The Search for Spices
By: McKenzie Crowe
Setting the Scene
 Many people in American take things for granted! The
Europeans of the past ages, thought that spices were as
valuable as gold.
 People used to bay $125 for 12 ounces of pepper.
During the Middle Ages pepper in the store could have
paid a year’s rent. Now 12 ounces of pepper is only
$3.00!
Europeans Explore the Seas
 Europeans traded with Asia long before the Renaissance.
 The Crusades introduced Europeans to many luxury
goods from Asia! Later when the Mongol empire united
much of Asia in the 1200s and 1300s, Asian goods
flowed to Europe along complex overland trade routes!
 The Black Death and the breakup of the Mongol empire
disrupted trade!
Europeans Explore the Seas
 By the 1044s Europe had recovered from the plague.
 As its population grew, so did the demand for trade
goods!
 The most valued were Cinnamon, Cloves, Nutmeg, and
Pepper!
 People used it in many ways like:
 Preserve food
 Add flavor to dried and salted meat
 To make medicine and perfumes
 The chief source of spices was the Moluccas, and island
chain in present day, Indonesia!
 The people called them the Spices Islands.
Motives
 In the 1400s, Muslim and Italian merchants controlled
most trade between Asia and Europe.
 Muslims, traders from Venice and Italian cities brought
prized goods and cargos to the European Market.
 Europeans however wanted to gain direct access to the
Atlantic Powers.
 Wealth was not the only thing that brought people to the
sea, they also wanted to learn more about other lands.
Improved Technology
 Several improvements in technology happened, as
Europe took over the vast oceans of the world.
 Many things like:
 Cartographers- map makers, created more accurate maps
and sea charts
 Astrolabe- determines their latitude at sea
 Caravel- combines square sails with triangular sails
 These advancements made it easier to sail across the
ocean
 Eventually they added weapons, such as cannons , to
their ships
Portugal Sails Eastward
 Portugal, a small nation on the western edge of Spain,
let the way in the exploration.
 In the 1400s, Portugal had gotten strong enough to go
into Muslim North Africa
 In 1415, Portuguese seized Ceuta (say oo tah) on the
Northern Coast of Africa
 This win sparked the imagination of Prince Henry, better
known to history as Henry the Navigator.
Mapping the African Coast
 Prince Henry hoped to expand Christianity and find the
source of African gold, so he embodied the crusading
drive and the new sprit of exploration.
 In southern Portugal, Henry gathered scientists,
cartographers, and other people to help in the building
of new ships, make new maps, and train for the long
voyages up ahead!
 Henry died in 1460, at age 66 from old age.
 The Portuguese continued their quest, which led them to
Bartholomeu Dias or The Cape of Good Hope!
On to India
 After 10 months of voyage, Vasco da Gama and the four
ships that he led made it the great spice port Calicut on
the western coast of India.
 The Portuguese lost half of their ships.
 Many sailors died due to
 Hunger
 Thirst
 Scurvy- disease caused by the lack of Vitamin C
 Da Gama had gotten a cargo of spices that he sold at
profit of 3,000 percent.
On to India (continued)
 Da Gama quickly outfitted a new fleet. In 1502, he
forced a treaty of friendship on the ruler Calicut.
 Portuguese merchants were left their to buy spices when
prices were low, and they were to store them on the
dock until the fleet could return.
 Soon, the Portuguese created a vast trading empire
around the Indian Ocean.
Columbus Sails to the West
 New of the Portugal’s successes spurred other nations to
look for a way to get to Asia.
 A Italian navigator, Christopher Columbus, from Genoa
sought Portuguese backing for his own plan.
 He wanted to reach the Indies by sailing across the
Atlantic Ocean.
Columbus Sails West (Contiuned)
 Like most Europeans, Columbus knew that the Earth was
a sphere.
 After a few weeks of sailing west, he thought he would
bring the ship to eastern Asia.
 He plan was pretty accurate, but he had two mistakes.
 He underestimated the size of the Earth
 He had no idea that two continents lay in his path
Voyages of Columbus
 Portugal refused to help him, so he convinced Ferdinand
and Isabelle of Spain the help him.
 In 1492, the Catholic rulers had driven the Muslims from
their last stronghold in Spain
 To strengthen power they looked for new sources of
money.
 Queen Isabella was also anxious to spread Christianity in
Asia.
Voyages of Columbus (continued)
 Columbus set out on August 3, 1492 on three ships, the
Pinta, the Nina, and the Santa Maria.
 They had good weather and a favorable wind until the
reached “Land!, Land!” on October 12th
 He spent months cruising the Caribbean Islands,
thinking it was the Indies.
 In 1493, he returned to Spain, to a heart warming hero’s
welcome!
 Columbus continued to think that he had reached Asia,
but people suddenly realized that he had been going to
islands that they have never heard of!
Naming the “New World”
 In 1507, a German cartographer read reports about the
“New World” written by an Italian sailor, Amerigo
Vesucci.
 He named the land “The New American.”
 The Islands that Columbus explored in the Caribbean
became known as the West Indies.
Line of Demarcation
 Spain and Portugal pressed rival claims to the lands
Columbus had explored.
 In 1943, Pope Alexander the VI stepped in to keep the
peace.
 He set a line of Demarcation dividing the non-European
world into two zones.
 Spain the trading and exploration rights in any lands
west of the line, and Portugal had the same rights to the
east of the line.
 In 1500, and Portuguese captain was blown off course
and sailed around Africa, landing in Brazil. He claimed
the land for Portugal.
The Search Continues
 Europeans continued to seek new routes around and
through the Americas.
 In 1513 Vasco Nunez de Balboa and the Native American
hacked a passage through the tropical forest.
 On September 20, 1519, a minor Portuguese noble
named Ferindand Magellan set out from Spain with 5
ships.
 The crew had men from Europe, Africa, and Southeast
Asia.
Perils at Sea
 As they sailed South, they had to sail through storms,
calms, and tropical heat.
 As the reached the coast of South American they got out
of explored the bay.
 They hoped that it would lead them to the Pacific Ocean.
 In November 1520, Magellan’s ships entered a bay at
the Southern tip of South America!
 They continued their journey through the lashing
Balboa’s South Sea into the peaceful Pacific Ocean.
Circumnavigation the Globe
 They had accomplished their mission, and most of the
crew wanted to return to Spain.
 Magellan, however, insisted they push across the Pacific
to East Indies.
 Magellan soon found the Pacific was much wider that he
had first thought.
 They traveled for 4 months and in March 1521, they
finally reached the Philippines.
 There Magellan was killed in a local conflict, but the
sailors continued on their journey.
 On September 8, 1522, nearly 3 years after they had set
out; the remaining people reached Seville.
 The Spanish hailed them as the first people to
circumnavigate, or sail around the world!
Search for the Northwestern
Passage
 In 1497, Kind Henry VII sent a navigator on the route
that Columbus had charted.
 Cabot found rich fishing grounds, which he claimed for
England.
 No one had found the hoped- for route to Asia, but
explored the search for the Northwestern Passage!
Looking Ahead
 The European age of exploration set off a period of
growing global interdependence, that continues today.
 Activates of European explorers brought both tragedy
and triumph.
 As trade increased, conflicts between Europe and other
civilizations would become more important.
Important People

Henry the Navigator Prince Henry of Portugal, had the spirit of
exploration, gathered scientists, cartographers, and other experts. They
redesigned ships, prepared maps, and trained captains and crews for
long voyages. He sent out Bartholomeu Dias who rounded the Cape of
Africa, Into the Indian Ocean, became known as the Cape of Good Hope.

Vasco da Gama 1497 continued on from the Cape of Good Hope, after
10 months he reached the spice port of Calicut in India. On the voyage
home many sailors died of hunger, thirst, and scurvy.

Christopher Columbus Italian sailor who tried to get Portugal to
support his sail westward to eventually reach the East Indies, Portugal
said no, so Columbus went to Spain and Ferdinand and Isabella agreed
to finance his trip Set out on August 3rd 1492 and October 12 landed in
the West Indies. Columbus thought he had reached Asia, not so!

Vasco Nunez de Balboa 1513 Spanish explorer along with the local
natives, went through the Jungles of Panama and saw, for the first time,
for a European a huge body of water he called the South Sea.

Ferdinand Magellan September 20 1519 left Spain with five ships and
a crew form Europe, Asia, and Africa, in an attempt to find a way around
the Americas. More than one mutiny was put down by Magellan, when
they reached South America they carefully sailed along the coast looking
for a way to the South Sea; In November of 1520 they entered the
“Strait of Magellan” and emerged into the “peaceful” Pacific Ocean. Most
sailors wanted to head home after a year at sea but Magellan believed
Asia was close, for four months they sailed before coming to the
Philippines. Magellan got involved in a dispute on the Island and was
killed March of 1520. Finally September 8, 1522 almost 3 years after
they left the remaining sailors reached Seville Spain. First people to
Circumnavigate the world.
Vocabulary
 Cartographer Map Makers created more accurate maps
during the 1400’s
 Astrolabe instrument developed by the Ancient Greeks
and perfected by the Arabs to determine latitude at sea
 Caravel ship that combined the square sails of European
ships and the Arab lateen or triangular sails, they adapted
the sternpost rudder and numerous masts of Chinese ships,
new rigging made it easier and possible to sail into the
wind, they also added improved weapons.

Scurvy a disease caused by lack of vitamin C in a sailor’s
diet, in their long voyages at sea, most captains in later
days stocked lemons to help slow this disease
 Circumnavigate- sail around the world
Review Questions
 Who took over the spice trade from the
Portuguese?
Spain
 What country led the early part of the age
of exploration?
Portugal
Bibliography
 Honors World History-Connections to Today
 Ellis, Elisabeth, and Anthony Esler. History World. New
Jersy: Prentice Hall, 2005. 62-67.
 Mr. Mays Webpage
 Brent, May. "Mr. Mays Homepage." Brent May, n. d. Web. 10
Oct. 2011. <http://www.mccookbison.org/MPS/Staff/Brent
May/Index2.htm/Mr._Mays_Homepage.html>.