EUROPE ENTERS THE MODERN AGE

Objective: Students will analyze the motives and technology that allowed the age of exploration come to pass.

THE AGE OF EXPLORATION

Age of Exploration: a period of European exploration and discovery that lasted from about 1418 to 1620

Think, Pair, Share

A period of European exploration and discovery that lasted from about 1418 to 1620 is referred to as… The Age of Exploration.

TERMS TO KNOW

Motives: something that causes a person or people to act.

Cartography: the science and art of making maps.

Circumnavigate: to sail all the way around the world.

At the same time that Europe was swept up in the Renaissance, Scientific Revolution and the Reformation, other major changes were taking place in the world. These changes originated in Europe, but soon involved other continents. The changes began with a series of voyages during the 1400s, 1500s, and early 1600s when European explorers ventured into the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

With today’s global positioning satellites, Internet maps, cell phones, and superfast travel, it is hard to imagine exactly how it might have felt to embark on a voyage across an unknown ocean.

Think/Pair/Share: Would you be willing to undertake such a voyage? Only those most adventurous, most daring, and most confident in their abilities to sail in any weather, manage any crew, and meet any circumstance dared do so; for not having those qualities meant certain death.

Whiteboards

To sail all the way around the world is referred to as… Circumnavigation Something that causes a person or people to act is... Motives The science and art of making maps. Cartography

European explorers changed the world in many dramatic ways. Because of them, cultures divided by 3,000 miles or more of water began interacting. European countries claimed large parts of the world. As nations competed for territory, Europe had an enormous impact on people living in distant lands. The Americas, in turn, made important contributions to Europe and the rest of the world. For example, from the Americas came crops such as corn and potatoes, which grew well in Europe. By increasing Europe’s food supply, these crops helped create population growth.

Whiteboards From where did the Age of Exploration begin? From Europe Name 2 items that came from the New world to Europe?. 1. Corn. 2. Potatoes

Which oceans were involved and were they underestimated by the navigators? 1. The Atlantic The Pacific 3. They were woefully underestimated.

THE CAUSES OF EUROPEAN

EXPLORATION

Two main reasons stand out. First, Europeans of this time had several motives for exploring the world. Second, advances in knowledge and technology helped to make the Age of Exploration possible.

For early explorers, one of the main motives for exploration was the desire to find new trade routes to Asia. Europeans were especially interested in spices from Asia.

Trade with the East, however, was difficult and very expensive. Muslims and Italians controlled the flow of goods. European monarchs and merchants wanted to break the hold that Muslims and Italians had on trade. A final motive for exploration was the desire to spread Christianity beyond Europe.

ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE AND

TECHNOLOGY

A number of advances during the Renaissance made it easier for explorers to venture into the unknown. One key advance was in cartography, or mapmaking. Discoveries by explorers gave mapmakers new information with which to work. In 1507, a German cartographer made the first map that clearly showed North and South America as separate from Asia. In turn, better maps made navigation easier.

Whiteboards

What was a main motive for European exploration? A. Finding spices from the Americas. B. Finding new trade routes to Asia. C. Finding people who could make better ships. D. Finding foods that would not spoil on long voyages.

B. Finding new trade routes to Asia.

Whiteboards

An improved ship design also helped explorers. By the 1400s, Portuguese and Spanish shipbuilders were making a new type of ship called a caravel.

These ships were small, fast, and easy to maneuver. Their special bottoms made it easier for explorers to travel along coastlines where the water was not deep.

Caravels also used lateen sails, a triangular style adapted from Muslim ships. These sails could be positioned to take advantage of the wind no matter which way it blew.

CARAVELS

THE CARAVEL

Along with better ships, new navigational tools helped sailors travel more safely on the open seas. Sailors used compasses to find their bearing, or direction of travel. The astrolabe helped sailors determine their distance north or south from the equator. Finally, improved weapons gave Europeans a huge advantage over the people they met in their explorations. Sailors could fire their cannons at targets near the shore without leaving their ships. On land, the weapons of native peoples often were no match for European guns, armor, and horses.

Whiteboards

Which of these is an advance in knowledge and technology that led to European exploration? A. A desire to spread Christianity. B. A chance to earn wealth from new lands. C. Improved ship design D. Merchants who wanted to increase trade.

C. Improved ship design

END OF PART I

EUROPE ENTERS THE MODERN AGE

Objective: Students

will be able to list

the discoveries of the

Portugese explorers.

COPY THIS SUMMARY INTO YOUR NOTES

Henry the Navigator Portugese prince who started a

school of Navigation.

PORTUGAL BEGINS THE AGE OF

EXPLORATION

The major figure in early Portuguese exploration was Prince Henry, the son of King John I of Portugal. Nicknamed “the Navigator,” Prince Henry was not an explorer himself. Instead, he encouraged exploration and planned and directed many important expeditions. Beginning in about 1418, Henry started a school of navigation where sailors and mapmakers could learn their trades. His cartographers made new maps based on the information ship captains brought back. Henry’s early expeditions focused on the west coast of Africa. Gradually, Portuguese explorers made their way farther and farther south.

COPY THIS SUMMARY INTO YOUR NOTES

Bartolomeu Dias

Vasco da Gama

Pedro Cabral

the first European to sail around

the southern tip of Africa.

First European to establish a

direct route to India.

Discovered the east coast of

present day Brazil.

Henry the Navigator Portugese prince who started a

school of Navigation.

In July 1497, Vasco da Gama set sail with four ships to chart a sea route to India. Da Gama arrived in the port of Calicut, India, in May 1498.

VASCO DA GAMA

In 1500, Pedro Cabral (kah-BRAHL) set sail for India with a fleet of 13 ships.

PEDRO CABRAL

ROUTES OF PORTUGUESE EXPLORATIONS

Whiteboards Which Portuguese explorer sailed around Africa and across the Indian Ocean to reach India? A. Batholomeu Dias B. Prince Henry C. Pedro Cabral D. Vasco Da Gama

D. Vasco Da Gama

PORTUGAL CONTROLS THE

INDIAN OCEAN

Portugal’s control of the Indian Ocean broke the hold Muslims and Italians had on Asian trade. With the increased competition, prices of Asian goods—such as spices and fabrics—dropped, and more people in Europe could afford to buy them.

During the 1500s, Portugal also began to establish colonies in Brazil . The native people of Brazil suffered greatly as a result. The Portuguese forced them to work on sugar plantations, or large farms.

As the native population of Brazil decreased, the Portuguese needed more laborers. Starting in the mid–1500s, they turned to Africa for slave labor.

Think, Pair, Share

What contributions did Portugal make to the Age of Exploration?

END OF PART II