Hi and welcome back to Heimler’s History. We’re in Unit 4 of AP World History and
in the last video we talked all about the new maritime technology that led to the growth
of sea-based empires. In this video we’re going to talk about
who it was that shelled out the scrilla to pay for all this new exploration: and the
answer is, states. So why did states sponsor the expansion of
maritime exploration in 1450-1750? Well, let’s get to it and find out. So first, let me tell you in general why states
sponsored exploration and then we’ll look specifically at several European states that
did so. So in general, we can say that states sponsored
expansion of maritime exploration because of gold, God, and glory. First, gold. Now in order to talk about this, I need to
introduce you to the economic system that dominated Europe during this time, namely,
mercantilism. Without getting into the finer details of
this system, you should know that a mercantilist saw the world’s wealth like a giant pie,
which is to say, there is only a fixed amount of wealth to be had because they measured
that wealth in gold. And the thing about pie is, if I want a bigger
piece, that means someone else has to have a smaller piece. And so one of the main reasons why rulers
were motivated to expand their trade on the sea is because as they established trading
posts, that meant more gold for their coffers. New trading posts meant new wealth. Second, God. Europeans were, by and large, Christians. And since Christianity is at its heart a missionary
religion, they believed it was their duty to convert people in distant lands. And so there was a religious impulse to this
expansion as well. Third, glory. At the end of the day, nothing delivers more
glory to a state than controlling a large empire. And as many states began to claim territories
over the seas, a fierce competition grew up between them to claim lands before other countries
did. In this sense they were kind of like three
year olds playing with toys. Three year old A picks up one of three year
old B’s toys, and three year old A pitches a fit because he wants that toy. When his mom says, yes but you haven’t played
with toy in a year, the three year old responds, no this is my favorite toy. But we all know that this kid doesn’t care
about the toy, he just doesn’t want the other kid to have it. Now this kind of behavior is to be expected
with three year olds, but… Okay, so those are the general reasons states
sponsored sea-based expansion. Now let me pause for a second and emphasize
some change and continuity. People from all over the world had always
explored the seas. What is new here is the large-scale state
sponsorship of those explorations. Okay, now let’s turn our attention to some
specific examples of these states. And I reckon we should begin with Portugal. It’s hard to think of another nation whose
whole state/exploration knot was tied tighter. Why is that? Well, geography for starters. Portugal juts right into Spain’s backside,
and that means they only have one way to expand: into the sea. And there are a couple Portuguese explorers
worth noting. First is Bartholomew Diaz. In 1488 Diaz sailed all the way around the
southern tip of Africa and then returned home. Second is Vasco de Gama. Ten years later he sailed around the southern
tip of Africa and continued all the way to India. And when he landed in India, he claimed that
territory as part of Portugal’s empire, as one does. Now that was just the beginning. In 1514 Portuguese traders arrived in China. Initially they had little effect on the Chinese,
but after the merchants came the missionaries. Two sects of Catholic missionaries made it
their aim to convert the Chinese. The Franciscans worked to convert the mass
of Chinese people while the Jesuits worked to convert the elite. Now they had some success, but the vast majority
of the Chinese considered these Christians barbarians and therefore, overall, their impact
was minor. But with all these accomplishments under their
belt, the Portuguese began work on empire building. And for them it wasn’t the traditional means
of empire building, which is to say, get as much land as possible under your command. Rather, the Portuguese established what’s
known as a trading-post empire. This means that they claimed small amounts
of land at strategic locations around the African coast and throughout the Indian Ocean. And their goal was to possess a complete monopoly
over the spice trade and to charge all other ships passing through the ports they controlled. Now let’s turn our attention to the backside
into which Portugal so unceremoniously jutted: Spain. The Spanish state also sponsored exploration
and two names you should know here are Ferdinand Magellan and Christopher Columbus. Magellan was the first to circumnavigate the
globe by going west and then south around the tip of South America. And when he landed in the Philippines it wasn’t
long before Spain annexed the network of islands and set up a significant trading post that
attracted many Asian merchants. Then there’s our friend Christopher Columbus. The Spanish state sponsored this guy to seek
a new westward route to Asia and to look for some gold and silver to boot. Eventually that journey across the sea led
Columbus into contact with the Aztec and Inca Empires where he found metric buttloads of
the gold and silver sought by the Spanish. And that discovery made it worth the expense
to keep travelling there. Eventually the Spanish discovered that if
they enslaved the natives (and later Africans) and forced them into agriculture, they could
become wealthy beyond their wildest imaginations. Now of course Columbus’s contact with these
peoples led to some massive changes known as the Columbian Exchange but I’m going
to talk about that extensively in the next video. Okay, I reckon we need to talk about the English. In 1497 the English state sponsored an explorer
named John Cabot. His aim was to find a northwest passage to
Asia so that they didn’t have to sail all the way around South America. Turns out he didn’t find such a passage,
but he went ahead and claimed all the land from Newfoundland down to Chesapeake Bay for
the English. In 1607 the English established their first
colony called Jamestown in the Chesapeake Bay, and needless to say, that action had
some consequences, but we’ll have to save those for another video too. Alright, let’s talk about the French. The French state also wanted to find a northwest
passage through the Americas and when they couldn’t they went ahead and claimed part
of the land which is now Canada. Sorry. And when they discovered how rich this land
was in natural resources, they decided they didn’t really need to find a way to Asia. Canada would do just fine. Just one year after the establishment of Jamestown
the French established Quebec. But in general, the French did establish permanent
settlements like the English. Instead they became more interested in using
these new territories as trading posts with the natives. And as you might imagine, that meant that
the French had better relations with the native Americans. And finally, let’s talk about the Dutch. In 1609 the Dutch state sent Henry Hudson
to seek a northwest passage to Asia. He found what would later be named the Hudson
River and although it didn’t lead him to Asia, he went ahead and claimed the Hudson
River Valley for the Dutch and called it New Amsterdam. Okay, that’s what you need to know about
state sponsored maritime exploration in Unit 4. Right here you can subscribe to the channel
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