“Some of the world’s greatest inventions came from China.” Much of the world today has still been undiscovered. But without the compass the Chinese and Americans might not have known each other existed. With the compass, explorers were able to navigate their way through many of the seas and land into the Western Hemisphere.
One reason the compass is so important is because it helped sailors navigate their way across the seas and lands. According to Journey Across Time, “About 1150 Chinese sailors began using the compass to help them find their way. This lets ships sail farther from land.” (page 420) This stated that without the compass Chinese sailors wouldn’t have been able to find their way across the sea and discover many parts of the world we know of today. Ancient China Inventions also thought the invention of
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According to Document four, “The invention of the compass largely helped the explorers during the Middle Ages discover the Western Hemisphere of the world.” This additionally stated that without the compass, explorers wouldn’t have been able to discover the Western Hemisphere. Leaving the Chinese to not know about the Americans. Lastly, the compass didn’t just allow us to discover parts of the world, but it also helps us navigate our way when traveling. For example, when going on vacations and traveling, we are going to need to have some way of direction in order for us to know where we’re going. Today, we have our phones and maps to help us navigate our way to different parts of the world. However back then the Chinese and Americans didn’t have electronic devices to help them navigate their way through different parts of the world. All three of these quotes
When comparing the Chinese and Western historical development, the similar key events would have very different outcomes due to their different backgrounds. During the fifteenth century, Zheng He was commissioned to lead the “treasure ships” for seven voyages down the Western Seas. And, Prince Henry sent expeditions to explore the western coast of Africa. China and Portugal, the both ends of the Eurasian continent, almost simultaneously began marine navigations. They have shared some similar features, but there are actually major differences between the two. This paper will compare and contrast these two remarkable explorers. The focus will be on the ideas and circumstances that influenced their actions, and their importance in shaping history.
The article “Navigating the Age of Exploration” by Ted Widmer explains how people view American history with only the assumptions pertaining to the present boundaries of the United States instead of seeing the world as explorers did during the Age of Exploration and expanding our boundaries to understand America’s history more fully. Widmer points out that many teachers of American history don’t teach a full continental perspective extending beyond American borders, which doesn’t give credit to the various cultures that contributed to the foundation of the United States. Today, people know little about the contributions of explorers during the Age of Exploration, and their impacts on America. During the Age of Exploration, the Europeans created
Advancement,something mankind has strived for since the beginning.In the 14, and 1500s advances were made such as the pencil,thermometer,microscope and globe.But in Spain the Italian born man named Christopher Columbus was eager to set out to the new world.When he was given three ships(Santa Maria,Niña
Like the Arabs, the Europeans sometimes let their religion come between them and the truth. The best example of this is what Boorstin refers to as the “Great Interruption,” a time in the Middle Ages where theological, rather than geographical, accuracy was prioritized in mapmaking. Rather than continuing the work of Ptolemy and refining his rectangular coordinate system, cartographers “spent their energies embroidering a neat, theologically appealing picture of what was already known, or was supposed to be known.” (Boorstin, 100) Maps depicted the world as a circular disc divided into three parts, the three parts being the continents of Asia, Africa, and Europe, separated by a T-shaped flow of water. Jerusalem was always in the center of the maps; the justification came from a verse in Ezekiel saying that God had placed Jerusalem in the midst of the nations, which was interpreted literally. Allowing Christian dogma to determine the shape of the earth was a major failing in Boorstin’s eyes; nevertheless, the episode was only an “interruption,” and Europe eventually resumed discovery. Firstly, Boorstin credits the west for the modern clock and calendar. Although earlier versions of clocks from other parts of the world are mentioned, the author focuses primarily on the contributions of westerners to its development. When missionary
Heavenly navigation techniques, that are used in the site of sun and stars in the sky, along with knowing that the earth is a spherical, which astronomers used as a beginning to be executed by sailors that was in Columbus time.
Exploration involves a journey fueled by the quest for knowledge and understanding. Explorers helped define the world and allowed humanity access to knowledge and information. Christopher Columbus can be considered an important explorer in the American history. His engagement in exploration left a thick mark in the world that cannot be undone. He is well known for his discovery of what was considered a new world, America. Christopher managed to achieve this through constant traveling that had him land on a new word that the European had no knowledge of. His voyages marked an imperative step in the American history. It opened up the European kingdoms and initiated the growth of trade routes and colonies. It developed a link between the continents
The Age of Exploration was one of the World History’s most important turning point. Before the Age of Exploration and right after the Crusades, trade between Asia and Europe had increased. However, there was a major setback and that was the prices of the goods that were traded. Starting from China, an object could be traded into India (for example) and then traded into Saudi Arabia for a higher price. And later on it would get traded into Europe for an even higher price. So the Europeans had to pay the bigger price for something that could have been worth less by going to the source itself. That lead to the Age of Exploration. Using big ships with huge sails, Europeans set out to find ways to trade with China and India by going around Africa or by simply going west into the Atlantic to find another way to get to China or India (that’s what Columbus had thought). The Portuguese started off the Age of Exploration by finding a way to get to India by goi...
for the sole reason that they aren’t as well educated about European life. For example in John Smith’s tale, The General History of Virginia, when he says that he gave King Pamunkee a compass and that he and his people “ marveled at the playing of the fly and needle, which they could see so plainly and yet not touch because of the glass that covered them,” but then when Smith “demonstrated by that globe-like jewel the roundness of the earth and skies, the sphere of the sun, moon ,stars, and how the sun did chase the night round about the world continually, the greatness of the land and sea, the diversity of nations, variety of complexions, and how we were to them antipodes and many other such like matters, they all stood as amazed with admiration.” This quote shows just how much the Natives didn’t really know about the sciences of the world like the Europeans did, but they were fascinated by it and wanted to learn. Another example is in The Narrative Of his journey, by Alvar Núñez Cabeza De Vaca, when he recalls that he helped the Native Americans “to understand by signs that our boat had sunk and three of our number had been drowned... The Indians, at site of what had befallen us, and our state of suffering and melancholy destitution, sat down among us, and from the sorrow and pity they felt, they all began to lament so earnestly that they might have been heard at a distance" This shows
How did technology help the Europeans discover the Americas? One of the devices they used was called an Astrolabe. An astrolabe is a device used by ships to tell the location by the stars. Another device used by the Europeans is a compass, as well as a rudder all helped the Europeans with their discovery of the Americas. The technology help the europeans discover because they use technology that was better than the old. Whoever has the best technology wins. Henry the navigator founded a school of navigation. Even though Henry founded a school of navigation, he never actually sailed.
Marco attained many eastern technologies and introduced these innovations to Europeans. Marco Polo brought back a navigation device that was developed by the Chinese called a compass. This allowed the European to go navigate the world and explore in a more efficient way. Marco Polo also brought back “paper, paper currency, porcelain, raw silk, ivory, jade, spices, and noodles” (Historpedia). The most progressive innovation Marco Polo brought back was paper. With this technology, the Europeans developed a printing press. With paper money, people did not have to bring a large amount of coins with them.
Political factors in the 18th century involving the Islamic conquest of Spain, France, North Africa and parts of the Mediterranean, successfully hindered European expedition to the Far East for succeeding centuries. This made many early explorers like Christopher Columbus and Vasco de Gama look for new trade path to the East. Ocean expeditions were very treacherous at this time. The weather could not be predicted, the navigation techniques were still primarily ancient and maps were scandalously unre...
Henry Hudson’s Dutch-sponsored voyage of 1609, which was trying to find a “Northwest passage to China” , revealed that it was possible to navigate farther inland. His men, like later visitors, noted the area’s climate and agricultural productivity were favorable for settlement. Robert Juet, one of Hudson’s seamen, found the land
First of all, explorers of the early times used mean tools to navigate through the world. Beside that they also discovered unknown places by those tools of navigation and they used the accurate enough to bring them to new places. Referring to Olivia Isil, on her article “Navigation and Related Instruments in 16th-Century England” she argues that: “Beginning at a known or assumed position, the navigator measured, as best he could, the heading and speed of the ship, the speeds of the ocean currents and the leeward (downwind) drift of the ship, and the time spent on each heading” (Isil p. 1). Therefore, by having those information we can infer that mean tools such are compass, stars, and their own written maps; for instance, those were used at their most to bring results to the explorers. Even though they were primitive tools they led room to develop something better to become more accurate than ever. Moreover, people saw the need to bring something that would have included most of the world so they could naviga...
II to have a safer and easier life and to be able to do without a compass if necessary
Using the compass and astrolabe sailors could go out and look for faster more efficient ways to make it between trading posts thus speeding up trade. During the fourteenth and early fifteenth century Europeans became used to exotic goods and spices which lent urgency to the quest to discover new and faster trade routes between countries. In order to discover these new ways explorers needed to set out on long and potentially life threatening journeys. Navigational tools were necessary for the voyages as they have explorers a way to not only know where they were going but to also to mark there passages down so if they were successful others could follow and use the newly discovered routes. The compass kept the sailors going in the direction they wanted and the astrolabe allowed them to 1) figure out their attitude furthering there knowledge of where they were and 2) mark down their latitude making it possible for others to follow there exact route and avoid the hazards of straying off course. Before these new navigational instruments were created “Navigation was at first costal, for there was no way to determine the correct route when out of sight of land.” so there was no way to explore and find faster routes. But as tools improved longer journeys could be made and sailors could set of on long expeditions way out of sight of land and still find their way.