During the fifteenth century Europeans busted onto the world scene. It began with the search for spices and Christians. Vasco da Gama set sail southward along the West African coast for the spice trade. He thought that others would soon adapt this trade and follow behind him. Christopher Columbus set sail towards America while Vasco da Gama went towards the Indian Ocean. Following this a large amount of European states came into the picture. They had created a widely complex global trade network. This was under the control by Western ships and Western power that delivered food-stuffs, textile goods, spices, and minerals from one end to the other.
The European Age of Exploration changed many aspects of the world. For example, in the Americas and Spice Islands it caused the destruction of indigenous civilizations and the establishment of European colonies. In other parts such as South Asia and Africa it left native regimes united, but affected the local societies and regional trade patterns. During this time many people favored this European process. It didn't just expand world trade and allow the exchange of new crops and discoveries between the Old and the New Worlds. However, it also brings upon the message of Jesus to many irreligious people around the world. Due to the expansion of the European trade some countries were eliminated from the spice trade.
When Europeans invaded Asia they reproduced many of the physical surroundings of their homeland. The city became commercialized and extremely financial. It was the chief port for the ships which brought in the spices of the East to Europe. For those who lived on or nearby the coast of Africa the European exploration had a great affect. As the trade in slaves increased during the sixteenth through eighteenth century, about a million people were taken out of their homes and deported to plantations in the New World. The arrival of the Europeans also affected the conquerors and the conquered. Ancient social and political structures were tore apart and replaced with European institutions, religion, language, and culture.
The continent was divided linguistically, politically and economically. Just like the other two worlds, they also practiced gender division of labor. However, this was the only region in which women played and almost entirely submissive role; men dominated in every aspect, from society to religion to politics. In the beginning of the fifteenth century, the Europeans were slowly recovering from Black Death which has affected them in the fourteenth century killing a third of the population. The leaders took the chaos form Black Death as an advantage to consolidate power. Along with this political revolution, technological and economic changes helped shaped the societies. European explorers and colonizers, especially Roman Catholics, sought to spread Christianity and this was used as a motive to increase the nation’s wealth through the establishment of direct trade with the other worlds (Africa and America). Sailors gained knowledge of navigation, wind and currents by first sailing in the Mediterranean Atlantic. The knowledge acquired helped them establish plantation economies and beneficial trading post in West Africa. They learnt that they could successfully transplant crops and livestock in new
1.) As a whole, the entry of the Europeans into the Asian sea trading network had relatively little effect on the entire system. The entry of the Europeans into the network led to the establishment of new trade routes in the Indian Ocean to the southern Atlantic near the Cape of Good Hope. In water, the Europeans were superior militarily, but on land against fortified Asian settlements, the Asians far surpassed the Europeans technologically. The only superior items that the Europeans had were small, fast sea vessels such as caravels, clocks, and weaponry. This situation of inferiority led to the Europeans’ plan of adaptation to the Asian network instead of trying to control it. Although the Europeans had little to offer, the agricultural items introduced such as crops first cultivated in the Americas proved to be very sustainable and led to large amounts of population growth, but the growing numbers eventually led to the spread of epidemic diseases that ultimately ravaged both Asian and European populations.
During the 15th century Europe had numerous changes. The population expanded rapidly which gave rise to new classes of merchants. European nations were very wealthy when it came to spices. Therefore, they traded them on the land route from Asia. These land routes were controlled by the Turkish Empire, which lead to many problems for the countries who were trying to trade these spices and acquire other valuables. This then steered them to begin searching for other routes of trade to essentially cut out the “middle man”. A race then began to erupt between many European countries such as Portugal, Spain, France, and England. These four countries all wanted to be the first to discover new land. However, Portugal pulled ahead and sailed along
The Scientific Revolution indulged Europeans to look at life through different aspects as well as experimenting, searching for answers (, being open minded). The rise of the Ottoman Empire meant that Muslims could dominate the Middle East, so they charged Christians major taxes for all of the goods that would come their way towards Europe. Christopher Columbus, an explorer, sought for a way to avoid the taxes and set forth by sailing west to get to Asia. Spain, England and France all looked for trade routes to Asia. Columbus suggested crossing the Atlantic believing he would hit Asia, not knowing that there would be a country in his way. Every country was at “war” claiming land and trying to colonize. A numbering amount of men died and neglected their expedition by living with other tribes and taking some for wives.
After Europeans arrived in East Asia via the Indian Ocean, trade in the Far East changed dramatically moving towards a globalized economy. Between 1450 (39 years before the arrival of Vasco Da Gama) until 1750, the levels of trade in Asia reached a new peak; initial changes came in the form of the addition of new goods; and the eventual addition of colonization into the Indian Ocean Trade Network ultimately turned traditional “trade” into imperial relations. However, the importance of raw materials and the main Asian groups involved in the Indian Ocean trade network largely remained constant after European exposure until the start of British Imperial rule of India. Throughout these three centuries, economic superpowers rose and fell, leadership changed, and cultural exchange was highly prevalent, but the general philosophies, and religions of the societies involved in trade remained intact, resulting in far more positive interaction than in the New World.
During the time period 1450 to 1750, the world went through major change and development. Nomadic power declined, and European Kingdoms became world powers. A world trade network was set up as contact amongst nations increased immensely. A population boom occurred throughout the world. Many civilizations that were once isolated were brought into the world economy. The Americas unknown until Christopher Columbus’ voyage in 1492 became a major part of the world economy as many European nations colonized much of the land. Large sea trade arose during this time period first by the Portuguese and Spanish and later by the English, French and Dutch. As European countries began exploring the Americas, an exchange of crops, animals, raw materials, diseases and new ideas were exchanged between the Americas and the rest of the world. This is known as the Columbian Exchange. One major component of the Columbian Exchange was the discovery of tobacco. Tobacco was first discovered in the Americas and became as cash crop. It was imported back to Europe, where it became vastly popular. As many middle class Europeans people began smoking, the demand for more tobacco from the Americas increased; colonies were set up to produce tobacco. With the demand for tobacco so high, labor was needed to farm the crop causing slaves to be imported.
Many people would be surprised that the things they associate with certain countries are not native to those lands. Sugar was not originally grown in the Caribbean and cows are not indigenous to the United States. Before the Age of Exploration, a period lasting for centuries with long-extending effects, Europeans had not truly begun to explore Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Even with the fearless adventures of the Vikings, Polynesians, and Ming Chinese, no extreme, lasting difference was created. Once people began exploring outside of their own worlds, great social, political, and economic change was ushered in with the exchange and alteration of people, plants, animals, technology, diseases, religion, and political systems.
It was a time when seafaring European nations were actively seeking a route to the wealthy and powerful Asian civilizations. After Vasco da Gama’s expedition in 1498, Europe was linked to the East Asian nations. Lacking in resources and needing new markets, Europe eagerly began a quest to regulate and dominate the sea trading network. With ships and guns they forced their way into the trading network. Other Europeans were looking to gain Christian converts. Subsequently, also during this Early Modern Period of 1450-1750 the East Asian countries of China and Japan employed a variety of empire/state building strategies that proved to fend off the West.
The trade routes were the communications highways of the ancient world. New goods and raw materials, were transmitted by people moving from one place to another to conduct business (“"Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History”). When the Ottoman Empire took control of Constantinople in 1453, it blocked European access to the area, severely limiting trade. In addition, it also blocked access to North Africa and the Red Sea; two very important trade routes to the Far East (“Begin Exploring the Age of Exploration with This Handy Overview”). The need of goods and resources was a major concern after the Crusade Wars. Europe was slowly starting to become urbanized. Villages were turning into cities and the population was growing rapidly (Cole). The need
The small environment no longer had enough resources to sustain such a large population which motivated them to subdivide and move on. They expanded southward and eastward. They developed seasonal rounds of activity and movement. Climate change expanded the temperate forest throughout North America allowing them to become more familiar with their land. Early Americans. Soon the domestication of plants and animals established. They developed different cultures traditions diets and languages. During the late fifteenth century, Europeans developed the navigational technology and ambitions which allowed them to explore and conquer the world's seas. The Atlantic Ocean once a barrier became a bridge to vast lands and people. The Europeans traveled to the West Indies and India by traveling around Africa. The new discoveries transformed Europe into one of the most dominant continents. European Christians first felt surrounded by their Muslim neighbors. The Muslims were more a more powerful religion extended to North Africa, Southeast Asia, and Central Asia. The Europeans Christians got an opportunity to break out of the Muslim world and spread their beliefs to the newly discovered world and search for the trade riches such as gold, silks, and
The start of the fifteenth century commenced an age when European Empires began to approach global exploration launching a revolutionary age of modernization. Now recognized as the Age of Exploration, this era extended between the fifteenth and seventeenth century or roughly in the years between 1418 and 1620. It is a time when Europe successfully expanded to areas in the Far East, Africa, and the Americas by the determination and nobility of European explorers, particularly Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand Magellan and Vasco da Gama. Developing at the same time as the Renaissance, The Age of Exploration demonstrated many of the same results as the Renaissance, most importantly, the quest to expand religion, profit and power. Religion,profit,
Africans felt the impact of European exploration through the slave trade, the rise of new nations, and the rise of European power in Africa. Europeans entered into the slave trade taking thousands of native Africans from their homelands. Due to profits gained from slave trade, many new African states were settled including the Asante Kingdom and Oyo Empire. Europeans like the British, French, and Dutch
Global interaction has changed the early modern world because it brought the Americas into the world of trade system. For example, trade in luxury items across the Silk road became a world wide spread. The Silk road became a network of trades routes across Asia, North, Northeast Africa and Europe. Silk became one of the most major products traded from China due to it’s softness and luxury. The world became truly global because during 1450, the Silk Road, was an important main route to get to places, and to sell and exchange items. However, not only
The immediate cause of the European voyages of discovery was the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks in 1453. While Egypt and Italian city-state of Venice was left with a monopoly on ottoman trade for spices and eastern goods it allowed Portugal and Spain to break the grip by finding an Atlantic route. Portugal took the lead in the Atlantic exploration because of the reconquest from the Muslims, good finances, and their long standing seafaring traditions. In dealing with agriculture, The Portuguese discovered Brazil on accident, but they concentrated on the Far East and used Brazil as a ground for criminals. Pernambuco, the first area to be settled, became the world’s largest sugar producer by 1550. Pernambuco was a land of plantations and Indian slaves. While the market for sugar grew so did the need for slaves. Therefore the African Slave start became greatly into effect. Around 1511 Africans began working as slaves in the Americas. In 1492, Columbus embarked on his voyage from Spain to the Americas. The Euro...
The impact of European expansion into Southeast Asia traces its roots back to the late 15th century with a series of voyages that sought a sea passage to India in the hope of establishing direct trade between Europe and Asia in spices. Before 1500 European economies were largely self-sufficient, only supplemented by minor trade with Asia and Africa. Within the next century, however, European and Asian economies were slowly becoming integrated through the rise of new global trade routes; and the early thrust of European political power, commerce, and culture in Asia gave rise to a growing trade in lucrative commodities—a key development in the rise of today's modern world capitalist economy. The European expansion in Asia was not only for trading