When Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Empire, land trade routes were affected and this caused the European nations to begin to search for new trade routes to the Far East, beginning the Age of Exploration.
The Age of Exploration (also called the Age of Discovery) began in the 1400s and continued through the 1600s. It was a period of time when the European nations began exploring the world.
They discovered new routes to India, much of the Far East, and the Americas.
Why did the Europeans want to explore? The simple answer is money. Although, some individual explorers wanted to gain fame or experience adventure, the main purpose of an expedition was to make money. Expeditions made money by discovering new trade routes for their nations. When the Ottoman Empire captured Constantinople in 1453, many existing trade routes to India and China were shut down. These trade routes were very valuable as they brought in expensive products such as spices and silk. New expeditions tried to discover sea routes to India and the Far East.
Some expeditions became rich by discovering gold and silver, such as the expeditions of the Spanish to the Americas. They also found new land where colonies could be established and crops such as sugar, cotton, and tobacco could be grown.
Portugal and Spain became the early leaders in the Age of Exploration. Spain got most of the Americas while Portugal got Brazil, India, and Asia.
Spain sent over conquistadors (a conqueror, especially one of the Spanish conquerors of Mexico and Peru in the 16th century) to explore the Americas and to conquer the peoples there. Hernan Cortes conquered the Aztec Empire in Mexico and Francisco Pizarro conquered the Inca Empire in Peru. They made Spain rich with the gold and silver they found in the Americas.
Portugal sent out Vasco da Gama who found a trade route around the southern tip of Africa and to India. They also explored much of the Far East and were the first Europeans to establish a trading colony in China at Macau.
The Age of Exploration was one of the most important times in the history of world geography.
A significant portion of the unknown world was mapped during this short period. Also, many advances were made in navigation and mapping which helped future explorers and travelers
1. What is meant by 'The Age of Exploration'?
2. What was the main cause of the 'The Age of Exploration'?
3. Give reasons why people wanted to explore
4. List some advantages (or successes) of the Age of Exploration
5. Think about some possible disadvantages (or negative results) of the Age of Exploration (these are not in the text!)
Connecting the history of trade: from maritime trade through to the Age of Exploration
(this will extend into next week - no panic, no rush, no homework)
Comic strip
Connect the Age of Exploration the previous learning from this unit. Your comic strip will cover several pages and will show the way trade progressed, developed and expanded in size.
Use captions to explain what is happening and use dialogue to show conversations.