European Exploration Research Paper

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For a long time, the Europeans have been isolated in one area. Europe had tried to expand their nation once, but they were unsuccessful. Around the Middle Ages, Europe had believed in myths and legends of an amazing land where they could spread their religion and find rich resources. They had finally decided to explore the unknown world, so they financed for multiple explorations onto the high seas. The Europeans wanted to spread their religion when they were looking for new land; however, they would never have the ability or intentions of exploring, without the economic motives and the improved technology that they also possessed.
Religion was one of the main motives for European exploration; in addition, the Europeans wanted to spread their …show more content…

The Europeans wanted to become wealthier, and to do so, they had to explore more land and take the rich resources. According to Duiker, many “people in Europe became interested in the possibility of reaching Asia by sea to gain access to the spices and other precious items of the region” (Duiker 494). Europe wanted to travel by sea and gain more items from Asia, representing a great example for the economic motives. Since they are traveling by sea to get to Asia, this is still considered as exploration. It is still considered as exploration, because during the journey on the seas, they could have found new discoveries and sightings. “The Portuguese had a policy that included the search for gold” (Duiker 499). Portugal is a part of Europe, representing the fact that their policy could have spread to the other European countries. Also, if the Portuguese wanted to obtain gold, then competition would have arouse inside Europe, leading to the hard work of finding gold through exploration as well. Ogier Gheselin, a sixteenth-century diplomat, said that the explorers’ attitude were based off of “religion supplies the pretext and gold the motive” (QTD Buckler 505). He has describe the explorers’ motive, which was to look for gold; also, he said that the religious motive was not the real main reason. His statement is possibly true, because most people are focused on being wealthy and finding riches, more than trying to spread a