Age of Exploration
Grade 7 · Social Studies · Study Guide
An overview of European exploration from the 15th to 17th centuries and its global impact.
The Age of Exploration, roughly spanning 1400–1650, was a period when European nations sent sailors and explorers across the oceans to find new trade routes, lands, and resources. Portugal led early efforts under Prince Henry the Navigator, funding voyages along the African coast to reach Asia. Bartholomeu Dias rounded the southern tip of Africa in 1488, and Vasco da Gama reached India by sea in 1498.
Spain sponsored Christopher Columbus, who reached the Americas in 1492 while searching for a western route to Asia. Ferdinand Magellan's expedition (1519–1522) became the first to circumnavigate the globe, proving the Earth's roundness in practice. John Cabot explored North America for England, and Giovanni da Verrazzano mapped parts of the North American coast for France.
Exploration was driven by the desire to break into the lucrative spice trade, spread Christianity, and gain wealth and power. It led to the Columbian Exchange — the transfer of plants, animals, diseases, and people between the Old and New Worlds. While exploration created vast wealth for European empires, it also brought devastating consequences for Indigenous peoples through disease, conquest, and the growth of the transatlantic slave trade.
Key terms
- Columbian Exchange
- The transfer of plants, animals, diseases, and people between the Americas and Europe/Africa/Asia following Columbus's voyages.
- circumnavigate
- To travel completely around something, especially the Earth.
- spice trade
- The lucrative commerce in spices such as pepper, cinnamon, and cloves that motivated European exploration of sea routes to Asia.
- caravel
- A small, fast sailing ship developed by the Portuguese that was ideal for exploration along coastlines.
- conquistador
- A Spanish explorer and soldier who led expeditions to conquer lands in the Americas.
- mercantilism
- An economic theory that colonies exist to enrich the mother country through resource extraction and favorable trade.
Flashcards
- Prince Henry the Navigator
- Portuguese prince who funded early voyages of exploration along the African coast in the early 1400s.
- Bartholomeu Dias
- Portuguese explorer who rounded the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa in 1488.
- Vasco da Gama
- Portuguese explorer who reached India by sea in 1498, opening a direct trade route from Europe to Asia.
- Christopher Columbus
- Italian explorer sailing for Spain who reached the Caribbean in 1492, beginning sustained contact between Europe and the Americas.
- Ferdinand Magellan
- Portuguese explorer whose expedition (1519–1522) was the first to circumnavigate the globe; he died in the Philippines.
- Columbian Exchange
- The widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, diseases, and people between the Americas and the Old World.
- conquistador
- Spanish soldier-explorer who conquered lands and peoples in the Americas in the 16th century.
- caravel
- A small, maneuverable sailing ship used by Portuguese and Spanish explorers during the Age of Exploration.
Questions
Which country sponsored Christopher Columbus's 1492 voyage to the Americas?
- Portugal
- England
- Spain
- France
Show answer
Answer: Spain
Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain financed Columbus's 1492 voyage westward.
Vasco da Gama was the first European explorer to reach India by sailing around Africa.
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Answer: True
Vasco da Gama's 1498 voyage sailed around Africa's Cape of Good Hope and reached Calicut, India.
The transfer of plants, animals, diseases, and people between the Old and New Worlds is called the ________ Exchange.
Show answer
Answer: columbian
The Columbian Exchange is named after Columbus and describes the biological and cultural exchange between the hemispheres.
What was the primary economic motivation for European exploration in the 15th century?
- Finding new farmland
- Reaching the spice trade of Asia
- Escaping religious persecution
- Discovering gold in Africa
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Answer: Reaching the spice trade of Asia
European powers wanted direct sea routes to Asia's spice markets to bypass costly overland routes controlled by Ottoman and Arab middlemen.
Ferdinand Magellan personally completed the first circumnavigation of the globe.
Show answer
Answer: False
Magellan was killed in the Philippines in 1521. His navigator, Juan Sebastián Elcano, completed the circumnavigation in 1522.
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