4.2 Exploration: Causes and Events

Who is Colombus?

Christopher Columbus was credited with "discovering the New World," and was fortunate in 1492 enough to gain support of the Spanish monarchs, Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand, for his voyages across the atlantic. His journeys helped increase interest in discovery. Spain led the European exploration and colonization of the Americas.

Who was John Cabot?

England sent John Cabot to America to look for the northwest passage. Claimed land in Canada for Britain and established a shorter, more northerly route across the Atlantic than Columbus's route.

What was mercantilism?

Europeans measured wealth through how much gold and silver you had. For this reason Mercantilism, which involved heavy government involvement. Countries set policies designed to sell as many goods as other countries in order to maximize the amount of gold and silver coming in, and to buy as few as possible from other countries to minimize the flow of precious metals leaving the country.

What did the French explore?

French gov sponsored expeditions for the Northwest Passage. In 1535 Jaques Cartier claims part of what is now Canada for France. Samuel de Champlain (explored 1609 to 1616) realized there were valuable goods and riches in the Americas and so there was no need to go beyond Asia.

What happened when the French reached their destination?

French hoped for gold, but found a land rich in furs and other natural resources. In 1608 they established a trading post named Quebec. The traders searched for furs; the priests wanted to convert Native Americans to Christianity.

What was New France?

French rarely settled permanently, they had better relations with the natives than the English and Spanish. For example, by 1754 the European population of New France, the French colony in North America, was only 70,000. The English colonies included 1 million Europeans.

What were galleons?

Galleons are Spanish ships that are heavily armed. Europeans exchanged silver for luxury goods such as silk, spices, and gold bullion. The Manila galleons allowed the silver trade to flourish. The Chinese gov soon began to use silver as its main form of currency. By the early 17th century, silver had become a dominant force in the global economic system.

What happened in 1588?

In 1588 the english surprisingly defeated the Spanish Armada and destroyed 2/3 of their ships. With that England declared itself a major naval power and began competing for land and resources in the Americas.

How did Portugal's weapons affect stuff?

Portugal had superior ships and weapons that were unmatched among Europaeans. Because of this the Portuguese had already won controls of both the African and Indian coasts.

What happened when the Portuguese landed in China?

Portuguese traders arrived in China in 1514, the traders were followed by Roman Catholic missionaries, mainly Francisicans and Dominicans, who worked to gain converts among the Chinese people. More people came to China like the Jesuits. They failed to win many converts among the hostile scholar gentry, who considered them barbaric.

Who was Bartholomew Diaz?

Sailed around the southern tip of Africa, the Cape of Good Hope, in 1488.

Why was religion a reason for exploration?

Since religion was tightly woven into the government of most European states, preserving and spreading a state's religion became another reason for state involvement.

What did Magellan do?

Spain established links between the Americas and Asia across the Pacific.

What happened to Spain when they got to the Americas?

Spain thought they had been given a horrible deal with the Treaty. As they were given a vast unknown area. It turned out to be the best situation as they had two whole continent's land and resources to themselves.

Who went to the Americas?

Spain's rivals went to the Americas as well. French, English, Dutch explorers looked for the Northwest Passage, which is a route through or around North America that would lead to East Asia and the precious trade in spices and luxury goods.

Which nation was the first to sail around the world?

Spanish ships became the first to circumnavigate the globe when the gov sponsored Ferdinand Magellan. He died on his ship, but one of the ships in his fleet made it around the globe, proving that the earth could be traveled all the way around.

Who was Henry Hudson?

The Dutch sent Henry Husdon to explore the East Coast of North America. He sailed up what became known as the Hudson River to see if it led to Asia. Based on the voyage, the Dutch claimed the Hudson River Valley and the Island of Manhattan, on Manhattan they settled in a community known as New Amerstadm. New Amsterdam became an important node in the Dutch transatlantic trade network.

Why did the Europeans got to the Americas?

The Europeans interest in the Americas was rekindled when the Spanish came into contact with two major empires in the region, the Aztecs in Mesoamerica and the Incas in South America. They had gold and silver.

What happened to Portuguese when they got the Treaty of Tordesillas?

The Pope gave them the East, which was already familiar and producing a great deal of profit in geographic destinations. The problem was how do you get around Africa to get to the spices. The South Atlantic Gyre current stopped all coastal travel. Thus, navigators went out into the Atlantic to catch a favorable current and found modern day Brazil.

What was the Portuguese downfall?

The Portuguese succeeded in global trade for several decades, but Portugal was a small nation, lacking the workers and the ships necessary for the enforcement of a large trade empire.

What happened when the Spanish went to the Philippines?

The Spanish went to the Philippines in 1565 to conquer the Filipinos who put up a fierce resistance. Manila became a Spanish commercial center in the area, attracting Chinese merchants and others. Because of the Portuguee and Spanish occupations, many Filipinos became Christians.

What was the effect of the Portuguese forts?

The effect of the forts is that it gave Portugal a global trading post empire, based on small outposts rather than control of large territories.

What was Virginia?

When the French founded Quebec, the English established a colony in Virginia and built Jamestown, on the James River. The first successful colony in the Americas.

What were Europeans reasons for exploration?

to expand their authority and control of resources in the era of empire building. Conquest brought wealth to states through taxes and trading opportunities. Brought material wealth, especially silver. Rivalries among European states created efforts to expand before another power might claim territory. Religion was also a motivating force for exploration and expansion.

Who was Prince Henry the Navigator?

(1394 to 1460) became the first european monarch to sponsor seafaring expeditions.

What was the Treaty of Tordesillas?

A cooperative treaty negotiated by the pope Alexander VI (Spanish-born) It's goal was to alleviate tensions between Catholicism's two greatest Political/Religious Champions, Spain and Portugal. France, Protestant nations England and the Netherlands were left out. Spain got the Americas, Portugal had everything else.

Who was La Salle?

A french trader named La Salle explored the Great Lakes and followed the Mississippi River South to its mouth at the Gulf of Mexico. He claimed that region for France.

What did the Portuguese do once they were in a place?

To ensure control of trade the Portuguese built forts from Hormuz on the Persian Gulf (built in 1507) to Goa in western India. The goal of fort construction was to establish a monopoly over the spice trade in the area to license all vessels trading between Malacca and Hormuz.

Who was Vasco de Gama?

Vaco de Gama landed in India and claimed territory, the Portaguese ports in India were a key step in expanding Portugal's trade in the Indian Ocean. Portugal expanded trade and cultural exchange between India and Europe.