Ferdinand Magellan And The Spice Islands

In the late 1400’s and all the way to the mid 1700’s, the way we look at our planet changed drastically. Ferdinand Magellan set out on September 20, 1519 to find the Spice Islands for Spain. Magellan discovered the Strait of Magellan at the southern tip of Argentina. He crossed through the Strait and found an ocean which he named the Pacific Ocean. Though he died on an island, Magellan is credited as being the first man to circumnavigate the world. Ferdinand Magellan and his expedition to find the Spice Islands changed the world of exploration and changed our understanding of the Earth forever. Magellan was born in the year 1480 but his exact birthday is unknown. He was born into small noble family in northern Portugal. When he and …show more content…
A few days later, they found the island of Molucca and found a different number of spices back to Spain. The Victoria headed eastwards into the Indian Ocean in an attempt to find the Cape of Good Hope. Once they found that, they would be able to follow the coast and return to their home on Spain. The Trinidad, on the other hand, decided to go back west towards Panama to maybe find a Spanish colony that can help them. Sadly the Trinidad couldn’t make it to Panama and had to turn around back to the Philippines. When they arrived back to Molucca, the crew was met by Portuguese sailors and arrested. Only four of the men from the Trinidad returned to Spain after several years of captivity. Meanwhile, the Victoria found the Cape of Good Hope and followed the African coast up to Spain. The numbered and weary crew arrived back in Spain on September 8, 1522, nearly three years after setting sail. King Charles V realized that Magellan’s quest had brought little material wealth to Spain. Portugal has a great investment in the East and their trans-African trade routes were the best way to trade with India and the Spice Islands. The King decided to sell the rights to his East Indian rights to Portugal. Despite self destructing in the process, Magellan’s search greatly affected the way …show more content…
Magellan set off in September 1519 in an attempt to find the elusive Spice Islands in the East Indies. He went down to Brazil and sailed down to southern Argentina. This is where a found a passage, respectfully named the Strait of Magellan. He crossed into the Pacific Ocean, which he named due to its calm demeanor compared to the Atlantic. He lost his largest ship due to a mutiny, but he decided to press on anyways. He underestimated how long the voyage would be and lost a majority of his crew to sickness, starvation, and the elements. Eventually his expedition reached the Philippines where they found the Spice Islands. Tragically, Magellan and the two other senior leaders were killed in a battle with native islanders. His remaining crew loaded up with spices and split up to return home. Only one ship returned home with the spices and a small amount of the crew. The other ship was captured by the Portuguese in the Philippines and the crew returned years later. Magellan allowed Spain to take the lead in world exploration. With Spain leading, other countries wanted to get involved in the exploration of the world and this jump-started the mass exploration of