The Transition from Reformation to Exploration

The Age of ExplorationCh 18

Lesson 1: It’s a Whole New World

• The Reformation marked a time where the power of the Catholic church had declined

• During the Renaissance, artists and writers adopted a view of life that promoted the human’s ability to change and/or control the world

• This, along with the growing wealth of independent nations, made the concept of exploration finally realistic

CompassChinese Invention (Qin Dynasty)

221-206 BC• First used by Chinese fortune

tellers during the Qin dynasty• Used lodestones (mineral w/

iron oxide that aligned in a north-south direction

• Someone figured out that it was better at pointing you in the right direction than predicting your future

Zheng He was the first person recorded to use the compass

as a navigational tool• He may have discovered

“America” before Columbus

Technological Advances

As political and religious changes were happening, navigational devices and better ships made more distant voyages possible

(astrolabe & sextant)

Now the Europeans were ready to explore

-CARAVELMany mastsNew rudder

(easier to steer)Faster

Got a map?Claudius Ptolemy• Renaissance led to the study of

ancient Arab maps• Ptolemy drew maps, his book

Geography was discovered by Europeans in 1406

• Printing press invention allowed maps to be easily sold all over Europe

• His ideas on cartography (science of map making) and his system of longitude/latitude were very influential

Ptolemy’s East-SE Asia

Why Explore?• ambitious monarchs from France, Spain, England & Portugal wanted better (safer/faster) access to trade with the East•Portugal headed toward Africa, while Spain, England, & France headed west

Let the Race Begin in Portugal

Prince Henry the Navigator• Led the way• Developed a school focused

on navigation– Made advances in cartography

Bartolomeu Dias• Commissioned to find a

water route to India• Sailed around the tip of

Africa and into the Indian ocean

• Didn’t make it to India b/c his crew was afraid and made him stop

Success in India

Vasco da Gama• Successfully

returned from India with jewels and spices

• A new trade route was established

Spain’s turn

Christopher Columbus• August, 1492

– Nina– Pinta– Santa Maria

• Landed in the Bahamas– San Salvador then Cuba– Explored Puerto Rico, the

Virgin Islands, Jamaica, & Trinidad

• No riches & certain he found the East

“America”• A German geographer,

Martin Waldseemuller,accepted the claim of Amerigo Vespucci the he landed on the mainland before Columbus.

• He published a book and named the continent America in 1507

Are we there yet?

Ferdinand Magellan• Finished what Columbus

started• 1520- he headed south and

found a way around the Americas

• The passage is called the Strait of Magellan

• He named the Pacific Ocean b/c it was peaceful (or pacific)

• Unfortunately, he was killed but his crew continued back to Spain through the new route

First to circumnavigate the world

England Takes the Lead

John Cabot• 1497 – Henry VII sponsored

Cabot who explored Newfoundland

• Interest was limited until….

Queen Elizabeth – a visionary• Sir Humphrey Gilbert & Sir

Walter Raleigh were sent to colonize America

• Raleigh named the territory he explored Virginia

• The Chesapeake Bay region

Je m’appelle Jacques Cartier

• 1524 Giovanni da Verrazano mapped the East Coast

• Cartier sailed past Newfoundland and entered the St. Lawrence River

• Exploration halted because the French Protestants and Catholics were at war

Meanwhile….

Successful Spanish• Build a great empire in America• Enslave Native Americans

– To grow sugarcane– To mine gold/silver

• African slaves – were brought to work farms

• Cortes conquered the Aztec• Pizarro conquered the Inca

Become Enemies with England• Henry VIII breaks from the

Catholic Church• Spain tried to stop the spread

of Protestantism in the Netherlands

• The English came to the aid of the Dutch

• The Spanish Armada was defeated by England

• Now the English and Dutch were ready to explore again

The Spanish Defeat the Native Americans in Central and South America

The Commercial Revolution

Mercantilism• A country must gain

power by building up its supply of gold and silver

The best method: Export (sell) more than you

import (buy) Set up colonies to produce

goods not found in the mother country

The result: Trading Posts

Developing Market Economy

Why is Trade Important?• Promotes wealth• The need for trade creates the

idea for needing investors (someone who will give money upfront to start a business with an expectation to earn more money in return)

Cottage Industry – peasants hired to work from home• Merchants were frustrated

with artisans and guilds who charged too much for goods

• Peasants were hired for cheaper pay

• Called the cottage industry b/c they lived in cottages

Columbian Exchange

Global Exchange• Europe traded with

the world• People, goods,

technology, ideas, & diseases were exchanged

Products

Items to Europe• Corn• Potatoes• Squash• Beans• Tomatoes• Chocolate• Chili peppers• Peanuts• Tobacco

Items to America• Grains

– Wheat, barley, rye, oats, rice

• Coffee• Tropical fruits• Animals

– Pigs, sheep, cattle, horses, chickens

• Sugarcane – Brought from Asia to farm

“I think I feel under the weather”European diseases kill millions of Native Americans

• Smallpox• Measles• malaria

L2 The Scientific Revolution