Throughout the 15th and 16th centuries, European exploration increased and many new lands and cultures were discovered. European explorers were mainly motivated by the three “g’s”, gold, god, and glory. Funded by rulers wanting more land and money for their country, explorers found North and South America, Africa, India and China. With these new discoveries emerged new cultures, crops, beliefs, and lands. The explorers soon found out that they could receive god, spread their religion, and become known around the globe. After these benefits of exploration circulated, many new explorers were motivated to discover new land. Attaining riches, spreading their religious beliefs, and being credited for discovering new lands were the main motives of European exploration throughout the 15th and 16th centuries. …show more content…
An example of this motive is how conquistador Hernando Cortes responded when he learned that a land had gold that he could attain. “…I and my companions suffer from a disease of the heart which can be cured only with gold.” Describing the need for gold as a “disease” clearly shows how much explorers during this time wanted gold and riches. Attaining wealth meant that explorers could return to Europe with money for their country and themselves. Gold motivated explorers to continue finding more lands in order to find more gold. Another example of the motivation of gold is shown in an excerpt from Diaz del Castillo. “… and to grow rich as all men desire to do.” This shows that most men during this time dreamed of accumulating gold, so explorers were motivated to find new lands with gold in order to fulfill this desire. The explorers who did find riches and wealth would be considered superior to those who could not. Exploration throughout the 15th and 16th centuries in Europe was motivated by the need for attaining
Possibly the biggest reason Europeans set out to explore the New World was the hope of riches they would find. A Portuguese merchant expressed how many luxury items would be able to be imported from the New World, bringing money to the mother country. To this merchant, the riches resulting from exploration were a great reason to continue to explore (Doc 5). Europe did indeed receive a lot of wealth from their colonies in the new world, so this aspect of their goal was fulfilled.
The Age of Exploration made a huge impact on history as we know it. The Age of Exploration started in the 14th century and ended around the late 17th century; when European countries were looking for the three G's : God,gold and glory.The three G’s were reasons for Europeans to explore and discover the world, used in the Age of Discovery. The first G :God- Europeans felt that they had this responsibility to convert non-Christians to Christianity. The second G: Glory for the national honor and pride for discoveries .This helped promote individualism the quality of being individual; served as a motivating factor for explorers to seek fame and glory by conquering far away lands. The last G: Gold drove which helped drive the wealth of European nations which helped with the Commerce Revolution, new trade routes for countries and their direct access to the market.
1.) The desire to find new trade routes to Asia was one of the motivations for European explorations. Europeans were seeking the wealth of Africa and Asia. They wanted profit, they wanted gold. The spice market was also a huge profit of trading and several countries tried to gain control of spice trade. Another motivation was God and religion. Europeans wanted to spread the teachings of the Gospel to other parts of the world. They believed it was their duty to spread the word of God. Lastly, land was another motivation for European explorations. Some rulers, especially the King of Spain, and the King of Portugal, wanted to claim as much land as they could. The more land and money a country owned, the better their chance of domination in Europe.
In the early 1400’s ,the Europeans began to have control over the world by setting colonies in the Americas, along the coast of Africa, and parts of southeast Asia. This is referred to as the Age of Exploration . This Age was caused by advances in technology and it was motivated by the desire for glory, religion , and economic factors. The accomplishments of the European Age of Exploration were that ideas and goods were being exchanged, wealth allowed them better ships and navigation tools, and they had the chance to claim land and territories. These factors contributed in bringing a European Golden Age.
The fundamental factors that drew Europeans to the exploration, conquest, and colonization of the New World are: the desire to spread Christianity, the search for new lands and new resources, the ambition to be known around the world and to address overpopulation in their homeland. The first three fundamental factors, called “God, Gold and Glory”, are generally known to be the main factors that motivated Europeans to the exploration, conquest and colonization of the New World. With the 3G’s present and were able to achieve by
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
The Europeans main goal revolved around the stability of power of the Spanish Crown. The Spanish Crown was focused on expanding their military so they needed resources such as gold to pay for the constantly increasing military budget. Columbus used this idea to help get resources such as, boats, men, food and weapons from the Spanish Crown. This is important because it describes the desperate need of gold that the Spaniards had which ultimately led to the gruesome acts they committed.
People living the the 15th century had multiple reasons for venturing beyond its confinement of land. Scientific curiosity of the world played a major part in the advancement of naval travel, but it was not the main cause of exploration in these times. The Age of Exploration was sparked by Europeans wanting to find sea routes to East Asia, which they called the Indies. Merchants and crusaders were bringing goods to Europe from Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. These trade routes were controlled by the Muslims and the Italians. However, flaws
The first supporting evidence for this statement is,“Portugal was too poor and rocky to support more than a modest agricultural economy. It lacked the commercial expertise and resources to break into the Italian-dominated trade of the Mediterranean.”(Page 22) This evidence stated that people wanted to travel to other places because Portugal was too poor and rocky for people to support an agricultural economy. Another supporting evidence is, “Europe was poorly endowed with gold. Many mines which had formerly produced gold were now all but exhausted; much gold had been lost to Europe through plunder and continuing trade with the East.”(Page 13) The analysis of this evidence is that Most of the gold was gone in Europe because the mines were exhausted, and Europe exchanged much of their gold to Asia to get spices, and other goods. People also wanted to travel to new places because of their technological
The desire to explore the unknown has been a driving force in human history since the dawn of time. From the earliest documented accounts, ancient civilizations have explored the world around them. Early adventures were motivated by religious beliefs, a desire for conquest, the need for trade, and an unsatisfying hunger for gold. The great Age of Exploration, beginning in the late 1400s, was an important era in the discovery and development of lands yet unknown to the Europeans. During this period, Europe sought new sea routes to Asia in pursuit of economic gain, increased glory, and opportunities to spread Christianity. Although these were motivations for explorers, the impact from the discoveries resulted in significant changes and
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 motives for exploration were Gold, Glory, God which led to the Columbian Exchange and has had many negative and positive effects that negatively affected the world.
The Age of Exploration was a time period that has had significant influences in the modern world. It was the moment in which Europe was brought out of the Dark Ages and into an era of discovery. The risks taken within the 15th and 18th century allowed both positive and negative outcomes to be introduced to the European Exploration. There were many motives for this era, and many outcomes came about. However, they were both negative and positive. To summarize the motives of this age, a simple combination can be stated. The main purposes of the Age of Exploration was God, Gold, and Glory.
During the 15th through 16th centuries, The Portuguese and Spanish explorers were very attracted to valuable resources, new land, and trade routes. These motives encouraged them to seek out new explorations and search for items that would benefit their home countries. Common resources that both the Spanish and Portuguese sought out included silks, porcelain, spices, persian horses, silver, and gold (Chasteen, 2001). Although the Portuguese and Spanish explored and sought out new land for many of the same reasons, they also had some different causes for exploration which were often very specific to the needs and goals of Portugal and Spain.
On the other side he discovered a vast body of water that he named "South