Age Of Discovery: The Meaning Of The Age Of Discovery

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Age of Discovery The Age of Discovery is a period when European monarchies sent out ships, and found out the new sea-route towards West Africa and America continent. Initially, in the 15th century, the biggest participant was the Portuguese, who was dominant in discovering the North and South Africa and South American coast of Brazil, and in slave and gold trading. Seeing the profits, increasing number of monarchies, including Spain, England and France, started to send out ships and participated in slave trading with Africa and colonizing America. Considering the timing of the Age of Discovery, I would conclude that the Renaissance is the most significant reason for the happening of Age of Discovery. Firstly, with the coming of the Renaissance, …show more content…

Christopher Columbus reached the North America accidentally while trying to reach India in 1942, which is one of the most significant discoveries in the Age of Discovery. Columbus’ discovery both increase the competition with the Portuguese and with other European countries. After the Portuguese and the Spanish, other countries like England, France, and Netherlands also joined the Age of Discovery. To speak of the impact of the Age of Discovery, there are basically two sides, one is on Europe, and the other is on the new world. Agriculturally, Europe and the New World had similar mutual influence by the other, because they both introduced new plants from each …show more content…

The most direct impact on Europe is on economy, by the triangular trade of slave, gold and other products, European countries accumulated profits in large number. Such grate accumulation provided a very good foundation for the coming of the first industrial revolution in centuries—only Europe had such a great accumulation that can support the expanse of the development of factories. In the similar way, a good economy condition also provide a foundation for the development of capitalism. Politically, by developing marine force, slave trading, colonizing and making profits, Portugal, Spain and England became the dominant power of Europe in turns according to their development of utilizing the New World. The Age of Discovery also brought the Christianity to the New World, and works well in America, because natives of America were more easily to be converted than Muslim or other religious in Europe. In the way of colonizing the New World, individual, monarchies and churches’ greedy for profit and power ruined the humanity in some sense. Thought the Discovery of the New World was happened during the Renaissance under the influence of humanism, many behavior conquers took went the wrong direction. For instance, Spanish colonizers tended to kill all arrested natives of America, and they think Africans and native Americas were inferior to Europeans, which