Age of Discovery
The Age of Discovery or Age of Exploration was a period from the early 15th century that continued into the early 17th century, during which European ships traveled around the world to search for new trading routes and partners.
They were in search of trading goods such as gold, silver and spices. In the process, Europeans met peoples and mapped lands previously unknown to them. Among the most famous explorers of the period were Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Pedro Álvares Cabral, John Cabot, Yermak, Juan Ponce de León, Juan Sebastian Elcano, Bartholomeu Dias, Ferdinand Magellan, Willem Barentsz, Abel Tasman, Jean Alfonse, Jacques Cartier, Samuel de Champlain, Willem Jansz and Captain James Cook.
Portuguese Empire[change | change source]
Henry the Navigator started by paying Portuguese sailors to explore the west coast of Africa. In the 15th century, Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama reached the southwestern tip of Africa and established the city of Cape Town, a Portuguese colony. This opened the way to the Indian Ocean. In the next two centuries, the Portuguese created a great trading empire on coasts of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and India. The Portuguese Empire eventually weakened after the Dutch East India Company rose as the major power in Indian Ocean trade.
Spanish Empire[change | change source]
In a hurry to compete with Portugal for a colonial empire, Spain sent Christopher Columbus to the opposite route of the Portuguese. Instead of going south along the west coast of Africa, Columbus sailed across the Atlantic Ocean. He believed that he came to Asia. Later, some Spanish sailors found out that this land was a different continent than Asia. It is now called the Americas.
In the 16th century, Spanish conquistadores gained the whole of what later became Latin America, except some British and French colonies in northeastern South America, and Brazil, which belonged to Portugal. The Spanish concentrated on conquest, unlike the Portuguese who focused on trading. They eventually developed a vast colonial empire, in contrast to the Portuguese who ruled a few islands and coastal cities along the Indian Ocean. When Spain and Portugal were united under King Philip II of Spain , their combined empire was the largest on earth.
In 1522' the fleet of Ferdinand Magellan returned to Spain. The survivors were the first ever to sail all the way around the world.
Britain, France, and the Netherlands[change | change source]
In the 17th century, political and religious wars with Britain, France, and the Netherlands weakened the Iberian Peninsula. These three nations emerged as the main winners of the wars and became major powers like Spain and Portugal. In the next two centuries, the world became a battlefield of the three nations. Britain and France held land in North America, in India and other distant places. The Dutch colonized smaller parts of the Americas, took the former Portuguese trading centers around the Indian Ocean, and conquered Indonesia. These three new great powers also had influence all around the world.
Eventually, the result was a series of wars that were fought both in Europe and overseas, with Britain emerging victorious. The British took the former land of French Canada and India in the 18th century. They seized power in the Indian Ocean and defeated the Dutch navy. By 1763, the British Empire became the second global empire after Spain. However, in 1776, thirteen colonies of British America declared independence. With help from the French, Dutch and Spanish, they defeated Britain in the American Revolution.
Exploration of the Southern Pacific Ocean[change | change source]
In 1778, Captain James Cook of Britain sailed across the South Pacific Ocean in order to find a mysterious continent in the Southern Hemisphere. He landed on two small islands. Then he sailed west and found a bigger piece of land. The first, was modern New Zealand; the second was Australia. Captain Cook claimed these lands for Britain. He then explored the Pacific world for another year and died in a fight with the Hawaiians.
Effects of the Age of Discovery[change | change source]
Many slaves brought from Africa were brought to the Americas which was claimed to be found by Christopher Columbus himself. In conclusion, the Portuguese were weakened after the Dutch rose in the Indian Ocean trade route. Spain gained all most of all Latin America and a massive amount of silver, then became the richest nation ever but eventually lost all of their money being because of inflation. On the other hand, Britain colonized North America and became the second biggest nation next to Spain.
The Discovery of America[change | change source]
When Christopher Columbus tried to find a new trade route to Asia, he thought that he could travel around the world,due to the map of that time period. He traveled around the world with his three ships (Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria) and was the first person from Spain to find America.
Related pages[change | change source]
References[change | change source]
- Cipolla, Carlo Cipolla. European Culture and Overseas Expansion.
- DeVoto, Bernard (1952). The Course of Empire. Houghton Mifflin.
- Fiske, John (1892). The Discovery of America: With Some Account of Ancient America and the Spanish Conquest. Houghton Mifflin.
- O'Sullivan, Daniel. The Age of Discovery.
- Perry, J.H. The Discovery of the Sea.
- Penrose, Boies. Travel and Discovery in the Renaissance: 1420–1620.
- Sletcher, Michael Sletcher (2005). "British Explorers and the Americas". In Will Kaufman and Heidi Macpherson. Britain and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History. Oxford University Press.
- Wright, John K. (March 1947). "Terrae Incognitae: The Place of the Imagination in Geography". Annals of the Association of American Geographers 37(1): p. 1-15.