
to sail west to go east and find India
(looking for a sea route to India)
• His voyage is paid for by Queen Isabella and
King Ferdinand of Spain
• Crew of 90 / some experienced sailors, but
some are from local jail
• 3 ships the Nina and the Pinta (caravel) and the
Santa Maria (nao)
• Food on board: salted meat, dried fish, garlic,
beans, bread and wine
• The Pinzon brothers captain the 2 ships.
Columbus captains the Santa Maria.
The Voyage itself
• Left Palos
• Stopped at Canary Islands to take on
water and supplies
• Crew almost mutiny
• Spot land after 33 days: San Salvador
• Columbus
thought
he was in
India
Columbus Discovery
• Explored Jamaica, Hispaniola and Cuba
• Called the natives Indians and mistreated them
• Santa Maria ran aground and they dismantled
the ship to build a fort
• He was disappointed, but the Isabella and
Ferdinand gave him the title ‘Admiral of the
Ocean’
• Amerigo Vespucci realized this was not India
• It was named America after him
Life for the Sailor
• Cramped ships were uncomfortable
• Easily wrecked in storms
• Hunger: food became infested with
maggots and weavils and they almost
starved on long journeys (eg Majella’s )
• Scurvy (from lack of vitamin C in fruit and
veg) made gums bleed and joints swell
• They feared sea monsters and were afraid
of sailing off the side of the earth
Magellan: Circumnavigation
Sailed West across
the Atlantic
Magellan killed in the
Philippines
Sailors suffered
crossing the
Pacific Ocean
Straits of Magellan
Del Cano
leads the
expedition
back to
Spain
Conquistadores
• A conquistadore is a professional conquerer
• Two famous Spanish conquistadores are Pizarro and
Cortes
• Cortes attacked and destroyed the Aztecs. They
thought he was a God. He also had superior weapons
and horses. He burned Tenochtitlan to the ground and
built Mexico
• Pizarro invaded Peru where the Inca people lived.
They were peaceful, civilized people. The Spanish
murdered Atahualpa (the Inca God King) and the
Incas were so shocked they gave up. They were
enslaved and their civilization was destroyed
• Spanish weapons
were superior.
• Cannon, crossbow,
spears and swords
made of iron.
• The Aztec had bronze
and copper shields,
stone knives, and
woven-cloth armor,
were no match for
them.
Consequences
• Consequences are why something is important
to history
• 2nd year history is all about causes and
consequences
• There will be questions on every history exam
about consequences
• Big events in history are important because they
change the world: they have long lasting
consequences
• Another word for consequence is result / impact
/ outcome
Consequences for
Native people
1. The Aztec and Inca civilizations (art, religion,
language, way of life) were destroyed
2. The Indians were robbed of their land, their
gold and silver
3. Millions of native peoples died from over-work,
European disease or were massacred
4. The colonizers needed so many slaves to
work in America that they began to raid Africa
Effects for Europe
• Europe became very rich on the gold, silver and
valuables they stole. Slavery was also a source
of great wealth.
• New goods like tomatoes, turkeys, chocolate,
potatoes, coffee and rum
• War broke out between European countries over
the American colonies
• Migration (movement) people began to leave
Europe to live in the new world. Even people
from non conquering countries like Ireland
migrated to the new world
Write about a named Explorer:
Columbus
• From Genoa, Italy
• Had a plan to sail west to reach India (in the east) He was
looking for a new sea route to the spices
• Persuaded Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain to sponsor his
voyage
• See notes on voyage
• Columbus was rewarded by being made governor of the
lands he discovered
• He was very disappointed not to find spices, silks and gold
You need 10 statements of fact for full marks on people in
history question