The countries in Europe in the early years were only concentrated on their soil. They did not see the need to venture into new land for various reasons. Portugal was one of the countries that explored the world. They moved from state to country, and their travel bore fruits. Religion was at the heart of the exploration as the Portuguese, and later others explored the world intending to spread the Gospel. There were other reasons for exploration, such as for trade and to gain glory or for prestigious purposes. This paper aims to look at the reasons for European exploration and why Portugal was among the first countries to explore the world. Additionally, the article will outline the role of Mercantilism in the exploration by various European nations. Moreover, the paper will also describe how Europe was affected by the opening of Atlanta.
European exploration began around the 15th century. Countries had various reason to explore new lands. The exploration ended around the 17th century after almost all lands had been explored, and some of these mighty nations settled on the lands they were able to overcome the natives (Vogel & Mendiola, 2019). Exploration had many benefits; for example, it is as a result of exploration that ideas were shared. Foods and items were exchanges from various places. Also, some Europeans nationals acquired lots of wealth. Slave trade was an impact of exploration. The nations from Europe received cheap labour while the Africans were traded as good which is a human rights violation.
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The first reason for European exploration was to spread religion. Before the era of Exploration, Muslims and Christians lived in harmony. However, the Christians realized the need to control the spread of Muslim religions; thus, they started a religious war to reestablish their dominance as a dominant religion. It is during this time that Christianity was spread across the nations. Christians started moving across Europe to spread and make their faith known (Vogel & Mendiola, 2019). The Christians ensured they converted the individuals they met.
Because of the war, Christians were displaced; hence they shifted to other areas that were yet to be conquered. Therefore, religious war misplaced people who in turn went and spread Christianity to the rest of the world. It could also be possible that some people explored Europe after they were asked to convert to Muslim religion forcefully. Hence they opted to explore new grounds.
Quest for glory and dominance is the other fundamental reason why there was European exploration. For example, the rivalry between Portugal and Spain motivated each country to explore the world and colonize other lands. The Portuguese explored Africa and some parts of South America, such as Brazil to feel more superior than other nations (Vogel & Mendiola, 2019). Portuguese ensured that they explored different place to remain a dominant nation as compared to other nations such as Spain and France, which was in war at this time. The thought of exploration came with certain levels of pride the reason why some of these nations were highly motivated to explore. Trade was another essential reason that facilitated European exploration. AS the explorers travelled across the sea to new places, they interacted with unique items that were of interest to the people back at their homes. Therefore, they would bring commodities from their areas and trade with the things that were in the new places they visited. This is how the trade came to be. Through business, these countries started earning and accumulated wealth; hence the zeal to explore increased. Items such as gold and diamonds were very marketable and valuable hence fetched good sources of income. Fortunately, in the places where they acquired some of the things they were not valuable so they would get them for less and sell at reasonable prices. Thus they made good fortunes from the trade.
Mercantilism was popular around 1500 when European exploration began. Experts argue that Mercantilism was one of the reasons why European nations were for the idea of exploration. Mercantilism theorists say that there is a need for countries to accumulate specific amounts of wealth and keep it. Therefore, during the age of exploration, many nations wanted to explore and conquer other nations to accumulate wealth. Hence, countries such as Portugal were involved in the trade to increase their wealth. Wealth also ensured that the country would dominate other countries that were not as wealthy. Similarly, wealth makes a country powerful the reason why some of the first countries to explore the world traded. Countries can acquire wealth by exporting their products to other nations after the countries settled in colonies they sent raw materials to their countries only. The move ensured that the country would produce items at a cheaper cost and sell the finished product at a higher price hence accumulate wealth (Vogel & Mendiola, 2019). Thus, it is valid to conclude that Mercantilism pushed countries to explore new locations and conquer them.
There are many reasons why Portugal set the pace for exploration. First, the country during the beginning of the exploration was in crisis. There was no money in the country and grain was scarce. Hence, the people of Portugal had to find alternatives lest the country got into more predicament. The motivation to revive the state acted as a catalyst for exploration (Vogel & Mendiola, 2019). The other fundamental reason why Portugal was at the heart of early exploration is because of technology. Portugal invested in sea technology as compared to other nations. Hence they were able to sail far and wide since their boats were sturdy and could withstand the storm. Additionally, refusal of the country to share the map with other nations also played a part in helping Portugal explore. It meant that other countries were not aware of the routes to take hence the delay in exploration.
The opening of the Atlantic benefited Europe in many ways. Massive profit opportunities, the rise of the industrial revolution, access to raw material and colonization are some of the impacts of the opening of Atlantic. Opening of Atlantic provided routes in which raw materials were obtained from countries outside Europe (Vogel & Mendiola, 2019). The raw materials were used to create products that were later sold to other nations via the routes hence earned revenue to European countries. Moreover, it is through the Atlantic opening that European countries were able to travel and colonize some nations. Therefore, Europe benefited enormously as a result of the Atlantic opening.
In conclusion, exploration was a good thing particular for European countries. These countries grew and developed largely due to exploration. Unfortunately, some countries in Asia, South America and Africa may not agree that European exploration was a good thing.
References
Vogel, S., & Mendiola, M. N. (2019). Exploration and Colonization (and Organization!).
