●
●
●
ADVENT OF THE EUROPEANS TO BRITISH
SUPREMACY:
EUROPE MOVES TOWARD EXPLORATION:
Until the late 1400’s people of America, Asia, Europe
and Africa had no knowledge of the people on the
other side.
While Vikings from Scandinavia had visited Greenland
and north America around the year 1000, these
voyages had no impact.
Columbus’s voyages finally brought people into
contact across Atlantic.
Several factors made an oceanic crossing and
exploration possible in the late 15th century.
Improvemen
t in
technology:
Religious
Conflict:
Expanding
Trade
Developing
Nation States
In Europe, a
rebirth of
classical
learning
prompted an
outburst of
artistic and
scientific
activity in
15th and
16th century
known as
The
Renaissance
.
The later
years of
renaissance
were a time
of intense
religious zeal
and conflict.
Economic
motives for
exploration
grew out of
a fierce
competition
for increased
trade with
Africa, India,
China.
Enormous
multiethnic
empires,
such as Holy
Roman
Empire in
Central
Europe, were
breaking up,
replacing the
small
kingdoms
and the multi
ethnic
empires were
nation-
states.
Most of the
technologica
l advances
during the
renaissance
resulted
from the
Europeans
making
improvement
s in the
invention of
others.
The Roman
Catholic
Church that
had once
dominated
Western
Europe was
threatened
from without
by the
ottoman
turks who
were
followers of
Islam, and
from within
the revolt
against the
pope’s
authority.
Merchants
used to
travel from
Venice and
byzantine on
a long, slow,
expansive
overland
route that
reached the
capital of the
Chinese
empire.
Countries in
which the
majority of
people
shared both a
common
cultured
common
loyalty
toward a
central
government.
For
example,
they began
to use
gunpowder
which was
invented by
Chinese.
And the
sailing
compass
which was
adopted
from Arab
merchants.
CATHOLIC
VICTORY IN
SPAIN: In 8th
century,
invaders from
North Africa
known as
Moors,
rapidly
conquered
most of
which is now
Spain. Over
the next
several
centuries,
Spanish
Christians
reconquered
much of the
land.
This land
route had
become
blocked in
1453 when
the
Ottoman
turks seized
control of
the
Constantino
ple.
Monarchs of
France,
England and
Netherlands
depended on
trade to bring
in needed
revenues and
on the church
to justify their
right to rule.
They also
made major
improvemen
ts in ship
building and
map
making.
Two of the
largest of
these
kingdoms
united when
Isabella,
queen of
Castile, and
Ferdinand,
kind of
Aragon,
married in
1469.
NEW
ROUTES:
the
Portuguese
who realized
the route
south along
the West
African coast
east to China
was the
shortest
path, found it
more
promising.
They used
their power to
search for
riches abroad
and to spread
the influence
of their
version of
Christianity
to new
overseas
dominions.
In addition,
the
invention of
the printing
press in
1450’s
aided the
spread of
knowledge
across
Europe.
In 1492,
under their
leadership,
Spanish
conquered
the last
moorish
stronghold
on Spain, the
city of
Granada. In
that year, the
monarchs
also funded
Columbus on
his first
voyage.
Voyages of
exploration
sponsored by
Portg’s
prince Henry
eventually
succeeded in
opening up a
long sea
route around
South
Africa’s cape
of good
hope. In
1498, the
Portuguese
sea captain,
Vasco Da
Gama was
the first
European to
reach India
via this route.
2.
PROTESTAN
T REVOLT IN
Northern
Europe:
Slave
trading:
In the early
1500s,
certain
christians in
Germany,
England,
France,
holland and
other
Northern
European
countries
revolted
against the
authority of
the pope in
Rome.
In 15 century,
Portuguese
began
trading for
slaves from
west Africa.
They used
the slaves to
work on new
established
sugar
plantations
on the
islands off
the African
coast.
this revolt
was known
as the
protestant
reformation.
It was so
profitable
producing
sugar with
slave labor
that when
europeans
established
colonies in
the Americas,
they used the
slave system
there.
Conflicts
between
catholics
and
Protestants
led to a
series of
religious
wars.
African
Resistance:
they resisted
slavery in
whatever
ways they
could. Though
transported
thousands of
miles away
from home
their
homelands
and brutally
repressed,
they ran away,
sabotaged
work or
revolted.
The conflict
also caused
the catholics
of Spain and
Portugal and
the
protestants
of England
and Holland
want to
spread their
own versions
of
Christianity
to people in
Africa, Asia
and
Americas.
For
generations
they
maintained
aspects of
their African
culture,
particularly in
music, religion
and folkways.
this a
religious
motive for
exploration
and
colonization
was added
to political
and
economic
motives.
