Introduction
The Age of Exploration sometimes referred to as the Age of Discovery, began at the turn of the 16th century and lasted until the 17th. It is defined as the period when Europeans began to explore the world by sea, seeking out new trade routes, riches, and discoveries. The Age of Exploration would forever change the world and shape geography into the science it is today.
Impact of The Age of Exploration
As a result of these expeditions, explorers gained a greater understanding of regions such as the African continent and the Americas, which they then brought back to Europe.
Trade in goods, spices and precious metals was a major source of income for European colonisers.
Navigation and mapping techniques improved, going from traditional portolan maps to the first-ever global nautical maps.
The colonies and Europe exchanged a variety of food, plant, and animal products.
Europeans wiped out the indigenous people because of sickness, too much work, and just plain murder.
The need for labour to sustain the large plantations of the New World led to the slave trade, which lasted for three hundred years and had a tremendous impact on the continent of Africa.
The effects are still felt today, with many former colonies of the world still classed as developing countries, while colonizers (the First World countries) account for most of the world’s wealth and annual income.
The era of exploration was born
In addition to the demand for silver and gold, one of the primary motivations for exploration was the search for a new route to facilitate the spice and silk trade.
In 1453, when the Ottoman Empire captured Constantinople, it closed off Europe’s access to the region, severely restricting trade. The Ottomans also closed off access to North Africa and the red sea, two major trade routes to Asia.
Portuguese explorers initiated the first of the voyages that would become known as the “Age of Discovery.” Traders in the Mediterranean had been sailing the Mediterranean for centuries, but most of them kept their ships within easy reach of land or sailed well-established routes to and from ports. In 1453, Prince Henry, the Navigator, encouraged explorers to go beyond these routes and explore new trade routes into West Africa.
In 1419, Portuguese explorers discovered the islands of the Madeira, and in 1427, they discovered the Azores. Over the next few decades, they made their way south along the coast of what is now Africa. By the 1440s, they reached the coast of modern-day Senegal, and by 1490, they reached the Cape of Good Hope. Less than ten years later, on July 14, 1498, the Portuguese navigator Vasco Da Gama followed this route to India.
The Discovery of the New World
While the Portuguese were trying to open up new sea routes along the African coast, the Spanish were also hoping to find new ways to trade in the Far East. In 1492, an Italian who worked for the Spanish monarchy named Christopher Columbus set off on his first voyage. Unfortunately, he didn't make it to India. Instead, he ended up finding San Salvador, which is now part of what we know as the Bahamas. Columbus also explored Hispaniola, which is the island that's today home to the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
Columbus went on to lead three further expeditions into the Caribbean, traversing portions of the Cuban coast and the coast of Central America. In addition, the Portuguese made their way to the New World through the exploration of Brazil, which led to a dispute between the Kingdom of Spain and the Kingdom of Portugal over the claims to the newly acquired territories. The outcome of this conflict was officially established by the Tordesillas Treaty of 1494, which divided the world into two halves.
Columbus' conquests paved the way for the Spanish to conquer the Americas. Over the course of the next century, people like Hernando Cortes and Fernando Pizarro would wipe out the Aztecs in Mexico, the Inca in Peru, and all the other indigenous people in the Americas. Eventually, Spain would dominate the Americas from the southwest of the US to the southernmost parts of Chile and Argentina.
Spice Trade
The European Age of Exploration was driven by the desire to get closer to the hugely profitable spice trade in the Middle East. Spices were brought to Europe by land and sea, and they were in high demand for both food and medicine. The question was how to get them by sea. So, explorers such as Christopher Columbus (who died in 1451) and his son Vasco (who died in 1524) set out to find a way to get to Asia by sea. Columbus discovered a new continent on the west coast, while da Gama sailed around the Cape of Good Hope, along the coast of east Africa, and then crossed the Indian Ocean. Starting in the 1500s, Portugal and other European powers tried to take control of the spice trade and the ports that sold spices, as well as the lands that grew them.
Christopher Columbus sailed west across the Atlantic in 1492, but the only landmass he found in his path was America. The Portuguese thought they would find Asia by circumnavigating the continent of Africa. The first European to circumnavigate the globe was Bartolomeu de Dias in 1488, sailing down the coast of western Africa and making the first voyage around the Cape of Good Hope, which is now the southern tip of what is now South Africa. The second voyage was made by Vincenzo da Gama, who rounded the Cape but sailed up the coast of eastern Africa, crossing the Indian Ocean, and arriving at Calicut (now known as Kozhikode), on the southern Indian coast of Malabar. Europeans finally had a direct sea route to the wealth of the East, from which they could then sail further east to the spice islands and Southeast Asia. Francisco Serrão (1412-1512) sailed to the spice islands in the Indian Ocean.
The End of the Era
The Age of Discovery came to an end at the beginning of the 17th century, when advances in technology and a greater understanding of the world made it possible for Europeans to travel around the world by sea. The establishment of settlements and colonies provided a network for communication and commerce, thus eliminating the need to look for new routes.
It’s important to note that this wasn’t the end of exploration. East Australia wasn’t claimed as British territory until 1770 by Captain James Cook, and much of the North Pole and Antarctic weren’t discovered until the 1900s. Much of Africa wasn’t discovered by Europeans until the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Contributions to Science
Geography was shaped by the Age of Exploration. By journeying to different parts of the world, explorers gained insight into regions like Africa and America and brought this information back to Europe.
Navigation and mapping techniques improved with the advent of navigators like Prince Henry, the Navigator. Before his time, navigators used portolan charts, based on shorelines and ports, to keep ships close to shore.
Explorers from Spain and Portugal created the world’s first nautical charts, outlining not only the geographical features of the regions they discovered but also the maritime routes and currents that brought them there. With the development of technology and the expansion of known territory, mapmaking and cartography became increasingly sophisticated.
These expeditions also introduced Europeans to a new world of plants and animals. Corn, which is now the main staple of most diets around the world, was not known to Europeans until the Spanish conquest. Nor were sweet potatoes or peanuts. Nor had Europeans ever seen a turkey, llama, or squirrel before they arrived in the Americas.
The Age of Exploration paved the way for geographical knowledge. It enabled more people to travel and explore different regions of the globe. This broadened geographical knowledge and laid the foundation for much of what we know today.
