Significance of the Age of Discovery
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The Voyages of Exploration were incredibly significant in beginning a new era of human history. It was about more than geographical and navigational discovery: it represented the opening of a new book of knowledge. By pioneering new oceanic routes or by capturing existing networks of maritime commerce, the voyages of discovery laid the basis for a global system of trade, much of it in European hands (Arnold, 3).
Mapping represented a significant step forward in the intellectual development of human beings. The Age of Discovery is the age in which its events caused significant progress in having a more accurate understanding of the geography of the world. In a few decades, the way the Europeans saw the world had been completely transformed. These discoveries and travels allowed for much more accurate maps of the world to be created. Continents were discovered that had remained previously unknown, such as North America. In 1507, German cartographer Martin Waldseemuller produced a globular world map and a large 12- panel world map using information from Columbus and Vespucci’s travels. Both of these maps beared the first use of the name “America”, after Amerigo Vespucci’s discovery of the land in In 1502. Later revisions of this map in 1513 labelled the continent as “Terra Incognita” or “unknown land”, but despite this correction, the original suggestion took hold. North America was originally referred to as the Indies in documents for some time, but eventually called America as well.
Mapping represented a significant step forward in the intellectual development of human beings. The Age of Discovery is the age in which its events caused significant progress in having a more accurate understanding of the geography of the world. In a few decades, the way the Europeans saw the world had been completely transformed. These discoveries and travels allowed for much more accurate maps of the world to be created. Continents were discovered that had remained previously unknown, such as North America. In 1507, German cartographer Martin Waldseemuller produced a globular world map and a large 12- panel world map using information from Columbus and Vespucci’s travels. Both of these maps beared the first use of the name “America”, after Amerigo Vespucci’s discovery of the land in In 1502. Later revisions of this map in 1513 labelled the continent as “Terra Incognita” or “unknown land”, but despite this correction, the original suggestion took hold. North America was originally referred to as the Indies in documents for some time, but eventually called America as well.
Universalis Cosmographia, Waldseemüller's 1507 world map which was the first to show the Americas separate from Asia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Waldseemuller_map_2.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Waldseemuller_map_2.jpg
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The improvement in sea navigation and general knowledge of direction can be greatly credited to the Voyages of Exploration. Most of the expeditions seem to have begun pretty blindly, with limited to no knowledge of what they might reach upon setting sail. Christopher Columbus’ decision to sail west from Europe to reach India and Asia signifys how North America was a completely unknown landmass to the Europeans. It is actually significantly impressive how these explorers and their crews were brave enough to set sail, or managed to reach land at all with their lack of knowledge as well as primitive navigational equipment.
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The search for trade was a major push factor for the expeditions to take place, and the voyages did reap strong economic growth. By pioneering new oceanic routes or by capturing existing networks of maritime commerce, the voyages of discovery laid the basis for a global system of trade, much of it in European hands (Arnold, 3).
The trigger of the Age of Discovery is linked to trade itself. The Constantinople empire fell to the Turks in 1453, and the overland spice routes between Asia and Europe crumbled. The prospect of establishing a spice trade via an ocean route opened up new economic possibilities for any European nation able to master the seas. For those willing to assume the risks, the rewards of an oceanic spice trade, combined with control over the worlds economy, were irresistible and thus, the voyages began. Vasco de Gama of Portugal was the first to reach India by sea, and the Portuguese Empire was the first to benefit from the spice trade.
As more of the world was discovered by different explorers, spices were not the only commodity brought back to Europe. The Columbian Exchange trading system was inaugurated. Native plants, animals, and diseases were exchanged in trading system set up between the New World and Old World, in what can be seen in a “triangle trade system” as depicted below. The results of this exchange recast the biology of both regions, and altered the history of the world (McNeill, 1).
The trigger of the Age of Discovery is linked to trade itself. The Constantinople empire fell to the Turks in 1453, and the overland spice routes between Asia and Europe crumbled. The prospect of establishing a spice trade via an ocean route opened up new economic possibilities for any European nation able to master the seas. For those willing to assume the risks, the rewards of an oceanic spice trade, combined with control over the worlds economy, were irresistible and thus, the voyages began. Vasco de Gama of Portugal was the first to reach India by sea, and the Portuguese Empire was the first to benefit from the spice trade.
As more of the world was discovered by different explorers, spices were not the only commodity brought back to Europe. The Columbian Exchange trading system was inaugurated. Native plants, animals, and diseases were exchanged in trading system set up between the New World and Old World, in what can be seen in a “triangle trade system” as depicted below. The results of this exchange recast the biology of both regions, and altered the history of the world (McNeill, 1).
Diagram depicting some of the commonly traded commodities in the Columbian Exchange.
http://blog.slowfoodyouth.ch/bilder/ah02_columbianexchangem.jpg
http://blog.slowfoodyouth.ch/bilder/ah02_columbianexchangem.jpg
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However, the Exchange did not have a positive outcome for all. By far the most dramatic and devastating outcome of the Columbian Exchange was the introduction of new diseases into the Americas. Sailors inadvertently introduced diseases such as smallpox and measles to the Americas, diseases which devastated an estimated 90% of the Native American population. This is considered as one of the largest demographic disasters in human history. It caused a drastic labour shortage in the Americans, which was a problem at this economic peak, which evantually contributed to the beginning of African slavery on a huge scale in the Americas, the beginning of a horrifyingly dark, and extremely significant point in history for the African people.
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The Columbian Exchange affected the economy and biology of both the New World and the Old World. As well as being a significant event in itself, it was the cause of many more important events in the history of the world. Of course, the foundation of these events can all be credited to Christopher Columbus’ discovery of the New World, a discovery that occurred thanks to the need for trade and a desire for European prosperity in the momentous Age of Discovery.
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The Voyages of Exploration shaped the history of the world with cultural, economic and environmental impacts that represented Europe’s intense desires for growth and prosperity. In this astoundingly short period, Europeans acquired an unparalleled knowledge of the rest of the world. The events that took place during this point in time are what caused the beginning of the formation of the world as we know it today.
In The Age of Discovery, author David Arnold noted the cultural importance of the voyages.
“However one-sided it might appear (and often was), this was an age of mutual discovery. Just as Europeans struggled to make sense of what they encountered in other continents, so too indigenous peoples around the globe tried to comprehend what the arrival of white men with mysterious ships and guns, with their strange religion, manners and customs, might signify. “ (4).
The mutual discovery between people however was dictated by the European’s views of only their own interests in mind, without much regard to the Natives who had been there first. This can be clearly seen in Spain’s devastation of the Incas and Aztec people. The products that came from other continents supplemented Europe’s wealth, and provided the economic basis for commercial and industrial expansion, as desired.
The decision to voyage across the ocean and discover new trading routes brought about both positive and negative effects on the history of the world, and caused extremely significant global events of many forms, from the spread of Christianity to the emergence of the European colonial empires. This imperative time period progressed the development of humans, and caused changes on a global scale.
In The Age of Discovery, author David Arnold noted the cultural importance of the voyages.
“However one-sided it might appear (and often was), this was an age of mutual discovery. Just as Europeans struggled to make sense of what they encountered in other continents, so too indigenous peoples around the globe tried to comprehend what the arrival of white men with mysterious ships and guns, with their strange religion, manners and customs, might signify. “ (4).
The mutual discovery between people however was dictated by the European’s views of only their own interests in mind, without much regard to the Natives who had been there first. This can be clearly seen in Spain’s devastation of the Incas and Aztec people. The products that came from other continents supplemented Europe’s wealth, and provided the economic basis for commercial and industrial expansion, as desired.
The decision to voyage across the ocean and discover new trading routes brought about both positive and negative effects on the history of the world, and caused extremely significant global events of many forms, from the spread of Christianity to the emergence of the European colonial empires. This imperative time period progressed the development of humans, and caused changes on a global scale.