UNIDAD EDUCATIVA PARTICULAR “SAN JOSÉ DE CALASANZ”

Name:……………………………………………………… Date: ……….

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Grade: 2do bachillerato Subject: History and Social Sciences

PART IV: EUROPEAN EXPANSION

GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERIES 

Transition from the Mediaeval to the Modern Age.--The discovery of

America by Columbus, in 1492, is often used to mark the end of the Middle
Ages and the beginning of modern times; and this was an event of such
transcendent importance,-- the effect upon civilization of the opening up of
fresh continents was so great,--that we may very properly accord to the
achievement of the Genoese the honor proposed. Yet we must bear in mind
that no single circumstance or event actually marks the end of the old order of
things and the beginning of the new. The finding of the New World did not
make the new age; the new age discovered the New World. The undertaking
of Columbus was the natural outcome of that spirit of commercial enterprise
and scientific curiosity which for centuries--ever since the Crusades--had been
gradually expanding the scope of mercantile adventure and broadening the
horizon of the European world. His fortunate expedition was only one of
several brilliant nautical exploits which distinguished the close of the fifteenth
and the opening of the sixteenth century.
This same period was also marked by significant intellectual, political, and
religious movements, which indicated that civilization was about to enter--
indeed, had already entered--upon a new phase of its development.
In the intellectual world, as we have seen, was going on the wonderful Revival
of Learning, producing everywhere unwonted thought, stir, and enterprises
This intellectual movement alone would suffice to mark the period of which
we speak as the beginning of a new historical era; for the opening and the
closing of the great epochs of history, such as the Age of Christianity, the Age
of the Protestant Reformation, and the Age of the Political Revolution, are
determined not by events or happenings in the outer world but by movements
within the soul of humanity.
The truest representative of the intellectual revival on its scientific side was
Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543), who, while Columbus and others were
exploring the earth's unknown seas and opening up a new hemisphere for
civilization, was exploring the heavens and discovering the true system of the
universe. He had quite fully matured his theory by the year 1;07, but fearing
the charge of heresy he did not publish the great work embodying his views
until thirty-six years later (in 1543). It should be carefully noted, however, that
the Copernican theory had little influence on the thought of the sixteenth
century. It was denounced as contrary to Scripture by both Catholics and
Protestants, and was almost universally rejected for more than a hundred years
after its first publication. Even after the revelations made by the telescope of
Galileo (1564-1642) the acceptance of the truth was so hindered by
theological opposition that the complete triumph of the doctrine was delayed
until the eighteenth century.
In the political world the tendency to centralization which had long been at
work in different countries of Europe, gathering up the little feudal units into
larger aggregates, was culminating in the formation of great independent
nations with strong monarchical governments. The Age of the Nations was
opening. This movement was one of vast significance in European history and
might in itself very well be regarded as forming a division line between two
great epochs.
In the religious world there were unrest, dissatisfaction, inquiry, complaint,--
premonitory symptoms of the tremendous revolution that was destined to
render the sixteenth century memorable in the religious records of mankind.
This upheaval also constitutes a sort of continental divide in history.
Closely connected with these movements were three great inventions which,
like the inventions of our own time, were also signs of a new age, and which
powerfully helped on the mental and social revolutions. Thus the intellectual
revival and the religious reform were greatly promoted by the new art of
printing; the kings in their struggle with the nobles were materially aided by
the use of gunpowder, which rendered useless costly armor and fortified castle
and helped to replace the feudal levy by a regular standing army, the prop and
bulwark of the royal power; while the great ocean voyages of the times were
rendered possible only by the improvement of the mariner's compass, whose
trusty guidance emboldened the navigator to quit the shore and push out upon
hitherto untraversed seas. 
Maritime Explorations; the Terrors of the Ocean.--To appreciate the
greatness of the achievements of the navigators and explorers of the age of
geographical discovery, we need to bear in mind with what terrors the
mediaeval imagination had invested the unknown regions of the earth. In the
popular conception these parts were haunted by demons and dragons and
monsters of every kind. The lands were shrouded in eternal mists and
darkness. The seas were filled with awful whirlpools and treacherous currents,
and shallowed into vast marshes. Out in the Atlantic, so a popular superstition
taught, was the mouth of hell; the red glow cast upon the sun at its setting was
held to be positive evidence of this. Away to the south, under the equator,
there was believed to be an impassable belt of fire. This was a very persistent
idea, and was not dispelled until men had actually sailed beyond the equatorial
regions.
Columbus in Search of a Westward Route to the Indies finds the New
World (1492).--It was Christopher Columbus, a Genoese by birth, who now
proposed the bold plan of reaching these eastern lands by sailing westward.
The sphericity of the earth was a doctrine held by all the really learned men of
this time. This notion was also familiar to many at least of the common
people; but they, while vaguely accepting the view that the earth is round,
thought that the habitable part was a comparatively flat, shield-like plain on
the top of it. All the rest they thought to be covered by the waters of a great
ocean.
While agreed as to the globular form of the earth and of the curvature of the
land as well as of the water surface, scholars differed as to the proportion of
land and water. The common opinion among them was that the greater part of
the earth's surface was water. Some, however, believed that three fourths or
more of its surface was land, and that only a narrow ocean separated the
western shores of Europe from the eastern shores of Asia. Columbus held this
latter view, and also shared with others a misconception as to the size of the
earth, supposing it to be much smaller than it really is. Consequently he felt
sure that a westward sail of three or four thousand miles would bring him to
the Indies. Thus his very misconceptions fed his hopes and drew him on to his
great discovery.
Everybody knows how Columbus in his endeavors to secure a patron for his
enterprise met at first with repeated repulse and disappointment; how at last he
gained the ear of Queen Isabella of Castille; how a fleet of three small vessels
was fitted out for the explorer; and how the New World was discovered, --or
rather rediscovered.
The return of Columbus to Spain with his vessels loaded with the strange
animal and vegetable products of the new lands he had found, together
with several specimens of the inhabitants,-- a race of men new to
Europeans,--produced the profoundest sensation among all classes.
Curiosity was unbounded. The spirit of hazardous enterprise awakened
by the surprising discovery led to those subsequent undertakings by
Castilian adventurers which make up the most thrilling pages of Spanish
history.
Columbus made altogether four voyages to the new lands; still he died in
ignorance of the fact that he had really discovered a new world. He
supposed the land he had found to be some part of the Indies, whence the
name " West Indies " which still clings to the islands between North and
South America, and the term " Indians " applied to the aborigines. It was
not until the middle of the sixteenth century that it became fully
established that a great new double continent, separated from Asia by an
ocean wider than the Atlantic, had been found.
Columbus never received during his lifetime a fitting recognition of the
unparalleled service he had rendered Spain and the world. Jealousy pursued
him, and from his third voyage he was sent home loaded with chains. Even the
continent he had discovered, instead of being called after him as a perpetual
memorial, was named from a Florentine navigator, Amerigo Vespucci, whose
chief claim to this distinction was his having written the first widely published
account of the new lands.

UNIDAD EDUCATIVA PARTICULAR “SAN JOSÉ DE CALASANZ”

Name:………………………………………………………… Date: ……….…………………………….
Grade: 2do bachillerato Subject: History and Social Sciences
PART IV: EUROPEAN EXPANSION
WORKSHEET #1

1. The discovery of America mark what event?

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2. Who was the most important representative on the intellectual revival?

Why?
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3. What three great inventions helped on the mental and social

revolutions?
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4. What did people have in mind about the unknown regions of the earth?
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5. Who was the one that proposed a plan in order to reach the eastern
lands?
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6. Was the Christopher Columbus’ journey effective? What did he

discover?
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7. At the end, what happened to Christopher Columbus?

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