Consequences of the Age of Exploration

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The Age of Discovery, also known by others as the Age of Exploration, was a specific era of history which started in the 15th century and lasted for over 200 years. Conceived by the pioneer Portuguese and Spanish explorers in their search for precious metals and costly spices (such as saffron and cardamom), this expansion of knowledge about the world was well-intentioned. Ultimately, this turned out to have severe consequences, with its effects persisting even to this day!

First of all, Why were there consequences in the first place? During the Age of Exploration, there were treacherous governments and inside them, fraudulent and crooked officials. These greedy, nefarious bureaucrats were responsible for the driving force behind searching not only for spices, but for precious metals as well (Arnold 405). Why did this driving force exist? Europe's sole source of any kind of spices were Byzantine and Syrian traders that transported cloves from the Maluku Islands, nutmeg from the Banda Islands and cinnamon from Sri Lanka (Arnold 349). During the fifth and sixth centuries(also known as the beginning of the Middle Ages of Europe), the traders started to transact more with Asian countries (Turner 90). With this drastic loss, European leadership began to search out and explore other options, such as the so called New World. Gold, jewels, silk, and spices set up a fantasy across Europe, but especially on nobility, and kindled the first of many voyages in the name of Discovery (Arnold 341). One particular reason for these voyages was because of the

Ottoman Turks. In 1453 A.D., the Ottoman Turks captured Byzantium, the crown jewel of the Byzantine Empire, and renamed it Istanbul (Aronson 11), based off the Greek phrase istanpolis, m...

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...ned a previously closed door to contact with other nations and civilizations, that also brought in new ideas and products into Europe from outside, such as slaves and jade jewelry.

Works Cited:
Arnold, David. The Age of Discovery, 1400-1600. Methuen & Co. Ltd, London, 1983. Print.

Aronson, Marc; and Glenn, John. The World Made New: Why the Age of Exploration Happened & how it Changed the World. National Geographic Books, 2007. Print.

Rosenberg, Matt, and Briney, Amanda. Age of Exploration. www.about.com; 23 September 2008, Web. 16 October 2013.

Kreis, Steven. Lecture 2, The Age of Discovery. http://www.historyguide.org; 02 May 2011, Web. 13 November 2013.

Turner, Jack. Spice: The History of a Temptation. Vintage, New York City, 2005. Print.

Von Weiler, Sophie. The Positives and Negatives of the Age of Exploration. 06 November 2012, Web. 09 November 2013.

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