Notes 

Units 4.1-4.3, Exploration and Its Impacts 

 

 

Previously, land-based empires rose to prominence around the world. In the Modern era, innovation and new motives made sea-based travel and expansion possible, revolutionizing global demographics and commerce. But why was there such a need to explore?

 

• Overpopulation: Following the Industrial Revolution, Europe had grown so much that many workers were unable to purchase food nor seek employment. That meant that the men had to explore further. 

• Primogeniture Laws: These specific laws mandated that the eldest son of the family would be entitled to inherit the complete estate. This meant that the younger sons of this era had to find other means of wealth. 

• Many oppressed religious groups throughout Europe were driven to travel elsewhere to find tolerance in other parts of the world. On the other hand, many men explored in the pursuit of glory and adventure. 

 

Technology was essential in allowing this increased sense of exploration and connection. Many navigational tools allowed Europeans to explore:

• The Magnetic Compass was originally created in China and would align with the Earth’s magnetic field to show mariners a sense of direction.

• The Astrolabe was employed and improved by Muslim navigators, and allowed sailors to figure out their current latitudes. 

• Astronomical charts: These charts were maps of galaxies and stars that would guide sailors way before the invention of the compass. 

• Rudder, which was imported from China, would improve ship movements.

• The Lateen Sail was a triangular sail utilized by Arab sailors throughout the Indian Ocean Basin. This innovative sail shape could capture wind on either side compared to previous square sails. 

→ Different types of ships also arose during this time period, including the Carrack (Square and Lateen Sails), Caravel (Lateen) and Fluyt (Square). 

 

While these technologies allowed exploration, cultural diffusion was an inevitable result. A key example would be knowledge centers such as that of Al-Andalus formed in modern-day Spain where Islamic ideas would meet Europe. 

 

Let’s go on and study specific cases of exploration, and why they were encouraged. 

• The Italian city-states (as Italy is not a country yet, remember), would profit off of Mediterranean and Asian trade, profiting and monopolizing over Asian imports. The success of these city-states would later motivate many other European forces to find routes to Asia and find riches in silver and gold. 

• Christian states felt a “moral duty” to convert those in other lands, and spreading faith became a goal of exploration. 

• Mercantilism: Mercantilism itself was a 17th century economic theory where countries focused on maximizing exports and minimizing imports to keep gold and silver within their national borders. This concept largely drove exploration as states aimed at expanding their authority in competition with other European powers. 

 

Why don’t we take a look at specific examples in history?

 

Portugal: 

• Portugal was the first force to tie state goals with exploration. The monarchy would often sponsor expeditions. Prince Henry the Navigator is a key example of this, funding Portuguese expeditions into Africa’s Atlantic Coast and the Cape of Good Hope. 

• Bartholomew Diaz is a key explorer, sailing around the Cape of Good Hope (southern tip of Africa).

• Vasco da Gama is another notable explorer who would eventually reach India and expand Portugal’s trade into the Indian Ocean Basin. 

 

Throughout Asia, Afonso de Albuquerque was an admiral who went on to create his own factory in Malacca and would go on to serve as the governor of Portuguese India. 

 

On the other hand, Portuguese traders would arrive in China as Roman Catholic missionaries. Matteo Ricci is a popular Jesuit example of this phenomenon. 

 

As a whole, the Portuguese focused on establishing forts and “trading post empires” over land empires to control trade, such as that of Hormuz and Goa. 

 

State-sponsored exploration also took place in Spain. Christopher Columbus was specifically sponsored by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella in 1492, reaching the “New World”. Ferdinand Magellan (NOT to be confused with the King), was another sailor and the first to circumnavigate the world. 

 

When the Spanish eventually colonized the Philippines, Manila transformed to be a significant Spanish trade hub where American silver would be connected to Chinese goods.

Exploration was also a common pursuit in Northern Europe. 

• The French, Dutch and English prioritized finding a Northwest Passage (a route that would connect East Asia to North America to facilitate commerce). 

• From France, Jacques Cartier and Samuel de Champlain would navigate the St. Lawrence River and would go on to discover Quebec. One of their biggest focuses was the fur trade throughout North America over establishing larger, permanent settlements. 

• From England, John Cabot would establish Jamestown as a permanent settlement. 

• On the other hand, from The Netherlands, Henry Hudson would go on and explore the Hudson River Valley, establishing New Amsterdam and asserting the Dutch as a major power in the transatlantic trade network. 

When Christopher Columbus went on to conquer the Americas (and connect himself with the rest of the world), he established the Columbian Exchange, a worldwide, extensive transfer of plants, people, disease and animals between Europe, Africa and the Americas. While the world was now connected for the first time ever, Native populations decimated when the Spanish brought in devastating diseases. Smallpox, insects and rats would bring in pathogens that Native populations were not familiar with. Native populations almost immediately dropped by more than 50%. 

On the other hand, the New World foods were connected to Old World foods, increasing nutritional diversity. Crops like tomatoes, maize, pepper, cacao and potatoes were now circulating all around the world. This led to insane population growth globally.

Yet, as European powers colonized lands globally, inequities and injustices came into the picture. 

• In the Portuguese colony of Brazil, colonists exploited indigenous population to work on “engenhos”, or sugar plantations. Sugar was incredibly lucrative during this time period, but these plantations were incredibly dangerous for laborers. Nearly 5-10% would lose their lives to this treacherous work annually. Silver mining and cash crop cultivation would go on to be the primary economic drivers for European empires.

• The loss of a native labor force led to the Transatlantic Slave Trade, where millions of Africans were forcibly imported into the Americas. Despite the horrors of this forced migration, distinct “creole” languages, music types and foods formed as West Africans blended their native languages to that of the colonizers.