Why explore the profound secrets of the earth when everyone believes circumnavigating it is illogical? During the Age of Exploration, people began doing what seemed impossible: expanding into the rest of the world between the 1400s and 1800s. Expeditions across the world were very long and expensive, not to mention very dangerous. Europeans risked perilous ocean voyages to discover new sea routes in order to expand and establish powerful trading empires. Many sailors died on the way and some ships never returned from the journeys. Nonetheless, driven by competition, countries longed to be in the lead for power and control. Many explorers began venturing out into the New World seeking to gain fame and experience adventure, but it all came down
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The Portuguese also began using the astrolabe, an angle measuring tool that calculates latitude. In 1420, Portuguese fleets began probing southward along the western coast of Africa where they discovered gold. After hearing several reports of a sea route to India, Bartolomeu Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope in 1488, hoping to find the route to Asia. Despite his disappointment in not finding the route, Dias became the first Portuguese and European to ever sail around the tip of south Africa. He opened the doors to seafaring trade in India. Following Dias’s route, Vasco da Gama became the first European to sail to India by going around the tip of Africa. After returning to Portugal with many spices and profits, da Gama became the first to find a direct sea route from Europe to Asia. Meanwhile, the Portuguese continued to look for the source of the spice trade by sailing eastward through the Indian Ocean. Malacca (Melaka), a small port on the Malayan Peninsula, was the center of the spice trade controlled by the Portuguese. It would remain the same for many …show more content…
The English used a magnetic compass invented by the Chinese long ago. Venetian John Cabot explored the New England coastline for England in 1497. Francis Drake, and English explorer, followed Magellan’s route to around the world. He effectively ended Spanish dominance overseas and made Europe the superpower in the New World. His claim reestablished exploring and soon Europeans migrated to the Americas. Many new crops were introduced into Europe as plantations flourished in the New World. In addition, sugar, cotton, dyes, vanilla, cocoa, corn, tobacco, and hides from livestock flowed into Europe. By the 1700s the English dominated trade in the Americas. Soon the English began to permanently settle on the eastern coast of North America. The first English settlement, or colony, in 1607 was Jamestown, Virginia. The colonies played an important part of mercantilism, a theory stating a nation's wealth depends on a large supply of gold and silver because it gave a country a favorable balance of trade. As the demand for labor increased, Native Americans were being used as slaves. Most of them died from forced labor, starvation, and European diseases. As a result, black Africans were being traded to meet the demand of goods. The exchange of goods between the old and new worlds became known as the Columbian Exchange. The Age of Exploration was finally coming to an
The Portuguese also began using the astrolabe, an angle measuring tool that calculates latitude. In 1420, Portuguese fleets began probing southward along the western coast of Africa where they discovered gold. After hearing several reports of a sea route to India, Bartolomeu Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope in 1488, hoping to find the route to Asia. Despite his disappointment in not finding the route, Dias became the first Portuguese and European to ever sail around the tip of south Africa. He opened the doors to seafaring trade in India. Following Dias’s route, Vasco da Gama became the first European to sail to India by going around the tip of Africa. After returning to Portugal with many spices and profits, da Gama became the first to find a direct sea route from Europe to Asia. Meanwhile, the Portuguese continued to look for the source of the spice trade by sailing eastward through the Indian Ocean. Malacca (Melaka), a small port on the Malayan Peninsula, was the center of the spice trade controlled by the Portuguese. It would remain the same for many …show more content…
The English used a magnetic compass invented by the Chinese long ago. Venetian John Cabot explored the New England coastline for England in 1497. Francis Drake, and English explorer, followed Magellan’s route to around the world. He effectively ended Spanish dominance overseas and made Europe the superpower in the New World. His claim reestablished exploring and soon Europeans migrated to the Americas. Many new crops were introduced into Europe as plantations flourished in the New World. In addition, sugar, cotton, dyes, vanilla, cocoa, corn, tobacco, and hides from livestock flowed into Europe. By the 1700s the English dominated trade in the Americas. Soon the English began to permanently settle on the eastern coast of North America. The first English settlement, or colony, in 1607 was Jamestown, Virginia. The colonies played an important part of mercantilism, a theory stating a nation's wealth depends on a large supply of gold and silver because it gave a country a favorable balance of trade. As the demand for labor increased, Native Americans were being used as slaves. Most of them died from forced labor, starvation, and European diseases. As a result, black Africans were being traded to meet the demand of goods. The exchange of goods between the old and new worlds became known as the Columbian Exchange. The Age of Exploration was finally coming to an