Portugal is a country in Southwestern Europe located on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is one of Europe’s oldest countries along with the rich, vast history of exploration to the New World. Based on Portugal’s location on the Iberian Peninsula this makes it the westernmost country in continental Europe. Throughout their history the Portuguese people were known for their great explorations to the new world to find more land for their empire. Portugal is a fascinating country it in terms of its rich history from exploration, agriculture and culture. The first known inhabitants of Portugal were hunters and fisherman. Being that Portugal is one
The three colonial empires of Portugal, Spain, and England were the most dominate in the fight for land in the Americas. While the motivations for these three colonial empires were similar and all of the Native Americans and/or Africans saw the Spanish Portuguese and English as one brutally similar people, economic differences between the three of them would ensure that their colonies would develop in dramatically unique ways.
5.5. Spain watched Portugal’s success with exploration and slaving with envy and wanted a piece of the pie.
- Because Spain and Portugal were rivals, they were always trying to out beat each other. Since the Portuguese set up trading posts in Africa first, other European countries started and later on Spain set up posts too. Because the Portuguese didn’t like taking water routes, it took them longer to get to India through land to get spices and jewels. While this was happening, the Spanish people became unified and seeing that they were now stronger, planned to outstrip their rivals of the Indian
Portugal began to enact upon expanding their territory and discovering new land in the late 1400s; they set out upon different expeditions under the control of Henry the Navigator, although, they did not travel very far since they were afraid the earth was flat and they may fall off. When they realized Columbus discovered America for Spain, in 1492, Portugal decided to restart their expeditions in order to drive away Spanish competition. This sparked the chain of expansion among the world in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Spain did not want to only watch the huge success of Portugal and not do anything. The Spanish began to focus their attention on exploration and find a new route to Asia, and sought to rival Portugal. Spain
During the New Imperialism period is when the “Scramble for Africa” or “Race for Africa” occurred, right after slavery ended in North America. Portugal were the first to voyage to Africa and begin colonize in the 15th century. When the rest of Europe saw
European nations had to be established and strong before they could partake in exploration and expansion. The Portuguese first to explore and expand did it because they were an established and strong power opposed to other divided countries such as France and Spain. For example Italian city states contributed lots of
Throughout history, as we study Spain we can clearly recognize high and low points in their success. In the fifteen hundreds Spain had no influence on European affairs, Spain essentially vanished out of Europe. However, within one complete century Spain had become not only a leading power but they also had a great sense of effectiveness in Europe. Spain experienced a Golden age with many social, economic, political aspects. On the other hand, within
They also encountered the Americas as well, They took the same stance as the Spanish towards the Natives and were very cruel to them. Unlike the Spanish though, Portugal focused more on agriculture than on conquest. They soon had many Sugar-cane plantations set up all over Northern South America. The Portuguese needed slaves to work these plantation, but instead of using the natives, they used blacks from Africa. Eventually, the triangular route they took to capture slaves and bring them to the New World became known as the Middle Passage. Although having initial success, the Portuguese empire soon experienced conflicts with the Netherlands and dropped back in the exploration race.
“Compare and contrast the early colonial empires of Portugal, Spain, and England in terms of motives, economic foundations, and relations with Africans and Native Americans. What factors explain the similarities and differences in the two ventures?”
During the 15th century, many considered Spain insignificant. However, within a century it became a world-dominant power in Europe. Although Spain only took a brief time to rise, it was also short-lived. The rise of Spain was due to its flourishing culture, stable political system and successful voyages to the New World. On the other hand, its decline was due to religious control, resistance from other countries and inflation.
Lisbon is the main area that Henry the Navigator sent out his ships to discover the new world. This became a very popular trading depot because of its location and finding new things during exploration. This was a place where the Colombian Exchange happened, especially with what is now Brazil. This is also where Ferdinand Magellan set off to sail completely around the earth.
It all started when Prince Henry, His father, and his brothers attacked the city of Ceuta, Africa. At the time of the attack, Portugal knew almost nothing of Africa. The City fell under Portuguese control. Henry then became fascinated with the people, the land, and just Africa
Firstly, strong government support sponsored by leaders, such as Prince Henry, allowed Portugal to establish a navigation school to improve sailing skills. Then, Portugal began sending out voyages and establishing trading ports on the African coast, which expanded their trade routes and set the base for a trade route to Asia. The last step to discovering a direct trade route was sending our voyages to find or go past the tip of Africa, which would then lead them easily to Asia. Explorers, such as Dias and da Gama, discovered a route to the tip and beyond and then established a trade route and port to trade with Asia. The Portuguese discovered a direct trade route to Asia through many