3.3 Exploration and Voyages of Discovery Flashcards
(8 cards)
Explain why overseas exploration increased: Technology
- Astrolabes
Used to determine their latitude in reference to the North Star.
- Sea Charts
Showed the parallels of latitude and longitude, and acted as a map for the seas.
- Magnetic Compasses
- Galleons - Stronger and faster ships with increased carrying capacity, and they also had triangular sails.
Explorers like Drake could also benefit from the knowledge brought back by earlier navigators. Drake took with him charts and books of navigation, which were partially the reason for his success.
Explain why overseas exploration increased: English Woollen Cloth market
The English Woollen Cloth market had collapsed and English merchants were looking for new markets to sell their goods.
This motivated them to look for markets overseas, and new opportunities for trade.
The New World provided them with the opportunity to get involved in the illegal trade of selling items, including slaves, to the Spanish colonists.
Explain why overseas exploration increased: Virginia
The confident English felt it was their duty to spread the advantages of their age and country to other lands. Explorers believed they had to civilise people in the New World.
Explain why overseas exploration increased: Spain
Catholic Spain was growing in wealth and in power because of the gold and silver mines in the New World.
The English desire to attack and plunder these territories increased as relations with Spain grew worse in the 1580s, and English fears of Catholic invasion grew.
Hawkins and Drake took little notice of trade restrictions on Spanish territories, especially once it was made clear that Spain and England were no longer allies.
Explain why overseas exploration increased: Money
Explorers like Drake boosted the Crown’s finances massively: men could become sailors and this offered a way out of poverty as they would receive a regular wage.
Explain why overseas exploration increased: Spread Protestantism
Elizabethan explorers wanted to spread Protestantism. They did this through colonising, like Spain.
Explain why overseas exploration increased: Humanism
The increase in curiosity and a thirst for knowledge amongst Elizabethans drove them to explore beyond the limits of their own known world.
Explain why overseas exploration increased: English Sailors
English seamen were well trained. They were used to smuggling and even piracy. Drake and Hawkins were not just successful in leading overseas voyages, they also inspired great loyalty and affection from their crews, who were prepared to follow them anywhere.
