Age of Exploration Scrapbook

By: Ben Steele

Table Of Contents
Page 1..Table Of Contents
Page 2..Motivations
Page 3........Technology
Page 4......Explorer of the Century
Page 5...Interactions with Natives
Page 6....Columbian Exchange
Page 7.....Triangular Trade
Page 8.......Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade
Page 9..Websites

Motivations
The Europeans were motivated to explore the world because they wanted
new trade routes because the fall of Constantinople closed the east, also
they needed a new trade route to Asia because trading by land was
dangerous and required more resources for the trip. They wanted to trade
directly without having to go through other people. Lastly they wanted to
develop the low countries so they could spread Christianity because it was
the only religion in Europe and they wanted to make everyone a Christian,
while also wanting to control a larger empire.
The three main reasons of exploration were: God, gold, and glory. They
wanted to explore Asia because they thought that Asia had a lot of gold to
be found and brought back to Europe.

Technology
Technology probably made one of the biggest impacts in the early
exploration ages. Some technological advancements that were used and
helped a lot were: Maps, compasses, astrolabes, caravels, guns and
cannons.
Maps - were used to depict an area of land or sea of its
physical features

Compass - an instrument that has a

magnetic pointer showing the ways of
north and south.
Astrolabe - an instrument that used
the stars to plot a position
Caravel - a ship with three masts
and a triangular sail that could
go against the wind

Gun - weapons that the explorers carried for selfdefense and maybe to attack
Cannon - Big weapons on the ships
used to attack and defend from other ships

Christopher Columbus is
3

The Explorer of the Century

Christopher Columbus was born on
October 31, 1451 in the Republic of Genoa,
Italy. Columbus was an explorer who discovered
the New World. He first went to sea as a
teenager, when he went on several trading
voyages in the Mediterranean and Aegean seas.
His first voyage into the Atlantic Ocean almost
killed him. His ship was burned down and
attacked by French privateers off the coast of
Portugal. He swam to shore and later met his wife Felipa Perestrello. They
had one son named Diego in 1480. Later his wife died and he moved to
Spain and had another son. Columbus went on lots of other voyages to
gain more knowledge about the Atlantic currents from the Canary Islands.
In 1492 he explored the Bahamas, thinking it was the Indies, but it wasnt.
Columbus later died of congestive heart failure on May 20, 1506 in
Valladolid, Spain.

Interactions With Natives

The Spanish and the Aztecs fought for 3 months
and later the Spanish had won under the leadership
of Hernan Cortes. The emperor, Cuauhtmoc, was
later taken prisoner killed. The surviving Aztecs
were taken for slaves and were forced to learn how
to read and write in spanish. They were all very
capable of European diseases, such as smallpox
and typhus.

Francisco Pizarro defeated the Incan Empire in 1532. They took over all
the Incan lands within 40 years. They took lots and lots of gold and
destroyed the cities and almost erased everything in the empire.

Columbian Exchange
Corn

Americas to Europe, Africa, and

Asia
Squash
Pumpkins
Sweet potatoes
Peppers
Tobacco
Turkeys
Pineapples
Peanuts
Cacao
Potatoes
Beans
Tomatoes
Vanilla

Europe, Africa, and Asia to

Americas
Onions
Citrus fruits
Grapes
Olives
Turnips
Bananas
Coffee beans
Sugar cane
Peaches
Pears
Honeybees
Grains
Livestock
Diseases

Triangular Trade
Sugar
Tobacco
Cotton
Europe to Africa
Textiles
Rum
Manufact
ured goods

North America to
Europe

Africa to North
America
Slaves

The Triangular Trade was a system of buying and selling that was between
three separate geographic areas. Merchants found new ways to protect
their money by using banks. Capitalism was the economic system where
private companies owned businesses. Lastly the joint-stock companies
created the British East India company
and
the
Dutch
East
India

company.

Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

The Europeans started to use slaves in their colonies because they wanted
the enslaved people to work in mines and on tobacco plantations in South
America and on sugar plantations in the West Indies.
The middle passage was the middle of the Triangular Trade in which
millions of slaves were traded to the New World.

Websites Used
https://www.reference.com/history/did-europeans-want-new-route-asia-c8e82c4b27a1898b
http://www.slideshare.net/klgriffin/why-did-europeans-explore-the-world
http://www.biography.com/people/christopher-columbus-9254209
http://education.seattlepi.com/effect-spanish-aztec-empire-5634.html
https://www.classzone.com/net_explorations/U4/U4_article5.cfm
http://abolition.e2bn.org/slavery_42.html