An Age of An Age of ExplorationExploration

Early Early Trade Trade RoutesRoutes

• Europeans traded with Asia via water and land routes– Ports at Venice &

Constantinople in the Mediterranean Sea

– The Silk Road

• Marco Polo’s Travels made Europeans believe that China possessed unimaginable riches– Quicker trade routes

must be discovered to obtain these items and bring them to the European people

The Search for New The Search for New Trade RoutesTrade Routes

Prince Henry the Navigator

– Portugal– Opened a Navigation

school in 1418

Bartholomew Diaz– Portugal– Sailed to Africa’s Cape

of Good Hope

The Search for New The Search for New Trade RoutesTrade Routes

Christopher Columbus (1492)• Italian navigator sailing for Spain

– Searching for a faster route to China and the East Indies– Had attempted to gain funding for his expedition from the

monarchs of France, Portugal and England

The Search for New The Search for New Trade RoutesTrade Routes

John Cabot• An Italian navigator

sailing for England

The Search for New The Search for New Trade RoutesTrade Routes

Vasco da Gama• Was from and sailed for Portugal

– First to round Africa’s Cape of Good Hope

The Search for New The Search for New Trade RoutesTrade Routes

Amerigo Vespucci• Italian navigator sailed for

both Spain & Portugal– Explored South America,

believing it to be Asia– Later, along with

information from Columbus’ voyages, he determined that the lands he (and Columbus) had explored were actually a New World

• In 1507, German mapmaker Martin Waldseemuller created the first map with the New World on it, and he called it America in honor of Vespucci

The Search for New The Search for New Trade RoutesTrade Routes

Ferdinand Magellan

** Copy the following link open Internet Explorer, paste this link in the address bar & hit enter

http://www.worldbookonline.com/wb/extmedia?id=ar337920&st=magellan%27s+route&em=lr004306

The Search for New The Search for New Trade RoutesTrade Routes

Giovanni Verrazano• Italian navigator

sailing for King Francis I of France

Spanish Exploration of Spanish Exploration of the New Worldthe New World

• Motivation for Spanish exploration:• The 3 G’s• Gold

– Spanish were looking for gold, silver, jewels

• God– Spread Christianity to all Native Americans

(whom they believed were “God-less”

• Glory– Wanted the fame to go along with the fortune

Spanish Exploration Spanish Exploration of the New Worldof the New World

Juan Ponce de Leon• Sailed on Columbus’ 2nd expedition• Was appointed Governor of Dominican

province of Higuey & granted permission to explore– Discovered Florida and called it Pascua de

Florida (Feast of Flowers)– Claimed land for Spain

Spanish Exploration Spanish Exploration of the New Worldof the New World

Vasco Nunez de Balboa

• Spanish conquistador and explorer who was the first European to see the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean (in 1513), crossing the Isthmus of Panama

Spanish Exploration Spanish Exploration of the New Worldof the New World

Hernan Cortez/Cortes• Spanish Conquistador

– Conquered the Aztec Indians

Francisco Pizarro• Spanish Conquistador

– Conquered the Inca Indians

Spanish Exploration Spanish Exploration of Georgiaof Georgia

• Hernando de Soto – influential in the conquering of Peru, and gaining gold and silver.

• King of Spain granted

de Soto 18 months and 600 miles of land to explore Florida.

• De Soto’s objectives were to acquire gold & conquer the natives.

Disease – the silent killer• Guns and swords were not the only deadly

weapons that Europeans brought with them– This is a Native American depiction of smallpox

Early Spanish MissionsCaptain General Pedro

Menendez• Spain dispatches

Menendez to establish a colony in St. Augustine, Florida

• Catholic Missions are established up along the coast of present-day Georgia– Area divided

• Guale to the north

• Mocama to the south

Spanish prosperity = English and French

resentment• Spain becoming wealthy & powerful because of the New World– England and France want

the riches also

• English sea captains capturing Spanish ships and taking the treasures– Spanish settlements in the

New World attacked and burned

• John Hawkins, Sir Francis Drake, Richard Greenville

• King Phillip II of Spain decides to invade England with his huge naval fleet, The Armada

• The English have faster ships and better naval personnel. This, combined with a fierce storm in the English Channel led to an easy defeat of the “Invincible Armada”

• This creates a shift in the Balance of Power, and England becomes the dominant European force