Exploration and Discovery Flashcards
By the time Elizabeth became Queen, which countries had already established colonies in the Americas?
Spain and Portugal- ‘voyages of discovery’
When did English sailors start to set out for voyages?
1560s
Until 15th century, how did sailors navigate the ocean?
Using coastal features, this made it impossible for them to cross oceans.
What did a Sea Astrolobe do?
Spanish and Portuguese used it to navigate by the position of the stars or the sun.
When did English sailors start to use Astrolobe based off the book ‘The Art of Navigation’
1561
What did sailors start to use in the 1570s to help estimate their speed and accuracy?
The log and line
What was English international trade dominated by in the 1550s?
Woollen cloth
Where were most exports traded through? Who controlled it?
Antwerp, controlled by Spain
Why did it become increasingly difficult for English merchants to trade freely through Antwerp?
Tension between England and Spain rose.
What did difficult trade with Antwerp encourage?
English merchants to make international trade more varied. Some looked for routes with German towns or through the Baltic. Others looked at Americas or Asias.
What did Elizabeth encourage merchants to do as political and commercial rivalry with Spain grew? Why?
She encouraged English merchants to get involved in long distance trade and privateering, and to explore opportunities to establish English colonies in the Americas because she realised England needed to compete with Spain globally, not just within Europe.
How did Elizabeth encourage the development of England’s international trade? Name an example.
She granted some merchants monopolies, which gave them the rights to trade in a particular part of the world.
In 1577 she gave a group of a English merchants called the Spanish Company a monopoly on English trade with Spanish colonies.
Where did Spain have extremely profitable trade with?
It’s colonies in the Americas
Describe Spains trade with the Americas.
Their treasure ships returned to Europe full of gold and silver.
What did English sailors wish to do with the Americas? How did they want to use Spain to get rich?
They hoped to profit by establishing colonies there. They wanted to get rich by trading illegally with Spains colonies and raiding Spanish settlements and treasure ships.
