4.2 Exploration: Causes and Events 1450-1750  

Roles of States

• Voyages (e.g. Columbus) were expensive and w/o state sponsorship would not have been possible.

• States wanted:

  • New wealth brought by taxes and trading opportunities

  • New material wealth (esp. silver)

  • To expand before their other European rivals did

  • Spread Christianity (i.e. considered their duty as Christians to convert others)

    • Religion is tightly woven into gov’t of European states.

Mercantilism

• The wealth and power of a country was measured in the amount of gold and silver they had.

  • Set up policies to sell as many goods as possible, to maximize gold and silver coming into the country.

  • Buy as little as possible from other countries.

• This requires heavy gov’t involvement

• Goes hand in hand with colonization