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An essay on the age of discovery
An essay on the age of discovery
An essay on the age of discovery
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The 15th century was the start of many voyages and the popular use of ships for trade, traveling, and exploration. Columbus, de Gama, and Zheng He, were all leaders Zheng He was the first major ocean voyager in the 15th century. He led seven expeditions, through the Indian ocean using over 300 massive boats called “treasure ships”. Though, unlike many others in his time, he was not an explorer.
Upon reflection, historians now acknowledge his expedition to Africa of particular distinction. Historians and scholars commonly agree that continuing around the Cape of Good Hope would have presumably led to discovering a direct trade route to Europe seventy-five years earlier than Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama. Notwithstanding Zheng He’s preeminence over this era, inadvertent discoveries occasionally eclipsed intentional design nonetheless, drawing parallels to other famous explorers no different than Christopher Columbus’ unplanned discovery of America. On balance, world history indicates Zheng He’s achievements as nothing less than
States and private enterprises were similar in their roles in the fur, spice and slave trades in that they both tried to establish monopolies by any means possible as well as their roles in trade constantly benefitting Europe, however they differ greatly in their treatment of native people who were in their path to become involved in global commerce. Both private enterprises and states were similar in the spice, fur and slave trades as they both sought to establish monopolies on different forms of trade during the early modern era. After the travels of Vasco de Gama discovered the open commercial network of Indian Ocean commerce, which could provide valuable goods that could be used in Asian networks due to the low value of European goods,
Hatshepsut was the fifth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, ruling from c. 1478 or 1479. There were very few female Pharaohs during this time and she has proven to be one of the most successful leaders in Egypt’s history. Hatsheput was one of two daughters born to the Pharaoh Thutmose I and his royal wife, Ahmose. She took over the throne after her father and husband died. The rightful heir to the throne, her husband’s second wife’s son, was too young to lead.
In chapter 1 of Discovering Our Past: The American Journey, by Glencoe, the main idea is exploration and its impact on the Americas. Clearly, exploration made a huge impact on the world by discovering new places, finding new routes, and riches. Portugal and Spain unleashed a new era of exploration by searching for sea routes to Asia by ship, Portugal mainly started the “Age of Exploration” because a sailor named Bartholomeu Dias reached the southern tip of Africa which was new land to them and a little while after, Vasco da Gama found the “long awaited” Sea route to Asia which inspired other people to sail as well. Other people had different goals while exploring the sea, like Ferdinand Magellan who was the leader of the first crew to sail around the world.
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.
Some explorers sailed to just learn more about the world. The information gained helped in
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 Age of Exploration occurred from 1400 to 1700 C.E. It is famously known as the Age of Exploration because it was a time when explorers from Europe travelled by sea to explore west of them, and make many geographical advances. Exploration was motivated by gold, glory, and God. Along with their motivation, the Europeans also wanted to find trading partners, new goods, new trade routes, and simply find new land. With exploration, there were many good effects and many bad ones.
Emphasis was placed on travelling by ship, as famous explorers like Henry the Navigator and Vasco de Gama launched explorations to try and find new passages to the West Indies. Possibly the most important voyage began by a European explorer during the Age of Exploration was Christopher Columbus’ journey, sponsored by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain. The goal of Columbus’ journey was, like other explorers during that time period, to find the shortest route possible to the world’s largest trading centers located in China, India, and islands off of Asia known as the West Indies. However, during Columbus’ journey, his ship
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.
The Age of Exploration, starting from the 15th century and lasting until the beginning of the 17th century, was a period of time in which the Europeans explored the Americas and Africa while searching for a more efficient trade route with Asia. However, the Europeans did not just discover this lands, but also made use of them and the native population. The causes of the Age of Exploration were “God, Gold and Glory” which effects were the expansion of Christianity, importation of precious resources into Europe and colonization of new lands. The first cause of the Age of Exploration was “God” which resulted in an expansion of Christianity.
In the year 1519, Spain set sail to be the first ones to circumnavigate the globe. Under the leadership of Ferdinand de Magellan, they were able to accomplish this monumental task by the year 1522, even though Magellan died before they journey was complete. In the article titled “Ferdinand Magellan 's Voyage Round the World, 1519-1522”, we are able to recall the accounts transcribed from the paper-book of a Genoese pilot who wrote detailed accounts about the events that transpired throughout the journey. Around 55 years after Spain’s voyage, the English set out to circumnavigate the globe under the leadership of Sir Francis Drake in the year of 1577. An article titled “Sir Francis Drake 's Famous Voyage Round The World, 1580” was written by Francis Pretty, who was one of Drake 's Gentlemen at arms.
Consequently, there was renewed interest in Geography, for example, with the revival of Ptolemy’s – a Greco-Egyptian scholar – Geography, a compilation of geographical knowledge to which manifold navigators referred to. The exchange of goods between Europe and its newly acquired territories, as well as the benefits of having colonies, is what led Europe to be wealthy and powerful from the 16th century onwards. Though both exploration and colonization were consequential during the 16th century, in this essay we will argue that “age of exploration” is more relevant when one is characterizing the 16th century, as it prompted colonialism and is of more significance in this time period. With the Renaissance came an increased avidity for science and trade. New technologies and theories in geography led to interest in navigation.