Europeans Explore the East Guided Notes
Slide 1:
- Renaissance encouraged a new spirit of adventure and curiosity.
- This and several other reasons prompted Europeans to explore the world around them
- They were not completely isolated from the rest of the world before the 1400s
- Remember European crusaders battled Muslims for control of the Holy Lands in Southwest Asia
- Marco Polo reached China as well.
Slide 2:
- This changed in the 1400s when the desire to grow rich and spread Christianity spurred an age of _______________. desire for wealth was the big reason.
- Through overseas explorations merchants and traders were hoping to benefit from what had become a profitable business in Europe: Spice trade and other luxury goods from Asia
- People were introduced to these items during the ___________ (war between christians and Muslims) and continued to demand them after the crusades were over.
Slide 3:
- Spices like nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, and pepper all added flavor to bland foods found in Europe
- Demand for the goods was greater than the supply
- Merchants could change high prices and make huge profits
Slide 4:
- Muslims and Italians controlled trade of goods from east to west
- Muslims sold Asian goods to Italian merchants, who controlled trade across the land routes of the Mediterranean region
- Italian resold the items at increased prices to merchants throughout europe
- Europeans merchants didn't like this because it cut into their profits, so they wanted to bypass the Italians and find their own water route to Asia.
Slide 5:
- Christians believed it was their duty to spread Christianity throughout the world
- Their conflict with the Muslims motivated them to do this.
- Bartolomeu Dias, a Portuguese explorer, said:
- “To serve God and His Majesty, to give light to those who were in darkness and to grow rich as all men desire to do.”
Slide 6:
- “God, glory and gold” was the motivation, but they needed the tools to explore as well.
- Biggest problem with European ships was their inability to sail against the wind
- Ship builders developed a new vessel, the __________.
- It was sturdier than earlier vessels.
- Had triangular sails it took from arab ships allowed it to sail effectively against the wind
Slide 7:
- Also improved navigation techniques
- Sailors used the ___________ to determine their location (invented by the Arabs)
- Astrolabe was a brass circle with adjusted rings marked off in degrees
- Also used the chinese invention: the _________ __________
Slide 8:
- Portuguese were the leaders in applying these innovations to existing ships.
- Because of this they set up trading outposts along the west coast of Africa
- They would eventually push farther east into the indian ocean.
- They were able to do this thanks to strong government support.
Slide 9:
- Prince Henry, son of Portugal’s king was a huge supporter of exploration
- He himself helped conquer the muslim city of Ceuta in North Africa
- That is when he first encountered the wealth that lies beyond Europe.
- Found rooms with pepper, cinnamon, cloves and other spices along with large supplies of gold silver and jewels.
Slide 10:
- Henry also founded a navigation school on the southwestern coast of Portugal
- This is where mapmakers and instrument makers, ship builders, scientists and sailors gathered
- By the time Henry died, the Portuguese had established trading ports along the west African shores.
- Traded with the Africans for gold, ivory,
- Eventually they started trading slaves too.
- Did all of this while finding a water route to Asia.
Slide 11:
- Believed to reach asia they needed to sail around the southern tip of Africa.
- Bartolomeu Dias made it to the southern tip of Africa before a storm blew he and his crew to the other side of Africa.
- He was low on supplies and his crew was tired, so they were forced to return home
Slide 12:
- Vasco da Gama started exploring the coast in 1497
- In 1498 he teached the port of Calicut on the southwestern coast of India
- They encountered spices, silk and precious gems in different shops
- Returned to Portugal with pepper and cinnamon.
- Their cargo was worth 60 times more than the coast of the voyage.
- Traveled 27,000 miles and learned a route to India.
Slide 13:
- Spain was watching Portugal and getting jealous, they wanted their own water way to Asia too.
- 1492, Christopher Columbus convinced spain to finance his journey.
- He’d sail west across the atlantic ocean. He landed in the Caribbean and thought he reached the east indies.
- While not finding a water route, his voyage did find a land that Europe would colonize.
Slide 14:
- Portuguese thought Spain found a water route to Asia as well. This would escalate tensions between the two countries.
- Pope Alexander VI stepped in and suggested drawing an imaginary dividing line.
- Drawn north to south through the _____________, all of the lands to the west of the line, known as the line of demarcation would be Spains
- Lands included most of the Americas
Slide 15:
- All the lands of the east would belong to Portugal.
- Portugal complained the line gave too much to spain and wanted it moved further west to include parts of modern day Brazil.
- Signed the Treaty of Tordesillas, which put into agreement where the lines of demarcation would be.
Slide 16:
- Following Da Gama’s voyage, Portugal built a trade empire throughout the indian ocean
- They eventually took control of the spice trade from muslim merchants
- By 1509, portugal had extended its control over the area when it defeated a muslim fleet off the coast of india.
- Victory was won due to cannons that were added to the ships.
Slide 17:
- Built a fort at Hormuz in 1514, establishing control of the Straits of Hormuz, which connected the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea.
- Also stopped Muslim traders from reaching India.
- 1510 they captured Goa, port city on India’s west coast.
- Made it the capital of their trading empire
- And used it to sail farther east to Indonesia, also known as the East Indies.
Slide 18:
- 1511, they attacked the city of Malacca on the west coast of Malay peninsula
- Capturing this city allowed them control of the Moluccas.
- Islands were rich in spices, so much so its known as the spice islands.
- Portuguese were able to break the domination of the Muslim-Italian monopoly
- This caused the prices to be about 1/5th that they currently were.
Slide 19:
- Their success prompted Spain to send a Spanish expedition in 1521 led by Ferdinand Magellan
- He arrived in the Philippines and began settling them in 1565.
- By the early 1600s, the rest of Europe had begun to descend upon Asia
- They all wanted to establish their own empires.
Slide 19:
- 1600s the English and Dutch began to challenges Portuguese dominance over Indian Ocean Trade
- The Dutch Republic, a.ka. the _______________, was a small country situated along the North Sea in Northwestern Europe
- Spain ruled that area until 1581, when the Dutch declared their independence from Spain and established the Dutch Republic
Slide 20:
- In a short time the dutch became a major sea power
- By the 1600s they had the largest fleet of ships in the world 20,000 vessels
- Pressure from them and the British eroded Portuguese control of the Asian region.
- Dutch and English then battled one another or dominance of the Area.
Slide 21:
- Each country had developed an East India Company to establish and direct trade throughout Asia
- These companies had power to mint money, make treaties and raise their own armies
- Dutch East India Company was richer and more powerful than England’s company
- As a result, the Dutch drove the English out and established their dominance over the region
Slide 22:
- 1619 the Dutch established their trading headquarters on Batavia on the island of ___________.
- Expanded west to conquer several nearby islands
- Also seized both port of Malacca and the spice islands
- Amsterdam (capital of the Netherlands) became a leading trading center
- By the 1700s the Dutch ruled much of Indonesia and had trading posts in several Asian countries.
- Also controlled the Cape of Good Hope on the southern tip of Africa
Slide 23:
- Britain and France finally made headway into the region in the 1700s
- It focused its attention on establishing outposts in India
- Developed a successful business in trading Indian cloth in Europe
Slide 24:
- France had its own East India Company
- It struggled and faced constant attacks from the Dutch
- They finally got an outpost in India in the 1720s but never made much of a profit.