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What led to Europe's Age of Exploration?
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Asked on September 19, 2010 at 6:50 AM by steven13
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larrygates's profile pic
larrygates | College Teacher | (Level 1) Educator Emeritus
Posted on August 17, 2011 at 9:33 PM
Any number of factors led to European Exploration, dating back to the Crusades. The Crusades were the first exposure of Europeans to Eastern products which were in high demand in Europe, primarily sugar. Additionally, Marco Polo's book, A Map of the World contained glowing (if inaccurate) descriptions of the wealth of Asia. An example:
It should be understood that the sea in which the Island of Zipangu [Japan] is situated is the sea of CHIN, and so extensive is this eastern sea that according to experienced pilots and mariners, who should know, it contains no fewer than 7,440 islands, mostly inhabited. It is said that every one of the trees which grow in them gives off a fragrant odor. They produce many spices and drugs, particularly aloes, and much pepper, both white and black.
Additionally, the rise of Nation States in Europe led to increased revenue for Monarchs who were able to finance European voyages of discovery. Notable here was the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella which united Spain into a united country.
A final factor was the fall of Constantinople to the Turks on November 27, 1453, Constantinople had been the primary market for Asian goods; however after it was taken by by the Turks, Europeans searched for ways to circumvent the Muslims.
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martinjmurphy's profile pic
martinjmurphy | Middle School Teacher | (Level 1) Associate Educator
Posted on September 19, 2010 at 7:53 AM
The Crusades and the end of the Middle Ages created the conditions needed for the Age of Exploration to happen. When the crusaders came back from the Middle East, they brought with them silks and spices and other goods from the Far East that people in Europe began to demand. With the end of the Middle Ages, there was a corresponding increase in trade. Huge fortunes, especially by Italian merchants and bankers, were made from this trade with the east. Also with the end of the Middle Ages, nations began to develop and power and wealth became concentrated in monarchs throughtout Europe. These monarchs saw there was money to be made in trade with the east and began to finance trips of exploration. Most of the voyages of discovery made during the Age of Exploration were in reality attempts to find faster and cheaper trade routes to the Far East.
No, because it increased the national debt by 188% between 1981 and 1989, and the unemployment rate only went down 1% between those same years
The War Powers Act was added onto the previous law known as the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. This resolution granted the president the power to take any steps towards protecting the United States from attack. The War Powers Act later made it a law for the president to consult with congress within 48 hours of sending troops into a foreign conflict.
This is an example of checks and balances because it is intended to prevent giving the president total war power.
Peace, temperance, anti-slavery, and women’s rights.
Answer: The site of the first women's rights convention in history.
The national meeting in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848, was the first women's rights convention to be held in the United States, and was organized by women. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was one of the principal organizers of the gathering, and also was the lead author of an important document issued by what we now call the "Seneca Falls Convention." The <em>Declaration of Sentiments</em> was signed by 68 women and 32 men who had been among the participants in the convention. The document was modeled after Thomas Jefferson's <em>Declaration of Independence.</em> In the way that Jefferson had listed grievances against the British monarchy, the <em>Declaration of Sentiments</em> listed grievances against how man had oppressed woman in regard to civil rights. Here's a small sample of some of the "sentiments" which were expressed:
<em>The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpation on the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world:</em>
- <em>He has not ever permitted her to exercise her inalienable right to the elective franchise.</em>
- <em>He has compelled her to submit to laws, in the formation of which she had no voice.</em>
- <em>He has withheld her from rights which are given to the most ignorant and degraded men—both natives and foreigners.</em>
- <em>Having deprived her of this first right as a citizen, the elective franchise, thereby leaving her without representation in the halls of legislation, he has oppressed her on all sides.</em>
