Early Exploration

Discovering the World

Why Explore?

• Early explorers sailed for three things, GOD, GLORY and GOLD!!

• European countries want to establish trade routes with the “Far East” (China, India, SE Asia)– Exotic Spices, Cloth, and other rare goods =$$$$$$$$

• Advances in technology make exploration possible. (Shipbuilding, Navigation, Cartography)– Cartography= Map Making

Christopher Columbus (1451-1506)

• Italian Explorer

• Columbus was convinced he could find a Western Sea route to Asia.

• Columbus’s voyage was sponsored by the King and Queen of Spain.

• Columbus set sail from Spain in August, 1492

• He sailed with three ships. The Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria

• Columbus expected to sail West across the Atlantic Ocean and arrive in Asia in under two months.– He had SEVERELY underestimated the size of

the Earth!

• After more than 8 weeks at sea, Columbus’s crew was near mutiny.– Mutiny = a revolt against a superior

officer.

• Columbus and his crew spotted land on October 12, 1492.

• Columbus thought he had landed in the “East Indies” (near the Philippines)

• In reality he landed near the island of Hispaniola (in the Caribbean Sea), nearly 10,000 miles off course.

• Columbus saw the native peoples of the islands and called them “Indians”.

• Columbus noted how primitive the natives were, and how easily they could be conquered. – Primitive= Uncivilized or Savage

• Columbus would make a total of 4 voyages to the Caribbean. – Maps made by Columbus helped pave

the way for more exploration.

• Columbus died in Spain in 1506

Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512)

Italian Explorer

First European to map the coast of South America

The “Americas” are named after Vespucci

Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521)

Portuguese Explorer

Most famous voyage from 1519-1522

First crew to Circumnavigate the globeCircumnavigate= to travel around the world

Magellan died in the Philippine Islands in 1521.