From 1500- circa 1600 the Indian Ocean was a flourishing trade center that had various central locations run by some of the most powerful countries at the time. This led to a bulk of issues and a number of benefits. The Portuguese were a very powerful leader of the region and were known for their harsh culture and, almost pirate like in some ways of their customs. Their power and influence made a considerable difference in the culture and regional power throughout trade in the Indian Ocean. The Portuguese transformed maritime trade in the Indian Ocean to a large extent because of the threatening power changes, corrupt trading, and the way the trade goods’ quality transformed over time.
In the 16th century, the Portuguese was able to find a route around the Cape of Good Hope that got them involved in the Indian Ocean trade. The trade was dominated by Asian traders who operate from East Africa to India and from Eastern India to Indonesia. The Portuguese replaced these Asian traders to Venetian, Genoese and Catalan traders. Soon in 1507-1515, Portugal conquered carefully calculated cities like Goa, Malacca and Hormuz and set up a base in these cities. The impact the Portuguese bring to the Indian Ocean trade is when they enter the trade for the benefit of wealth and power over Spain and the Muslims, they took control over trading cities with spices through the use of violent force and strategic methods which cause the Portuguese
In the 16th century the Portuguese transformed maritime trade in the Indian Ocean to a large extent because of how much they changed the practices in the trade. First the Portuguese came to start war and push out
Before the Portuguese got into the Indian ocean to begin maritime trade there was mainly land-based trading going on with the nations/countries around them and some maritime trade. As the countries began to trade more and more they all soon had the products that each country around them had to offer. That’s when the Portuguese decided to try and transform maritime trade. The Portuguese wanted the three g’s every country dreams of: God, Glory, and Gold. Although many Scholars would argue that the Portuguese transformed maritime trade, they did not due to how power hungry they got and waging war with the nations and the effects left on the countries.
In the 1500’s and 1600’s, Europe dived into an era of exploration of new trade routes. Exploration carried out by explorers like Cortes, Diaz and Da Gama led Europe into new lands. The main motivations of these explorers were to gather spices and gold. Their countries were infatuated with the spices of Asia and with precious metals. Religion was not the main motivation for European exploration during the 15th and 16th centuries; however, the search for wealth was.
To what extent did the Age of Exploration 15th to 16th lead to conflict and competition between Port and Spain? Introduction The Age of Exploration was during the Renaissances period in Europe, it was a time that dealt with the whole of Europe coming out of the dark ages which was during 14th century to the 16th century when the Renaissance ended, of course this was due to the industrial revolution but that is not important… The age of Exploration was a time when many countries in Europe sought a means of power by traveling to the new worlds in aid of helping their own countries by retrieving raw materials, slave labour, rare foods and spices, but also land that they could claim for their own countries. The most famous out of these countries during the time where England and Spain both they ruled large amounts of land during the late Renaissance period, but our main focus is during the early Renaissance period this was the time when Portugal and Spain where both trying to head East to claim valuable raw materials and spice, from India and many other countries along the way.
In an era when spices were just as sought after as precious silks, several countries participated in a race to find trade routes to Asia. Christopher Columbus imagined a path across the Atlantic, one that led to a dead end: the Americas. Suddenly, the goal of the race changed. Countries began searching for a strait that connected the Atlantic and the Pacific, opening a route to the Spice Islands. Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese cartographer and sailor, looked to Spain for support on an expedition to the Spice Islands.
During this period, innovations in ship building and knowledge on the sea made long travels possible. More people started exploring, searching for new information and wealth. Vasco da Gama and his expedition were exploring a sea route to India. Vasco da Gama said, “...they needed not what was to be found in this country...but desired to be his friend and brother.” (Doc 4) Vasco da Gama had been sent by the king of Portugal claiming that the king had wanted to improve his relationship with India.
The exploration and colonization practices of the Portuguese and Spanish had many similarities and differences to their British counterparts. Exploration and colonization where a very important aspect of any country during this time period (1450-1750), as colonies across the world led to greater profits and more control. The Portuguese and Spanish has very specific exploration and colonization practices. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella highly supported exploration (by supporting Columbus’s exploration and establishing empires in the New World).
Moreover, during the 1500s, spices were highly valued because of their scarcity and usefulness. The Portuguese (led by Vasco de Gama) were the first Europeans to discover a direct sea route to Southeast Asia via the Cape of Good Hope, thus enabling them to bring spices directly from India to Europe (Document 4). Shortly after, the English, French, and Dutch discovered the sea route to Asia and gained monopoly over the spice trade by colonizing Southeast Asia. Although trade and colonization had a significant impact on Asia, they also had a monumental impact on Africans. In the 1500s, Europeans began trading slaves on a large scale, as they were sold to work on large plantations in the New World.
2. The exploration of the Atlantic and India ocean helped develop trade India, while the exploration of the pacific ocean helped establish trade between mexico and the phillipines, also magella circumnavigated the earth. 3. Trading-post empires were first created by the portugese between west Africa and east Africa, tradin post empires forced ships and people to buy safe-conduct passages for protection. 4.
The Spanish and Portuguese two vast empires that took over the New World and made it their own for over three hundred years. Spain and Portugal were able to maintain their empire for over three hundred years due to the following resources and advantages. Financial stability, military superiority, and slavery, which both utilized in order to dominate the new world. In the age of exploration as Spain and Portugal were shipping out famous explores such as Christopher Columbus, Hernán Cortés, Francisco Pizarro, Pedro Alvares Cabral, and Ferdinand Magellan.
During the 16th Century, also known as the “Age of Discovery”, European explorers came to the Americas by sailing the ocean blue, and their planned voyages had a reason - it was to seek for wealth, fame, and converts. It was a period of looking for new lands, valuable resources, and new trade routes. These discoveries were sought and gained for their country. At that time, ocean voyages were more effective due to new sailing techniques, navigation, and mapmaking. In addition, Europe was closer to the Americas than any other competitors, and these motivated them to sail to the New World.
During the 15th and 16th centuries, leaders of a few European nations sent expeditions out in the hope that explorers would find great wealth and vast undiscovered lands. The Portuguese were the earliest participants in this “Age of Discovery.” Starting in about 1420, Portuguese ships sailed the African coast, carrying spices, gold, slaves and other goods from Africa and Asia to Europe.
Prominent English naturalist Charles Darwin once said, “A man who dares to waste one hour of his time has not discovered the value of life.” Darwin’s meaningful words emphasize the importance of time in one’s life. In this day and age, society does not understand that life is valuable, every minute, second, microsecond, and nanosecond. Life is something meant to be lived in contentment, something to be lived to the fullest. Life is replete with opportunities, as well as valuable lessons that help build a person’s character.
