European Age of Exploration and Conquest

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Introduction

The European age of exploration, from the fifteenth to the sixteenth centuries, foresaw a sudden increase of interest in oversea exploration. This new movement was hastened and brought about by a number of causes, among them the search for wealth, the desire to spread Christianity, the improvements in sailing technology and the breakthrough of new trade routes (Pikerman par. 1). Even though a number of factors motivated European exploration, trade and wealth frequently motivated most nations. This paper will distinguish and discuss elements that led to the historic period of European exploration and conquest during the fifteenth and sixteenth century, and how the Portuguese, French, Spanish and English explorers differed in terms of their motivations for exploration and settlement patterns.

The Search for Wealth

The Christians and Muslims anti-religious wars and crusades of the tenth and twelfth centuries exposed Europe to the trade of spies and a number of luxury goods from Asia. After the wars and crusades ended, Europeans continued to demand for the items leading to a high demand of the goods than the supply and thus providing merchants and traders with better profits as they could charge high prices on goods (Pikerman par. 1).

Muslim and Italian merchants who mostly resold the items to European traders at increased prices controlled most trade items from East. As a result, most merchants and traders desired for new sources of wealth and explored oversea nations. By the fourteenth century, European traders and merchants circumvented Muslim and Italian merchants, and found a sea route directly to Asia.

Desire to Spread Christianity

The Muslim and Christian anti-religious wars and crusades of 1400 not only left the Europeans with a taste for spices and gold, but also created feelings of hostility between Christians and Muslims (Pikerman par. 2). European nations were determined to fight Muslims through converting non-Christians, and Christianizing Asia, from where they obtained trade goods.

Advances in Sailing Technology

The invention of ships that could sail against the wind was a significant improvement that enabled sailors to move quicker. In sum, the advancement of navigation techniques to determine sea locations and direction enabled sailors’ accurate cut through their guidance and thus avoid losing sea routes. Improved and advanced naval techniques also enabled Europeans to go to other nations like India and America.

Portuguese, French, Spanish and English Motivations for Exploration and Settlement Patterns: A Comparison

It is worthwhile to note that English, French and Spanish explorers had permanent settlements that endeavored to mirror the old European forms in the ‘New World’. Portugal took the principal role in exploration. Guided by the desire for adventure, Portuguese explorers took advantage of the harbors and rivers that flowed to the Atlantic Ocean. Portugal’s main interest was on the Africa’s coastline and marital fame. As a result, most settlements were made along water shores. On the other hand, Spanish exploration was mainly prompted by the desire to seek for wealth, the discovery of novel beginnings of natural resources and the propagation for Catholicism (Davidson et al. 33).

For example, the discovery of treasure troves in Aztec and Inca gave Spanish explorers incentives to follow nearly all wealth tales they heard. As a result, they seized Ecuador and conquered Central Chile in the fifteenth century. Unlike the Spaniards, English explorers were motivated by the desire to colonize Americans (Davidson et al. 34). While the Spanish got rich, thorough captivating numerous sections of the ‘New World’, English explorers desired to take in big colonies. In addition, population pressure in England pushed English explorers to take up free land in North America.

Unlike the Spaniards and English settlers, French settlers developed fur and fishing posts along water bodies and established permanent settlements along trade routes. The sex ratio in Spanish and French colonies was approximated to ninety percent male, an aspect that made them settlements different from the British ones. Spaniards did not build permanent settlements until the eighteenth century (Pikerman par. 2).

They did not establish administrative empires, and the Latin America feudal system was practiced (Davidson et al. 34). The council of Indies, located in Spain was in charge of the general jurisdiction over colonial affairs. They had a homogeneous empire divided into two main parts, namely New Spain and Peru, which were subdivided into smaller units, governed by the courts. English explorers’ settlement patterns characterized large-scale colonies that were mostly home-ruled. That is, the general jurisdiction of the colonies did not arrive from Britain but from the dependencies themselves.

Spaniards practiced the Law of the Indies that dictated settlements be like Spanish villages, and land was divided according to rank (Davidson et al. 34). All new settlers were expected to abide by land and irrigation regulations. In contrast, English explorers established the Carolinas and Chesapeake plantations. In Chesapeake, the introduction of indentured labor and head right system ensured that settlers got 100 acres of land. As a result, these land systems created a dispersed population that contrasted to the Spaniards.

In addition, while the Chesapeake land system offered the landless economic opportunity, the Spaniard system created huge differences between those who could afford to buy land and the laborers. The Carolinas and family farms in New England provided settlers with ties of religious obligations and regulated economic and individual behaviors, unlike the Spaniards, whose settlement schemes mainly favored the rich.

Conclusion

Modern exploration between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries increased European knowledge of oversea nations, predominantly in America and Africa. Colonial conquest and the desire to spread Christianity were often allied to these explorations, as most European states endeavored to increase their religious and political power globally.

Works Cited

Davidson, James, De Lay Denise, Heyrman Christine, Lytle Mark and Stoff Michael. U.S A Narrative History Volume 1: to 1877, New York: McGraw Hill, 2012. Print

Pikerman, Allen 2002. ” European Expansion: Exploration And Colonization, 1400-1650.” Iberian Golden Age: World History Center. Web.

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