The Age of Exploration and the Commercial Revolution
I. Factors That Encouraged European Overseas Exploration
- A. The Renaissance Spirit of Individualism
- 1. The explorers embodied the same spirit of individualism and curiosity that characterized Renaissance artists and humanist scholars.
- 2. The renewed interest in ancient writings that inspired Renaissance artists also gave the explorers new knowledge about mathematics, astronomy, and geography.
- B. The Search For Spices and Profits
- 1. The Crusades helped stimulate a growing demand for Indian pepper, Chinese ginger, and Malukan cloves and nutmeg.
- 2. By the fourteenth century, European demand for Asian spices and luxury items far exceeded the supply. Muslims and Venetians controlled trade routes to the East.
- 3. The new monarchs in Spain and Portugal wanted direct access to the lucrative Asian markets.
- C. The Desire to Cultivate Cash Crops
- 1. A strong and growing demand for sugar motivated Europeans to look for lands suitable for cultivating this prized cash crop.
- 2. Europeans hoped to find lands where they could establish sugar plantations.
- D. The Desire to Spread Christianity
- 1. The Crusades left a legacy of hostility between Christians and Muslims.
- 2. Led by Spain and Portugal, Europeans hoped to reconquer northern Africa from the Muslims.
- 3. Europeans believed they had a duty to spread Christianity.
- E. The Ability to Use New Technology
- 1. The newly designed caravel had square sails for running before the wind and triangular sails for tacking into the wind.
- 2. The magnetic compass and the astrolabe enabled mariners to determine their location at sea.
