Explorer Christopher Columbus found Central America in the late 15th century (august 1492) to discover the new world. Many methods were used to cross the dangerous seas. Celestial navigation was used to travel along the seas, the astrolabe an instrument used to make very big measurements in navigation for calculating latitude. The ships speed was determined by a measurement called ‘heaving the log’ used between the …show more content…
The other countries of Europe such as Spain and Portugal were keen to grow rich through trade. They were mostly looking for a sea route to India, China and South East Asia. One writer described the goods carried in Venetian ships, “From India they have pearls, precious stones and plenty of spices... they have a very large quantity of cotton and silk”. Turkey had made the journey difficult Columbus was also hoping to find a sea route to the Far East. No goods could get from Asia to Europe without crossing the Arab or Turkish lands. Powerful European leaders would pay explorers to go on voyages to find a sea route for ‘new trade routes’ to Cathay (China) and the Spice Islands (The Mollucus). I got this source from class and paper/book