Age of Exploration

You'll understand the Age of Exploration as a period of European maritime expansion (1400s–1600s) driven by curiosity, trade ambitions, and technological advances.

You'll identify key explorers like Columbus, da Gama, and Magellan, and recognize how their voyages mapped new trade routes and connected continents.

You'll explain how the desire for profitable spice trade and direct access to Asian markets motivated European nations to fund risky ocean voyages.

You'll describe how the exchange of goods, crops, animals, and diseases between Europe and the Americas reshaped societies and economies worldwide.