AP European History: Exploration & Expansion - Your Night-Before Guide 🚀

Hey! Let's get you prepped for the exam with a super-focused review of European exploration and expansion. We'll make sure you're not just memorizing facts but understanding the big picture. Let's do this!

🧭 Factors Driving European Exploration & Expansion

Technological Advancements

• Navigation & Cartography:
  • Compass: 🧭 Essential for direction-finding.
  • Sternpost Rudder: Improved ship maneuverability.
  • Cartography: More accurate maps made long voyages possible.
• Military Technology:
  • Guns & Gunpowder: 💣 Gave Europeans a significant military advantage.

The Lure of the Unknown

• Discovery of the Americas: 🌎 Expanded European horizons and sparked a desire for more.
• Intellectual Curiosity: The Renaissance fostered a spirit of inquiry and discovery.

Portugal & Spain: The Pioneers

• Portugal 🇵🇹:

  • Motivation: Find a quicker route to Asia for spices 🌶️, gold 💰, and slaves, plus spread Christianity.
  • Prince Henry the Navigator: Sponsored voyages down the African coast.
  • Ceuta: Captured this North African city, a key step in exploration.
  • Vasco da Gama: Sailed around Africa to India, bringing back huge profits.
  • Slave Trade: 😥 Became a major player, shipping 150,000+ slaves to Europe by the end of the 15th century.
  • Colonies: Established in Calcutta and Goa (India).

  

  • Vasco da Gama's voyage was a game-changer, proving a sea route to Asia was possible!

• Spain 🇪🇸:

  • Motivation: Find a westward route to Asia.
  • Christopher Columbus: Landed in the Americas, thinking it was Asia. 🤦‍♂️
    • Mistake: Called the Taino people "Indians," a name that stuck.
  • Amerigo Vespucci & Ferdinand Magellan: Explored the South American coast.
    • Magellan: Circumnavigated the globe (though he died in the Philippines).
  • Conquests & Missions: Established colonies and spread Roman Catholicism in South America.
    • Impact: Left a legacy of economic dependency and religious influence.

  

  • Columbus's arrival in the Americas marked the beginning of a new era, but also a period of exploitation.

💰 Political Economy & Mercantilism

Mercantilism

• Definition: Economic theory focused on accumulating wealth and power for the state.
• Key Goals:
  • Favorable Balance of Trade: Export more than import.
  • Self-Sufficiency: Acquire raw materials to avoid reliance on other nations.
• Jean-Baptiste Colbert: French theorist who promoted mercantilist policies.

How it Drove Exploration

• Wealth & Power: Exploration was seen as a way to gain gold, spices, and other valuable goods.
• Colonies: Overseas colonies provided raw materials and markets for European goods.

🌍 The Effects of European Exploration & Expansion

1. Economic Gain: Access to gold, spices, and luxury goods increased wealth and power.
2. Mercantilism: Promoted state-led commercial development and overseas colonies.
3. Spread of Christianity: Justified the mistreatment of indigenous populations.
4. Enlightenment Perspective: Philosophers compared the discovery of the Americas to the printing press in terms of historical significance. 💡

Understanding the interplay between exploration, mercantilism, and the spread of Christianity is key for the AP exam. These themes are often linked in FRQs and DBQs.

🎯 Final Exam Focus

High-Priority Topics

• Technological Advancements: How they enabled exploration.
• Motivations for Exploration: Gold, God, and Glory (plus spices!).
• Mercantilism: Its principles and impact.
• Consequences of Exploration: Both positive and negative, for Europe and the rest of the world.

Common Question Types

• Multiple Choice: Expect questions on specific explorers, their routes, and the impact of their voyages.
• Short Answer: Be ready to explain the economic and political factors driving exploration.
• Free Response: Analyze the long-term effects of exploration on Europe and the Americas.

Last-Minute Tips

• Connect the Dots: Link exploration to the Renaissance, Reformation, and Enlightenment.
• Stay Calm: You've got this! Take deep breaths and trust your preparation.
• Review Key Terms: Make sure you understand terms like mercantilism, Columbian Exchange, and triangular trade.

Practice Question

Practice Questions

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which of the following was NOT a primary motivation for European exploration in the 15th and 16th centuries? (A) The desire to spread Christianity (B) The search for new trade routes to Asia (C) The need to escape religious persecution in Europe (D) The pursuit of wealth and economic gain

2. The Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) was significant because it: (A) Established a trade agreement between Portugal and Spain. (B) Divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe between Portugal and Spain. (C) Ended the religious wars in Europe. (D) Created the first global currency.

Short Answer Question

1. Briefly explain how technological advancements in the 15th and 16th centuries facilitated European exploration. Provide at least two specific examples.

Free Response Question

Prompt: Analyze the economic and religious motivations behind European exploration and expansion in the 15th and 16th centuries. How did these motivations shape the interactions between Europeans and the indigenous populations they encountered?

Scoring Breakdown:

• Thesis (1 point): A clear, historically defensible thesis that addresses both economic and religious motivations.
• Economic Motivations (2 points): Discussion of mercantilism, the desire for wealth (gold, spices), and new trade routes.
• Religious Motivations (2 points): Explanation of the desire to spread Christianity and missionary efforts.
• Interaction with Indigenous Populations (2 points): Analysis of how economic and religious motivations shaped the treatment of indigenous peoples, including examples of exploitation, conversion, and cultural clashes.
• Synthesis (1 point): Demonstrates an understanding of how exploration connects to broader historical themes (e.g., the rise of nation-states, the Columbian Exchange).