Question

What were the main motivations for european expansion during the age of exploration??

Answer 1

The Age of Exploration happened during the period of Mercantilism, which meant that during that moment the country that had more goods such as gold, silver, and precious stones would be more powerful. The fight and the race for more and more goods pushed European powers to go to other continents such as Asia and start commerce with countries like China and India. Many goods were introduced during that period.

The problem was that the distance was long and they wanted to find shortcuts to Asia, with this they accidentally found The Americas. The Americas became another new place of exploration, full of goods and new land, this was a new opportunity to explore and gain more money than before.

Answer 2

During the era of exploitation, Europe was trying to recover from a crisis situation. Despite the fears and superstitions surrounding sea travel, the Europeans began a process of expansion, seeking solutions offshore to overcome the crisis. They wanted to solve problems like:

• The lack of cereals;

• The lack of gold to coin money, necessary to boost trade;

• The lack of raw materials and labor for agricultural production and manufacturing.

The gold that supplied the European markets came from the interior of Africa, through Morocco. Oriental products arrived at the Ports of Europe through the Muslim merchants. The aim of the Europeans, and the Portuguese in particular, was to get to the origin of these products and control their marketing.