European Exploration
AKS 39 Analyze the impact of the age of
discovery and expansion into the Americas,
Africa, and Asia
AKS 39a – Explain the roles of explorers
and conquistadors
1. What were Bartolomeu Dias’ three goals for
exploration? (p. 530)
a. To serve God and His Majesty
b. To give light to those who were in
the darkness.
c. Grow rich as all men desire to do.
(Gold)
2. What was the main significance of Vasco
DaGama’s exploration of the East Coast of
Africa and beyond? (p. 532)
Sailors brought back numerous spices,
silks, and gems worth 60 times the cost
of the voyage and it gave Portugal a
direct sea route to Asia.
3. China’s explorations in the early 1400’s were
led by Zheng He. What was unique about his
seven major voyages? (p. 537)
Size, distance traveled, fleet size, and ship
measurements.
Voyages of Zheng He
4. What was Columbus attempting to accomplish
on his voyage in 1492? (p. 553)
He was searching for an alternate westward trade
route to Asia and it’s riches.
Columbus’ Voyages
5. What was the significance of the voyage of
Ferdinand Magellan? How many were able to
complete the voyage?
It was the first voyage to circumnavigate the
globe. Only 18 men and 1 ship survived.
Magellan was killed in the Phillipines.
Voyage of Magellan
What were the accomplishments of the
following explorers? (p. 561)
Verazzano –
Sailed in search of sea route to the Pacific;
discovered what is New York harbor today. Killed
and eaten by Carib Indians in the Lesser Antilles.
Cartier – discovered and named the St.
Lawrence River; founded the site that later
became known as Montreal.
De Champlain – Sailed up the St. Lawrence
with 32 colonists; founded Quebec, which
became the base of the colonial empire of France
in North America.
Marquette and Joliet – explored the Great
Lakes and the upper Mississippi.
Joliet
Marquette
AKS 39b – Define the Columbian Exchange
and its global economic and cultural
impact
10.What was the Columbian Exchange and how
did it work? (p. 571)
The global transfer of foods, plants, and
animals during the colonization of the
Americas; ships from the Americas
brought back a wide array of items the
Europeans had never before seen and
Europeans introduced various livestock
animals and foods and grains from
Africa.
11.What were the most important products that
traveled from the Americas to the rest of the
world? (p. 571)
Corn and potatoes
12. What were the primary products and
animals that came from Europe and Asia? (p.
571)
Livestock, (horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs),
foods from Africa, (bananas, black-eyed
peas, and yams) and grains, (wheat,
rice, barley, oats)
13.What was the major negative that came out
of the Columbian Exchange? (p. 571)
Diseases such as smallpox, measles, etc..,
led to the deaths of millions of Native
Americans.
AKS 39c – Explain the role of the improved
technology in European exploration
including the astrolabe.
14.How was the new ship design, the caravel,
superior to older designed vessels? (p. 530)
It was more sturdy than earlier vessels.
Triangular sails allowed it to sail
effectively against the wind.
• 15. What was the significance of the invention
of the astrolabe to navigation? (p. 530)
• Using the rings to site the stars, a captain
could calculate latitude, or how far north
or south of the equator the ship was.
Vocabulary
Prince Henry the Navigator (1394-1460)Prince Henry established a school for the study of
the arts of navigation, mapmaking, and
shipbuilding. This would allow sailors to better
guide their ships and to come up with new ship
designs. His goal was to find a route to the rich
spice trade of the Indies and to explore the west
coast of Africa. Although he never sailed on the
expeditions, the voyages that he paid for in the
mid-1400s helped launch Portugal into the front
of the race to find a sea route to the Indies.
Prince Henry monument Lisbon, Portugal
Treaty of Tordesillas –
The Treaty of Tordesillas was agreed upon by the
Spanish and the Portuguese to clear up confusion
on newly claimed land in the New World.
In order make trade more efficient, Portugal
attempted to find a direct water route to the
India and China. By using a direct water route,
Arab merchants, who owned land trade routes,
were not able to make a profit off of the
European trade merchants.
The Portuguese also wanted to protect their
monopoly on the trade route to Africa and felt
threatened.
On May 4, 1493 Pope Alexander VI took action to
clear up any confusion that may have arisen over
territorial claims. He issued a decree which
established an imaginary line running north and
south through the mid-Atlantic, 100 leagues (480
km) from the Cape Verde islands.
Spain would have possession of any unclaimed
territories to the west of the line and Portugal
would have possession of any unclaimed territory
to the east of the line.
After further exploration, the Portuguese grew
dissatisfied with the agreement when they
realized how much more land Spain had been
given.
In June of 1494 the line was re-negotiated and
the agreement was officially ratified during a
meeting in the Spanish town of Tordesillas.
The Treaty of Tordesillas re-established the line
370 leagues (1,770 km) west of the Cape Verde
Islands.
Dutch East India Company –
The Dutch East India Company was a joint stock company who
monopolized the spice trade of the 17th century. They established
trading ports all over Asia.
The Dutch East India Company sought a way to bypass the
Portuguese stronghold on the spice trade with the Far East.
With the formation of the Dutch East India Company in 1602, the
Dutch revolutionized global trade, establishing factories, ports and
settlements all over the Pacific.
The Dutch East India Company peaked in 1669, when they
employed over 10,000 soldiers, 40 warships and 150 merchant
ships. Internal struggles, coupled with unrest in their settlements
led to a decline for the joint stock company.
Hernando Cortes – (1485-1547)
Hernán Cortés was a Spanish explorer who is
famous mainly for his march across Mexico and
his conquering of the Aztec Empire in Mexico.
Cortés arrived in Mexico in March 1519 with a
group of about 600 men and a few horses.
In November of 1519, Cortés and his men
reached the Aztec capital and met Montezuma.
The Aztecs may have thought that Cortés was a
god-king.
He conquered Tenochtitlan in the summer of
1521.
Conquistadors –
The Spanish word Conquistador means
conqueror. The Conquistadors were Spanish
Soldiers and Explorers - 'el conquistador‘.
The Spanish explorers / soldiers saw their
mission to conquer new lands as a natural
extension of the Medieval crusades. Roman
Catholic Priests and Friars always accompanied
the Spanish explorers who were expected to
convert heathen natives to Christianity.
Motives of the Spanish Conquistadors
Wealth - gold, silver and spices
Power
Prestige
Increasing opportunities for Spanish trade
Spreading the Catholic Religion to heathen
natives
Building a Spanish Empire
Francisco Pizarro – (1475-1541)
Francisco Pizarro was a Spanish conquistador
who traveled through much of the Pacific coast of
America along Peru. He "discovered" the Incan
empire and conquered it brutally and quickly,
stealing immense hoards of gold, silver, and other
treasures.
Jamestown – 1607
First permanent English colony in N. America
In 1607, 13 years before the Pilgrims landed in
Massachusetts, a group of 104 English men and
boys began a settlement on the banks of
Virginia's James River. They were sponsored by
the Virginia Company of London, whose
stockholders hoped to make a profit from the
resources of the New World. The community
suffered terrible hardships in its early years, but
managed to endure, earning the distinction of
being America's first permanent English colony.
They were instructed by the London Company of
Virginia to settle Virginia, find gold, and seek a
water route to the Orient.
• Pilgrims – 1620
• The Pilgrim saga began with a group of
religious dissidents who believed it was
necessary to separate from the Church of
England. Persecuted in England, these
"Separatists" moved to Holland in 1607/1608.
The group, joined by other colonists recruited
by the venture's financial backers, began the
move to America in 1620.
• There were 130 passengers and crew.
• Landed at Cape Cod. Originally going to
Virginia but had to stop due to lack of food and
weather.