Age of Exploration
During the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period, Europe was exposed to new technologies.
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Gunpowder: o First developed in China, brought to Europe in 13 th century o Changes warfare in Europe
 Gunpowder weapons take place of swords, lance, crossbow, etc.
 Cavalry and knights begins to lose importance
 Cannons become the most important innovation in 14 th and 15 th century warfare
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Printing o First developed in China in 8 th century, brought to Europe in 13 th century
 Printing press “perfected” by Johannes Gutenberg o Literacy increases (slowly over time)
 Handwritten books were extremely expensive, the printing press made books more widely available (over 150,000 printed each year by 1600)
 However, less than 5% of the population of the German states, for example, were literate o Universities opened in larger numbers (50 new universities opened between 1300-1500) o New professions developed (librarians, booksellers, publishers, etc.) o Ideas are spread more easily (ex. Renaissance ideas and the teachings of the Protestant Reformation)
 Catholic Church sometimes threatened by the spread of ideas and often encouraged censorship
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Navigational technologies o Compass: first developed in China o Astrolabe: first developed by Arabs o Caravels: Stronger, sturdier ships used by European mariners
Age of Exploration
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Europeans begin looking for opportunities to increase their access to trade, hoping to make a profit o Land routes often controlled by other civilizations (Muslims in Middle East, for example. The Italian citystates were active in Mediterranean trade as well, but were unwilling to share profits with other
European merchants)
 Conflict with Muslims (Crusades, etc.)
 Europe wants to eliminate the “Middle Men” o Fall of Mongol Empire left the Silk Roads unstable and unsafe for trade
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Merchants who could travel straight to Asia and buy the luxury goods, could travel back to Europe and sell the goods for a substantial profit. This desire for wealth drove Europeans to begin the “Age of Exploration” o Spain and Portugal the first two to begin exploring
 Portugal
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Prince Henry the Navigator opens a school to teach navigation and encourage exploration
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Portuguese send ships to chart the west coast of Africa (1400’s)
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Bartholomew Dias: First European to sail to the southern tip of Africa (Cape of Good
Hope) and into the Indian Ocean (1487)
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Vasco da Gama: first European to traveled to India by sea; returned to sell his cargo for a massive profit (1498)

Age of Exploration
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Portuguese continue to develop trading ports along the coast of Africa and Indian Ocean
 Spain
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Unified with the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella
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Sponsors the voyages of Christopher Columbus o Sails across the Atlantic on a route to Asia, lands in Caribbean instead
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Spain then begins to build an empire in the Americas
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Conquistadors (conquerors) come and help to defeat the native civilizations o Aztec (in Mexico) defeated by Cortes
 Defeats Aztec as a result of superior weaponry, disease, and allying themselves with other native tribes who were enemies of the Aztec and their king (Montezuma) o Inca (in S. America) defeated by Pizarro
 Like the Aztec, the Inca were easily defeated due to the Spanish army’s weaponry and horses. The Inca did not have steel weapons, guns, or large pack animals
 Rivalry and conflict of territorial rights between Spain and Portugal led to the Treaty of
Tordesillas
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Issued by the pope in early 1490’s.
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Grants Portugal rights to explore and claim lands in Africa and Asia. Portugal also gets
Brazil, the largest colony in the Americas
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Spain gets control over most of the Americas
Europeans begin to exploit the people and environment of their conquered lands for economic gain
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Mercantilism taught European monarchs to try and accumulate as much wealth (gold and silver) as possible and to use the colonies for the economic benefit of the homeland. o Silver mines in the Americas provided Europe with valuable metals, which could then be traded to China for luxury goods o Plantations produced valuable agricultural commodities (especially sugar) o The native population was virtually enslaved in a labor system known as encomienda. When the native population began to die as a result of disease and mistreatment, people began to challenge the labor system
 Bishop Bartolome de Las Casas was a major critic of the treatment of the Amerindians
 European diseases took a terrible toll on the Amerindian population. In some cases, up to 90% or more of the native population died of diseases such as smallpox, influenza, yellow fever, malaria, etc.
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Native Americans did spread syphilis (a sexually transmitted disease) to the Europeans.
Outbreaks of syphilis would become a problem in Europe as a result
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Europeans began to import African slaves to work on plantations and in the mines. o The Portuguese soon dominated the African slave trade to the Americas o Millions of Africans were transported to the Americas during the colonial period

Age of Exploration
 Of those who migrated to the Americas between the 1500’s and early 1800’s, the majority were slaves from West Africa. In areas that relied heavily on plantations, Africans accounted for as much as 90% of the population.
 Slavery continued in the Americas until the mid to late 1800’s, with Brazil being the last to abolish slavery in the 1880’s.
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Christian missionaries also traveled to the Americas in hopes of converting the native populations o Christianity became the dominant religion (sometimes by force) o Native American and traditional African cultures were suppressed as the Amerindians and the slaves were expected to begin practicing Christianity and speaking European languages. o Sometimes, the cultures of the natives and/or Africans would mix with that of the Europeans to create something new and unique…..Voodoo for example is a mixture of Christianity and native African religion
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As time progressed, other European countries got involved in the “Age of Exploration”. o Great Britain sent explorers to settle along the eastern coast of North America
 First attempt was Roanoke….failed
 Jamestown became the first successful English settlement (1607)
 13 colonies established along the coast o France settles in Canada and islands of the Caribbean
 French also navigate down the Mississippi River to settle in the deep south (Louisiana)
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Europe benefitted greatly from their colonies o New World foods (corn, potatoes, beans, peppers, tomatoes) help to enrich the European diet, which leads to increases in the population o Wealth gained as a result of mercantilism enriches the European monarchs but also leads to conflict
 Spain, for example, became a powerhouse as a result of their colonies…too bad they squandered their wealth by wasting it on luxury goods in Asia rather than keeping it in their own treasuries
 England will also gain great wealth and begins to challenge Spain for supremacy.
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The English even encouraged pirates to attack Spanish ships in order to steal the precious metals carried on the Spanish ships
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Queen Elizabeth hired Sir Francis Drake to attack Spanish ships
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Rivalry between Spain and England heats up until England shows dominance with the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588.
 Rivalry between France and England over control of land in the Americas (and in India) causes conflict….The Seven Year’s War (also known as the French and Indian War) 1750’s and 1760’s.