European Exploration Research Paper

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Many things happened in the 15th and 16th centuries that led to European Exploration. Some things, such as centralization of monarchies and economic weaknesses, were not major causes. Neither was the Spirit of Adventure. Economics and the Development of Technology during the 15th and 16th centuries were the main causes for European Exploration. Europeans wanted to go on voyages to discover more trade and resources. They wanted to be just as wealthy as Asia and Africa (Arnold 11). Europeans wanted the spices that came from Southern Asia and Moluccas (Ebrey 500). Before spices from South Asia were in great demend, their most profitable goods were things such as metal, rice, or salt (Ebney 501). The Spice Trade between Europe and Asia was…show more content…
This progress was achieved through many trials and errors. Before the 16th century, the Europeans’ knowledge of navigation was limited to the Mediterranean and South western Asia. By 1650, they had made great advancements and drawn the physical outline of the earth fairly accurately (Ebrey 499). The Portolani made by the medieval navigators and mathematicians in the 13th and 14th centuries, were more useful than symbolic maps. But they had little use on longer voyages (Duiker 495). The new magnetic compass gave sailors the tool they needed to determine their direction and position during voyages. With the improved maps and sea charts, it was easy to find information about distance, sea depth, and geography (Ebrey 503). The Europeans were growing in the knowledge of the wind patterns in the Atlantic Ocean (Duiker 495). The new knowledge of wind patterns was used over man power and artillery fire over manned warfare showed advancement in technology and gave Europeans more fighting power over the rest of the world (Ebrey 503). With the European ship makers using the new axial rudder, they could make ships mobile to sail against the wind, participate in naval warfare, mount heavy cannons onto ships, and carry many goods long distances (Duiker 495). Before the development of the caravel, many men were needed for the defense and movement of the ships. The caravel created a way to hold more goods and could take over larger ships using mounted cannon (Ebrey

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