1. How Did Geography Contribute To The Age Of European Exploration

Read 103-112 P.113 RRR #1-3

1) Briefly describe the world as imagined by Europeans prior to the fifthteenth century.

The Europeans had believed in Ptolemy’s guide of the world; Ptolemy depicted the world as a globe, made up of three continents(Asia, Africa, and Europe), and two oceans(the Indian Ocean and the Western Ocean), with a 3:1 ratio of land to water.

2) How did geography contribute to the age of European exploration?

The Atlantic Ocean’s wind systems provided European sailing ships with a highway to the Americas and eventually to the far East.

3) Describe the relationship between European powers and the Ottoman Turks during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

-Trade was limited between European powers and the Ottoman Turks during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries

-The Spanish and the Portuguese dominated the African slave trade in the Sixteenth Century.

-In the Seventeenth century the Dutch dominated the African slave trade

-In the Eighteenth century Britain and Denmark also began participating

-By the nineteenth century, slavery gradually abolished.

i) Why were the Europeans able to topple the MesoAmerican empires so easily, yet have no luck at all when trying to dominate the far eastern empires?

The Europeans were able to topple the Meso American empires so easily because of the diseases that the Europeans brought along with them. The Europeans had already built an immunity to these diseases over thousands of years, but it was the Meso Americans first time encounter with these major epidemics. However, the far eastern empires were in states of isolationism, not giving the Europeans a chance to establish within the country; thus, not allowing Europeans to use disease to aid in the takeover.

ii) Explain the African slave trade – how and why it happened, and how it affected both Europe and