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Question 1

Navigation

Answer 1

The science of determining the course, posi-
tion, and distrance travelled, especially of a ship.

Question 2

Circumnavigation

Answer 2

travel completely around something, as in circumnavigating the globe.

Question 3

Expansionism

Answer 3

The actions and attitudes of a state or country whose goal is to expand its power and territory.

Question 4

Imperialism

Answer 4

The extension of power over a territory, including its resources and people.

Question 5

Ethnocentrism

Answer 5

The perception that Europeans and North Americans are more important than other countries.

Question 6

Patriotism

Answer 6

This pride in the accomplishments of one’s country is known today as patriotism.

Question 7

Decolonization

Answer 7

granting countries their independence

Question 8

What factors motivated Europeans to explore the world and expand their territory?

Answer 8

● The ocean was still a frightening place. So why were
explorers determined to venture into unknown waters?
● Humanism!
● Renaissance explorers shared this faith in the potential
of human beings.
● They had enough confidence and curiosity to take on
the challenge of navigating dangerous waters.

Question 9

Describe the navigational instruments we discussed in class. Why were these instruments so important during the Age of Exploration?

Answer 9

Compass
- Used for finding the direction a ship is traveling.
- Probably developed in China about 1700 years ago, used by Muslim travellers in navigation.

Astrolabe
- Used the North Star or Sun to calculate latitude, the distance north or south of the Equator.
- Probably invented by ancient Greeks, further developed by Arab mathematicians and astronomers.

Cross-staff
- Used to measure the altitude of the Pole star above the horizon to determine latitude.
- Invented around 1342 for astronomy and first used around 1514 for navigation

back staff
- Used to measure the altitude of the Sun to determine latitude.
- Developed in 1594 as an improvement over the cross-staff.

Question 10

Which country was the first to begin organized exploration? Which other countries followed suit?

Answer 10

Portugal

● Portugal: was the first country to begin organized exploration.
● A few years later, the king and queen of Spain sent Christopher Columbus left in search of another route.

Question 11

1. Who was Prince Henry the Navigator?
2. What were his major accomplishments?

Answer 11

● Prince Henry of Portugal (aka Prince Henry the Navigator), had a great interest in ships and navigation.

● Responsible for the early development of Portuguese exploration.
● Established trading posts/colonies along the coast of Africa.
● Created a center where cartographers, mathematicians, astronomers, sailors, and navigators gathered to share their knowledge.

Question 12

1. Who was Bartolomeu Dias?
2. What were his major accomplishments?

Answer 12

Bartolomeu Dias was a Portuguese navigator and explorer who led the first European expedition to round the Cape of Good Hope, opening the sea route to Asia via the Atlantic and Indian oceans.

● First European navigator to round the southern tip of Africa.
● Showed that a sea route from Europe to Asia was possible.
● Paved the way for da Gama’s voyage to India.

Question 13

1. Who was Christopher Columbus?
2. What were his major accomplishments?

Answer 13

Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer that sailed west in search of a trading route; his ambition changed the world.

● Known for his “discovery” of the Americas.
● Voyage marked the beginning of the European colonization of North and South America.

Question 14

1. Who was Vasco da Gama?
2. What were his major accomplishments?

Answer 14

Vasco da Gama was a Portuguese explorer at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries.

● First European to reach India by sea (established sea route).
● Established Portuguese presence in East Africa and India.

Question 15

1. Who was Ferdinand Magellan?
2. What were his major accomplishments?

Answer 15

Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer who is credited with masterminding the first expedition to circumnavigate the world.

• Although he was killed, Magellan’s ship became the first to circumnavigate the Earth.

Question 16

1. What is the Treaty of Tordesillas?
2. Which countries were involved?
3. What did it accomplish?

Answer 16

The Treaty of Tordesillas of 7 June 1494 involves agreements between King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile and King John II of Portugal establishing a new demarcation line between the two crowns, running from pole to pole, 370 leagues to the west of Cape Verde islands.

Question 17

What impacts did imperialism have on Indigenous peoples (in Africa and the Americas)?

Answer 17

Some indigenous peoples, such as those in the Americas, were forced to move to reservations or killed outright by invading European colonizers. Others, such as those in Africa, were enslaved or forced to work on European-owned plantations.

Question 18

What was the relationship like between Europeans and Indigenous peoples during the Age of Exploration (i.e., How did Renaissance Europeans view Indigenous peoples)?

Answer 18

To many newcomers, the Indigenous Peoples were not only “backward” but also dangerous. In historian Ronald Takaki’s words, “They represented what English men and women in America thought they were not—and, more important, what they must not become.”

Question 19

How did the European worldview change as a result of imperialism?

Answer 19

Genocide—Most of the Indigenous people of the Americas were destroyed by European Imperialism. Exploitation of natural resources—The natural resources of the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Australia were extracted by and used for the benefit of Europeans.