The Age of Exploration
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ABSS8_ch05.qxd 2/9/07 10:54 AM Page 104 The Age of 5 Exploration FIGURE 5-1 1 This painting of Christopher Columbus arriving in the Americas was done by Louis Prang and Company in 1893. What do you think Columbus might be doing in this painting? 104 Unit 1 Renaissance Europe ABSS8_ch05.qxd 2/9/07 10:54 AM Page 105 WORLDVIEW INQUIRY Geography What factors might motivate a society to venture into unknown regions Knowledge Time beyond its borders? Worldview Economy Beliefs 1492. On a beach on an island in the Caribbean Sea, two Values Society Taino girls were walking in the cool shade of the palm trees eating roasted sweet potatoes. uddenly one of the girls pointed out toward the In This Chapter ocean. The girls could hardly believe their eyes. S Imagine setting out across an Three large strange boats with huge sails were ocean that may or may not con- headed toward the shore. They could hear the tain sea monsters without a map shouts of the people on the boats in the distance. to guide you. Imagine sailing on The girls ran back toward their village to tell the ocean for 96 days with no everyone what they had seen. By the time they idea when you might see land returned to the beach with a crowd of curious again. Imagine being in charge of villagers, the people from the boats had already a group of people who you know landed. They had white skin, furry faces, and were are planning to murder you. wearing odd clothing. They spoke a language the These were the situations that Taino had never heard before. But they smiled at the the Renaissance explorers Taino and seemed friendly. Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Jacques Cartier, and The men from the ships, Christopher Columbus Ferdinand Magellan faced as and his crew, had been sailing the Atlantic Ocean they travelled into unknown for two long months. Columbus’s plan was to regions beyond the shores travel west from Europe to Asia. He had no idea of Europe. Who were these that there were two large continents and the vast explorers? What motivated them Pacific Ocean between him and his goal. This voy- to take such difficult, risky age led by Columbus would dramatically change journeys? In this chapter you the lives of Europeans and the Indigenous peoples will investigate the part of the of North and South America. Renaissance that has become known as the Age of Exploration. From which perspective is this story about first contact between Renaissance Europeans and the Taino told? How might the story be different if it was told from another perspective? Chapter 5 The Age of Exploration 105 ABSS8_ch05.qxd 2/9/07 10:55 AM Page 106 The Desire to Explore To celebrate the 500th anniversary of Columbus’s voyage, the Spanish What elements of the worldview of Renaissance government built full-size replicas of his three ships, the Nina, the Europeans led to exploration Pinta, and the Santa Maria and sailed them to North America. People and expansionism? who visited the ships when they toured various cities were surprised at how small they were. Park five vans end-to-end and you have the length of one of Columbus’s ships. None of the ships was new in 1492 FYI… and Columbus had no way of knowing how well they would hold up Columbus based his thinking on a voyage he estimated to be about 9000 kilometres. about the distance to Asia on As you can see from this map, the ocean was still a frightening the writings of Marco Polo and the ancient scholar Ptolemy. But place to some Renaissance people. So why were explorers determined Marco Polo had overestimated to venture into dangerous, unknown waters? Curiosity and adventure the east-west size of Asia, and no doubt played a role in their thinking. But let’s dig a little deeper into Ptolemy had underestimated the worldview of the Renaissance. Think about how Renaissance artists the circumference of the Earth. As a result, Columbus’s and scientists had a new way of thinking about the place of the indi- estimate was off by more than vidual in the world. Renaissance explorers shared this faith in the 16 000 kilometres! potential of human beings. They had enough confidence in their dreams and their abilities to take on the challenge of a dangerous task. Think IT THROUGH Difficult challenges come in all shapes and sizes. Some are personal, others are job- related, and some are associated with global problems, like ending poverty. What is your view of people who take on difficult challenges? Use examples to illustrate your answer. FIGURE 5-2 This is a map of the North Sea from 1539, almost 50 years after Columbus’s journey. How many sea monsters can you find? What questions does the map-maker’s view of the ocean raise in your mind? 106 Unit 1 Renaissance Europe ABSS8_ch05.qxd 2/9/07 10:55 AM Page 107 European monarchs supported the voyages of exploration during FYI… the Renaissance. For example, Christopher Columbus had the support Were Renaissance explorers the of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain. There was no guaran- first people in history to make tee that these voyages would be successful. Why might monarchs have long ocean voyages? In fact, been willing to finance such risky projects? earlier travellers such as the Vikings from northern Europe, the North African traveller Abu Exploring to Expand Trade Addullah Muhamad ibn Battuta, During the Renaissance, trade grew across Europe as people with and Admiral Zheng He of China money demanded luxury goods. Commerce and manufacturing also had all explored extensively beyond their home countries. expanded as merchants, bankers, and manufacturers invested their profits in new business ventures. The economic worldview of the time encouraged growth and expansion. How do you think this worldview might encourage exploration beyond Europe? Trade With the East SKILL POWER Renaissance Europeans spent huge amounts of money on luxury goods How does Buy Nothing and spices from the East. Spices were expensive because they were Day fit in with your moved over great distances and passed through so many hands on worldview? their way to European consumers. • Brainstorm with a group and use a chart like the one below to record your thinking. Pro Con • Write a paragraph giving your personal response to Buy Nothing Day. FIGURE 5-3 Just as in the Renaissance, today’s economy is based on profit and the growth of commerce. However, some people argue we have more goods than we can possibly use. Sometimes we replace items such as phones and computers with newer models, even though the “old” ones still work perfectly well. These Montréal students are participating in an interna- tional event called Buy Nothing Day. They went back to the barter system you read about in Chapter 2. What values toward the environment do the students hold that the barter system allows them to express? Chapter 5 The Age of Exploration 107 ABSS8_ch05.qxd 2/9/07 10:55 AM Page 108 BUILDING YOUR SKILLS Reading and Creating Timelines Learning a lot of dates is not what history is ◆ What can the information on the timeline all about. On the other hand, knowing the be used for? order in which certain things happened can Follow these steps to create a timeline: be useful. Here are some steps you can fol- low when reading a timeline. 1. Decide on the purpose of your timeline. For example, if you are researching the 1. Read the title of the timeline. Titles tell life of an individual, you can record key the subject of the timeline. events from that person’s life. 2. Check the range of the timeline. What is 2. Decide on the title of your timeline. This the start date? the end date? Does the time will help you ensure the items you span make sense for the subject of the include are appropriate. For example, you timeline? might record when a person was born, the 3. What is the scale of the timeline? Some births of any siblings, and key events that timelines will have a scale using decades; happened during the individual’s life. others may use a scale of centuries. 3. Decide on a scale for your timeline. When 4. Keep in mind the strengths and limita- charting key battles of the War of 1812, tions of timelines. Timelines are most your timeline might use months. If you useful for topics that have a definite are tracking key events in a country’s his- beginning and end, and a number of spe- tory, your timeline might be in centuries. cific items in between, for example, key 4. Apply the information you gathered in events in an individual’s life. the timeline. Timelines are a tool you can use to gather information that helps you 1492 ––– first voyage answer an inquiry question or fulfill another purpose such as analyzing the 1495 ––– second voyage causes and effects of various events. 1498 ––– third voyage 1502 ––– fourth voyage Try It! 1. Use information in Chapter 4 and from FIGURE 5-4 The Voyages of Columbus to the Americas other sources to create a timeline of the accomplishments of Luther, Copernicus, or Galileo. Ask yourself the following questions as you read the timeline above: 2. Once you have created your timeline, write a paragraph in which you answer ◆ Does the title reflect its contents? the inquiry question: How did the ◆ Does the timeline span make sense when accomplishments of this individual reflect considering the title (subject) of the time- how worldview was changing during line? the Renaissance? 108 Unit 1 Renaissance Europe ABSS8_ch05.qxd 2/9/07 10:55 AM Page 109 Arab merchants bought spices in India and the spice islands of the Far East.