Age of Exploration

The Indian & Atlantic Oceans & Consequences

Announcements

  • Phi Alpha Theta conference in Nashville, Jan. 6–8, 2027
    • Submission Deadline: Oct. 1, 2026
    • Registration Date: Nov. 13, 2026
    • For more information contact Dr. Griffith
  • If you have written a paper in the past year you want to present, do not hesitate to submit.
  • We are happy to help with your submission.
  • Preyer Fellows can expect to receive support for attendance.

Age of Exploration and Consequences

  • Portuguese in Indian Ocean
  • Spanish in Americas
  • Columbian Exchange
  • Silver & Price Revolution

Wealth and the East Before the Age of Exploration

The Mongol Empire (13th Century)

Marco Polo (1254-1324)

Map of Mongol Successor States

Map of the route of Marco Polo

Portuguese in the 15th Century

Portugal and North Africa

Island Hopping

Relationships with West Africans

Map of Portuguese Expansion in the late-15th century

Portuguese in the Indian Ocean

Vasco da Gama (1498-1500)

Indian Ocean: A Vibrant Naval Environment

Alfonso da Albuquerque (1453-1515): the Cartaz System

Image of Vasco da Gama

Map of Indian Ocean Trade Routes in 1500

Image of Alfonso da Albuquerque

Map of Indian Ocean Trade Routes in 1500

Role of the Ottoman Empire

  • What was the role of the Ottoman Empire for Lincoln Paine?
  • What does this show about the Age of Exploration?
  • How much did the Portuguese monopolize the Indian Ocean trade routes?
  • Why did the Portuguese have to collaborate with the local rulers of the Indian Ocean?

Spanish in the Americas

Ferdinand and Isabella

Reconquista & Granada (1492)

Christopher Columbus (1451-1506)

Map of Castile’s, Aragon’s, and Granada’s incorporation into Spain

Map of Castile’s, Aragon’s, and Granada’s incorporation into Spain

Map of Columbus’s voyages

Indian Ocean Vs Atlantic Ocean

  • What was the primary difference between these two oceans in the 15th and 16th centuries that accounted for differences in the experiences of the Europeans there?

Spanish Conquest of the Aztecs

Hernan Cortes (1485–1547)

Native Allies: Dona Marina

Native Allies: Tlaxcala

Spain and Allies conquer Tenochtitlan (1521)

Image of Hernan Cortes

Map of Hernan Cortes conquests of Aztecs

Image of Dona Marina

Image of Dona Marina

Map of Hernan Cortes conquests of Aztecs

Spanish Conquest of the Inca (1532–1572)

Francisco Pizarro (1478-1541) Inca Empire

Support of Native Allies

Image of Francisco Pizarro

Map of Inca empire

Map of Inca empire

New Wealth from Americas

Portuguese in Brazil: Sugar

Potosi Silver Mine 1545

Map of globe 1550

Map of globe 1550

Impacts: Columbian Exchange

  • Diseases
  • Animals
  • plants
  • people

Silver & Price Revolution

  • Silver Trade
  • Silver Exchange Rates
  • Devaluation of Coinage

Impacts on the State

  • What does Lincoln Paine indicate is the impact of the state on all this?