4.2 Exploration Causes and Effects

vocabulary

trading post empire- maritime empires established primarily for commercial purposes, which european powers built fortified trading posts to control trade routes and access valuable goods

caravel- a highly maneuverable sailing ship developed in the 15th century used by european explorers for long distance voyages

fluyt- a cargo ship, built by the dutch with light construction which allows for quick construction and helped the growth of dutch maritime trade 

galleon- full-rigged sailing ship that was built primarily for war

treaty of tordesillas- an agreement between the kingdoms of spain and portugal that defined where each could explore and claim lands 

northwest passage- a sea route through N america to the pacific ocean 

circumnavigation- the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical body

new france- the territory colonized by france in north america

jamestown- a place in jamestown, virginia for their settlement (1607)

new amsterdam- a dutch establishment at the southern tip of manhattan island that served as the seat of the colonial government in new netherland 

learning targets

Describe the role of states in the expansion of maritime exploration from 1450 to 1750

Explain the economic causes and effects of maritime exploration by the various European states.

notes

State sponsored explorations 

the first and most important thing you have to understand here is that the new era of sea based empire building was state sponsored, or state-driven. and the reason why this is such a big deal is because its the result of significant changes in the distribution of power in European states. Now that Europeans had begun recovering from the devastating effects of the black death, the population was beginning to grow again, and monarchs began by consolidating power under themselves and away from the mobility. 

and taking a clue from those land-based empires we met in the last unit, European monarchs built up their militaries, learned how to use gunpowder weapons against their enemies, and implemented more efficient ways to tax their people

a huge motivator for state-sponsoring maritime exploration was the increasing desire for asian and southeast asian spice, most notably pepper.

but as much as they wanted those spices, Europeans faced a problem. All those land based empires controlled the land routes through which those highly desirable spices passed, and that meant by the time they showed up in europe they were exceedingly expensive. and so as European states began growing in power, they were highly motivated to find alternate routes to trade with states on the other side of the world and that meant they began looking at the sea. 

portugals trading post empire

portugal was so unceremoniously landlocked by the spanish kingdom of castile and aragon, they had no way to expand except by sea

so a member of the royal family named prince henry the navigator sponsored the first european attempt to find an all-water route into the indian ocean trade network.

first, portugal had adopted and developed the right technology (compass, astrolabe), they were adopted by european powers, but also portugal developed new ships like the caravel and the carrick

second, there were economic motivations, prince henry had become aware of the riches available is the trans saharan trade, mainly in the form of gold, but later he decided that the asian spices were even more enticing 

and third, there were religious motivations. not only was there a growing spread of christianity throughout the world after portugal and spain had reconquered the iberian peninsula from muslims, but price henry also desired to find a fabled eastern christian monarch named prester john

it would be a huge political and economic advance to connect christian states in the west to christian states in the east

and so the portuguese began their sea-based exploration. in earnest, and the result was what became known as a trading post empire around africa and eventually around the indian ocean. establishing full blown colonies was expensive, and so the portuguese strategy for empire building was to establish self sufficient trading posts in all these places whose main purpose was to facilitate trade 

and then they established their first major trading post in west africa, and to tell the truth, the people there were very eager to trade with these europeans in their fancy caravels, and mainly it was gold that the portuguese were after in this region. but then vasco de gama went ahead and sailed around the southern tip of africa and established trading posts all down the western and eastern coasts as well

but then something momentous happened, de gama traveled all the way to calicut, and discovered that the riches to be made by participating in the indian ocean trade were far greater than their operations around africa. and so in subsequent voyages, the portuguese established trading posts throughout the region all the way to southeast asia. and the thing is, the indian ocean network had incorporated all kinds of different merchants for many centuries, but when the portuguese showed up, they were determined to own that network and had a relatively easy time doing that because, as it turned out, those caravels and carracks had plenty of room for big guns which gave them a huge advantage over the lightly armed ships that were regular in that network

spain’s sea based empire

the next major european state to get involved in sea based exploration was spain. now while portugal was busy asserting their dominance all over the indian ocean, the spanish monarchs ferdinand and isabella were eager to participate in it

and right about then is when we meet Christopher columbus. now he was a mariner from genos but got himself some experience sailing fleets for the portuguese down the african coast. and he had this kooky idea that it would be way quicker to access the spice islands of the east by sailing west across the atlantic. and he tried to get the portuguese crown to sponsor a westward voyage, but they declined. so he presented his idea to ferdinand and isabella and they agreed to pay for it

and so, in october of 1492, columbus and his fleet reached the caribbean islands, which he assumed were the spice islands of the east indies.

and even after three more voyages, columbus was convinced that he has landed in the east indies. but it soon became apparent to other explorers that columbus had in fact bumped into a couple giant continents that nobody in europe had previously known, and so spain sponsored other explores like ferdinand magellan who sailed around the tip of south america and across the pacific to the actual east indies. and so the spanish began sending fleets to the americas and conquering and colonizing every place they could. and that venture opened the trans-atlantic trade which would ultimately prove more prosperous than the indian ocean trade

other states’ empires 

so portugal and spain got first dibs on the massive grab for sea-based empires, but as their power and wealth began to increase like mad, other european states began sponsoring maritime exploration. 

first was france, who sponsored expeditions seeking a westward passage to the indian ocean. now, they didnt find that passage, mainly because it doesnt exist, but at the french explored portions of north america, they established themselves there and gained access to the incredibly lucrative fur trade in these regions. eventually in 1608, samuel de champlain established the french colony of quebec. however, they had a habit of dying in large numbers from diseases anf their battles with the native iroquois peoples, and so, like the portuguese, mainly established their presence in the form of trading posts 

and then second, england got into the sea-based exploration. now england was late because of their boming textile industry was making investors loads of money and they were therefore less willing to invest in risky overseas ventures. however, after queen elizabeth I rose to power and defeated spain’s attempts to invade england, which weakened spain significantly, she went ahead and threw her support behind westward exploration. to that end elizabeth commissioned sir walter raleigh to lead the expedition and he went ahead and established englands first colony in the americas known as virginia. 

and finally, the dutch exploration, now by 1579, the dutch had gained independence from spain the course of that struggle, emerged as the wealthiest state in all of europe. and soon they began competing for control of trading posts around africa and would eventually dethrone the portuguese as the kings of the indian ocean trade. by 1608, the dutch sponsored henry hudson to sail west in order to establish a dutch presence in the new world, which he did by founding the colony of new amsterdam

Summary

causes of expansion 

-wealth: more access to trade routes/goods

  - states fund exploration

  - silver is super important

  - states using mercantilism to measure wealth 

- rivalry: european states trying to expand first

- religion: european christians looking to convert others 

where did they go?

- portugal: the leader in exploration

 - goes to africa, india, south and southeast asia

 - includes: prince henry the navigator, bartholomew diaz, vasco da gama

 - impact: little on china, most impact on persian gulf with their trading post empire, expand trade and cultural exchange between india and europe

- spain: the ones who go round the world

 - goes to: philippines, americas

 - includes: ferdinand magellan, christopher columbus, galleon ships to carry lots of silver

 - impact: led exploration and colonization of americas (including decline of aztec and inca), established links between Americas and Asia across Pacific Ocean

- france: the fur real explorers 

 - goes to: north america looking for a link to asia (called the northwest passage). Take part of Canada for France)

 - includes: jacques carter, samuel de champlain

 - impact: they don't find a northwest passage or gold, but they find valuable fur and other resources. they rarely settled permanently and traded with the natives, typically fostering better relationships with them than the other countries do 

- holland: they technically founded NYC 

 - goes to: the dutch go to north america looking for the northwest passage

 - includes: henry hudson

 - impact: created new amsterdam (eventually NYC). and established trade with canada and virginia 

-england: that island about to rule most of the world 

- goes to: (for now) north america to look for the nonexistent northwest passage, claiming land and surprisingly defeating and destroying ⅔ of the spanish armada in 1533

- includes: john cabot, jamestown, parts of canada

- impact: create quicker route across atlantic, become the most powerful navy

- china: junk ships are junked

 - goes to: india, middle east, africa to create new trade networks, impress key places of trade, spread chinese culture

 - includes: zheng he and his fleet of junk ships

 - impact: due to refocus on confucian ideals and domestic policy, decides not to explore anymore