Comparison of the Explorations of Portugal, Spain and France

During the 15th and 16th century, exploration became the new norm of society. Each individual country had their own motives, reasons and goals regarding voyages across land and sea. For instance, Christopher Columbus, in the name of Spain, voyaged out to find an alternative route to Asia. The Portuguese, tried to increase their knowledge about trading. Moreover, while some traveled to increase their powers, Zheng He, of China, traveled to discover raw resources and generate more capital into China’s economy. If we compare the maritime policies of the kingdom of Spain and Portugal on the one hand and the Ming Empire on the other the differences in motives clearly outweigh the similarities between these two societies. For example, the Kingdoms of Spain and Portugal traveled to spread Christianity, to gain land, to rule over new subjects and to spread their power throughout the different continents, while as the Ming Dynasty was only interested in capital and new/raw resources.

In the new world, Europeans encountered indigenous plant foods cultivated by Native Americas. These plants were potatoes, beans, corn, tobacco, and cocoa. The potato is especially important because it’s known for one of the main foods for Ireland. The European’s influenced oats and barley etc. Domesticated animals as pigs, chickens, sheep, and ox were also brought to the Americas. Horses were also brought to the new world which was a new tool for hunting and used for military.

Portugal was one of the, if not the only, technological and economic geniuses of the fifteenth century. As a result of their genius, Portugal was able to build one of the first caravels and sail around the coast of Africa in an attempt to find a sea route to India. As a result of this attempt,

What many people only know about Christopher Columbus’s expedition is that he found the Americas. While this is true, he did find a completely new frontier that was unknown to the Old World, his findings re-shaped global consumption patterns from the seventeenth century. He found a New World filled with resources that the old world hasn’t seen before. When he found the new world he brought with him European plants and animal species that were foreign to the citizens of the New World. The Columbian Exchange introduced many foods that are still essential to consumption in today’s world along with the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries. The potato is a prime example of how the Columbian Exchange changed global consumption patterns because it was nutritious and had an abundant amount of calories in it and caused a mass population increase in areas where the potato was available. The use of slaves also increased exponentially when sugar cane was introduced. This was a very cheap, productive way to produce a large amount of sugar and it was used by many Old World countries. The findings of these new world products created a rise in global consumption and production because products were introduced to the both the New World and the Old World and there instantly became a large spike in the availability of products. Along with this, the old world decided to go out and get themselves involved in the New World because they saw an opportunity

Colonizing the New World brought a new stream of products that were exchanged in the Columbian Exchange. Many new products were introduced to the Old World, “Things like Florida oranges, Irish potatoes, French vanilla ice cream, and Colombian coffee are around because the Old World met the New World and exchanges various goods.” (Doc 6). Many areas got products that grew really good in their conditions and then they became specialized in growing that crop. The Age of Exploration also contributed in finding different routes for people to travel by ship through. ”The mariner’s astrolabe was used to determine the latitude of the ship by measuring the noon altitude of the Sun or the meridia altitude of a star of a known declination” (Doc 2). New areas were found for countries to take shorter routes and with people pinpointing their location using the astrolabe, maps might have started to form. Relationships were established with the Indians and fur trade posts were set up. The Dutch established a company when they arrived to the Americas and began a fur trade with the Iroquois Indians. Good relations that were built with the Indian aided those countries in war, since the Indians would form an alliance with

The domination of Portugal over Ming China during the late post-classical through the early modern era in expeditions to the Indian Ocean is a result of both countries motivations and perceptions. Ming China was motivated to seize all expeditions in order to maintain order and control of Chinese citizens before external influences created chances for chaos, while Portugal was able to win the upper hand on expeditions to the Indian Ocean as a result of the motivation for glory and economic gain. Ming China’s royal members spread negative perceptions of expeditions into the country that prompted civilians to fear leaving the country.

Trade had a powerful impact on the way of life for the Europeans, Portugal and Spain. When the country found water routes, it made it easier to transport goods from place to place, providing them with more supplies. In the primary source packet document 3, it illustrates a picture of men crossing a bridge to go into a different country. These men were traders, they were going over to a different area to find goods for their country. When traders had the ability to take a water route they avoided these tolls, and got to the area in less time. The Columbian Exchange introduce a new way of exchanging ideas, food crops, but also diseases, and population between the New World and the Old World. The Old World was not only Europe, but the entire Eastern Hemisphere. They gained metal supplies, and crops, such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, chili peppers, peanuts, and pineapple. The New World gained rice, bananas, sheep, lemons, horses, lettuce, pigs, olives, etc. The trade was important for the New World and the Old World. It provided them with different varieties of foods, and wealth. Each

- 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

The Americas and their people were isolated for thousands of years from the rest of the world which created for them technological barriers and biological consequences; no one yet had discovered a way to connect the American and European continents until 1492 when Christopher Columbus sailed from Spain to the Americas and brought the European people and their advancements with him. They exchanged ideas, cultures, plants, animals, and diseases which became know as the Columbian Exchange. Within this exchange the two countries and their people greatly benefited and advanced from each other. The Europeans brought livestock that changed how the Indians transported and the labor that they did. The Indians introduced the Europeans to maize and potatoes

Prince Henry’s sponsoring and planning of exploration voyages helped Portugal a lot in the near future but not much today. In the near future Portugal had success in African Slaves and gold, resources from the Madeira Islands, and sugar cane from South America. All of these were because Prince Henry’s expeditions to find these places and to know to keep them because their value would go up in the near future. However, today, all of those lands are lost except for the Madeira Islands. His long term effects are not as apparent, and are few and far between. He had a school of navigation that led to the education of explorers in the future for Portugal, but beside that there is nothing that I could pinpoint to be important to Portugal’s economy and World

Before the Eurasian trade the Americas were a very different place than what it is today. The New World didn’t have any of the simple crops such as wheat, barley, rice, or

Cabral left Portugal on March 9, 1500 and planned to imitate Vasco da Gama’s westward-then southward route that would lead to India. There was one problem. He headed so far west he reached current-day Brazil. He then continued to India like he was supposed to in the first place. He returned to Portugal on June 23, 1501.

The navigation of the Europeans began to increase as Columbus began to change the world for them. Europe’s knowledge improvised to all the others and began to spread dramatically as Europeans fled to the new world.

Portugal is a small country found at the edge of Europe; holding the distinction of being both the westernmost and southwestern point of continental Europe. As small country which for centuries was the European powerhouse that dominated the most important trade routes of the day, where famous explorers such as Vasco da Gama and Ferdinand Magellan were, along with many others lesser known explorers and adventurers, mapped the world and brought to Europe gold, ivoory and and exotic spices.

Portugal is one of the least tourist attracted locations in Europe, many people do vacation there but it isn't as popular as most of the countries in Europe. This is so surprising due to the incredible charm they have surrounding their country. In Portugal there are many rules and regulations to follow in your everyday life. Your style and the way you present yourself in public is a big thing in Portugal, you will usually see men wearing suit jackets, dress shirts and sometimes t-shirts. Women wear dresses, blouses, skirts and sometimes wear t-shirts to, according to what the weather is like.