Age of exploration

Q: What was the Age of Exploration?

A: A period from the 1400s to 1600s when European powers explored and mapped the world, seeking new trade routes and territories.

Q: What were the three main motives for exploration?

A: Gold, God, and Glory — wealth, spread of Christianity, and personal/national prestige.

Q: Which country led early exploration efforts?

A: Portugal, under Prince Henry the Navigator.

Q: What did Prince Henry the Navigator do?

A: He funded navigation schools and expeditions along the African coast.

Q: Who was the first European to round the Cape of Good Hope (Africa)?

A: Bartolomeu Dias (1488).

Q: Who was the first to reach India by sea from Europe?

A: Vasco da Gama (1498, Portugal).

Q: Who "discovered" the Americas in 1492?

A: Christopher Columbus, sailing for Spain.

Q: What role did the Dutch and English play in exploration?

A: They established powerful trade empires in Asia and the Americas, challenging Spanish and Portuguese dominance.

: Who was the first to circumnavigate the globe?

A: Ferdinand Magellan's expedition (1519–1522), though Magellan died en route.

Q: Which Spanish conquistador conquered the Aztecs?

A: Hernán Cortés (1521).

Q: Which conquistador defeated the Inca Empire?

A: Francisco Pizarro (1533).

: What was the Columbian Exchange?

A: The exchange of plants, animals, people, and diseases between the Old World and the New World.

Q: What was the Middle Passage?

A: The brutal sea journey that brought enslaved Africans to the Americas

Q: What was the impact of European exploration on native populations?

A: Massive population decline due to disease, warfare, and colonization.

Q: What were the new technologies that made exploration possible?

A: Caravel ships, astrolabe, compass, and improved maps.

Q: Which explorer gave his name to the Americas?

A: Amerigo Vespucci, who realized the Americas were separate continents.

Q: What role did the Dutch and English play in exploration?

A: They established powerful trade empires in Asia and the Americas, challenging Spanish and Portuguese dominance.

Q: What was the significance of the Age of Exploration?

A: It led to global empires, the Atlantic slave trade, the spread of European influence, and the first global economy.