The Age of Exploration

Mid-1400s to the Late-1700s

1. What was the Age of Exploration?• A period in which Europeans sent out explorers

and merchants to find and establish new trade routes, and sources of products

• European exploration involved trade with Asians plus the establishment of colonies in the Americas.

• The Age of Exploration lasted from the mid-1400s to the end of the 1700s.

• Ocean-going sailing ships were the primary vehicles of the Age of Exploration

• In many ways, the Age of Exploration made Western Civilization a global civilization

2. Who were the main European kingdom/countries that brought about the Age of Exploration?• Portugal, Spain, The Netherlands, England,

France

3. In the 1200s, who traveled to China and wrote of what he saw and experienced?• Marco Polo• His writings fascinated many Europeans,

including, over a century later, an Italian sailor named Christopher Columbus.

4. In the Middle East, who had the best access to East Asia?• Muslim Arabs and Muslim Turks

5. To avoid Muslim middlemen, what was the best alternative for Europeans to get access to East Asia?• Going to East Asia by sea6. How could Europeans get to East Asia by sea in the 1400s, 1500s, and 1600s?• By going around Africa and then going east• It’s a very long route• Some were tempted to try to get to Asia by sailing

west across the Atlantic Ocean.

7. How did “God, Gold, and Glory” work together to inspire Europeans to explore, exploit, and settle new lands?• God: They wanted to spread the Catholic Faith. Later,

Protestants would seek to do the same with the various Protestant faiths.

• Gold: They wanted to find wealth, particularly new sources of gold and silver (precious metals)

• Glory: The Renaissance idea of personal fame inspired some to seek recognition in overseas adventures.

8. How did Portugal launch the Age of Exploration?• Beginning in 1420, Prince Henry the Navigator

sponsored Portuguese expeditions along the West Coast of Africa.

• They found gold there.9. In 1488, who rounded, for Europe’s first time, the Cape of Good Hope, the most southern tip of Africa?• Bartholomeu Dias

10.Who sailed around Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa, crossed the Indian Ocean, and arrived in Calicut, India in 1498?

• Vasco de Gama of Portugal11. What did De Gama bring back to Portugal?• Spices.• De Gama made big money off of this cargo