Age of Exploration

• Why it began: renaissance encouraged people to explore the world, demand for spices (which flavoured rotten food), rulers wanted to control spice trade (making them rich) as well as to create powerful empires (by conquering newly discovered lands) and spread christianity (to newly discovered lands)
• Christopher columbus wanted to sail west to find a route to the spice islands but instead found America
• Results of Colombus exhibitions: native people were wiped out (many killed by disease or war or were used as slaves), native languages and religions died out, new commodities introduced to europe like chocolate and potatoes
• Impact of conquest and colonisation: 50,000 native americans died, estimated that 12 million slaves were brought over and 6 million dying on the voyages, spain and portugals empires grew, people in south america started speaking spanish and portuguese