Was European expansion in the fifteenth and sixteenth century motivated by purely economic concerns?

Résumé du document

References are often made of the 15th and 16th century as 'The Age of Discovery'. It has been named like that because at that time, Europeans really started to discover and trade with the world overseas. Indeed, it was during this period that they expanded to areas all over the world as diverse as America, Africa and to Asia as well. When you look at this process, one important question comes to your mind. What were the motivations that led them to go so far overseas during this period? It makes us wonder about the reasons lying behind this expansion process, its extent and its impact. One argument regularly invoked is the economical one, the importance of trade and the wealth it brought to Europeans. But can European expansion during this period only be explained by economic concerns?

Extraits

[...] Finally, enhancements in shipping, navigational techniques and map making too helped to lead this expansion and made it more efficient. So Europeans' motivations to expand in the fourteenth and fifteenth century were not only economic even if they played a role, it was more complex. To conclude, we can quote David Arnold who wrote if any, states outside Europe possessed such a powerful combination of these factors that sustained Europeans' determination to succeed often in spite of adverse conditions” (Arnold 60). [...]

[...] In Europe, the situation was radically different. Indeed the benefits of trading overseas were considerable for European countries. First of all, they were aware that there was a lot of gold in other parts of the world, notably in Africa. They needed it not only because it was seen as a sign of both and material enrichment (Chaudhuri but also because they did need it to pay for goods coming from their newly created trade in Asia. As stated previously, Asian populations did not show any interest in European products, so if Europeans wanted products from them, they could not exchange it for their own productions and had to pay with gold. [...]

[...] That explains why many European expeditions were commercially driven; they were seen as a way to recover from difficulties on the continent by reaching wealth elsewhere. Secondly, the economical argument also explains why Portugal was the first to start the adventure of expansion overseas. The main problem of this country is that it was it was a land mostly uncultivable, covered by many mountains and not very appropriate for a very profitable agriculture, it was consequently poor (Davis 3). The Portuguese thus understood the importance of going abroad in search for new resources and the organization of a profitable trade. [...]

[...] Their maps also began to be more precise, handier and really improved their travels. Furthermore, the expansion of the trade itself stimulated the improvement of navigational techniques and map making. European expansion then can be explained not only by economic concerns but also by important ideological beliefs and improvements in technology. In conclusion, in the fourteenth and fifteenth century Europe experienced a massive process of expansion overseas. The reasons to explain it and Europeans' motivations are numerous. First, economical motivations played a very important role in this process. [...]

[...] Again, the example of Portugal is revealing. The far south of the country was not fully developed because they missed many workers, with slaves they could fill this gap (Davis 7). They also needed them in their islands to work on sugar plantations, a production which requires a lot of working force. The first African slaves were besides sold in Portugal at Lisbon in 1444 (Roberts 246).With this slave trade Europeans had another argument to explore more and more territories as it was profitable. [...]