How Portugal Lead the Way in Exploration

Lindsey Williams

Without Portugal leading the way in exploration where would we be today? Would there

be such thing as spices? Without Portugal spices would have taken a long time to be discovered,

if they even were. If Portugal did not discover the spice islands, then Christopher Columbus

would not have gone on his trip to the West Indies, meaning that he would never have discovered

The United States of America. I argue that Portugal led the way in exploration. Three reasons

that demonstrate why Portugal started where we are today is by discovering the spice islands,

finding a trade route while discovering more about country’s and where they are located, and

discovered the compass showing them where to go and which ways. Portugal lead the way in

exploration in many different ways, but most people do not realize how much its changed where

we are in the world today. The lead of exploration has formed many things, and Portugal is one

of the main reasons we are where we are today.

There are many pieces of evidence that explains why Portugal lead the way in

exploration. In the 15th century, according to loc.gov, Portugal “took the principal role” in the

Age of Exploration and started the conquest to see what was passed Africa. They succeeded and

soon came to find out there were very expensive spices that people would find and buy on the

spices islands, and then sell them for a lot of money to make profit. Without Prince Henry the

Navigator, Portugal would not have been able to go to the spice islands, meaning they most

likely would not have lead the way in exploration. According to biography.com “Prince Henry

became fascinated with Africa, a continent about which the Portuguese knew little”, which

inspired him to set sail and discover what was passed Africa. If Prince Henry the Navigator

never cared about Africa, we most likely would not be where we are today. Many people do not
realize that if Prince Henry did not do what he did, then Christopher Columbus would not have

tried to ship to the East Indies and discover the West Indies or America. We are where we are

today because of Portugal’s lead in the way of Exploration and Prince Henry the Navigator.

In conclusion, there are many reasons as to why Portugal lead the way in exploration.

Without the Portuguese, life would be very different and not many people are aware of that.

Imagine life without The United States of America being discovered, no technology, no

compass, or no sense of direction. We would most likely all be living in Asia and the world’s

population would be much smaller. Some cultures and races may have gone extinct because

there is not as many of us, speaking as if we all lived where people knew there was land. The

world would be crowded and people would go to war all the time, due to people disagreeing.

Where would you be today without Portugal leading the way in exploration? Would a different

explorer discover the spice islands? Would some of the famous explorers be famous?