• Desire for wealth and power. (Gold and Glory)
European explorers hoped to find riches in distant countries and to discover a sea route to Asia.
Search for spices (nutmeg, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, pepper, etc.) and luxury goods (silk, gold, silver, jewels, ivory, porcelains, tea, etc.) from Africa and the East.
• Religious aims (God)
Europeans hoped to spread Christianity to people throughout the world and to drive Muslims out of other lands.
• Renaissance spirit
Europeans adventurers wanted to test the limits of human ability and to explore the unknown. Discover far away places and settle in the new lands.
• Improvements in technology
+ Europeans began to build stronger, faster sailing ships: the caravel, a ship with two sails one each for running with the wind and for sailing into the wind.
The hull design was improved and could ride out ocean storms.
They could also put canons on the decks of these ships).
+ They developed better navigational instruments:
- astrolabe, could tell north and south of the equator by the position of the stars
- magnetic compass, told direction accurately
- more accurate maps with the discovery of how to find the longitude.