Sea Routes Dbq

“I see land!  We have arrived.” A crew of explorers had finally reached land after sailing for over 10 months. They were sent on a exploration mission to find a new sea route that would stretch from Europe to Asia. Exploration had recently become a popular thing in the 1400s to 1500s due to the desire to expand trade and find new sea routes. Throughout the previous years, Europeans did not explore much due to the lack of technology but when new tools were created, it made exploration much more accessible.

    One of the main reasons for exploration was the demand for goods and supplies. In this time, humans could exchange resources between countries and places in one way: trade. Trade is a way to exchange goods of equal value so that each side of the deal gets something they need and gives up something they don’t. Different countries offered different goods to trade depending on what resources they had available. The goods obtained through trade were used in a variety of ways such as cooking, building and decorating. Some examples of the objects that were traded were spices, gold, silver and dyes.

In order for trade to occur, there had to be a fast and efficient way to exchange goods and this is why sea routes became so important.

Sea routes were used by sailors to find new trading partners.  However during this time, travel by sea, which was mainly in unchartered territory, was very dangerous.  In fact, most voyages were quite lengthy and often resulted in fatalities. Since goods were in such high demand, sailors needed the fastest and most efficient way to get to their destination. The most difficult route was to get from Europe to Asia. Previously, people would travel by land between these two countries but it was long and inefficient. The need for shorter trade routes resulted in people investing in finding a way to get to Asia by

sea.

Fortunately, with the help of technology, exploring became a lot safer and more efficient. In the previous eras, there was not a lot of gear to help people survive when they were out in the middle of the ocean.  So when objects like the compass were invented people became more willing to venture out of their comfort zone.  To help explorers in their travels, the compass, astrolabe and back-staff were created. The compass is a device to help sailors find the direction that they are traveling. It was very popular and is still used to this day. The next invention is called the astrolabe. It was invented by the Greeks and used to calculate the latitude.  Lastly, the Europeans developed the back-staff in 1594 which uses the sun to help determine the latitude. These new tools made it safer and easier for the sailors to reach their destination.

    In conclusion, the main reason for exploration was trade. Trade resulted in new goods which originated from different countries. Advanced technologies, such as the compass, made it safer for exploration to occur and finding new sea routes made exchanges between countries easier and more efficient. Without exploration, the world would be a different place and many day to day goods that we take for granted would not be available to us.