Reasons for European Exploration

Overview

• European exploration during the Age of Discovery (1400s to early 1600s)
• Motivated by the "3 Gs": God, Gold, and Glory
• Exploration led to colonization and expansion of European powers in the Americas, Africa, and Asia

Key Reasons for Exploration

1. God

• Religious motivation: spread Christianity
• Inspired by previous Crusades and Reconquista
• Conversion efforts by Spanish, Portuguese, and French missionaries, including Jesuit priests
• British Puritans as early settlers in North America, driven by religious motivations

2. Gold

• Economic motivation: wealth accumulation
• Goal to find new trade routes to access Eastern spices and goods more directly
• Discovery of gold in the Americas increased European interest
• Example: Spanish extraction of over 100 tons of gold from the Americas in the first 50 years

3. Glory

• Quest for fame and national pride
• Notable explorers:
  • Christopher Columbus: discovered the Americas while seeking a sea route to the East Indies
  • Hernan Cortes: conquered the Aztec Empire
  • Pedro de Alvarado: defeated the Maya
  • Francisco Pizzaro: toppled the Inca Empire
  • Henry Hudson: laid groundwork for British claims in Canada
  • Samuel de Champlain: founded Quebec, supporting French claims

Legacy of European Colonialism

• Massive wealth transfer from colonies to Europe
• Negative impacts on indigenous populations: enslavement, forced conversions, cultural destruction
• Initiation of the Atlantic Slave Trade
• Introduction of diseases like smallpox, causing significant indigenous population decline
• Positive effects: Columbian Exchange, technological transfer

Summary

• Age of Discovery was a period of European competition for colonization
• Motivated by the 3 Gs, primarily seeking wealth
• European exploration introduced new world interactions but also led to significant indigenous suffering
• Long-lasting impact of colonialism visible in cultural and religious demographics and history