European countries explored the world for three main reasons: to spread Christianity, gain new territory, and acquire wealth. Portugal was well-suited for exploration due to its coastal location and navigational advances led by Prince Henry. Their explorations resulted in establishing trade routes throughout Asia and colonizing parts of Africa and discovering Brazil. Spain's empire expanded through conquistadors like Pizarro who conquered the Incan Empire, and through Columbus' initial contact with North America which sparked further European colonization of the region.

1. European Exploration
10/4/13

2. What did Europe want?
European countries explored
the world for 3 reasons…
 spread Christianity
 gain territory
 get rich

3. Portugal’s Empire

4. Portuguese Exploration begins
 Portugal was a good base for
sailors because…
 It has a lot of shoreline
 It had many harbors/ports
 Many rivers to travel on that
flowed westward to the
Atlantic Ocean.

5. Portuguese Exploration begins
 Portugal, due to their many
trading partners, was a center
of knowledge and
technological development.
 Rather than fight across Spain
to trade with other European
countries, Portugal traded by
sea.

6. Prince Henry the Navigator
 Prince Henry coordinated the
mathematical and navigational
learning of Portugal
 Encouraged Portugal to
expand the size of their empire
 In 1412, he ordered the first
Portuguese expeditions to the
Africa

7. Institute of Sagres
 The Institute of Sagres was an
important research center in
Portugal where several
breakthrough discoveries in
mathematics and naval
technology occurred.

8. Institute of Sagres

9. Technology Advances!
 the compass
 the astrolabe
 the cross-staff
 the caravel

10. Results of Portuguese
Exploration
 The Portuguese
 discovered an eastern route to
India (around the Cape of Good
Hope).
 discovered Brazil.
 established trade routes
throughout most of southern
Asia.
 colonized selected areas of
Africa.

11. Spanish Empire

12. Christopher Columbus
 Christopher Columbus (1451 –
1506) was an Italian navigator,
colonizer and explorer.
 He sailed for King Ferdinand and
Queen Isabella of Spain.
 What was Columbus' motivation
for Exploration?

13. Christopher Columbus
 His voyages began a period
where European countries began
expanding their empires.
 Note: He was NOT the first
Europeans to reach the
Americas. He’s important
because, after his trip, more
Europeans began traveling to the
New World.

14. Christopher Columbus
 Columbus
initiated contact
between
Europeans and
native Americans.
 He called them
“Indians” since
he thought he
was in India.

15. Columbus thought the Earth
was half its actual size.

16. Worldwide Spanish Empire

17. Conquistadors
 After Columbus’ expeditions,
Spanish Conquistadors (explorers
and soldiers from Portugal &
France) increased
Spanish land by
conquering American
empires like the
Aztecs and the Incas.
Francisco Pizarro conquered
the Incan Empire in the
Andes of South America

18. The Three G’s
 The Spanish looked to expand
their empire for 3 reasons:
 God—The Spanish brought
Catholicism to America, forcing
natives to convert.
 Glory—Individuals like Cortez and
Pizarro became wealthy national
heroes.
 Gold—Spain became the most powerful
nation in the world due to
the gold of the Americas.

19. British Empire
AKA English Empire

20. Beginnings…
 The British Empire began in 1496
when King Henry VII authorized
John Cabot to lead a voyage to
discover a route to Asia.
 Cabot sailed in 1497, and
successfully made landfall on the
coast of Canada, but did not try to
establish a colony at that time.

21. The Americas
 Rivalry between
Spain and England
led England to
send English
privateers (fancy
word for pirates) to
attack Spanish
ships and ports,
and steal Spanish
treasure from the
Americas.
Sir Francis Drake
made his name
stealing Spanish gold.

22. British America - 1750
 In 1607, Jamestown became
England’s first colony.
 It eventually became the Colony
of Virginia, the first of the 13
colonies.
 Soon, the Caribbean became
England's most important
colonies due to sugar plantations.

23. The Sun Never Sets on the
British Empire…
 Eventually, after colonizing
parts of Africa and Asia, the
British Empire became the
largest empire in history.

24. The Sun Never Sets on the
British Empire…
 At the peak of its power, it was
often said that “The sun never
sets on the British Empire"
because it was so big that the
sun was always shining on at
least one of its many colonies.

25. One-fourth of the World
 By 1921, the British Empire
controlled about 458 million
people (a quarter of the world's
population at that time).
 It covered about 14.2 million
square miles, about a quarter of
Earth's total land area.

26. What’s it Mean?
Britain’s Cecil Rhodes.

27. The End of the Empire
 By WWII, the British Empire became too
large, and they could no longer control it.
 British territories today

28. French Empire

29. French Empire
 France had two different empires.
The first (1608-1803), was in the
Americas. The second (1830-1960),
was in Africa and Asia.

30. New France
 In 1603, Samuel de Champlain left
France and traveled into the St.
Lawrence River.
 In 1608, Champlain founded
Quebec City in present-day Canada
with the intention of
making the area part of
the French colonial
empire.
Samuel de Champlain

31. Quebec
 Champlain's Habitation de
Quebec, built as a permanent fur
trading outpost, was where he
intended to forge a trading and
military alliance with the native
people of Canada.

32. Fur Trading
 Quebec’s people traded their furs
for many French goods such as
metal objects, guns, alcohol, and
clothing.

33. End of American Holdings
 France lost Canada in the Seven
Years War to Britain in 1763.
 France sold the Louisiana
Territory to the U.S. in 1803.

34. Dutch Empire

35. Background
 In the late 1500s, the Dutch
enjoyed one of the highest
standards of living.
 They grew rich through trade.
 By this time, they had thrown off
Spanish control and began a
period of rapid expansion.

36. Why explore?
 The Netherlands is small, with
little room for farming or
manufacturing.
 The Dutch had 4 goals for
their exploration…

37. Dutch aims for exploration
 more land
 more power
 more wealth
 break the Portuguese trade
monopoly in Southeast Asia

38. Dutch Explorers
 Henry Hudson
 explored upstate New York and
Canada for the VOC
 Peter Minuit
 established the city of New
Amsterdam (present-day New
York City)
Official
flag and
seal of
NYC

39. Where the Dutch went
 Caribbean & South America
 Netherlands Antilles, Virgin
Islands, Tobago, Chile, & Brazil
 North America
 New Netherland
 Fort Orange
(present-day Albany, NY)
 New Amsterdam
(present-day New York City)

40. Where the Dutch went
 Africa
 South Africa (lost to the British)
 Asia
 parts of India
 Spice Islands
 Indonesia

41. Benefits for the Dutch
 removed power from rival
states (especially Portugal)
 huge economic boost
(especially from the spice
trade)
 land for agriculture