A SEARCH FOR SPICES

AGE OF EXPLORATION

1400 - 1800

REASONS FOR EUROPEAN EXPLORATION

European demand for gold, spices, natural resources

Support for diffusion (spread) of Christianity

Political & economic competition between European empires

WHY ARE SPICES IMPORTANT?

spices originally lure Europeans preserve & improve food,

make medicine, cosmetics

& perfumes

“SPICE ISLANDS” –

East Indies (present

day Indonesia,

Malaysia &

New Guinea), & India

WHERE DO THE SPICES GO?

Muslims/Arab traders

go to eastern Mediterranean

ports w/ spices, then…

Italian traders get spices & travel west across Mediterranean to sell for 40x original price!

Portugal & Spain seek new route to Asia b/c routes were no longer safe & wanted to make $ by obtaining spices w/o Arab middlemen

REMEMBER: 3 G’s and a T

GOLD: some seek riches/power

GLORY: Some want to learn about new people/ideas & take credit

GOD: some want to spread Christianity

TECHNOLOGY: made voyages possible

TECHNOLOGY: MERCATOR PROJECTION

Cartographers make maps

New kind of map that showed true direction (latitude/longitude)

TECHNOLOGY: ASTROLABE Used to determine

latitude at sea

Originally used by Ancient Greeks, then improved by Muslims

Brass circle w/ adjustable rings sights stars for direction

TECHNOLOGY: CARAVEL larger, faster, & more

maneuverable

Multiple masts, triangular sails & new kind of rudder enabled sailors to steer into the wind

Cannons on side

TECHNOLOGY: COMPASS Magnetic

First developed by Chinese & Europeans improved it for sailing

WHO STARTS SAILING FIRST? PORTUGAL leads the way Prince Henry (“the Navigator”)

builds school for navigators, cartographers & explorers

sponsored voyages along west coast of Africa searching for route to Asia for spices & gold from Africa

BARTOLOMEU DIAS

rounded southern tip of Africa Cape of Good Hope

(they were hopeful they

would find a route to Asia)

Got beaten up by a storm & had to go back

VASCO DA GAMA

1497 - sails around Cape of Good Hope all the way to Calicut, India

buys spices (like pepper & cinnamon) & sells them at 4,000X the original price!

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS Spain joins the race! Hires Columbus

(Italian) to sail west hoping to hit EAST INDIES

Instead reached WEST INDIES (Bahamas off Florida)

But thought he reached Asia tensions growing between Spain & Portugal

MORE ON COLUMBUS Made several more

voyages through Caribbean islands

Wrote King Ferdinand & Queen Isabella (Spain) that native people, the Tainos, were easy to convert & enslave

(brain pop video)

FERDINAND MAGELLAN In search of westward route to “Spice Islands”

1519 – reaches water passage at southern tip of South America (Strait of Magellan)

Connects to Pacific Ocean & his crew CIRCUMNAVIGATES the globe

He dies in Philippines

Out of 237 men, only 18 make it home

JACQUES CARTIER

1534 French explorer

Reached a gulf off east coast of Canada

Led to a river he named

“St. Lawrence” & he

followed it inland to

Mont Royal (Montreal)

Helped to start New France

SIR FRANCIS DRAKE

1580’s English captain

Raided Spanish ships & colonies

Eventually leads British

navy to victory over

Spanish Armada in 1588

NATIONALISM The Dutch

(Netherlands) create a

bustling trading empire

throughout Indian ocean

Pride in your country

Driving force behind competition for exploration

Colonies set up in newly conquered lands to establish control (harsh)

All leads to decimation of indigenous (native) peoples