Age of Exploration

GOLD

Opportunity for wealth, new resources, and colonies

GOD

Chance to convert new people to Christianity, through missionaries

GLORY/Fame

Find new trade routes to Asia (India/China)

Spices

Highly desirable products from Asia, especially for the preservation of food

Technology

The advance in technology made exploration possible

Compass

A navigational instrument that shows direction

Improved Maps

Maps created with the longitude and latitude system, making them more accurate

Astrolabe

A navigation device that uses the stars to pinpoint location

Caravel

A new ship with triangle sails and a rudder

Cartography

The art and science of mapmaking

Age of Exploration

The time period in history in which Europeans began exploring all areas of the world

Circumnavigate

To travel completely around something (ex. The Earth)

Epidemic

A widespread disease

Conquistadors

Spanish explorers and conquerors

Mercantilism

Economic policy where countries sell more than they buy

Risks of Exploring

Getting sick from disease, having to starve, mutiny

Prince Henry the Navigator

Responsible for the development of exploration and maritime trade with other continents

Bartolomeu Dias

In 1488 became the first to travel around the southern tip of Africa

Vasco da Gama

In 1497 sailed around Africa and all the way to India, bringing back valuable spices

Christopher Columbus

Italian who sailed for Spain in 1492 searching for a faster route to India, credited with discovering the Americas

Ferdinand Magellan

In 1519 set sail to circumnavigate the globe, but died during the journey with only 18 men surviving

Ming Dynasty

A Chinese dynasty that ruled from 1368 to 1644.

Isolation Policy (China)

Strict trading policies enacted by the Chinese due to reluctance to welcome foreigners.

Togugawa Shogun

The ruling shogunate in Japan that initially welcomed Europeans but later enacted a closed door policy.

The Encounter

The first time Europeans came across the Natives in the New World, marked by Christopher Columbus in 1492.

Conquistadores

Spanish explorers and conquerors in the Americas, such as Columbus, Cortes, and Pizarro.

Columbus

The first conquistador to discover the Caribbean in 1492.

Cortes

The conquistador who conquered the Aztec Empire in Mexico.

Pizarro

The conquistador who conquered the Inca Empire in Peru.

Effects on the Natives

Included disease spread, colonization, superior weaponry leading to quick conquests, conversion to Christianity, and the Columbian Exchange.

Columbian Exchange

The global exchange of foods, plants, animals, and diseases between the Old World and the New World.

Encomienda System

A system that forced natives to perform labor on plantations, mines, and ranches.

Rigid Social Class System

A social hierarchy established in Latin America influenced by conquistadors.

Atlantic Slave Trade

The transportation of millions of African slaves across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas.

Middle Passage

The sea route taken by slave ships from Africa to the Americas.

Sugar Production

The Caribbean islands became centers for sugar production, driving the demand for enslaved African labor.

Mercantilism

An economic policy that emphasized exporting more goods than importing, leading to European wealth at the expense of the New World.

Fall of the Aztecs

The conquest of the Aztec Empire by Hernan Cortes in 1519.

Fall of the Inca

The conquest of the Inca Empire by Francisco Pizarro in the 1520s.