European Exploration in the Americas 1.3 ( 1491- 1607)

Reasons for European Exploration.

• Population increase - after the Black Plague, the population started to rebound.

• Political Unification- Powerful monarchs taking control

• Desire for luxury Goods- agricultural and commercial profits gave rise to a wealthy upper class, and they desired goods from Asia.

• Land routes from Europe to Asia - they were controlled by the Muslims, so they had to find their own way.

Portugal’s influence on exploration and trade.

• Prince Henry the Navigator - founded what’s called the trading post empire all along the African coast and eventually found their way into the Indian Ocean trade.

Maritime Technology

• Caravels- ships dedicated to trade as opposed to war.

• Astrolabe and stern- post rudder.

Spain’s Influence on Exploration and Trade.

• Isabella and Ferdinand, after having united Spain under the Catholic Church after the Reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula from the Muslims, got in the game as well but with an additional motive of spreading Christianity.

• Christopher Columbus - wanted to find a route to Asia by sailing west.

• Christopher Columbus set sail in 1492 across the Atlantic. He landed in a land he thought was the West Indies, but he landed on the island of San Salvador.

• When Christopher Columbus set foot in San Salvador, it set off a huge chain reaction called the Columbian Exchange.