Chapter 3 section 2:
Prince Henry had little hope of becoming king, because of this he turned his interest to sea exploration. His goal was to have his country, Portugal, lead the way in discovery and trade.
He was very religious and wanted to spread the catholic faith across the globe.
He wished to find a route around Africa to Asia and to find a source of gold.
Although the Portuguese were familiar with the northern, Muslim, portion of Africa they knew very little of the “main land” because they gained their good from inland Africa from Muslim traders who brought it to the shores.
To achieve his goals he decided that his sailors would need to know more about Navigation… how to sail ships. (As well as better ships).
To achieve this he brought together mapmakers, astronomers, and ship builders from through out the Mediterranean world. These experts pulled their knowledge and extended the art of navigation.
They designed sturdy ships called caravel’s which was easier to control while navigating the coast of Africa.
Because of the advancement he became known as Prince Henry the navigator
His advancements lead all of Europe into the age of exploration.
Three African empires :page 71
Ghana, Mali, and Songhai
Along the coast of Africa goods were being traded such as
Gold
Ivory
Salt
Leather
And iron
The Muslims would travel across the Sahara desert by camel to get these goods and deliver them to ports where they could trade them with Europeans.
Page 72:
Ghana
Mali
Songhai
Enslavement of Africans: page 73:
The Portuguese began trading in humans
By the 1400’s the Portuguese had found riches, however they had not discovered a route around Africa.
While still attempting to achieve this goal Bartholomeu Dias sail as far south as South Africa when a storm blew his three ships out to sea. When the storm ended he found himself in the Indian Ocean
When he and his crew returned to Portugal the king was so encouraged he named the tip of Africa the “cape of good hope” and people from Europe began sailing around the tip of Africa.
Vasco da Gama was one of the first to voyage to the Indies via ship. He returned with spices, silks, jewels, and glassware