European Exploration Dbq Essay

After Ferdinand and Isabella had won the religious war they fought against the Moors, they finally became an independent nation. Having their own form of Christianity following the Protestant Reformation, they were eager to find lands in Asia, Africa, and America where they could spread god’s word. When Columbus came to Spain in search of a sponsor of his oversea journey, Spain saw their perfect opportunity. Columbus, being one of the only men brave enough to explore the uncharted lands overseas, could claim a variety of land for his sponsor country. With these new countries in Spain’s possession, they would finally have land to spread their religion. For these reasons, Spain saw religion as a motivator for exploration of the new

Europeans were motivated to conquest to gain money, and trade was one of the channels where they found it. However, during

Religion was also an important factor that helped convince Queen Isabella to employ Columbus. Ferdinand and Isabella were large supporters of the church, a powerful organization at the time. They wanted to spread Catholicism, which was predominant in Spain. The Franciscans, a group of related mendicant religious orders within the Catholic church, were already somewhat interested in a foreign mission as well. If Spain had more control over Asia through a new trade route and began missions there, they could begin to convert the people living there to Christianity. Furthermore, if more Europeans were Christians, they could be stronger than the Muslims. Columbus was also in support of spreading Christianity, and he wanted to spread the word of Jesus Christ as he believed God had intended him to sail the Atlantic Ocean to do so.

There are 3 main causes for exploration; to avoid the Ottomans, convert people to Christianity, and to trade goods. When the Ottoman started to increase their empire, they took control of some European trade routes. As it says in document 1, “The Ottoman armies seemed nearly invincible and the empire’s desire for expansion limitless…With trade routes to the east in the hands of the Ottomans, Europeans needed to find new trade routes.” To avoid the Ottoman armies they had to come up with or discover new trade routes so they can still be engaged in worldwide trade. For Christians to convert people to their religion, they first need to find people to convert, and they did this by traveling. Document 3 states, “Your Highnesses...determined to send me, Christopher Columbus, to the above-mentioned countries of India, to see the said princes, people, and territories, and to learn their

The accumulation of wealth for individuals as well as nations, propelled European Exploration. For instance, Hernando Cortes travelled to Central America with a key motivation of obtaining gold. This can be exemplified in The Dispatches of Hernando Cortes to Emperor Charles V, 1519-1521, “‘I and my companions suffer from a disease of the heart which can only

Religion was not a major reason for European exploration because many of the European traders and travelers wanted to get rich by finding gold or some other valuable object, people wanted to travel to another place because of their country’s poverty, disease, or and economic backwardness, and also that the Europeans started traveling more ever since their technology and navigation was more developed.

European nations in the 15th century began exploring new lands with three motives: religion, wealth, and glory. It was made possible by advances in naval fleet building and navigation, first pioneered by the Portuguese. Europeans began to be involved in extensive exploration, coming in contact with Africa, Americas and their prime target Asia. The main targets of the pioneering Portugese and Spanish was to find and alternate trade route for the Indies trade and also promote Christianity to the new lands. As the century unfolded, the search for newer territories to colonize and shortern routes to the exotic land of spices and silk became the initial driving force for the intensive early exploration by the Europeans .

There were various reasons why the apocalyptic beliefs in Europe influenced the first European voyages of exploration. First, the failure to reconquer Jerusalem from Mamluks did not deter Europeans from having a spiritual revival, especially within the monks of the Franciscan and military orders of Iberia who were believers in the revelations (von Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow 464-466). Second, since the second coming of Christ could only occur in Jerusalem, Christians had a sense of urgency to reconquer the holy city (von Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow 466). The training and education Christopher Columbus received influenced influenced and prepared him for his voyages. As von Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow infer that Columbus obtained substantial

The early voyages by the Portuguese and Spanish were motivated by gold, trade and the spread of the Catholic faith through religious conversion. The voyages of a few adventurers show that the Spanish and Portuguese goals were to spread Catholicism, expand trade, and expand the kingdom of the Spanish and the Portuguese to the new lands they’ve discovered. These adventures were Christopher Columbus who attempted to find a new route to Asia to extend Spain’s trade and to colonize, Bartholomew Columbus and his successful founding of Santo Domingo, Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca and his

The very reason that Columbus himself sort forth on his voyage was to spread Catholicism. The French saw that they had the potential the trade with them, the English simply wanted the land they occupied, the Spanish saw the Indians as a form of labor, they also believed they could bring the Indians closer to the Spanish god. The Spaniards had a very difficult time converting the natives as their religion was very different from the one that the natives had been practicing. They believed that these “savages” were worshipping devils and they had to be saved. Cortes, forced Christianity upon the Indians and as he “cleansed” the temples of the idols, breaking them in public. Anyone who opposed the conversion was thought to be guided by Satan himself. The ecomienda system as well as the policy of repartimiento were instituted by the Spanish. The Spanish King Ferdinand also passed the Law of Burgos which were lays that said how the Indians were to be treated. He basically said that the Natives either had to choose to convert to Catholicism under their own free will or force will be used against

There where three causes of The Age of Exploration, which are the three reasons the Europeans purposes for exploration: God, Glory, and Gold. The first reason was God, the Europeans set out with a desire to save souls. There is a known myth of a man named Prester John who

As soon as Columbus returned, the pope issued a decree saying the world itself was an inheritance of Christianity. Spain and Portugal, the two main Christian powers at the time, set out to spread Christianity all across the world following the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494. What better place to start then with the new found land of the Americas. As soon as the Europeans figured out a reason, they began

European exploration wasn’t only entirely based of one motivation in the 15th and 16th century. Although many voyages of discovery were started in search of wealth, religion was also a big reason for exploring other continents. Religion wasn’t the main motivation for European exploration in the 15th and 16th century. Instead, the main motivation was economic motives, which was closely followed by religion, and to a lesser extent was technological developments.

     The Age of Exploration was a time of struggle and wealth for many European countries. The pursuit of a trade route to the Far East led many countries across the ocean, looking for the great spice cities that were rumored by Marco Polo. These countries knew that whoever found the shortest or best route would become rich, very quickly. Explorers from many European countries embarked on journeys that not even they had any clue where they were going. This search for the Far East led to many discoveries that would otherwise have never been found.

Christopher Columbus set out on his expedition with the hopes of discovering a shorter and faster route to Asia in order to make the trade of silk, spice, and porcelain more efficient. In addition to this, he sailed in order to colonize new territories and spread Catholicism. The first document regarding Christopher Columbus’s travels states, “ … determine to send me, Christopher Columbus … to learn their disposition and the proper method of converting them to our holy faith”. With conversion and Catholicism being high on Christopher’s list of priorities, it seemed to impact the way he saw and treated the indigenous people in which he encountered. Later on in the document, the text described Christopher’s first encounter with native people. Christopher