upgrade

AP European History AMSCO Guided Notes

1.6: Technological Advances and the Age of Exploration

AP European History
AMSCO Guided Notes
1.1 Contextualizing Renaissance and Discovery
1.2 Italian Renaissance
1.3 Northern Renaissance
1.4 Printing
1.5 New Monarchies
1.6 Technological Advances and the Age of Exploration
1.7 Rivals on the World Stage
1.8 Colonial Expansion and Columbian Exchange
1.9 The Slave Trade
1.10 The Commercial Revolution
1.11 Causation in the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery

AP European History Guided Notes

AMSCO 1.6 - Technological Advances and the Age of Exploration

Essential Questions

  1. What were the technological factors that contributed to European exploration and expansion from 1450 to 1648?
  2. What were the motivations and effects of European exploration and expansion from 1450 to 1648?
I. Motives for Exploration

1. What were the two overarching reasons historians cite for European exploration, and what additional motive lay behind them?

A. Christianity Stimulates Exploration

1. How did the Protestant Reformation influence Catholic nations' approach to exploration and colonization?

2. How did Protestant nations like England and the Netherlands differ from Catholic nations in their exploration priorities?

3. How did some Christians justify the subjugation and enslavement of indigenous peoples they encountered?

B. Commercial Motives for Exploration

1. Why were Europeans unable to access Asian goods directly during the Middle Ages and early Renaissance?

2. What advantages would an all-water route to Asia provide compared to existing trade routes?

3. What are the key principles of mercantilism and how did they motivate exploration?

4. How did mercantilism justify the establishment of colonies?

C. Economic and Political Motives Converge

1. How did Jean-Baptiste Colbert's economic policies reflect both commercial and political motivations for exploration?

II. Exploration and Advances in Knowledge

1. How did advances in cartography and the invention of printing support European exploration?

A. Technological Innovations in Navigation and Warfare

1. What navigational technologies did Europeans adopt from Middle Eastern and Chinese sources, and what advantages did each provide?

2. How did military technology and disease contribute to European success in establishing overseas colonies?

Key Terms

Jesuits

imports

lateen sails

Marco Polo

colony

sternpost rudder

Ottoman Empire

Jean-Baptiste Colbert

astrolabe

mercantilism

navigation

quadrant

favorable balance of trade

portolani

compass

exports

cartography