Global Exploration and Global Empires 1500-1700, Research Paper Example

As Europe was beginning to evolve, they embarked on an age of Enlightenment in which people started to think more outside the box. Many of the greatest minds wanted to know more about the undiscovered parts of the world. During the 1500s, Portuguese and Spanish began to embark on numerous global voyages with the focus on exploring on uncharted lands. There were the first explorers in Europe to launch their overseas voyages. There have been many great voyages in the world’s history that have brought on some of the biggest discoveries. Some of the greatest voyages came from Portuguese explorers in which, “Portugal’s voyages of exploration turned a small country on the periphery of Europe into a major world power, establishing a unique empire that was based on trade rather than territory. (Smithsonian, n.d)  This includes the voyages of Christopher Columbus, Ponce de Leon, and several other European and Portuguese explorers that have made famous voyages. The purpose of this paper is to answer the question of the main reasons in which explorers went on early voyages during the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

Global expansion was one of the driving forces during the 15^th century in which motivated the European states to expand their empires. The voyages were momentous events to understanding the world around them, as many people began to migrate to different areas of the world. Most of the early Spanish and Portuguese voyages were motivated by the want to expand trade, acquire gold, and spreading Catholicism to others they meet. Essentially, trade was one of the primary reasons to set off on voyages, as the leaders of the empires wanted to acquire more wealth. Globalization, the want for answering questions dealing with sciences, and the intermingling of races drew curiosity to many leaders.  Both the Spanish and the Portuguese had the advantage of being the leader due to their knowledge of Arabic, astronomy, math, and geography. According to research the prime actors in the Age of Exploration were Portugal, The Netherlands, Spain, France, and England. The Netherlands and Portugal were interested in establishing their empires, and global commerce and trade. (Saylor 2012) While Spain and England wanted to conquer and colonize the newly discovered territories. (Saylor 2012) The leader in early voyages were the Portuguese that were considered the most advanced maritime nation during that period. They usually focused on heading south and arriving in Asia, due to their superiority of their ships and knowledge of nautical navigation. The Portuguese had the knowledge to sail into the wind instead of sailing against it, which afforded them the advantage of creating substantial trading channels with China and India first. (Smithsonian Institution, n.d) According to the Smithsonian and other research, their voyages led them to the west coast of Africa, east to India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Japan, China, and west to Brazil. (Smithsonian, n.d) Most of the early voyages were marked by setting up trading posts with the English colonies in the United States.

England was a central part in the economy at the time, they were the figure of trading and providing supplies such as food, weapons, ships, and soldiers. England was one of the premier places in which processed and manufactured raw materials, where they would give to the colonies to sell. They voyages were commercial in selling cargo, as they built coasts on the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans.  From these, they were transporting soldiers, missionaries, and merchants along the trade routes.  The voyages of the Portuguese helped to map the uncharted territories, as cartographers created maps and globes that documented the world as they traveled, and artists created images of the artifacts and exotic animals they encountered. From these images and documents Europe’s princes created encyclopedic collections that were the background for several modern museums. (Smithsonian, n.d) Among their stops in trying to establish trade and convert people to Christianity, they found riches in the form of gold in Africa, and they saw profits in their crops such as sugarcane, and took part in the global slave trade. Vasco Da Gama’s crew was one of the firs to circumnavigate the globe, which helped to open up opportunity for globalization and trade.

One of the more famous voyages happened towards the end of the 15^th century in 1492, as Christopher Columbus set off, with the support of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain to sail west across the Atlantic in order to find a better direct trading route to Japan and China. (Princeton University, n.d) Spain explorers set out on their voyages in the name of the monarch. However, as history dictates he never made it in that direction, and instead embarked on a great discovery of the Americas, which unfortunately set a series of events in motion to the demise of the indigenous people. Many of the early voyages were financed by private businesses, “members of the noble or merchant class typically funded these early expeditions.” (Saylor, 2012) When he came to Mexico, strife and disease spread quickly, and other fallacies in which changed the course of the Americas’ history. While his initial reaction was to spread Christianity to people in hopes of making them less savage, however, after the locals killed the colonists, Columbus set to enslave them. Due to these new discoveries and the establishment of colonies, the new labor force was made up of indentured servants, Native Americans, and African slaves. The Spanish voyages were one of the first to enslave Africans to the Americas, the population of the indigenous population were quickly dying out from the smallpox and other diseases, and being severely overworked.

The Spanish monarch wanted to acquire American Silver, while also seeking out other luxury goods. Their quest to conquer and colonize began the trans-Atlantic slave trade to the Americas, as they began to colonize the Americas. They were considered Conquistadors that determine to rule over the Inca and Aztec people. From the actions of Columbus, other Spanish explorers followed in their patterns of conquering and colonizing the Natives, forcing them into enslavement to pick the crops that they would then trade and sell with the colonies set up in the Americas. They discovered luxury goods such as silver and gold, as well as spices they sent back to the King. The missionaries that were regularly with the Spanish set up schools, missions, and hospitals, that saw the conversion of thousands of natives to Christianity. The private companies and monarchs that funded the explorations help in influencing the explorers to implement their language, culture, government, and religion into the new colonies. The Spanish wanted to expand their wealth, and create a nation in which the Spanish dominated much of the world.

The Spanish and European voyages were essential in the progression of the world’s development. Sustainably it opened up the minds and knowledge of the European people, who believe that the world was flat, and that other people actually did not exist. Knowledge in Europe was minimum of places beyond the European boundaries. This lack of knowledge helped in supporting Magellan’s and Columbus voyages to find new routes to the Far East.  As these two cultures began to navigate the oceans they were able to discover new technologies, cultures, and knowledge that was passed down through time. These new technological discoveries helped to forge voyages into newly discovered territories. For both the Spanish and the Portuguese, their early voyages were dictated by religious, economic, and political incentives. The Spanish wanted to please the monarch in finding luxury goods, gold and silver, and conquer new civilizations. The Portuguese were motivated by wanted to build and expand their empire, they wanted to find profitable trade routes, and spread the Christian faith. From these voyages, new discoveries that aided military technology included, gunpowder, profitable crops, and the spread of new diseases. As history will tell although these were great discoveries, it was also challenging parts of history.

References

Princeton University. (N.d). Spanish Colonization of the Americas. http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Spanish_colonization_of_the_Americas.html

Saylor Foundation. (2012). The European Voyages of Exploration: Introduction. Saylor. Retrieved from http://www.saylor.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/HIST201-3.1.1-EuropeanExplorationIntro-FINAL.pdf

Smithsonian Institution. (n.d). Portugal and the World in the 16th and 17th Centuries. http://www.asia.si.edu/encompassingtheglobe/