Discovery and Exploration
Over 600 Years Ago
1. Our world was VERY different in the
year 1400.
2. Most of the world’s population was
based in continents such as Europe,
Africa and Asia.
3. There were people already living in
North America at this time which we
now call “Native Americans” because
they were here first.
4. We will learn about the Native
Americans in another lesson.
Age of Exploration
1. The centuries surrounding the year 1400 were filled with
exploration and discovery.
2. Many explorers tried to circle the Earth, find new land and
discover people groups.
Notable Explorers
Name
Marco Polo
(Marco? POLO!)
Christopher
Columbus
Ferdinand
Magellan
Hernando Cortes
Country
Birth/Death
What they did
Italian
1254 - 1324
Exploration of
China and Asia
Italian / Spanish
1451 - 1506
Discovery of the
New World
1480 - 1521
First voyage
around the
World
1485 - 1547
Spanish
conqueror of
Mexico and the
Aztec Empire
1552 - 1618
The Discovery
of Guiana and
establishing the
Virginia colony
of Roanoke
Island in 1584
Portuguese
Spanish
Sir Walter
Raleigh
(Where we get NC’s
state capital’s
name!)
English
“In 1492, Columbus sailed the
ocean blue!”
1. Christopher Columbus first sailed to what we know as the
Bahamas today.
2. His discovery was brand new land the Europeans have
never heard of. They called this place the “New World”.
3. This discovery started more explorers to cross the ocean
and eventually populate the New World.
Europe
The “New World”
After Columbus
1. From 1492 up until 1763 many European nations had
begun to colonize the New World meaning that people
began building on new land in a new country.
2. The British would eventually control the entire east coast
of what we call the United States!
But First!
1. There may be a lingering question out there…Why would
the Europeans want to come to this “New World?”
2. There were five factors that influenced their decision:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Economic
Political
Social
Military
Religious
Economic Reasons for Exploring
West
1. Economic reasons directly related to fast and effective
ways to make money for the Europeans.
2. This factor was perhaps the biggest reason why the
Europeans left Europe for the “New World.”
Making it Rain
1.
The rulers and leaders in Europe loved making money. They loved
it so much that they would explore uncharted lands in hopes to
make more of it.
2.
The Europeans hoped to find large amounts of gold and silver in
this “New World.”
3.
Instead of finding large amounts of gold and silver, they instead
discovered new people and lands.
4.
European nations decided it would be best to start trading to expand
their economic influence.
5.
This would be called “Mercantilism.”
Mercantilism
1. Mercantilism was when a nation would control and
regulate trade in order to benefit the nation itself.
2. Mercantilism stated that any trading done had one main
purpose: to enrich, or make wealthy, the “mother
country.”
3. In order to make Mercantilism more effective so the nation
could become richer, that country needed to trade more!
Trading
1.
The European nations had
great success trading with
places in Asia such as India
and China but they needed
better routes to take.
2.
Take a look at some of the
routes they took on the right.
3.
These routes were not always
favorable because it took a
long time and it was filled with
dangerous pirates.
Trading Fixes
1. So what did the European nations do? They thought they
could head west to find better trade routes.
2. Europe went west because they thought it would be a
direct route to Asia.
3. It turns out they discovered that the earth was much larger
than they thought and they discovered a brand new land.
Enter Christopher Columbus discovering the “New World.”
Trading Fix Map
1. The Europeans called this new land the “West Indies”
because they thought they were near Asia.
2. At first, they did not realize they discovered a brand new
land.
Crops
1. Since trade was a great way to make money in those days,
the Europeans traded high quality things.
2. Some of those high quality things were crops which
considered gold in that day.
3. Exploring new lands meant the possibility of raising more
crops.
4. We will learn about these crops in a future lesson.
Economic Reasons Summarized
1. The Europeans wanted to become richer through trade.
2. Finding new lands and people would enable European
countries to grow in the realm of trade.
3. More trade, more money.
4. No trade, no money.
STOP!
1. Time to complete the economic factor section of your
graphic organizer.
Political Reasons for Exploring
West
1. The word political implies someone, a group or a nation
wanting control and expanding influence.
2. European countries will all try and expand their influence
when the “New World” is discovered.
Power
1. All of the European countries wanted power over their
foes and enemies.
2. For example: the country of Britain wanted to be more
powerful than France so Britain would go to all extents to
have more influence over France by taking control of more
lands in the “New World.”
Control
1. Gained lands, natural resources and conquered people
would all contribute to a nation’s desire to control things in
their favor.
2. When Europe found out there was new lands out west
where Columbus made his discovery, it was a mad grab
by all countries!
3. Look at the next slide for the map.
European Control of the New
World
Mad Grab
1. As we saw on the last map, MANY European countries
tried to control and have their way in these new lands.
2. They played a real life game of “Risk.”
STOP!
1. Time to complete the Political Factor section of your
graphic organizer.
Social Reasons for Expanding
West
1. The word social refers to how society or people operate.
2. What is the desire of the society/people?
3. We will learn about how exploring west impacted the
social realm of Europe.
Knowledge
1. Most of the exploration was meant for economic reasons
but there was also the attraction of knowledge.
2. Explorers raced to create maps of uncharted land, record
new plants, animals and people.
Pride
1.
Explorers tried to attain as much knowledge as possible
during this time but explorers also tried to expand their
nation’s pride.
2.
They wanted to be first in everything: First in exploring
uncharted lands, first in discovering new routes for ships,
first in finding new and exotic plants and animals.
3.
This not only grew their wallets but also increased their
power and prestige.
4.
Nations and their explorers fought and wanted bragging
rights.
STOP
1. Time to complete the social factor section of your graphic
organizer.
Military Reasons for Expanding
West
1. The Europeans moved west for military reasons, too.
2. European nations used their militaries in order to expand
their power and control.
Examples
1. We will look at two examples of military factors
influenced exploration.
2. The Defeat of the Spanish Armada
3. Hernan Cortes
Defeat of the Spanish Armada
1.
The Spanish Armada was a giant fleet of ships that dominated the
ocean.
2.
The British came up against the Spanish Armada and defeated their
ships in a naval battle.
3.
The British would take over as the dominating force on the high
seas.
4.
Since the British took over, they had more power to travel the ocean
and explore west without the threat of enemies.
5.
Without the military, the British would not be able to explore at all.
Hernan Cortes
1.
Cortes was a Spanish conquistador meaning he was a soldier and explorer from
Spain.
2.
He would be sent to explore present day Mexico where he found a civilization
called the Aztecs.
3.
Cortes, through many events, would eventually destroy the Aztecs largest city and
take charge in the region.
4.
This gave Spain more power and influence in the region (this is why Mexico
speaks Spanish today!)
5.
We learn that the military of Spain would do anything to give Spain more power
and control.
6.
We will also see that the British do the same thing to many Native Americans in a
future lesson.
Purpose of the Military
1. With the example of the Defeat of the Spanish Armada and
Hernan Cortes, we see that the military was used by
European nations for control and power.
2. It was a forceful way of having control and power.
3. More often than not, the military would commit
horrendous acts just for more power.
4. Was this right? You decide.
STOP
1. Time to complete the military factor section of your graphic
organizer.
Religious Reasons for Expanding
West
1. We will lastly look at how religion influenced expansion to
go west.
2. Religion was a very important part of European life.
Religion in Europe
1. Most of Europe was of the Christian religion.
2. Many were Catholic.
3. Many were Protestant.
Catholics and Protestant
1. There was a big rift between Catholicism and
Protestantism because of some doctrinal issues.
2. Protestant stemmed out of Catholicism after Martin Luther
challenged the Catholic Church.
3. This event was called the “Protestant Reformation.”
4. Europe was split between the two sects of Christianity.
Why west?
1. One of Christianity’s main messages say that the gospel,
which is the good news of Jesus Christ, must be spread
to all people groups.
2. This comes from the Great Commission which is located
in the Christian Bible in the book of Matthew (chapter 28,
verses 16-20)
3. The Christians in Europe felt determined to spread
Christianity to the people groups in the “New World.”
Other reasons?
1. Many Christian groups in Europe were actually being
persecuted because they could not express their beliefs
in their home country.
2. This led many groups such as the Quakers and Puritans
to travel west to start a new life in a new land.
3. Many Quakers and Puritans traveled to what we now
know as the United States.
STOP!
1. Time to complete the religious factor section of your
graphic organizer.