Columbus also contended that by taking the Atlantic route, he could make an accurate measurement of the distance between Europe and China.įor several years Columbus had failed in his attempts to enlist the king of Portugal in this quest, primarily because Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias (c.1450–1500) had found the sea passage from Europe to India, which was considered the best route at the time. Educated Europeans of the fifteenth century knew the Earth was a sphere, but no one had yet determined its size. If he succeeded, he would also confirm a long-held European belief that the world was round. He wanted to prove his theory that China and the East Indies could be reached more easily by sailing west across the Atlantic Ocean than by going around Africa to the Indian Ocean. In the early 1480s Columbus sought a sponsor for his own voyage of exploration. He made several voyages, including one to Iceland (an island between the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans) with other explorers. In 1476 he went to Lisbon, Portugal, where he learned mathematics and astronomy (study of the stars), subjects that were vital for navigation. ( Roman Catholicism is a branch of Christianity that is based in Rome, Italy, and headed by a pope who is considered infallible.) Thus the stage was set for the discovery of the New World (the European term for North America and South America) by Italian explorer Christopher Columbus (1451–1506).īorn in Genoa, Italy, Columbus began his career as a sailor on merchant and war ships in the Mediterranean.
The Spanish were the principal defenders of Roman Catholicism throughout the world, and they seized the opportunity to gain converts to Christianity in the newly conquered lands. Soon Spain entered into competition with Portugal to find the best trade routes. The Portuguese also became involved in the small but lucrative business of buying African slaves from Muslim traders. Financed by merchants, they traveled down the African coast in search of gold and ivory. Portugal was the first country to send explorers eastward. The most direct route was through the Mediterranean Sea, but the eastern end of that waterway was controlled by Turkey, a Muslim foe of the Europeans. That time the only way for Europeans to reach the Far East was to sail south along the western coast of Africa and then east into the Indian Ocean. Motivated by greed, adventurers were willing to take risks to search for trade routes to previously unknown lands. Another important development was the discovery of luxury goods such as silks and spices that came from China and the East Indies (India and adjacent lands and islands in the Far East), which created a thriving market in Europe. For instance, European civilizations drafted more accurate maps of the known world, built swifter ships, and charted sea routes by observing the Sun. One of the most significant reasons was the Crusades (1099–1272), an unsuccessful Christian campaign to recapture the Holy Land (a region in the Middle East comprising parts of modern Israel, Jordan, and Egypt today known as Palestine) from the Muslims (followers of the Islamic religion).ĭuring four hundred years of interaction with Middle Eastern cultures Europeans were able to make significant advances in exploration based on information the Muslims provided.
".I promise, that with a little assistance afforded me by our most invincible sovereigns, I will procure them as much gold as they need, as great a quantity of spices, of cotton.and as many men for the service of the navy as their Majesties may require."Įxploration and settlement of the United States began in the late fifteenth century as a direct outcome of events in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Reprinted in Major Problems of American Colonial History " Christopher Columbus Reports to Ferdinand and Isabella"
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