Unit 4: Transoceanic Interconnections 1450-1750 4.1: Tech. Innovations 1450-1750

During the time, maritime empires didn’t grow necessarily b/c of gunpowder, but because of other factors

Europeans had long benefited from trade on Silk Road and Indian Ocean

• However, many of those lands were muslim controlled 

• Europeans wanted another way to Asia to establish trade on their own terms

• Needed new technology from ships to do so

  • Learned about sailing from Greeks, Asians, Muslims

Technologies inherited

• Charts of wind patterns and astronomy for direction

  • Became more complex and detailed than ancient ones

• Astrolabe and magnetic compass to find more direction

  • Astrolabe determined latitude

• Lateen sail

  • Allowed sailors to tack into the wind 

  • Ships with square and lateen sails could travel further and expand trade routes

Maritime trade technologies from Portuguese and Dutch

• Portuguese created a new ship called the Caravel 

  • Smaller, more navigable ship

  • Fast ships because of combo of square and lateen sails

  • Could also carry large amounts of cargo for trade despite speed

• Dutch created a ship called the Fluyt

  • Was revolutionary because at the time, most merchant ships were built for conversion to military which meant they were expensive and had large crews

  • Fluyts were built exclusively for trade meaning they were cheaper to build and needed less labor

    • Could also carry more cargo

• Just b/c they were not land based did not mean they used gunpowder

  • Used cannons on ships to take land and establish new empires