Age of Exploration
Passage to Asia
• Had been safe while the
Mongols were ruling
Asia
• Mongol Empire fell in
1453
– Europeans had to find
another route to Asia
Break the…
• Grip!
and walk
away!
• Europeans
want to
break the…
Break the…
• If you are the
only one that
sells something
or controls it,
you have a… ???
Passage to Asia
• Sea Route
– Faster
– Carry more goods
– Safer
Why Asia?
Mr. W’s
Lucky
Silk
Boxers

Turn to your partner & tell
them as many Asian trade
goods as you can:
Henry the Navigator
• 1394-1460
• Portuguese Prince
• Doesn’t actually travel
– Hires people
• Expeditions down the
West African Coast
Henry the Navigator
• Results
– Spreads Christianity
– Creates maps of Africa
– Opens up trade routes
• 1418
– Opens sailing school and
observatory
– Navigation, map-making
and science
Bartholomew Dias
• Portuguese sailor
• 1488
– Sailed around the southern
most tip of Africa
– First European known to
do that
– Discovered the Cape of
Good Hope
– Allowed Europeans to cut
out middle men for trade
– Crew insisted on turning
around
On a new map:
•Label for
Bartholomew Dias
•Draw in Dias’
Route
Christopher Columbus
• Italian who explored for
Spain
– Hired by Ferdinand and
Isabella
• Set out for the “Indies”
• Lands on San Salvador
on October 12, 1492
– “New World”
On a new map:
• Label for
Christopher
Columbus
•Draw in Columbus’
Route
Vasco da Gama
• Portuguese Sailor
• Finds a passage for
Portugal around Africa
– 1st trip = takes Indian
slaves back with trade
goods
– 2nd trip = takes armed
ships and kills hundreds
of Muslim traders
On a new map:
•Label for Vasco da
Gama
•Draw in Vasco da
Gama’s Route
Pedro Cabral
• Portuguese nobleman
• Sent to follow da
Gama’s route
– Swings too far west and
lands in Brazil
• First European in Brazil
– Claims it for Portugal
• Continues on to India
– Returns with only 4 of
the 13 ships he starts
with
On a new map:
• Label for Pedro
Cabral
•Draw in Cabral’s
Route
Ferdinand Magellan
• Portuguese descent
– Works for Spain
• First person to travel
across the Pacific Ocean
• Crew circumnavigates the
globe
– 1519 starts with 257
– 1522 returns with 18
people
• Converted people to
Christianity
On a new map:
• Label for Ferdinand Magellan
•Draw in Magellan’s Route
Treaty of Tordesillas
• June 1494
• Split the world
– Eastern World for
Portugal and Western
World for Spain
• Spain had to figure out
how to get to Asia
• Brazil is the only part of
the Americas reserved
for Portugal
On your map:
•Draw in and label the Treaty of Tordesillas line
•Chose two colors – shade in the areas that belong to Spain and
the areas that belong to Portugal in the Americas
•Create a key identifying the colors you have chosen