Explain the factors that precipitated European overseas expansion

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Although many European nations engaged in sea trade and exploration (including many voyages to the Near and Far East), the rise of the Ottoman Empire threatened their trade routes. Greed for gold, slaves, and spices—the major commodities of Africa and Asia encouraged the emerging European nations to find ways to strengthen the trade infrastructure. In response, they searched for new sea routes to the East, leading to a global expansion.
The technology of navigation was crucial to the success of these ventures. With the early fifteenth-century Latin translation of Ptolemy's Geography, mapmakers began to order geographic space with the coordinates of latitude and longitude. The Portuguese came to produce maps and charts that exceeded the accuracy of those drafted by Classical and Muslim cartographers. Renaissance Europeans improved such older Arab navigational devices as the compass and the astrolabe. Portugal and Spain built ships that were faster, safer, and more practical for rough ocean travel than the oar-driven galleys that sailed the Mediterranean Sea. Also, the new ships were outfitted with brass cannons and sufficient firepower to fend off severe enemy attack.