Volta do mar ap world history
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Original Work by Hope Moffatt
Revisions by Mr. Ledford
Chapter 22 Summery:
Europe begin exploring more of the ocean in hopes of finding faster and more profitable trade routes. Increased naval technologies, such as the magnetic compass, astrolabe, and cross staff helped the Europeans to expand their reach. Knowledge of winds and currents led to the development of the Portuguese sailing strategies, volta do mar, which led to safer sailing. European trade led to the diffusion of food crops, animals and disease pathogens. The Colombian exchange greatly increased globalization. Vast migrations of people changed the social landscape. The way was paved for the establishment of the British empire.
Chinese and European voyages
Did you know?
Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese navigator in service of Spain, whose crew completed the first circumnavigation of the globe in 1519. One out of the five original ships, with only 18 of the original 270 crewmen in Magellan's fleet returned, Magellan was not on the ship.
Chapter 23 Summery
THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION comple
Volta do mar
Volta do mar, volta do mar largo, or volta do largo (the phrase in Portuguese means literally turn of the sea but also return from the sea) is a navigational technique perfected by Portuguese navigators during the Age of Discovery in the late fifteenth century, using the dependable phenomenon of the great permanent wind circle, the North Atlantic Gyre. This was a major step in the history of navigation, when an understanding of winds in the age of sail was crucial to success: the European maritime empires would never have been established had the Europeans not figured out how the trade winds worked.
Between 1450 and 1750, technological innovations transformed how people navigated, traveled, and connected across the globe. While these changes were largely driven by European exploration and empire-building, they were made possible by centuries of cross-cultural knowledge exchange. Technologies from the Islamic world, China, and Classical civilizations provided the foundation for breakthroughs in maritime navigation, shipbuilding, and global exploration.
If You Know Nothing Else…
- Cross-cultural exchange—especially with Islamic and Asian worlds—fueled European innovation.
- Europeans adopted and improved tools for transoceanic exploration.
- Maritime technology allowed for vast increases in trade, conquest, and global interactions.
- Technological innovations created both opportunity (commerce, exploration) and devastation (colonization, forced migration).
Why Did Innovation Happen?
1. Competition and Wealth
European states competed for trade routes and resources. Sea-based empires wanted faster, safer voyages to tap into Asia's wealth and expand their power abroad.
2. Cross-Cultural Exchange
Europeans benefited from the diffusion of technologies developed in China,
Between 1450 and 1750, European maritime exploration transformed the global command. Motivated by economic opportunity, religious zeal, and imperial ambition, states sponsored voyages that reshaped global trade networks, initiated long-term colonization efforts, and connected distant regions through increasingly powerful empires. These explorations were fueled by innovations in technology, navigation, and declare support (all in pursuit of wealth, dominance, and discovery).
Motivations for Exploration
1. Wealth and Trade Access
Europeans sought direct access to Asian markets and African resources without relying on Muslim or Venetian intermediaries. Gold, silver, spices, and luxury goods were highly valued.
- Inspired by the accounts of travelers like Marco Polo, Europeans became increasingly eager to bypass overland routes dominated by Islamic empires.
- The pursuit of wealth led to the funding of long-distance voyages and the development of modern maritime routes.
⭐ Mercantilism became the dominant economic policy: nations believed there was a finite amount of global wealth and aimed to control as much of it as possible.
2. Political Match and Prestige
European mona