European+Exploration+(586-591)+2

=European Exploration un the Atlantic and Indian Ocean= Portuguese Exploration
 * Merchants weren't especially promminent in trading circles
 * Fishermen seafared the Atlantic and those people ended up bieng the early leaders in the Atlantic exploration
 * and the search for the sea route to Asian markets through the Indian Ocean
 * Prency Henrique of Portugaul ( Prince Henry the navigator) embarked on an ambitous campaign to spread Christianity and increase portugual influence
 * 1415 portuguese forces seized the Moroccan city of Ceuta ( which guarded the Strait of Gibraltar)
 * he saw his victory as a blow agaqinst Islam
 * and strategic move enabling Christian vessels to move freely between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic

Colonization of the Atlantic Islands Slave Trade Indian Ocean Trade Christopher Columbus
 * after capture of Ceuta: Henrique encouraged Portuguese mariners to go to into the Atlantic[[image:apworldhistorywiki/geography-of-cape-verde0.gif width="255" height="188" align="right"]]
 * they discovered the Madeiras an the Azores islands
 * colonized these
 * tried to occupy the canary islands but failed
 * also discovered
 * Cape Verde islands
 * Fernando Po
 * Sao Tome
 * Principe
 * islands had fertile soil and good climate
 * cultivated sugarcane (with collaboration with Italian investors)[[image:apworldhistorywiki/slave_routes.jpg width="416" height="383" align="right"]]
 * commercial networks provided ways to distribute sugar to the europeans
 * Portuguese also explored west coast of Africa
 * they traded guns, textiles, and other items for African gold and slaves
 * they changed the nature of the slave trade by
 * increasing the volume
 * sending slaves to new destinations
 * dispatched thousands of slaves annually by mid 15th century
 * slaves worked on plantations on the atlantic islands
 * became a common practice
 * fueled the development of a huge, Atlantic-wide trade that delivered as many as 12 million enslaved Africans to destinations in N. America, S. America and the caribbean region
 * Some mariners traded profitably in west Africa, but others went to trade Asian silk and spices
 * Sea routes needed to get to Asian markets, avoid Muslims and Italians
 * 1488- Bartolomeu Dias sailed around the Cape of Good Hope and entered the Indian Ocean
 * Crew forced Dias to return immediately to Portugal
 * Voyage proved possibility of sailing from Europe to the Indian Ocean
 * 1497- Vasco de Gama left Portugal to sail to India
 * Met a Muslim who showed him how to take advantage of seasonal monsoon winds to sail across the Arabian Sea to India
 * in 1948, he arrive at Calicut
 * by 1499 de Gama returned to Lisbon with a cargo of peppers and spices[[image:apworldhistorywiki/Christopher_Columbus3.jpg width="380" height="264" align="right"]]
 * Portugese merchants and mariners dominated trade, and attempted to control all shipping
 * Had ships armed with cannons and could overpower Arabs, Persians, Indians, southeast Asians, and others
 * Genoese mariner Cristoforo Colombo decided to sail west to reach Asian markets
 * Geographers knew nothing of the Americas, so Columbus's plans made sense
 * The King of Portugal refused to sponsor the expedition
 * Catholic Kings, Fernando and Isabel of Spain agreed to sponsor
 * 1492- Columbus set sail with a fleet of three ships across the Atlantic Ocean
 * Reached San Salvador in the Bahamas
 * Columbus returned with no gold, silk, or spices
 * Never acknowledged that his expeditions never reached Asia, though he made three more voyages
 * Around the end of 15th century, other mariners explored the Caribbean and American continents