Top 10 Causes of Discovery of America

He discovery of America Is one of the most decisive and decisive events for the change in the course of human history.

The event has a date marked on October 12, 1492 when Christopher Columbus And its three caravels finally found on the horizon"land in sight"after a long and nervous journey that began on August 3 from the Port of Palos.

Christopher Columbus on his arrival to discover America

It was an accidental discovery, as an attempt was made to seek a new trade route by sea towards the known Indies, based on the theory that the earth was spherical.

Later on and after a couple more trips it was confirmed that the landing lands were actually an unknown continent.

Once the news was known by the kingdoms of Europe, a maritime career began to discover and annex territories of"the new world"in search of resources and products.

Among the most powerful imperial powers of the time that were integrated into the"age of discovery"were: Great Britain, France, Holland, and of course Spain and Portugal as the first rivals.

Causes of Major America Discovery

The eternal human need to go further forced to improve the construction of ships

The Viking explorations from the 7th century AD. By the North Atlantic gave the human being centuries of experience to perfect the construction of stronger ships for longer voyages.

Always wanting to go further, the conquerors arrived at present Iceland and Greenland; Eventually touching coasts of North America around 1001 AD, without interest to settle.

Their models of ships were slowly mixing in style and quality with those of the rest of Europe of the average age, evolving the industry of ships that demanded more and more ambitious explorations.

Wanting to launch into the open sea forced optimization in the design of the sails

Before the fifteenth century, the candles were square. This form limited navigation since the wind could only be used if it was blowing from behind.

The Portuguese designed the triangular sails that allowed the use of the wind blowing from different angles. This change allowed sailors to venture to more open water.

The crusades opened the horizons of European kings to the east

The understanding of the average European geography before the Crusades was minimal. It did not extend beyond the vague, limited and controlled information of a few texts of the Roman era.

With the success of the first crusade, Europeans were more in touch with the rest of the world. The merchants followed the path of the territories taken to the east and saw the opportunity to trade in silks and species in these cities.

This caught the attention of the kingdoms that were fascinated with the products of the Far East. It was not long before companies were established to trade these goods officially.

The silk route was necessary to keep it active and safe

It was the task of the Khan leaders of the Mongol empire to ensure that the supply of products from distant China and India had landed transit to the commercial cities with passage to the Mediterranean. This is the case of Constantinople, where European ships always hoped to buy as customers fascinated, faithful and secure.

The fall of Constantinople at the hands of the Ottoman Empire

In 1453, the Turks conquered the capital of the Byzantine Empire, taking control of the most important commercial crossing of the low middle age.

The trade was under many obstacles and the prices of the taxes increased considerably.

This is probably one of the most important causes as it was the catalyst to seek contact with Asia again.

To obtain a new route that would allow to follow the commerce of the precious products of the east

The routes known were very expensive, whether it be for trade fees, long distances or the dangers of travel.

Whoever provided a solution could become very rich and gain the favor of kings.
The route through the Mediterranean / Sea-Red / Indigo Ocean by the Nile had many risks.

The route claimed by the Portuguese to travel around Africa to reach India was very long and was threatened by Muslim troops stationed in the north of the African continent.

The maritime competition between Spain and Portugal

Portugal took the lead in the race to secure a new trade route to India and China.

Not only was it necessary to find an alternative route without going through territories controlled by Muslims, but it was also imperative to have a route of their own and more efficient than that of the Portuguese.

The expulsion of the Muslims from Iberia allowed the Spanish crown to invest in expeditions

The unification of Spain with Ferdinand and Isabella helped in the struggle and defeat of Muslim power on their lands. After the expulsion, the kingdom recovered money. But the idea of ​​trying to reestablish commercial relations in the new Ottoman / Muslim Constantinople was inconceivable.

So when Columbus presents his proposal to the queen, she decides to give him the opportunity, and the rest is history.

The possibility of spreading the Catholic religion on every trip

The defeat of the Muslims in Spanish lands motivated the crown to continue fighting against the non-believers around the world, to bring the Catholic influence and the conversion of the faithful. To obtain the favor of the papacy in Rome was another of the competitions between the European kingdoms.

The pursuit of wealth to increase economic power

It was never going to be too difficult to obtain resources that would increase the power of the crown coffers.

The possibility of finding precious metals such as gold and silver or other products that generated profits was always open.

Discovering new territories and reclaiming them for the crown became synonymous with power from 1500 AD.

References

  1. Lynn Harry Nelson (2001). The Discovery of the New World and the End of the Old.
  2. Lectures in Medieval History. Virtual Library vlib.us/medieval/lecture.
    EyeWitnes to History (2004). Christopher Columbus Discovers America. 1492. eyewitnesstohistory.com.
  3. History of Ecuador (2001). Causes and Consequences of the Discovery of America. WordPress.com. Story-writer.wordpress.com.
    EyeWitness to History (2005). The Vikings Discover America, ca. 1000. eyewitnesstohistory.com.
  4. O'Neill Tim (2015). What caused the 'Age of Discovery' in the 1500? Powered by Quora. Quora.com.
  5. . (2014). Causes of the discovery of America - Technological advances, causes of exploration and race between Spain and Portugal. Recuperated by Prezi.com.


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