Reasons for increased exploration Flashcards
Who did Elizabeth give the job of finding new trade routes when the cloth trade with Antwerp had stopped?
Francis Drake and John Hawkins
Why did English nobles fund overseas voyages?
To make a quick profit
Why did members of the lower classes become sailors?
It offered a regular wage and a way out of poverty
What did the fastest-growing towns in Elizabeth’s reign all have in common?
They were sea ports (e.g. Newcastle, Plymouth)
What percentage of exports had the cloth trade with Antwerp provided before it was stopped by Spain?
75%
What form of trade did English explorers take part in once the cloth trade had collapsed?
The trade in enslaved Africans (triangular trade)
What did Elizabethan explorers wish to spread across the New World?
Protestantism
What religion were Francis Drake and John Hawkins?
Puritan
What did Elizabethans think about the people living in the New World?
They were ‘savages’ who needed to be ‘civilised’ by the English
Before 1558, what did most sailors rely on to navigate?
Coastal features (landmarks on the coast)
What did Gerardus Mercator introduce in 1569, and what impact did it have on sailors?
The Mercator Map, with parallels of latitude and longitude
It gave sailors greater confidence they were going in the right direction and increased the number of voyages across oceans
What book was translated into English in 1561?
The Art of Navigation, by Martin Cortés
What did The Art of Navigation give English sailors information on?
How to use an astrolabe to work out their latitude
What method was used by English sailors to help estimate their speed more accurately?
The log and line
Which parts of ships had been lowered to make them more stable?
The bow and the stern
