Humanities evolution of consciousness about his surroundings has come in spurts of intense discovery, followed closely by periods of lethargy and lackadaisical pursuit. One such period may be explored in the Age of Discovery. Fomented during a time of expanding knowledge and burgeoning expansion of international trade, the fifteenth through the seventeenth centuries saw an explosion of European conscience of the known world. A systematic visitation of key parts of this period will garner a greater appreciation for the dawning of global discovery. Integral to any review of a historical period is a careful look at the important factors contributing to the age in question. Building upon this foundation are the people who whether actively or accidentally played part in raising the banner of discovery high and prompting others to press forward in the expansion of collective knowledge. Finally, delving into the deeply held convictions and motives which spurred the intrepid adventurers into previously only theorized territories gives special insight to answering the question, why? By becoming intimately aware of the broad shift in knowledge held by the world during the pivotal Age of Discovery and ensuing Age of Reconnaissance historians may further develop their own guiding principles of expanding knowledge and discovery.
The Age of Discovery marked a pivot point for European perceptions about the extent of their world. For the first time, it was understood that all seas might be one, and that perhaps there was a whole new unexplored world beyond the horizon. This expansion of thought was found not only in geographical exploration, but also in the broadening of empirical discovery and a shift in its relation to the authority figure...
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...ting repercussions through the modern day, with many former territories struggling to find their place within the world.
Unequivocally, the Age of Discovery and congruent Age of Reconnaissance introduced Europe to a world beyond its own shores and led to a rapid expansion of influence and territory. The influx of resources stripped from discovered territories helped to fund a growth and expansion of knowledge unrivaled by any other age. With this explosion of knowledge came the destruction of many peoples previously living beyond the sphere of European influence. Without a doubt, this brief period of time fundamentally shifted and accelerated the course of human history. Few places on Earth escaped at least some small effect of the Age of Reconnaissance.
Works Cited
Parry, J. H. The Age of Reconnaissance. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1981.
The Exploration Era was a time period when countries and people made journeys overseas to find “the New World.” With the help of the printing press, the discoveries of the Americas were known globally making people curious to explore it themselves. In the map “Distribution of Columbus’ Letter” (Document D), it shows where the letter was published and where it was translated to different. This is due to the printing press. Along with the many documents, the news of Christopher Columbus’ discoveries of “India” or the New World had sparked the curiosity of people all over the world. People became more interested in geography and seeing what’s out there along with the different resources. The New World discovery opened up a new trade route and different trade items. This would create pros and cons like economic growth and slavery. In addition the exploration of the Europeans helped us gain knowledge and get a picture of the Americas. In the “Henricus Martellus’ World Map, 1489” (Document E), it shows the world as they knew it with Europe, Africa, and Asia. The “Martin Waldseemuller's World Map, 1507” was an updated, more correct version of the world we see today. Waldseemuller’s map includes the Americas and was much bigger than Martellus’. The printing press had helped Waldseemuller use this new knowledge to create a map that would depict something
Explore how the concept of discovery is represented in Frank Hurley -the Man who Made History + two self selected texts
The effects of the spreading of scientific and technological innovation between 1000 and 1450 were felt across Eurasia. These phenomenon resulted in higher degrees of interregional contact and the entrance
Western Europe was more concerned with their Maker and the redemption of their souls than with their individual lives on earth. This meant that the development of their own philosophies and schools of thought would occur later than many other postclassical civilizations. However, the time period was not without achievement. It laid the ground for discoveries of tremendous importance that would change the known world forever.
In the mid 1400’s Spain and Portugal began to take separate routes of discovery. Prince Henry of Portugal, in reaction to the shortage of bullion in Western Europe, was interested in sending his captains to the African coast in search of gold. As a result, many Portuguese ports were established along the African coast and “The Portuguese were able to exploit at least a part of the African caravan trade they had sought.” (p.340) While Portugal was focused on expansion along the African coast; the Spanish were the first to discover the “new world” despite the lack of geographical knowledge the Spaniards and Columbus in particular possessed. This “new world” wasn’t quite what Columbus had though it was, however; as Columbus maintained to his death that he had reached Asia. He hadn’t, “He had landed at one of the Bahaman Islands, San Salvador.” (p. 342) Columbus’ distorted reality proved to...
Present-day historians have shed the light of modern understanding to issues that plagued peoples of the past. One example of this can easily be seen in the ideals popularized in Europe from the late fifteenth to the mid seventeenth centuries regarding the Americas and its inhabitants. The Americas had a discernable impact upon Europe, and vice versa; though neither group initially set out to change the world that was the unforeseen and wholly "unintended consequence" of discovery. The discovery of the Americas and its inhabitants undoubtedly lead to changes in the intellectual, political and economic life in Europe.
During the fourteenth century, the Renaissance was notable for its development from medieval life and values dominated by the Church toward the abstract ethics of civilization. Instead of the perception stressed by religion that emphasized preparation for the after life, the enlightened citizens of the middle class, became interested in individuals success and emphasized life in this world, rather than the afterlife in which the Catholic church emphasized. This encouraged individuals to surmount in a wide variety of grounds portraying their knowledge because of their strong beliefs in all aspects ranging from art, politics, and personal life. Renaissance thinkers were inspired by the ancient Greeks and Romans instead of medieval life because it was portrayed as undeveloped. The textbook a History in The Making discusses these changes and writes, “A new understanding of the motions of heavens and of mechanic on the earth developed among experimenters in natural philosophy, that is, what came to be called science” (484). This portrayed how the scientific revolution changed and impacted attitudes within Europe in regards to Science and knowledge. The Secularization tainted the traditional scientific method of truth and search for non religious foundations, emphasizing the new doors that had been opened for this
The European exploration had a significant impact on history. The effects were both positive and negative. Some positive impacts that the Europeans caused were the trade of crops and animals. Some negative impacts were the selling of slaves and the spread of
The scientific revolution can be considered one of the biggest turning points in European history. Because of new scientific ideas and theories, a new dawn of thinking and questioning of natural elements had evolved. Scientific revolution thinkers such as Newton, Galileo, and Copernicus all saw nature as unknowable and wanted to separate myths from reality. During the scientific revolution during mid 1500-late 1600s, key figures such as Isaac Newton and Nicolaus Copernicus greatly impacted Europe in terms of astronomical discoveries, scientific methods, and the questioning of God to challenge the church’s teachings.
Holt, Sol. Exploring World History. New Jersey: Globe Book Company Inc, 1990. Pg. 204-205, 311.
The Age of Exploration changed the world forever it and it was caused for three main reasons the three G’s, land for colonies, and marauders. These three reasons changed and it all happened in one event called the Colombian Exchange this caused climates to change and people to die. Pretty much the European’s came to the new world and colonized, so that they could dig gold and preach the word of god for their own pride. Thus the age of exploration and colonization were motivated by the ambitions of many Europeans and ended up leading to a massive devastating impact in the new world.
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The foundation for new imperialism rested on the ideas and products of the enlightenment. Advancements in technology, medicine and cartography led to the success of new imperialism (Genova, 2/15). For example, European voyages would have been for naught, if it were not for the enlightenment discover...
"The advent of a new world configuration, with a circumscribed place for Europe, found dramatic expression in the rapid disintegration of the European colonial empires after World War II." 1 The war itself had been a major catalyst for independence movements all throughout the world. Colonial reconquest wasn't the only thing that marked the end of the war. The atomic bomb and the victory of the United States were both sign...
Scholasticism and the European universities of the past had mainly taught from old commentaries and studies and had not been interested in trying to gather new information. Many scholars had come to the conclusion that there was no new knowledge to be gained from nature. During the Age of Discovery and the following Scientific Revolution, however, this old authority was all but destroyed. The 'new world ' of the Americas and Australia were first found and studied during this time, filling Europe with knowledge of new plants, animals, and people groups. Some of the greatest amounts of new knowledge, though, came not from the ocean, but from the sky. The newly invented telescope, first made by Galileo, opened up a vast sea of never-before-seen information about the planets, their surfaces, and their movements. By proving that nature still had abundant information to be discovered, the Scientific Revolution went against the old Scholastic