As explained previously, curiosity was the leading driving force of voyages during the Age of Exploration. Curiosity lead to the other two logical, yet obvious inspirations: to become a prominent figure in human history, and to discover a trade route to bring eternal prosperity to Europe. These three stimuli reigned as the most important, and overshadowed all other in being a driving force behind the expeditions at sea. This greatly developed trade, which provided new and unfamiliar goods to advance civilization in Europe and America. One may argue that the motivation to spread of religion was also one of the most important, but that would be incorrect. Voyages back then with the spread of religion as its sole impetus did not stand out in any way, and had no notable discoveries. In fact, Europeans also spread Christianity if they discovered new land, despite the fact that it wasn’t their intention in the first place.
Now, what voyages made the Age of Exploration so important? The one voyage that most people know by heart is when Columbus “sailed the ocean blue”. Despite the fact his original destination was Asia; he landed ashore in America, thinking he was in Asia. Of course, they didn’t know there was America back then, so they mistook the people there for Indians. Columbus took the ‘Indians’ (Native Americans) back to Asia, along with foreign goods, sparking immense curiosity when word got out Columbus sailed to Asia and back. Columbus’ voyage became an ideal example for other sailors, and it also started the Columbus Exchange, a trade system between Europe and American that caused a lot of reforms. Eventually, the world became fully discovered as Ferdinand Magellan’s crew successfully circumnavigated the world after he died in battle in the Philippines. John Cabot later discovered Canada, the other half of North America. Canada became France’s territory when Jacques Cartier arrived in Canada and claimed it. As a result, people today speak French as one of the main languages there. A fine example of how the olden days affected the modern world. Without these discoveries, advancements in civilizations in these foreign lands would not have been possible until god knows when some other explorer, possibly decades later, stumbles upon the foreign land.
Trade became extremely progressive and popular as the new discoveries provided merchants/traders with unfamiliar goods. As all the new goods were flooding into Europe, the Columbian Exchange was established. The Columbian Exchange was mainly the trade between America and Europe, where new food and animals were exchanged, resulting in different types of food when combined. Staples changed and so were the traditional cuisines of countries. For example, tomato was brought to Italy, resulting in their famous invention of spaghetti. From then on, tomato was a famous fruit (or vegetable? The debate still goes on…) or sauce used in their dishes. Yet another example on how the ancient world affected the modern world. Filled with new and foreign goods, trade in Europe spread to other parts of Europe, and eventually to Asia. The Columbian Exchange set off a chain reaction of developed trade, which would later affect the whole world. Soon, the Triangular Trade System, also known as the Atlantic Slave Trade, intertwined itself with the Columbian Exchange when large exports of slaves were transported to America. Colonization came to be as people in Europe settled in America and created plantations for Africa slaves to harvest raw materials not found in Europe to sell to European merchants. Industry reforms occurred in Europe as the demand for the manufactured goods of the raw materials from America became extremely high, which led to immense profit!
Technology also advanced during the time of the Age of Exploration. The compass was invented by the Chinese, and it provided the user with the capability to tell where the direction of north is. Therefore, you could tell where to go even during the day time, when the North Star cannot be seen. As a result, expeditions became much easier to navigate. In addition to the compass, the astrolabe was introduced to the Europeans by the Muslims, which allowed navigators to calculate their location based on the position of the sun and stars in relation to the horizon. This proved useful in both day and night, and paired along with the compass, was a great deal in helping with explorations. The two major factors out of the three, the caravels were an invention made by the Europeans. Caravels were light and highly maneuverable ships invented by the Portuguese. With lateen sails, their control and use of the wind allowed them to travel better on sea, then again, making explorations easier. They also had weapons that could help them defend themselves from hostile ships at sea.
All in all, the main foundation, curiosity, started all this. The end result, though a bit broad is certainly factual and unequivocal: the advancement of civilization in Europe and America. Curiosity led to the longing of finding new land/trade routes, resulting in new discoveries being made. These discoveries led to the advancement of trade, mainly the Columbian Exchange, and later, the Atlantic Slave Trade. As more and more voyages commenced, people wanted to make them easier. As a result, the compass, astrolabe, and caravels were introduced into the European society to make the expeditions much easier. With all that, Europe prospered even more, and America started to become civilized, despite already having the Renaissance ongoing. Interestingly enough, some of these discoveries made a major impact on today’s modern world!