Lessons Learned from the Age of Exploration
For the last several weeks, I have been reading and writing about European explorers during the "Age of Exploration and Discovery" from the 1400s to the 1700s. These explorations led to the "discovery" of the Americas and new shipping routes around South America and South Africa.
In these articles, I wrote about the Great Silk Road in Mongolia, the Ottoman Empire, Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, the Pinzon brothers, Spanish conquistadors (Hernan Cortes and Francisco Pizarro), Pacific Ocean explorers (Vasco da Gama, Ferdinand Magellan, and Captain Cook), a few explorers in the United States, and the famous meeting between Livingstone and Stanley in Africa. You can read all these articles on my Substack Archive page.
In this article, I am going to write about what I learned from this experience.
Response to the Ottoman Empire
I learned that the Age of Discovery and Exploration started in response to the Ottoman Empire. During Marco Polo's days in the 1200s, Europeans could pass through Constantinople, and they could travel along the Great Silk Road of the Mongolian Empire. But the Mongolian Empire broke apart, and the Silk Road was no longer safe. The Ottoman Empire also captured Constantinople, Greece, the southern Balkans region, northern Africa, and the Mediterranean Sea.
As a result, European countries could no longer pass through southern Europe, so they looked for alternate routes around the tip of Africa, through Central America, and around South America. If it wasn't for the Ottoman's growing empire, countries like Portugal would not have needed to search for alternative routes and additional resources to build armies and defend against them.
Small Ships
I was surprised by how small the ships were. Columbus's Santa Maria was kind of a big ship, but the Nina and Pinta were pretty small. Yet the explorers sailed across the ocean with these vessels, and they did it without advanced navigational equipment or safety devices.
Land explorers such as Balboa in Panama and Joliet and Marquette on the Illinois rivers used even smaller rafts and canoes. These explorers charted new routes through small rivers and mucky marshes.
Dangerous Journey
I was surprised by how dangerous the journey was. As I researched, I kept reading that half the explorers on the expedition died. This was due to dangerous weather, disease, and famine on the boats; sometimes it was because of fighting.
For example, Magellan lost 30 men as they navigated on the Pacific, then he and others were killed in the fighting on the Philippine islands. In Vasco da Gama's voyage around the tip of Africa, only 55 of 170 men returned, and two ships were lost. That's a survival rate of only 32%. In more recent times, David Livingstone's wife died in central Africa, and he himself caught many tropical diseases.
Incremental Gains
Discoveries of new lands followed previous journeys. Christopher Columbus (who crossed the Atlantic) and Magellan (who wandered in the Pacific) probably sailed the furthest distances without knowledge of a previous route. But after these trail-blazers charted a new route, other explorers followed their passage ways and went a little further.
For example, Columbus landed on the coast of Venezuela. Afterwards, the Pinzon brothers followed and discovered the Orinoco river (in Venezuela), parts of Brazil, and the Amazon river. Also, after Columbus discovered the Caribbean islands, Pizarro and Balboa explored the Central American region of Panama and Honduras. Similarly, Vasco da Gama (who sailed around the tip of Africa) was following an established route down the western sea coast of Africa, then explorers like Cabral quickly followed da Gama's route on behalf of another country, and they explored different regions in India.
Island Hopping
Not only did explorers make incremental gains on the journeys of previous explorers, but they themselves also divided their voyages into smaller pieces. Magellan provides a clear example. He first sailed to Portuguese islands off the coast of Africa, then to Brazil, then down the coast of Argentina, then through the Strait of Magellan.
As they progressed south, they went from one harbor to the next, sometimes to restock supplies, at other times to avoid bad weather or rest or explore. Even Columbus first sailed to the African islands before he set off for the Caribbean.
Several Journeys
Some explorers like Marco Polo and Leif Erikson made one big journey and did not return to the new land. Others like Magellan died on the voyage, so they made only one trip. But most explorers went to the new land and back to Europe several times.
Columbus went to the Caribbean islands four times. The Pinzon brothers sailed with Columbus on these journeys plus they went on their own afterwards. Balboa and Pizarro returned to Spain to get recognition from the king. Most explorers dedicated their whole lifetime to the new territory, and they went back and forth to Spain or Portugal as needed.
Credit Goes to the Admiral
No explorer sailed alone. On the first voyage, Columbus had three ships; on the second voyage, he sailed with 17 ships and 1500 men; the third voyage had six ships and two different routes. Magellan had four ships and 270 men. Vasco da Gama also had four ships and 170 men. In the United States, Hernando de Soto started with nine ships and over 600 men. Magellan did not even survive the trip. The Pinzon brothers, not Columbus, first sighted land, and Columbus was sent back to Spain in chains.
Nevertheless, it's the leader who got the credit for the journey. In all these expeditions, leaders like Pizarro and Balboa who served as the military commander and the governor of the new territory got the credit. Even Magellan who planned and was the commander of the expedition (when it started) got the credit for sailing around the world even though he died on the journey.
One of my favorite events in this history was the way Columbus and Martin Pinzon raced back to Spain to be the first to get the credit for discovering the new land. You could tell that they both kind of distrusted and competed with each other, and it was clear that the person who showed up to the royal court first and bragged about their achievement was going to get the credit for the discovery. It's unfortunate for the Pinzon family that Martin became ill and got carried off course on the return journey because he may have gotten more credit. But I am not sure… when he approached the King, they criticized him for crossing Admiral Columbus.
Credit Also Goes to the Writer
In some instances, other people did the important work, but the writer gets the credit. For example, Marco Polo's father and uncle went to Mongolian China first and they established relations with Kublai Khan, but Marco's experiences have lived on because he wrote a famous book about it.
Similarly, the American continents were named after Amerigo Vespucci - not Christopher Columbus or others - because his writings proclaimed South America to be a new continent, not the East Indies. He gave Europeans the intellectual understanding of the new world, so he got credit for intellectually understanding and explaining what Columbus had discovered.
Finally, Livingstone and Stanley are famous for what they did in central Africa because they wrote best-selling books about their experiences. Stanley’s phrase of the “Dark Continent” in his famous book because the new name of Africa for decades.
From Exploration and Discovery to Colonization, Exploitation, and Death
Many early explorers had an idea they wanted to test. Columbus wanted to reach the East Indies by sailing west. Da Gama wanted to find a route around Africa. Magellan wanted to find a route around South America and through the Pacific. Of course, Columbus also wanted to become the governor of the new territory and to earn a percentage of all trade in this territory, but I feel that these explorers were passionate about an idea they wanted to test. In many ways, the early struggles of Christopher Columbus to find a sponsor remind me of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who have a business idea and need a venture capitalist to invest in their idea.
But many explorers were just flat-out military leaders and colonizers. From what I read, it's very clear that the South American conquistadors (Cortes, Pizarro, Balboa) meant to conquer Native American tribes such as the Inca and the Aztec through force and violence, to steal their wealth (when the natives would not willingly trade), and to control their lands.
I think the history of South America is a very clear case of where the native indigenous South American tribes were wiped out through violence and disease and European settlers took over their lands. This colonization and settlement also happened very quickly. Even before the first colonies in the United States (Plymouth and Jamestown) were established, South America had already been colonized.
In the United States, Hernando de Soto also led an expedition that was very violent and ended up killing hundreds of Native Americans. In one battle against Chief Tuscaloosa in Alabama, de Soto's army killed up to 6,000 Native American. These events mark some of the earliest massacres against Native Americans in the United States.
But colonization happened even after some well-intentioned explorations. For example, Vasco da Gama and Cabral sailed around Africa so they could establish direct trade with India and cut out the middle man. But, eventually, Great Britain became colonized India, and India did not get its independence from Britain until 1947 - that's less than 80 years ago!
Similarly, David Livingstone wanted to help Africa establish shipping routes on its rivers and improve its economic situation, and Henry Stanley wanted to establish the "Congo Free State" where Belgium could guarantee its security so it would become a safe place for commerce. However, both explorations set a precedent for future colonization in Africa, and much of Africa was under European colonial rule until the 1960s, which is within the lifetime of Baby Boomers and Gen Xers.
Conclusion
This series gave me an opportunity to learn about famous explorers whose names I knew but I didn’t know what they accomplished specifically. Today, I feel more confident in the specific historical knowledge I have gained, and I hope that you have enjoyed learning alongside me.
I feel that I also gained a larger world-wide perspective. This series started in the late 1200s with Marco Polo and the Mongolian Empire, and it went to the mid 1800s during the Victorian era. In addition to the long time, the series also explored the whole world - Europe, Constantinople, the Middle East, India and the Indian Ocean, North and South America, the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, Africa, and even Australia.
I also feel that I understand how the early explorations of Christopher Columbus and others relate to the colonization, exploitation, and violence that happened in the following centuries. When we hear that people criticize Columbus Day, it’s easy to misunderstand what they mean. Yes, earlier people like Leif Erikson and maybe African and Pacific islanders had reached the New World, so Columbus was not the first person.
But it’s important also to realize that these trail-blazers created a pathway for others to follow, and those who followed did many bad things. When people criticize Columbus Day, they are criticizing the whole history of colonization and western domination, not simply the record of who “discovered” the Americas “first.”
Next Time
I have finished this series on the Age of Exploration and Discovery, and I hope you have enjoyed learning alongside me.
Did I miss anything? Were you inspired to learn something I did not? Am I wrong about some of the conclusions and insights I reached? Let me know - respond to this email.
For my next post, I may take some time to explore a new series, or I may bounce around among a few different topics.
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My name is Lirim Neziri, and I am an educator and a writer. I love to read and learn, and this newsletter (which I call Lirim’s Learning Club) lets me share interesting things I am learning. I write about History, Literature, Writing, Education, Technology, Leadership, and Personal Productivity. Please join my learning adventure.