1. THE GREAT AGE OF
EXPLORATION

2. CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
• Plan to sail west to
get to the Far East
• Lands on Caribbean
island in 1492
• Dies believing he
landed in India

3. • 1501 – Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian
sailing for Portugal, explored the coast
of Brazil. He drew maps and wrote
about what he saw.
• 1507 – a mapmaker read Vespucci’s
observations and named the “new”
continent America in his honor.
• 1519 - Ferdinand Magellan left Spain
and was the first explorer to sail
around the tip of South America and
circumnavigate, or go all the way
around, the globe.

5. A “NEW WORLD”
• Spanish explorers called the
Americas the New World.
• When Spanish explorers arrived, the
Aztec and Inca empires were at
the height of their powers.
• Spanish explorers in the New World
found gold and silver as they
conquered the empires there.
• They also passed along diseases to
the native peoples that killed
possibly more than three-quarters
of them.

6. THE ENGLISH AND FRENCH IN
AMERICA
• Since the Spanish and
Portuguese already held
the southern routes
through the Americas,
the English and French
explored northern routes.
• Although a northern
route to Asia was not
established, these
explorers claimed
northern lands for
England and for France.

7. ENGLISH EXPLORATION
• 1497 & 1498 – Supported by King Henry VII, Italian
explorer John Cabot sailed along the northeast
coast of North America and claimed the land for
England.
• Elizabeth I – provided money for Francis Drake, John
Hawkins, and Walter Raleigh.

8. THE SPANISH ARMADA
• The Spanish controlled the gold
and silver from the former Aztec
and Inca empires.
• An English sailor named Francis
Drake began stealing gold and
silver from the Spanish ships.
• The Spanish were angry with the
English for these raids and sent
130 ships, known as the Spanish
Armada, to attack England.
• The English ships were faster and
had better weapons. They were
able to defeat the Spanish.

9. A NEW EUROPEAN WORLDVIEW
• The explorations brought new knowledge
and geography and proved that some old
beliefs were wrong.
• Geographers made more-accurate maps
that reflected new knowledge.
• New trade routes gave more opportunities
for wealth and resources.
• Europeans spread their influence around the
world by establishing colonies and setting up
new trade routes.

10. A NEW EUROPEAN WORLDVIEW
• The explorations brought new knowledge
and geography and proved that some old
beliefs were wrong.
• Geographers made more-accurate maps
that reflected new knowledge.
• New trade routes gave more opportunities
for wealth and resources.
• Europeans spread their influence around the
world by establishing colonies and setting up
new trade routes.