Motives, Problems, and Rewards of European Exploration

European expansion in the 1400’s was an unforeseen event that changed everything. This age endowed Europe to control something it never thought it could. With the persuasion of firm motives, the Europeans and their countries endured troublesome problems and prospered with advantageous rewards during the age of exploration and expansion.

What provoked European countries in the early fifteenth century to send their men into the vast unknown? The motives of these countries are relatively summed up into three words: God, Glory, and Gold. The countries wanted to spread the Roman Catholic faith to any inhabitant of the unexplored word they came across. Huge missionaries were set up in the northwestern part of Spanish empire in the new world to teach the faith, as well as in other settled regions of the new world. However, spreading the catholic faith was only the tip of iceberg; the glory one’s country received in claiming new lands and people was beyond surmise.

Also, those who claimed the land that gave the country glory became glorious themselves, creating a motive in itself. However, God and Glory were not the most pressing motive persuading a country. The fight to find gold was what most motivated the anxious countries. The hearsay of gold is what sparked uncountable voyages that forever changed history. As for the reasons behind the critical age of exploration, God, Glory, and Gold, what actually came out of the age was far more than and motive could have perceived.

Before any rewards or gains fell into the hands of the Europeans, most countries saw how problematic the exploring game became. Whether ship crews came down with a disease, violence against the European explores occurred, or the competition took over, the roaring race to explore exhausted explorers and their countries. Many explorers got syphilis, or another disease Europeans were not immune to, and took it to their homeland, spreading it quickly. Violence, like the Pope’s Rebellion in 1680, erupted against the Europeans anytime the opposing sides clashed into each other. Competition among European countries provoked intense issues, such as the Portuguese taking over and sealing off the African coast. These problems were chronic in the age of exploration. Never giving up though, the Europeans collected and thrived in the rewards provide by the exploration.

In spite of complications, Europeans gained momentous rewards in the struggles of the exploration, especially the forerunners. The forerunners, Portugal and Spain, acquired huge amounts of territory during this time of expansion. The Spanish empire in the new world was monstrously massive, providing great wealth and power for Spain, while Portugal collected large sums of land on the African coast. There is also the materialist things that were valuable to the European countries such as, gold, spices, sugar and slaves, rewards that changed European’s daily lives. The most important gain of the exploration age would most likely be the food stuffs that soon spread across the old world to the new world. The food stuffs began circulating Europe, rapidly increasing the population greatly. Between the territory gains, the material things, and the new food stuffs, Europeans and their countries benefited immensely from the era of exploration.

Exploring the unknown world was an uneasy decision made by the monarchs of the European countries in the 1400’s. The decision was fueled by unweighted motives and briefly regretted during problematic times. However, the choice was acclaimed when the worthy benefits were employed. As you can see,the age of exploration was completely defined by the motives of the participating countries, the problems they faced, and the prosperity experienced by them during and after the era.