Lesson 1.5 · Unit 1 · CED topic 1.6
Technology and the Age of Exploration
In 1450 Europeans knew little of the Atlantic beyond the coast of West Africa. Within a century they had sailed round Africa to India, crossed the Atlantic to a continent unknown to them, and circled the globe. Learning Objective G asks you to explain the technological factors that made European exploration possible, and Learning Objective H asks about the motivations and effects between 1450 and 1648. This lesson covers both.
Learning objectives.
- 1G. Explain the technological factors that facilitated European exploration and expansion from 1450 to 1648.
- 1H. Explain the motivations for and effects of European exploration and expansion from 1450 to 1648.
Historical developments.
- 1.3.I.A. European states sought direct access to gold, spices, and luxury goods to enhance personal wealth and state power.
- 1.3.I.B. The rise of mercantilism gave the state a new role in promoting commercial development and the acquisition of colonies overseas.
- 1.3.I.C. Christianity was a stimulus for exploration as governments and religious authorities sought to spread the faith, and for some it served as a justification for the subjugation of indigenous civilizations.
Technology that made voyages possible
Exploration depended on a package of tools and ideas, many borrowed from other cultures.
- Navigation. The compass (from China, by way of the Islamic world) kept ships on course; the astrolabe and quadrant measured the height of the sun and stars to find latitude; portolan charts mapped coastlines and harbors. Later maps and printed atlases spread the knowledge.
- Ships. The Portuguese caravel was small, fast, and maneuverable. It combined the square sails of northern ships with the triangular lateen rig from the Mediterranean, which allowed sailing against the wind, and a sternpost rudder for steering. Larger carracks carried more cargo.
- Weapons. Guns and gunpowder gave European ships the ability to bombard ports and to defeat much larger forces. Armed ships dominated the Indian Ocean trade by force.
- Organization. The state or wealthy investors financed voyages. Prince Henry "the Navigator" of Portugal supported systematic exploration of the African coast in the fifteenth century.
Motives: gold, glory, and God
The CED identifies three motives, often mixed together.
- Wealth. European states sought direct access to gold, spices, and luxury goods to enhance personal wealth and state power. The Ottoman conquest of Constantinople (1453) and Venetian and Muslim middlemen raised the price of Asian goods, so sailing round them promised large profits.
- Mercantilism. The rise of mercantilism, the belief that a state's power depends on a favorable balance of trade and on gathering precious metals, gave the state a new role in promoting commerce and acquiring colonies overseas.
- Religion. Christianity was a stimulus for exploration, as governments and religious authorities sought to spread the faith. For some, it served as a justification for the subjugation of indigenous civilizations. Missionaries, including Jesuits, followed the explorers.
The voyages
Portugal led. Its ships worked down the African coast. In 1488 Bartolomeu Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope. In 1498 Vasco da Gama reached Calicut in India, opening a sea route for spices. The Portuguese built a trading-post empire by force at Goa, Malacca, and elsewhere.
Spain looked west. In 1492 Christopher Columbus, an Italian sailing for Ferdinand and Isabella, crossed the Atlantic and reached the Caribbean, thinking he was near Asia. In 1494 the Treaty of Tordesillas, arbitrated by the pope, divided the non-European world between Spain and Portugal along a north-south line. Hernán Cortés (1519 to 1521) and Francisco Pizarro (1532 to 1533) conquered the Aztec and Inca empires with small forces, steel weapons, horses, allies, and epidemic disease. The expedition of Ferdinand Magellan (1519 to 1522) completed the first circumnavigation of the globe.
Effects
- Colonies and silver. Spain gained gold and enormous amounts of silver, especially from Potosí in the Andes, and its government grew rich, though it also became dependent on imports of treasure.
- Shifting economic power. Over time, trade and wealth moved from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic states (see the next lesson).
- Subjugation of indigenous peoples. Conquest, forced labor, and disease killed millions in the Americas. Religious justification and a belief in European superiority supported conquest, though some Europeans, notably the Dominican friar Bartolomé de las Casas, publicly criticized the cruelty of Spanish rule.
- State involvement. The CED notes the new role of the state: governments chartered companies, claimed territory, and built navies to protect trade.
Description of: Christopher Columbus, letter on the first voyage (1493), addressed to the Spanish court. Columbus reports islands rich in gold, fertile, and inhabited by gentle people who might easily be converted to Christianity, and he asks the monarchs for more support.
Sourcing (HIPP). Columbus wrote to the sovereigns who had financed him, so his purpose was to justify his voyage and to win more money and titles. His point of view was that of a European newcomer who misread what he saw, and he exaggerated the wealth of the islands. His audience was the Spanish court, and the letter was soon printed and circulated across Europe, which spread news of the discovery. As evidence it reveals European motives (gold, conversion), but it says little reliable about the Taino people it describes.
Claim. The letter links exploration to wealth and religion.
Evidence. It describes gold, fertile land, and people who might be converted, and it asks for more support.
Reasoning. Pairing wealth with conversion matches the CED's finding that governments and religious authorities sought both economic gain and the spread of Christianity. Because Columbus was pleading for funds, he likely exaggerated the wealth; the letter shows what he wanted the court to believe.
Question. Explain one technological factor and one motive for European exploration between 1450 and 1648.
Model. One technological factor was the caravel with its lateen sail, which let ships sail against the wind and travel long distances along unknown coasts. One motive was the search for direct access to gold, spices, and luxury goods: European states and merchants wanted to bypass middlemen who raised the price of Asian goods, and monarchs wanted the wealth to strengthen the state.
Learning Objective G asks about technology and Learning Objective H about motives and effects. Keep them separate in your answer. For technology, name a specific tool and what it allowed (lateen sail and sailing against the wind, astrolabe and finding latitude, guns and naval power). For motives, remember that the CED stresses state power and mercantilism along with religion. Avoid the claim that Columbus proved the earth was round; educated Europeans already knew it.
- Name two technologies that helped European explorers navigate.
Show answer
The compass and the astrolabe or quadrant (also portolan charts and the sternpost rudder).
- Why was the caravel important?
Show answer
Its lateen sails let it sail against the wind and it was fast and maneuverable, suited to long voyages along unknown coasts.
- List three motives for European exploration.
Show answer
Direct access to gold, spices, and luxury goods; state power through mercantilism; and the spread of Christianity.
- What did the Treaty of Tordesillas do?
Show answer
It divided newly claimed lands outside Europe between Spain and Portugal along a line agreed in 1494.
- Why did conquistadors with small forces defeat large empires?
Show answer
Steel weapons and horses helped, but allies among rivals of the Aztecs and Incas, and epidemic disease that killed large numbers, were also decisive.
- What is mercantilism, and how did it affect exploration?
Show answer
It is the idea that a state's strength depends on wealth, especially precious metals and a favorable balance of trade. It encouraged governments to promote trade and to acquire colonies overseas.