The European Exploration And Its Effects
The Europeans explored the western world under three premessis: God, Glory, and Gold. Some explorers wanted to expand Christianity. More people went to the “New World,” for their own personal achievement, praise, and honor from friends and neighbors. While most men went for the worldliest of riches, Gold. Christopher Columbus led the exploration on a rather different ideal. Columbus’s main mission was to find a faster and more efficient way of transporting spices from countries like India, China, and Japan, without having to first sail around Africa. He predicted that if he sailed straight and parallel to Europe he would eventually hit these countries.
The Caravel was a ship that could be used for fishing, cargo, warships, patrol, or dispatch boats due to their convenient size. They were mainly used for fishing. These ships were cheap and you could get them in shape for working very easily. Their speed and maneuverability made these ships perfect to explore with. “The magnetic compass was a compass that had a magnetized needle supporting a magnetic card. ” A directional invention was needed badly for the exploration. Without any direction, these explorers could be lost at sea indefinitely. The Compass only read off 4-8 directions, but at this time was astounding.
The Lead Line was also a very important tool for sailors, helping to keep track of the type, and depth of seawater. Without this line sailors could run into Coral Reefs and any other underwater obstacles. The Lead Line was a hollow tube with animal fat plugging the bottom end. The animal fat attracted particles from the bottom of the oceans to track what kind of waters were being sailed.
Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes conquered and colonized parts of South America. Cortes is known for his overthrow of the Aztec empire. Ferdinand Magellan was the first sailor to circumnavigate the seas from the Atlantic Ocean and cross the Pacific Ocean. Amerigo Vespucci is the man from whom the word “America” comes from. Not only was this Italian man an explorer, he was a cartographer and navigator. On April 22nd, 1500 the Portuguese captain Pedro Álvares Cabral voyaged from Portugal to claim Brazil, landing at Porto Seguro. Brazil was one of the first colonies discovered by the Portuguese. Brazil to this day is the only country in South America that speaks Portuguese. Brazil is also devoutly catholic, much like their early explorers. Brazil also follows their predated architecture, highly gothic and Manueline based.
The Age of exploration had many lasting positive effects on every people group involved. Foods were able to be moved all around the world, and no longer had their own indigenous habitats. Religion was able to spread freely, and wild through explored areas. The countries exploring also had a wide array of peoples all over the globe. Each one of these aspects helped better these countries and colonies.
The exploration had many lasting negative effects causing harm to explorers and “indians (Natives). ” Europeans brought many diseases into the “new world” creating a toxic and very harmful environment for the natives. Many cultures and tribes were wiped from existence almost entirely from diseases carried with Europeans.
