European Exploration

Trade Disruption

Arab and Italian merchants controlled Asian luxury trade routes in the 1400s, which pushed other Europeans to search for more direct trade routes to Asia

Renaissance curiosity

The spirit of discovery encouraged Europeans to seek new lands

Desire for spice and goods

Direct trade meant cheaper prices and more profit

Portugal believed they could find an easier route to Asia because of:¹

Expert navigators & advanced technology like the caravel, astrolabe, and Compass

Portugal believed they could find an easier route to Asia because of:²

AlLong history of exploration along Africa’s coast

Portugal believed they could find an easier route to Asia because of:³

The built forts and trading posts and the key ports they seized around the Indian Ocean

Columbus

underestimated Earth’s Size and did not realize the America's existed, so he landed in the Caribbean instead of Asia

Treaty of Tordesillas

Spain and Portugal split the Americas into separate zones for exploration.

Dutch East India Company

Had sovereign power to wage war, govern overseas territories and dominate trade. This gave them an advantage over Spain and Portugal

Matteo Ricci

Impressed the Chinese by sharing Renaissance knowledge, not just religion

Qianlong’s Policy

Limited Western Influence, claiming China to be strong and self-sufficient

George Macartney

Refused to perform the ritual bowto the Chinese Emperor during his 1793 diplomatic mission, highlighting the tensions between British and Chinese customs.

Tokugawa Shoguns

Distrusted Europeans after Spain seized the Phillipines, so they persecuted Christians and banned most Europeans from trade besides the Dutch

Korea

Adopted isolationism after invasions form China and Japan, limiting contact with foreigners

Mughal Decline

The decline of the Mughal Empire in the 1700s allowed Europeans (The British) to expand control and trading rights in India.