European Exploration
9th and 10th Grade Informational Reading Texts
As Venice and other Italian states monopolized trade with the Muslim world (as a result of gradual and continued control of Byzantium in the eighth century), other European states wanted to challenge the Italian states and profit from trade routes. As the Italian merchant states gained great wealth from the spice trade via the Silk Road, Portugal, Spain, and other western European countries began to search for quicker trade routes to the Orient that would provide them with an advantage. Explorers would risk their lives in order to bring glory and wealth to their nations. In ushering in the Age of Exploration, Europeans established the first global era.
By discovering new trade routes to Asia and discovering the Americas, the world became interconnected as Europeans competed for wealth by increasing trade and constructing empires. Goods, ideas, Christianity, peoples, and diseases spread as Europeans crisscrossed the globe. Situated on the western edge of the Iberian Peninsula, Portugal spearheaded the Age of Exploration. With a fascination for sailing and exploration, Prince Henry the Navigator enabled the Portuguese to search for new routes to Asia. In 1415, he helped Portugal gain control of Ceuta, a Muslim held city on the south side of the Straits of Gibraltar. Prince Henry gained a curiosity for Muslims and saw potential in the wealth of resources that Africa contained. In 1416, Henry set up a navigation school in Sagres which comprised of shipbuilders, cartographers or map makers, and instrument makers.
By financing expeditions, Prince Henry pushed the boundaries to the explore more of the Earth's surface. In 1418, Portuguese sailors blew off course and landed in the Madeira Islands. Subsequently, two years later, the Portuguese returned and established their first colony known as Porto Santo. Not determined to stop there, the Portuguese continued to push south past Cape Bojador where little or no information had ever been recorded. Improvements were made to a caravel--a ship designed to be maneuverable and move quickly, which aided explorers in their voyages. Sailors were able to discover lands to which Europeans previously had not had contact.
Early discoveries of gold dust and coins, coupled with Prince Henry's goal of spreading Christianity, led to expeditions to the interior of Africa in 1441. Consequently, the first African slaves were brought back to Portugal. In 1444, 235 African slaves arrived in Lagos, Portugal. The Portuguese quickly monopolized the slave trade. African slaves were either sold off as captured enemies of African tribes or at times were taken by force. The Portuguese took slaves to colonies at the Cape Verde islands for sugar plantation labor; those not sent to the Cape Verde islands were sold to the Spanish as the demand for slave labor was just as high. The slave trade grew exponentially when demands increased for slave labor upon the discovery of the New World. By the time of Prince Henry's death in 1460, Portugal had built numerous trading establishments such as Sierra Leone, Cape Blanco and Elimina to protect their trade routes and trade connections.
Some African leaders such as Affonso I, ruler of an area in westcentral Africa known as Kongo tried to greatly reduce or end the slave trade in this area by calling on the Portuguese to help developed his area of rule as a Christian state upon his coming to power in 1505. His efforts failed and the slave trade continued. Over two hundred and fifty years later the leader of the land known as Senegal also tried to stop African slave trade by banning the transport of any slave through the land he ruled. Again, the effort failed as traders found alternate routes to bypass the area.
The slave trade had a significant impact on the continent of Africa. Smaller states in West Africa disappeared due to the countless numbers of men and women to the institution of slavery. Simultaneously, new states arose whose way of life depended on the slave trade. Powerful new states waged war against other Africans in order to dominate the slave trade. In the area known as present day Ghana, the Asante kingdom was one such dominant state. Under the military leadership of Osei Tutu, whose military gained control of the trading city of Kumasi, the leader united enemy kingdoms that he had conquered. As the Asante kingdom developed a monopoly of the slave trade, they often played European rivals against one another to continue to build the power and wealth of their kingdom.
By the 1600s, several European powers had been able to establish and secure forts along the western coast of Africa. Unlike the Portuguese who never ventured too far from the coastline, British, French, and Dutch traders were able to establish permanent settlements throughout the entire continent. Cape Town, one of the first permanent European settlements, was established by Dutch immigrants. As migration occurred, battles ensued with several African groups. Additionally, both the British and French sponsored explorers who were also responsible for permanent settlements. By the end of the 18th century, European exploration of the African continent would explode.
In 1487, mariner Bartolomeu Dias set sail to explore routes to Asia. By 1488, he became the first European to sail around the Cape of Good Hope at the tip of Africa. By opening up new possible routes, future explorers built upon his achievement. Ten years later, Vasco da Gama sailed past the Cape of Good Hope. Da Gama reached Calicut, India the following year. On his first arrival, da Gama failed to impress the ruler of Calicut but he returned to Portugal as a national hero. Da Gama returned to Calicut in 1502 and used force to gain control of the Muslim controlled lands. Da Gama secured Portugal the rights to trade. He was celebrated as a hero in Portugal while he earned a reputation as a villain on the Indian subcontinent with his killing of Muslim traders and using force to reach an agreement with the leader of Calicut.
As Portugal gained wealth and prestige by establishing trade routes to Asia, its neighbor on the Iberian peninsula searched for quicker routes to reach it. Christopher Columbus, a Genoin, initially attempted to sail west to reach the East Indies for Portugal. After rejection, he convinced King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain to fund his voyage. Setting sail with three ships (the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria), Columbus left Spain in August of 1492. In October, land was sighted near present day Bahamas which Columbus believed was the East Indies.
He continued on and landed in present day Cuba and Hispaniola. Intrigued by the Arawaks who offered him gold, Columbus saw the potential of riches as well as converts for Christianity. He established Fort Navidad on the island of Hispaniola and left thirty-nine men to explore the island and search for gold. Columbus found the settlement burnt down with no certainty on what remained of those he left behind on his first voyage. Columbus made four trips to the New World but did not recognize the impact of his discovery at the time of his death.
As both Spain and Portugal both believed they laid claim to lands in the East Indies, the competition between them escalated. When it was discovered that Columbus discovered the New World, Pope Alexander VI intervened to prevent future conflicts between the two countries. He noted that land approximately 298 miles west of the Cape Verde islands would fall into Spanish territory while lands east would go to Portugal in 1493. Portugal, realizing how much new land was lost, renegotiated the agreement to nearly 2,000 miles west of the Cape Verde islands which enabled Portuguese to claim present day Brazil. The Treaty of Tordesillas solved the problem by placing the Line of Demarcation that allowed the two Iberian nations to explore and lay claim to lands peacefully as Spain gained the rights to the Americas to build its empire and Portugal gained trading power in Africa and Asia.
By discovering new trade routes to Asia and discovering the Americas, the world became interconnected as Europeans competed for wealth by increasing trade and constructing empires. Goods, ideas, Christianity, peoples, and diseases spread as Europeans crisscrossed the globe. Situated on the western edge of the Iberian Peninsula, Portugal spearheaded the Age of Exploration. With a fascination for sailing and exploration, Prince Henry the Navigator enabled the Portuguese to search for new routes to Asia. In 1415, he helped Portugal gain control of Ceuta, a Muslim held city on the south side of the Straits of Gibraltar. Prince Henry gained a curiosity for Muslims and saw potential in the wealth of resources that Africa contained. In 1416, Henry set up a navigation school in Sagres which comprised of shipbuilders, cartographers or map makers, and instrument makers.
By financing expeditions, Prince Henry pushed the boundaries to the explore more of the Earth's surface. In 1418, Portuguese sailors blew off course and landed in the Madeira Islands. Subsequently, two years later, the Portuguese returned and established their first colony known as Porto Santo. Not determined to stop there, the Portuguese continued to push south past Cape Bojador where little or no information had ever been recorded. Improvements were made to a caravel--a ship designed to be maneuverable and move quickly, which aided explorers in their voyages. Sailors were able to discover lands to which Europeans previously had not had contact.
Early discoveries of gold dust and coins, coupled with Prince Henry's goal of spreading Christianity, led to expeditions to the interior of Africa in 1441. Consequently, the first African slaves were brought back to Portugal. In 1444, 235 African slaves arrived in Lagos, Portugal. The Portuguese quickly monopolized the slave trade. African slaves were either sold off as captured enemies of African tribes or at times were taken by force. The Portuguese took slaves to colonies at the Cape Verde islands for sugar plantation labor; those not sent to the Cape Verde islands were sold to the Spanish as the demand for slave labor was just as high. The slave trade grew exponentially when demands increased for slave labor upon the discovery of the New World. By the time of Prince Henry's death in 1460, Portugal had built numerous trading establishments such as Sierra Leone, Cape Blanco and Elimina to protect their trade routes and trade connections.
Some African leaders such as Affonso I, ruler of an area in westcentral Africa known as Kongo tried to greatly reduce or end the slave trade in this area by calling on the Portuguese to help developed his area of rule as a Christian state upon his coming to power in 1505. His efforts failed and the slave trade continued. Over two hundred and fifty years later the leader of the land known as Senegal also tried to stop African slave trade by banning the transport of any slave through the land he ruled. Again, the effort failed as traders found alternate routes to bypass the area.
The slave trade had a significant impact on the continent of Africa. Smaller states in West Africa disappeared due to the countless numbers of men and women to the institution of slavery. Simultaneously, new states arose whose way of life depended on the slave trade. Powerful new states waged war against other Africans in order to dominate the slave trade. In the area known as present day Ghana, the Asante kingdom was one such dominant state. Under the military leadership of Osei Tutu, whose military gained control of the trading city of Kumasi, the leader united enemy kingdoms that he had conquered. As the Asante kingdom developed a monopoly of the slave trade, they often played European rivals against one another to continue to build the power and wealth of their kingdom.
By the 1600s, several European powers had been able to establish and secure forts along the western coast of Africa. Unlike the Portuguese who never ventured too far from the coastline, British, French, and Dutch traders were able to establish permanent settlements throughout the entire continent. Cape Town, one of the first permanent European settlements, was established by Dutch immigrants. As migration occurred, battles ensued with several African groups. Additionally, both the British and French sponsored explorers who were also responsible for permanent settlements. By the end of the 18th century, European exploration of the African continent would explode.
In 1487, mariner Bartolomeu Dias set sail to explore routes to Asia. By 1488, he became the first European to sail around the Cape of Good Hope at the tip of Africa. By opening up new possible routes, future explorers built upon his achievement. Ten years later, Vasco da Gama sailed past the Cape of Good Hope. Da Gama reached Calicut, India the following year. On his first arrival, da Gama failed to impress the ruler of Calicut but he returned to Portugal as a national hero. Da Gama returned to Calicut in 1502 and used force to gain control of the Muslim controlled lands. Da Gama secured Portugal the rights to trade. He was celebrated as a hero in Portugal while he earned a reputation as a villain on the Indian subcontinent with his killing of Muslim traders and using force to reach an agreement with the leader of Calicut.
As Portugal gained wealth and prestige by establishing trade routes to Asia, its neighbor on the Iberian peninsula searched for quicker routes to reach it. Christopher Columbus, a Genoin, initially attempted to sail west to reach the East Indies for Portugal. After rejection, he convinced King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain to fund his voyage. Setting sail with three ships (the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria), Columbus left Spain in August of 1492. In October, land was sighted near present day Bahamas which Columbus believed was the East Indies.
He continued on and landed in present day Cuba and Hispaniola. Intrigued by the Arawaks who offered him gold, Columbus saw the potential of riches as well as converts for Christianity. He established Fort Navidad on the island of Hispaniola and left thirty-nine men to explore the island and search for gold. Columbus found the settlement burnt down with no certainty on what remained of those he left behind on his first voyage. Columbus made four trips to the New World but did not recognize the impact of his discovery at the time of his death.
As both Spain and Portugal both believed they laid claim to lands in the East Indies, the competition between them escalated. When it was discovered that Columbus discovered the New World, Pope Alexander VI intervened to prevent future conflicts between the two countries. He noted that land approximately 298 miles west of the Cape Verde islands would fall into Spanish territory while lands east would go to Portugal in 1493. Portugal, realizing how much new land was lost, renegotiated the agreement to nearly 2,000 miles west of the Cape Verde islands which enabled Portuguese to claim present day Brazil. The Treaty of Tordesillas solved the problem by placing the Line of Demarcation that allowed the two Iberian nations to explore and lay claim to lands peacefully as Spain gained the rights to the Americas to build its empire and Portugal gained trading power in Africa and Asia.