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Between the 15th and 17th centuries, European sailors explored new lands, met new people, and connected different parts of the world through a network of trade. This time period is often called the Age of Exploration.
This map shows some of the important voyages during the Age of Exploration.
From ships to trains to planes
Throughout the Age of Exploration (1500s–1700s), merchants used ships like this one to transport goods and people between Europe, Asia, and the Americas. These ships were powered by the wind and were relatively slow. They traveled between four and eight miles per hour, so only a few trips between continents could be made each year.
In the 1800s, inventors in England created the steam locomotive. Steam locomotives traveled an average of 45 miles per hour—though some reached speeds of 124 miles per hour. The steam locomotive became a popular way to transport people and goods across long distances in shorter amounts of time.
In the 1900s, inventors in the United States created the first working airplane. Today, jet planes travel more than 500 miles per hour and can cover distances in a fraction of the time it took sailing ships and steam locomotives.
Before the Age of Exploration began, Europeans were already trading goods with societies in Africa and Asia.
Europeans imported spices, such as cinnamon and nutmeg, from South and Southeast Asia.
Many Europeans thought these spices could be used as medicine to treat diseases. They also used them to add different flavors to food.
Wealthy Europeans imported silk from China. Wearing clothes made from silk became a status symbol. People use status symbols to display their social class. Today, many people use fancy cars or designer clothing as status symbols.
Salt arrived in Europe from many parts of the world, including from mines in the deserts of Africa. Salt was a valuable trade item in Europe. Salting food, such as meat, helped keep it from rotting.
Europeans imported gold from regions such as West Africa. Gold is a precious metal that was often used as money. European rulers could use gold to build up large armies.
Before the Age of Exploration began, goods like silk, spices, gold, and salt arrived in Europe through a network of trade routes. Many trade routes were thousands of miles long and crossed deserts, mountains, and oceans. Look at the map that shows some of the most important trade routes.
The Silk Road
During the Middle Ages, China and Europe were connected by a network of trade routes called the Silk Road. Merchants would carry goods along sections of the route and then hand them off to other traders, who would carry them forward. Eventually, goods made it all the way to Europe.
Trans-Saharan trade routes
Goods also reached Europe from West Africa. These goods had to cross a large, hot desert: the Sahara. The desert's harsh conditions made this trip dangerous, but merchants were able to transport their goods using camels.
In the 1400s, Europe was made up of many independent states. These states often competed with each other for resources, including imported goods from Africa and Asia.
Discovering new trade routes gave rulers an advantage. Their states could have easier and more secure access to valuable trade goods from around the world. However, trade routes had some disadvantages, too.
The Black Death
In the 1300s, many parts of Europe were hit by the Black Death. This was a name for several different diseases, the most famous of which was the bubonic plague.
The bubonic plague was carried by fleas. In the 1300s, rats carrying infected fleas hitched rides on ships going to Europe from Asia. The disease swept through Europe. Historians estimate that the disease cut Europe's population in half!
During the Age of Exploration, Portugal was the first European state to establish many new trading routes.
This map shows that Portugal had advantages in discovering new lands and sailing routes for the following reasons:
It was next to the Atlantic Ocean. Portuguese sailors had easy access to the Atlantic Ocean. They were more familiar with wind patterns and ocean currents than people from many other European states. This knowledge later helped them sail far from home and back again successfully.
It was already engaged in overseas trade. Portuguese ships were already involved in trade connecting southern and northern Europe. So, Portuguese sailors knew about shipping and navigation techniques that would later help them sail farther out to sea.
Portugal is located on the Iberian Peninsula.
For nearly 700 years, Christian and Muslim kingdoms fought each other for control over territory on the Iberian Peninsula. These maps show which kingdoms controlled land from 790 to 1300.
The Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula
In the year 711, Muslim armies invaded the Iberian Peninsula and took over a lot of land from Christian kingdoms. From the year 722 to 1492, different Christian rulers fought many battles to take this land back. These battles are known collectively as the Reconquista, or the "Reconquest," because the rulers were trying to re-conquer the land.
The Spanish Inquisition
After completing the Reconquista in 1492, the Spanish monarchs made all Jews and Muslims convert to Christianity. The monarchs ordered those who did not convert to leave Spain. They also set up trials to determine whether people had really converted. These trials were collectively known as the Inquisition.
After the Reconquista, the king of Portugal wanted to conquer more land for his Christian kingdom. Look at the map of Europe and North Africa in the early 1400s.
Why did the king of Portugal want to conquer Ceuta?
King John I of Portugal had several motivations for invading Ceuta:
to capture more land from Muslim leaders
to make it difficult for Muslim armies to invade Portugal
to access trade goods flowing through Ceuta
A famous Portuguese prince known as Henry the Navigator led the expedition that conquered Ceuta in 1415. Historians use a variety of sources to understand the conquest of Ceuta. Some of these sources are primary sources, which means they were made during the time period being studied. A primary source would be a letter written by Henry the Navigator.
Who was Henry the Navigator?
Henry the Navigator was the third son of the Portuguese king, John I. He encouraged his father to conquer Ceuta, and ultimately led the expedition that conquered the region.
Although Henry never became king, he sponsored many voyages to explore the coast of West Africa. Henry did not go on many of those voyages himself, but he did receive a percentage of the profits that sailors brought back.
After conquering Ceuta, the Portuguese continued exploring down the coast of Africa. They hoped to set up direct trade routes with West African kingdoms south of Ceuta. One kingdom the Portuguese wanted to trade with was the Mali Empire.
The Mali Empire in West Africa
The Mali Empire was an expansive empire that existed in West Africa for over three hundred years (ca. 1235–1600). It was rich in gold and salt, and it was an important center of global trade.
The Mali Empire was also an important center of education, arts, and culture. Scholars from far away came to study at Timbuktu, a leading city in the Mali Empire.
Timbuktu today
People from all over the world still visit Timbuktu to view its unique architecture and historical sites.
To trade directly with West Africa, the Portuguese sailed farther south than they had ever sailed before. At that time, ships used winds and ocean currents, or the flow of wind and of seawater in a certain direction, to cross the ocean.
This map shows the direction of the winds and the ocean currents between Portugal and Africa.
The map shows that currents and trade winds in the north Atlantic Ocean move in a clockwise direction. So, when sailing from West African ports back to Portugal, ships traveled against the winds and against ocean currents.
Sailing ships rely on currents and wind for propulsion, or the force that moves the ship forward. When their ships went against the winds and current, sailors had to row oars. Rowing was hard work.
In order to sail from West Africa back to Portugal, the Portuguese had to use a different shape for their sails. This shape would help them go against the prevailing winds that were trying to push them back towards Africa.
What were ships in the 1400s like?
In the 1400s, the Portuguese designed a new kind of ship, called a caravel. Caravels were designed to sail against the wind more easily. For example, they had triangle-shaped sails, called lanteen sails. These sails formed a sharper angle with respect to the ship, which allowed the ship to sail into, or against, the wind more efficiently.
Compare the caravel's sails in the picture above to the sails on this ship, called a barque. Before the caravel, most ships had sails like the barque's. Most of the barque's sails are long and rectangular. The sails are also perpendicular to the ship's body. This angle makes it more difficult for the ship to sail into the wind.
Portuguese sailors relied on coastal landmarks to determine their location. But, there are no landmarks on the open ocean.
How did sailors use the sun and stars to navigate their ships?
Portuguese sailors used the position of the sun and the stars to navigate on the open ocean. They made measurements by using a piece of navigational technology called an astrolabe. An astrolabe would use the sun and stars to help sailors determine their location on the open ocean.
How do you use an astrolabe?
Sailors used astrolabes to measure the angle between the horizon and a fixed point in the sky, such as the sun or stars. This angle would change depending on how far north or south they were on the earth. So, sailors could use this measurement to figure out their latitude, or how far away they were from the equator.
Events in the 1440s:
The Portuguese reached the coast of Guinea in West Africa. They wanted to obtain goods including gold, peppers, and salt.
At first, the Portuguese tried using violence to get the goods.
The West Africans successfully fought back against the Portuguese.
After they were defeated, the Portuguese decided to negotiate trade deals to get the goods they wanted.
In the early 1400s, Europeans began growing sugarcane on many islands in the Atlantic Ocean. Growing and harvesting sugarcane is difficult and dangerous work, and few people wanted to do it. As a result, there was a shortage of workers.
Sugar plantations
The Portuguese set up sugar plantations on the island of Madeira, in the Atlantic Ocean. They brought enslaved people to this island from West Africa and made them grow, harvest, and process the sugarcane. Working on sugarcane plantations was dangerous and difficult work, and enslaved Africans were treated harshly. For example, overseers used physical violence, such as striking enslaved people with whips, to make them work long hours.
Slavery spreads to the Americas
When the Portuguese arrived in the Americas, they established plantations like the ones on Madeira. They used captured Africans to work these plantations as well.
Slavery lasted in the Americas for nearly 400 years. Brazil, a former Portuguese colony, was the last country in the Americas to outlaw slavery in 1888.
Life during the Age of Exploration
The Age of Exploration was both an exciting and dangerous time. The commitment to religion and promise of riches motivated Portuguese sailors to explore far south down the African coast. The sailors spent months at sea and risked death from illness, starvation, or attack. Many did not return home. But their travels dramatically changed history. The sailors' voyages linked different parts of the world together in systems of trade.
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