Sachin Radhakrishnan History 4B 16 November 2010 Honest Exploration Transformed Into Hideous Domination Beginning in the late 1400s

and early 1500s, Western Europeans started to zealously venture beyond their known realm, entering uncharted waters and unknown lands. This widespread fever of exploration expanded the Europeans knowledge of the world at the time, and although refuted claims of the world being considerably small by Ptolemys calculations, effectively made the world figuratively smaller as Europeans had filled in virtually every blank spot on their maps, greatly reducing unraveled areas around the globe. Initiated by the Portuguese and Spanish, the French, English and Dutch soon followed suit in pushing the bounds of the European continent, creating a widespread transition from the Middle Ages to the Modern Era. As Europeans began to uncover more about other cultures, riches, and wildlife, the thirst for colonizing the new lands set in. Although European explorers initially began the Age of Discovery with the mindset of finding riches and expanding knowledge of the known world, those who set out in the 15th century on through the 17th century were solely responsible for powering the European continental race for world domination through colonialism, which is the greatest, most influential and long-lasting outcome of this event, helping Western Europe advance much quicker and come out on top with a iron clench over most of the world. Their success in travels and discovery led to the European ideology of superiority over other people in the political realm, justifying their vision for ruling over these foreigners. Prior to the outset of global exploration, the European worldview was highly constricted and muddled due to the lack of proper tools for travel, false legends that

procured horrible images of people abroad, and inability to receive funding for such extravagant ventures, which greatly hindered widespread exploration, never allowing Europeans the outward exposure necessary for the domination of other continents. Without crucial inventions such as the astrolabe and caravel, no significant advances could have been made because of how previous explorers had no complete methods of conquering the winds or sense of direction, which are a necessity for effectively maneuvering through waters to specific destinations. Prior to the astrolabe, instruments such as the quadrant only allowed for accurate navigation in the Northern Hemisphere, and since explorers sought the tantalizing offerings of India, Africa, and The Orient, the device was of little use as they would need to cross into the Southern Hemisphere to reach these lands. Ships built before the caravel were not fit for long travels and could not efficiently use the winds in their favor, and coupled with incomplete maps of crucial wind movements on the open seas, and no knowledge of the other oceans besides the Atlantic and the Indian, European explorers had no chance of reaching distant lands consistently with their current ensemble of travel tools. Previous legends of Pliny the Elder, Alexander the Great and Marco Polo shrouded the true identity of distant Asian and African lands, disguising them as places inhabited by hideous monsters and deformed people. Upon discovering these lands, the immediate sight of the people was enough to wipe away past convictions provided by ancient legends and propel Europeans on a path towards continued, direct relations with these newly discovered men and women who proved significant value to the explorers, mainly labor and knowledge of the land, an incentive to colonize. Previous exploration attempts were lengthily spread apart and tough to repeat, not

just because of the insufficient travel instruments, but because it was tough to find the funds for such expensive efforts. With powerful, stable monarchies starting to set in all across Western Europe, replacing inefficient clergies and other unstable forms of government, funding problems ceased to exist as the new leaders were more than willing to finance trips overseas as long as progress was made and riches were brought back home. Because explorers were successful in achieving these aims, European leaders made it their duty to continue funding these excursions, eventually paying for settlements in distant lands to bring more wealth to their nation and establish a longer-lasting European influence overseas. Overall, the environment prior to the mid 1400s was not fit for Western Europeans who sought the chance at unlocking the secrets abroad, and because that environment was significantly altered with new inventions and monetary influence, they were allowed the chance at successfully making their mark overseas. This new environment would lead to a sudden rush involving Western European countries, as they all felt a newfound passion for exploring the unknown and unraveling the mysteries of other lands, and as this competition grew, the colonizing charge for Asia, Africa, and the Americas strengthened as well, setting the world on the brink of a European takeover, affecting the lives of millions. Armed with proper mapping tools and the revolutionary invention of the caravel, while backed by gift of royal funding, early Western European explorers, such as Vasco de Gama, Christopher Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci, and Ferdinand Magellan, made the initial splash into the pool of riches in Asia, Africa, and the Americas, which rippled forward success for those following up their travels in later years. Their success

influenced the greed for gold, silver, and spices, and other commodities later on, which powered the colonial vehicle that would trample foreigners. When the first successful explorers returned to their home countries with immense riches worth plenty more than the expeditions themselves, it helped strengthen the idea that Western Europeans would no longer need to deal with the middlemen of the Ottoman Empire any longer, a highly expensive relationship, and more people began to make oversea voyages to garner prosperity. Because there was so much to gain from Asia, Africa, and the Americas, Western Europeans immediately began to establish trading posts to shorten the amount of trips between continents, achieving treasures more directly, eventually leading to more permanent settlements of people. The ubiquitous gold and silver of the mighty Aztec and Incan kingdoms did not satisfy Europeans and their insatiable thirst for precious metals, but was more than enough to convince them to leave home, risk everything, and travel to the Americas. As Europeans began to hastily compete for these riches, other valuables presented themselves in different forms that powered colonialism to a greater extent. Commodities such as animal furs, sugar, cotton, and tobacco proved just as valuable as gold and silver due to the growing European demand for these items. These later realized commodities kept the British, French, and Dutch around in the Americas even after they failed at retrieving any precious metals from the lands they encountered. Just as the West provided value through gold and silver, the exotic spices of the East were the edible equals of these material treasures, the addictive tastes pressuring the Europeans, especially the English, Dutch and Portuguese, into constructing trading posts on Asian islands and strategic areas of Africa as well. Similarly in the West, these trading posts would begin to harbor more

Europeans, leading to the colonization of natives there. Western Europeans garnered exponential success through voyages to other continents, finding immense value in these landmasses that would influence more and more Europeans to leave home with the hope of attaining prosperity. When more and more Europeans came to inhabit trading posts outside of their home countries, these small areas quickly grew into colonies that would provide strength to Western Europe unequal to the rest of the world. The moment word reached back to Western Europe that the first explorers were successful in finding new lands and the most efficient routes to rich landmasses, the natural tendencies of monarchies kicked in as these discoveries became subject to political takeover by the royal powers of Europe. Because they believed in their own political superiority over the people they encountered overseas, it justified reasons other than just attaining treasures, such as precious metals and spices, to colonize these lands and extend their strength beyond Europe, and coupled with the intense competition between Western European countries, fostered a new era of colonial expansion and ironfisted control over newfound areas. When Columbus first reached Haiti in 1492, he immediately claimed Spanish rights to the newly discovered land, resulting in the Spanish monarchy back home to feel as if they had attained new subjects upon whom they could impose their limitless control. The idea of political strength heightened as the race towards Asia, Africa, and the Americas quickened pace and more success stories brought to Western Europe, namely through Spanish and Portuguese ventures. The many acquisitions of land gave rise to the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494, which made an imaginary line dividing up lands, but effectively created material borders that gave the impression of increased power for both countries and required the need for extended

monarchical power to these lands. When the Dutch, English, and French disregarded the treaty and ventured out onto the open seas in search of outward success, the fear of losing ones claimed properties amplified, and quickened the push of colonies upon these lands. These early forays and encroachments eventually led on to more substantial and permanent forms of presence and acquisition, with the profits and plunder so gained flowing back to stimulate still greater expansion and continued advances [through military strength] . . . into worldwide predominance. Indeed, this was a reality so manifest at the time that . . . the societies threatened or subordinated . . . lost autonomy and greatness (Bryant 407). The greater impression of power over these new lands gave Western European monarchies the necessary mindset for ousting the long-established Incan and Aztec kingdoms, as well as Native American tribal societies of the Americas that were the only obstacles for European control of the New World. The explorers saw how different many of the native peoples political systems were in comparison to theirs, many imposing barbaric, outdated methods of governance, and since they had fostered a great deal of passion for their own royal rulers, saw it fit to overtake the native societies and bring them under rule of the monarchy as royal colonies. The same thing in the West was carried over to the East as ancient kingdoms in India, China, Africa, and the many scattered islands of Asia could not withstand the overpowering European

ideology of superior political strength that usurped the foreign realms under monarchical rule. The Western European thinking of great monarchical strength powered colonization throughout the world, and as the need to extend ones royal strength grew in proportion to the heightened competition of land accrual, the race for colonization quickened and more foreign kingdoms saw their downfall as Western European borders expanded beyond continental lines. In conclusion, the seemingly innocent ventures for unraveling the tantalizing mysteries of the beyond, finding more efficient trade routes and gaining riches from overseas, turned into a bloodthirsty race between Western Europeans for the colonization of the globe, which was caused by both the immediate success of these explorers and the present ideology at the time pertaining to the superior power of the Western European monarchs. This drastically changed the world map into a stadium under the complete control of Western European powers that would last centuries and wholly influence the future of the globe. Foreign kingdoms felt the mighty fist of Europe and ceased to function in governance as the monarchical powers imposed their strength over the natives of the New World, Asia, and Africa. Before the Age of Exploration, Europe was not in the right environment for such widespread success, but when the time came, it quickly expanded its borders and threw virtually the whole world under its control as colonies. Even though these events happened several centuries beforehand, the world arena today displays remnants of their power as many of the current struggling countries were under their control years ago and just recently gained autonomy, and many of the successful countries today show characteristics of these Western European countries during their

height of greatness.

Works Cited Bryant, Joseph M. "The West and the Rest Revisited: Debating Capitalist Origins, European Colonialism, and the Advent of Modernity." Canadian Journal of Sociology 31.4 (2006): 403-444. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 17 Nov. 2010.