Age of Exploration

Age of Exploration

1. Portugal's Motivation

   • find a sea route to Asia that bypasses the Arabs in the Middle East
     • found a route around Africa to Asia, with established harbors along the African coast
     • Arabs were tolling the traders - the Middle East was a crossroads

2. Spain's Motivation

   • to have something to do and invest in; to find a Western sea route to Asia
     • Spain had just finished ending Muslim occupation in 1492
       • Portugal had taken the South/East sea route
       • commissions Christopher Columbus in 1492
         • mistakenly found N. and S. America
           • stayed in S. America for gold, silver, and native labor

3. England's Motivation

   • desire for a "northwest passage" to the Pacific Ocean through N. America
     • N. American was untouched by Spain because it had less gold and silver
     • found land fit for colonies instead

4. Spain's Exploration

   • found gold, silver, and slave labor in S. America
     • Spain was not interested in colonies, only in making a profit
     • stayed on the Caribbean Islands until the gold ran out, then used as a base of exploration
       • Vasco de Gama, 1513 - overland to Pacific
       • Ponce de Leon, 1513 - explored Florida
       • Ferdinand Magellan, 1519-1522 - circumnavigation
       • Hernando Cortes, 1519-1521 - conquered Aztecs
       • Francisco Pizarro, 1531 - began conquering Incas
   • nearly 175,000 Spaniards came to the New World and found success
     • this attracted threats
       • The Dutch, English, and French attacked Spanish silver ships; rebellions in colonies
         • Spain forced to spend more and more money on defense
           • had no more profits by 1640, came out of AoE as a second-rate country

5. Dutch Exploration

   • originally trading with Spain
     • Dutch were Protestant, Spanish were Catholic - Spain cut off ports when the Dutch refused to convert
       • Dutch go to New World to undercut Spanish
         • found New Netherland on Hudson River
           • found New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island
         • Dutch government was not interested, too busy fighting Spain
           • opened N. America for English and Canada for French