AGE OF EXPLORATION (1415-1620)

AGE OF EXPLORATION – marked the beginning of Pope Alexander VI – created a demarcation line for the
Western Expansion. claims of Portugal and Spain in 1493.

Motives/Causes: Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) – the line created by the Pope

1. Desire for wealth (GOLD) was moved a little bit.
2. Desire for power and influence
3. Desire to spread Christianity (GOD) Treaty of Zaragoza (1529)
4. Driven by curiosity, glory, and fame (GLORY)
5. Technological advancements

Prince Henry of Portugal (Henry the Navigator) – led the

opening date of the age of exploration when he captured
Ceuta in North Africa in 1415.
-made no voyages

Portugal – led the search for a sea route to India.

Explorers:
Name From To
1. Bartholomeu Dias Portugal Cape of Good
Hope
2. Vasco de Gama Portugal Calicul, India
3. Christopher Spain Americas (Cuba,
Columbus (Italian) Haiti, and
Dominican
Republic)
4. Juan Ponce de Spain Puerto Rico,
Leon (fountain of and Florida
youth) Peninsula
5. Vasco Nuňez de Spain Panama
Balboa (first to see
the Pacific Ocean) Colonization was next after conquest.
6. Ferdinand Spain Philippines Mexico and Peru – centers of Spanish colonial settlement.
Magellan Chile – southernmost limit of Spanish lands.
(Portuguese)
7. Hernan Cortes Spain to Mexico Spaniards brought:
Cuba -government
8. Francisco Pizarro Spain Peru -patterns of land owning
(assassinated) -language
9. Hernando de Soto Spain Florida, -Catholic religion
Carolinas, and
Mississippi Effect of the settlement:
River 1. decline of population
10. Francisco de Spain Northward – led to slave labor
Coronado Mexico - led to intermarriages
(Colorado and
Kansas) Other explorers:
11. Pedro Cabral Portugal Brazil NAME FROM TO
*At first, the two great powers were Portugal and Spain. 12. John Cabot England Newfoundland
(Italian)
 13. Henry Hudson Netherlands New York City 3. Capitalism – is the economic system that rests in
(English) private ownership and use of capital.
14. Jacques Cartier France Eastern Canada 3 major characteristics:
15. Samuel de France Quebec (first a. Private ownership
Champlain permanent b. Profit motive
French colony), c. Market economy – a way of living that
Maine, depended on buying and selling of goods and
Montreal, and services
Nova Scotia
16.Louis Joliet and France Great Lakes, CHANGES BROUGHT BY AGE OF EXPLORATION AND
Jacques Marquette Wisconsin, COMMERCIAL REVOLUTION:
Mississippi River 1. People could think of the world in global terms.
17. Sieur de la Salle France Louisiana 2. People began to look at their lives in economic terms.
3. Huge regions of the world began to come under
*Dutch – revolted against Spain in 1568 European influence and control.
- only allowed country to trade with Japan 4. Europe became the center of world trade.
5. The center of business shifted to northern Europe.
*Second phase of the age of exploration – Britain vs. Ex. London and Amsterdam - centers of commercial
France (7 Years’ War or French and Indian War) trade
6. Knowledge of the earth increased – led to scientific
*England vs Portugal vs France – over India revolution
*The territories chosen for the first English settlements in 7. New kinds of food were grown.
the Americas were in areas unclaimed by Spain or 8. Shifts occurred in the world’s population
Portugal. White population > any race

Plymouth – first English colony *Settlement in the Western Hemisphere – most

significant consequence of the Age of Exploration.
St. Domingue - richest colonial possession in the world
(French)

Changes brought by the Age of Exploration which led to

the Commercial Revolution (1450-1700):
1. Mercantilism - power of the state could be greatly
enlarged by directing economic motives according to
certain basic principles:
a. state could accumulate wealth In the form of
bullion (gold and silver)
b. colonies are important

Mercantilism = economic growth + expanding royal

power

2. Joint stock companies were formed.

Ex. Francis Drake – second circumnavigator of the
world
3. Emphasis on hard work and thrift
4. Rivalries at sea
Ex. John Hawkins from England vs Spain
Piet Heyn from Netherlands vs Spain

Upheavals in the European Economy:

1. Inflation
2. Changes in farm land