Age Of Exploration Essay

The Age of Exploration was a time of daunting expeditions across land and sea in Europe that lasted from the early 15 century to the 17th century. During this time period, countless places, such as America and several inventions influenced how Europeans believed. Individuals utilized these inventions to better their understanding of how the world functioned so that they could navigate in a more accurate way. Three of these fundamental inventions were the caravel, the magnetic compass, and the astrolabe, which all served to transmute Europe’s sea trading into a more successful avenue that provided Europe with new opportunities for development and treasures. The technological advances that aided in the launch of the Age of Exploration
are the caravel, magnetic compass, and the astrolabe. A caravel is an effortlessly maneuverable ship that has a gently sloping bow, which allowed for speedy travel over lengthy distances. The magnetic compass is a device with a metal needle mounted in the middle of it that can spin freely. Individuals used the direction of the sun overhead to tell if the needle was pointing north or south. The third essential instrument for exploring is the astrolabe, a brass circle that showed how the sky appeared at a specific time of day. The caravel provided explorers with an inexpensive, swift way to reach their destination, while the compass and astrolabe fashioned a sense of direction and location. Overall, the caravel, the magnetic compass, and the astrolabe greatly improved travel and caused the Age of Exploration to flourish.
As a result of these technological advances, Portugal became Asia’s chief European trading partner, and helped Christopher Columbus discover America. The Portuguese traveled by sea trade, which cost less than overland business. This decreased the price of the Asian spices the Portuguese sold because ships could hold bulk shipments, which permitted more selling of the products. In addition to bulk shipments, sea trade provided merchants with a new method to access far away islands, where they could make more profit. An example of a traveler who used all three of these scientific tools was Christopher Columbus. Columbus was one of the first Italian adventurers who wanted to find a shorter route to Asia in the 1400’s. This sailor believed that if he sailed west from Spain, he would reach Asia much sooner. Christopher reached the shores of America in the year of 1492, instead of the Indian ones he desired. The journey to America was implemented by the magnetic compass, caravel, and astrolabe, and he may have become lost at sea without them. The magnetic compass presented him which direction he must voyage in and the caravel kept his men safe and the travel at a quick pace. The astrolabe mapped out where the sun was, which provided Columbus with the information needed to find the angle of the sun. This allowed him to find his location in degrees latitude. The caravel, magnetic compass, and the astrolabe truly made a difference in European trade and conquests.
Equally imperative was the impact of exploration that caused the nations to exchange their possessions, ideas, and cultures, the rivalry for the colonies to increase, and the Europe’s economy to alter. An example of an exchange was the Columbian Exchange. This was when the hemispheres swapped their plants, animals, technology and diseases with each other when beings
traveled.
Due to this process, the Columbian Exchange murdered 20 million Native Americans. The Spanish and the Portuguese spread their culture to Native Americans by converting them to the Roman Catholic Faith and Arabia introduced part of their culture through coffee. Correspondingly, new trading system, called triangular trade developed between the Americas, Africa, and Europe. African slaves farmed sugar cane in the West Indies, and then they shipped the sugar cane to Europe. The third leg of the trade was when cut-rate European manufactured goods paid for the enslaved Africans. To obtain more riches and control over land, countries competed for colonies. First, in Africa, East Asia, and Africa, the Portuguese constructed trading posts along these countries’ banks. Consequently, Spain started mining for silver and gold in Mexico and Peru, while English and Dutch settlers set up colonies in North America. With these conquests for riches and lands, Europe’s economy transformed into a mercantilism based one. Mercantilism economy declared that a country’s power depended on its wealth. A country could gain wealth by finding gold and silver, and by selling more goods than it bought. Colonies facilitated this by giving land for Europe’s quest for more wealth and providing labor through the citizens. The investigation of new lands exposed Europeans to several different cultures, which caused competition for colonies, uncommon concepts, and a more materialistic
Europe. To summarize, the technological endeavors, such as the magnetic compass of Europe significantly improved this country’s ways of travel, which lead to a more advanced, powerful state of European. The caravel, astrolabe, and magnetic compass aided in the foundation of the Age of Exploration and affected the lives of millions of Europeans, Hispanics, Native Americas, etc. The significance of these events was that without these gadgets, Europeans would have never set foot in America for years to come and would remain in the eastern hemisphere, not knowing that a whole part of the world was out there, begging to be discovered.