Jake Ball

Ms. Miller
AP European History
10/2/17

Chapter 14 Focus Questions

1. What commercial and religious motivations caused the European nations to explore and
colonize overseas?
The Ottomans, spread of Christianity, Religious refuge, and new source of revenue were
motivations to colonize overseas.

2. What advances in navigation cartography and military technology allowed Europeans to

prevail in new lands?
The Sextant, astrolabe, mariner's compass told location at sea. The caravel, a new ship with bigger
rudder for deeper water, sails instead of manpower, and guns and cannons. Maps from old time
periods rediscovered, showing earth is round and latitude and longitude.

3. How did the shift in trade routes from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic change the
balance of economic power?
Countries with the most economic power had colonies, routes to Asia, and places in the
Americas. Most profits came from outside the Mediterranean and global trade is crucial.

4. What was the impact of the Colombian Exchange and plantation farming on both
indigenous peoples and Europeans?
Indigenous people suffered from European diseases and were used as laborers and
overworked.Europeans gained profits, new goods and foods like potatoes and sugarcane.

5. How did innovations in banking promote growth of urban financial centers and a new
economic elite?
Due to the influence of new banking systems and the popularity of it, cities with a central area for trade
and banking grew immensely. They became a port of merchandise as well as a way of growing due to
other influences.

6. Why did Europeans begin embark on voyages of discovery and expansion at the end of
the 15th century?

The Europeans were motivated to embark on voyages for discovery had many motives. One
motivation was to find the “fantastic lands” described in works such as the Travels of Mandeville
and the legends of the magical kingdom of Prester John. Columbus even took a copy of Marco
Polo’s Travels with him on his voyages. The most important motive was economic. The
Jake Ball
Ms. Miller
AP European History
10/2/17

conquests of the Ottoman Turks had cut the Europeans off from trade with Asia. The overland
trade routes were controlled by the Arab Muslims who functioned as “middle men” who
marked up the prices of spices and other goods coming from Asia. Therefore, many Europeans
became interested in finding a sea route to Asia which would by-pass these intermediaries. In
addition, the Portuguese and the Spanish had been fighting to expel the Muslims from Portugal
and Spain for many years.

7. How did Portugal and Spain acquire their overseas empires and how did their empires
differ?

The Portuguese voyages of exploration started with Prince Henry the Navigator’s exploration of
the west coast of Africa. In addition to exporting African slaves to Europe, the Portuguese found
large deposits of gold which enriched their nation. This success spurred further exploration, this
time to India when Vasco da Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope allowing the Portuguese
access to the east coast of Africa and India and the highly profitable spice trade. They
eventually set up trade as far as China, but did not colonize these regions. Their superior ships
enabled them to easily defeat their Arab and Indian competition but eventually they were out-
matched by other Europeans. The Spanish sought access to the Asian spice trade by sailing west
instead of around Africa, not realizing how large the earth was and how far the distance would
be. Columbus therefore believed when he “discovered” the Americas, that he had arrived in
India (and therefore referred to Native Americans as Indians). This discovery inspired many
other European voyages, including the Portuguese. Competition between the Spanish and the
Portuguese led to the Treaty of Tordesillas which divided the “New World” between Spain and
Portugal. While the Portuguese did not colonize Africa or India, the Spanish did colonize the
Americas. Their introduction of new diseases decimated the Native population and they made
alliance of some tribes in order to conquer the stronger Aztecs.

8. How did the arrival of the Dutch British and French on the world scene in the 17th and
18th centuries affect Africa Southeast Asia India China and Japan? What were the main
features of the Africa Slave trade, and what effects did it have on Africa?
Africa was plundered for its gold and resources, leading its own people to sell each other into slavery.
Southeast Asia saw many of its islands taken in order to gain footholds in the spice trade. The mainland
of Southeastern Asia was not as abused but still was occupied by European countries. In India, the
Portugese, English, and Dutch all fought for control of their spice trade. In the end, the British occupied
India due to the rise of the British East India Company. Japan was able to repel most European powers
from their country, allowing only the Dutch to remain trading with them.

9. How did European expansion affect both the conquered and the conquerors?
Jake Ball
Ms. Miller
AP European History
10/2/17

European expansion led to the famous Colombian exchange, which brought many of the plants and
animals from Europe to settle in the new lands, whereas the native crops were also sent to Europe.
Diseases that were cured in Europe were also brought to newly colonized lands, which greatly reduced
the population of native peoples.

10. What was mercantilism, and what was its relationship with the colonial empires?
A political system that emphacised that the total volume of trade was unchangeable. It promoted
many practices that were used to control the amount of trade within a country such that it was
left unchanged. Trades are in hard measurable currency, there is a winner and loser, winner is
supplier, loser is the one buying, goal is to stockpile as much currency as possible, high govt
involvement