Trade & Exchange Origins | WiseStockBuyer

If we went back many centuries ago to the 14^th century, we would find that people had not traveled much at all. In fact, people in Europe were mostly unaware of places like the Americas, Africa, and the Far East. Before the Renaissance, it was a standard belief that the Earth was actually just a flat surface. People thought that if they traveled to far, they might simply fall off the edges! Fear of danger and the unknown was a major factor that held them back from venturing off to other places.

This all changed between the 15^th to 17^th centuries when methods of travel and navigation improved, along with philosophies and theories about the world. Of course, people also had many different reasons for traveling. Unlike travelers today, early explorers did not travel for a vacation. Instead, they travel led to discover new places, set up new colonies for their countries, and find precious goods to bring back home. Some of the most popular goods for trading included exotic spices, herbs, precious stones and metals, incense, and silk from the Far East and Middle East. Explorers who headed south to Africa came back with slaves and gold. Others who went to the Americas found marvelous new foods and goods to bring home to Europe, like cocoa, tobacco, tea, vanilla, and pineapples. They even found some foods that are considered quite standard today, like potatoes, corn, bananas, and tomatoes.

Christopher Columbus was among the most famous early explorers who we still remember today. He is best known for bringing news of the “New World” to his fellow Europeans. In fact, he discovered America quite by mistake while intending to set out for India. Other famous explorers include Ferdinand Magellan, Vasco da Gama, and Marco Polo, among others. Countries that produced the most famous and successful explorers were England, Spain, Portugal, Italy, the Netherlands, and France. During their time, the race to discover and conquer new lands became very competitive. These countries often fought each other to gain more control of their colonies and increase their power. Although it led to much fighting and death, the adventurous explorers played a large part in changing the society of their times, as well as that of the future.

By venturing to foreign lands via new sea routes, they discovered new travel passages. This was extremely important because these sea passages became trading routes. Once the early explorers had established a trading route, other merchants followed suit. Gradually, trading routes expanded and became more heavily traveled. In the beginning there were only a handful of very small trading routes. In comparison, today we have trading routes by air and sea that crisscross the entire globe! Physical goods were not the only things that were traded. Merchants who travelled abroad also brought back ideas and practices from other cultures. They introduced foreign inventions to their own people and helped to quickly improve the way their societies functioned. Find out all about these fascinating explorers and their adventures around the world by browsing through the collection of resources below.