AZIZI HANA 1st Year : Group5

The age of exploration

Introduction :

After the age of the Viking Norsemen explorations, the Age of Exploration started at around the
fifteenth century until the seventeenth century. Occasionally, some historians refer to this period as
the Age of Discovery. It refers to the period when “Europeans began exploring the world by sea in
search of trading partners, new goods, and new trade routes”.1 Other Europeans wanted to discover
much information about the new world. The pieces of information these explorers gathered during
this period have been useful in enhancing geographical knowledge and understanding the world.
We can only attribute this period with advancement and discoveries in human history.

The so-called Age of Exploration was a period from the early 15th century and continuing into
the early 17th century, during which European ships were traveled around the world to search for
new trading routes and partners to feed burgeoning capitalism in Europe. In the process, Europeans
encountered peoples and mapped lands previously unknown to them. Among the most famous
explorers of the period were Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Pedro Álvares Cabral, John
Cabot, Juan Ponce de León, and Ferdinand Magellan.

The period is characterized as a time when Europeans began exploring the world by sea in
search of new trading routes, wealth, and knowledge. The impact of the Age of Exploration would
permanently alter the world and transform geography into the modern science it is today.

THE AGE OF EXPLORATION HAD LASTING EFFECTS ON EUROPE AND THE

NEW WORLD. THREE EFFECTS WERE, ECONOMIC CHANGES, SOCIAL CHANGES
AND CULTURAL CHANGES.

THE ECONOMIC CHANGES HAD TO DO WITH TRADE. COUNTRIES

TRADED AMONGST EACH OTHER FOR THINGS THEY WERE LACKING IN
EXCHANGE FOR THINGS THEY HAD SURPLUSES OF. EUROPE, AFRICA AND
AMERICA ALL TRADED WITH EACH OTHER AS WELL AS OTHER COUNTRIES.
WHEN COUNTRIES TRADED THEY WOULD GET THINGS SUCH AS POTATOES
AND SPICES. THEY COULD PLANT THE POTATOES AND GROW MORE ON THEIR
OWN. TRADING ADDED TO PEOPLES ECONOMY, A FOOD CHAIN IS AN EXAMPLE.
PEOPLE ALSO ADVANCED SOCIALLY.
SOCIAL CHANGES WERE ALSO EFFECTS OF EXPLORATION. AS PEOPLE
STARTED COMING IN CONTACT WITH EACH OTHER WHILE TRADING THEY
GOT MANY NEW IDEAS FROM OTHER PEOPLE AND COUNTRIES. MANY PEOPLE
BEGAN TO BEFRIEND PEOPLE FROM OTHER COUNTRIES WHICH WOULD
GREATLY INCREASE TRADE. THIS LEAD TO CULTURAL CHANGES.
CULTRAL CHANGES ALSO EFFECTED EUROPE DURING THE AGE OF
EXPLORATION. WHEN PEOPLE CAME IN CONTACT WITH OTHER CULTURES AND
COUNTRIES IT LEAD TO CULTURAL DIFFUSION. PEOPLE GOT NEW IDEAS FROM
OTHERS AND ADOPTED THEM INTO THEIR OWN SOCIETY. WHEN EXPLORERS
SUCH AS CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS OR VASCO DE GAMA FOUNDED NEW
COUNTRIES THEY NEVER KNEW BEFORE EXISTED, THEY BROUGHT THEIR IDEAS
AND WAYS OF LIVING TO THE PEOPLE LIVING IN THE NEW COUNTRIES. THIS
HAPPENED CONTINUOSLY.
IN CONCLUSION SOCIAL CHANGES, ECONOMIC CHANGES AND CULTURAL
CHANGES IN AFRICA, AND AMERICA BOTH HAD A SPECIFIC EFFECT ON EUROPE
DURING THE AGE OF EXPLORATION WHICH ADDED AND INCREASED THE
PRODUCT OF THE GOLDEN AGE AS WELL.

The Importance of the Age of Exploration to Geography

Most of the explorations took place in efforts to find and establish new trade routes. However,
the impacts of explorations affected geography significantly. Explorers who traveled to different
destinations around the globe acquired new knowledge about the New World. Consequently, these
explorers brought back with them this knowledge to Europe.

Explorers also met new people, new land, and new cultures. Such knowledge enlightened
Europe about other existing cultures. Later, Europeans wanted to spread their domination to these
new people, land, and cultures.

The Age of Exploration improved geographical knowledge in areas of mapping and portolan
charts. For instance, Prince Henry the Navigator could sail away from the shorelines using a new
nautical chart. This enabled the subsequent sailors to travel away from the land. This also resulted
into the creation of the nautical map. It was the effort of explorers like Cabral, Columbus, and De
Gama that polished the first nautical map. The Age of Exploration improved geographical
knowledge significantly. A number of people could study new areas and expand the existing
knowledge about geography. Therefore, discoveries of the explorers formed the foundation of
modern geography. This period also set the pace for the European colonization and the spread
Christianity. Slaves experienced the negative consequences of slavery, such as displacements, wars,
starvation, and increased slave trade. Diseases also claimed several lives of slaves. The population
of the natives also reduced dramatically as death and displacement resulted in a diminishing number
of people. Europeans also spread their culture of Christianity to other land and people. This made
Christianity the world’s largest religion until today. Christianity became the main strategy of
colonization Europeans used to capture new territories and form their colonies.

The diminishing of the Age of Exploration

The Age of Discovery came to an end during the early periods of 17th century. This was the
period after increased technological discoveries and easy navigation by Europeans across the globe.
Traders established settlements along the coasts of newly discovered areas. This allowed for smooth
trade and communication and marked the end of looking for trade routes.

Kidner and others note: “Though the Age of Exploration ended in the 17th century, it did not stop
completely during this time”.7 There were some areas that remained unexplored. These included
Africa, some parts of Asia, eastern Australia, Antarctic, and Arctic .