history

  • Period: 1420 to 1431

    Prince Henry sponsors Portuguese exploration of the African Coast.

    Prince Henry sponsored Portuguese exploration of the African Coast, this exploration led to Europeans searching for a sea route to Asia.
  • 1488

    Bartolomeu Dias voyage

    Bartolomeu Dias was ordered by Portugal to to find a sea rout to India. He was unsuccessful in finding a route to India, but he was the first European to sail around the southern tip of Africa.
  • 1492

    Christopher Columbus's voyage to America

    This event is most widely considered the discovering of America. It caused permanent contact and the spread of the Colombian Exchange
  • 1494

    Spain and Portugal sign the Treaty of Tordesillas

    The treaty divided the newly discovered non-European world into spheres of influence for two powers.
  • 1498

    Vasco da Gama got to India by sea

    Vasco da Gama successfully arrived in India by sea.
  • Period: 1501 to

    The Colombian exchange escalates.

    The spread of goods such as potatoes, maize, and tomatoes to Europe as well as the introduction of diseases to the Americas changed the agriculture and demographics of societies.
  • Period: 1519 to 1522

    Hernán Cortés led the conquest of the Aztec Empire

    This conquest led to Spanish dominance in Mesoamerica.
  • Period: 1519 to 1522

    Ferdinand Magellan's expedition.

    Ferdinand Magellan completed the first expedition all the way around the globe. This showed the earth's size and the enormity of the Pacific ocean.
  • Period: to

    Formation of English and Dutch East India companies.

    The creation of these companies signaled a shift from state sponsored exploration to commercial enterprise.
  • The beginning of the transatlantic slave trade.

    The establishment of plantations in the Americas led to the forced migration of many Africans across the Atlantic.