Why Ships Were Sent
IntroducedThree motives, in one sentence
- European nations' efforts to explore and conquer the New World stemmed from a search for new sources of wealth, economic and military competition, and a desire to spread Christianity.
- Three motives: economic, strategic, and religious — and the CED gives no ranking among them.
- So an answer that names only gold has taken a third of the claim.
Select all three motives the CED names.
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No ranking among them.
Competition is a motive of its own
- Economic and military competition means a state may act because a rival is acting, not because the venture pays.
- That is a different logic from the search for wealth, and putting them in one list does not merge them.
- It is the same logic that will drive 7.x's imperial rivalries centuries later in any European history.
Columbus lands in 1492 (Vanderlyn, 1847): banners of crown and cross together, wealth, rivalry and religion in one scene
'Economic and military competition' means a state may act because...
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A different logic from the search for wealth.
And religion is stated, not implied
- A desire to spread Christianity is listed as a cause, so it belongs in an answer whether or not it seems primary.
- 1.6 will show the same religious framework being used to argue about how non-Europeans should be treated.
- So religion appears on both sides of the encounter's moral argument, and the CED records both.
Economic, strategic, or religious?
Sort each motive for exploration and conquest.
Religion can be left out of an answer if economic motives seem more important.
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False. The CED lists religion as a cause of European exploration, so it belongs in an answer whether or not it seems the primary motive.
Competition is its own motive, not a version of the search for wealth. Economic and military competition means a state may act because a rival is acting, whether or not the venture pays — so listing all three motives is not padding, it is the claim.
Match each item to whether it is a motive or a capacity.
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Motive explains why it was attempted; capacity why it could be.
Motive is not capacity
- 1.4 supplies the capacity: improvements in maritime technology and more organised methods for conducting international trade, such as joint-stock companies.
- A motive explains why a voyage was attempted; capacity explains why it could be.
- Keeping the two apart is the same distinction any imperialism question requires.
The objective names exploration and ____ together, offering the same motives for both.
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The CED does not treat conquest as needing a separate explanation.
Causes of exploration and conquest
- The objective names exploration and conquest together, so the same motives are being offered for both.
- That is worth noticing: the CED does not treat conquest as a later development requiring a separate explanation.
- An answer should give at least two of the three motives and say how they reinforced each other.
A council approves a voyage that its own accountants expect to lose money, because a neighbouring kingdom has approved one. The ledger says the decision was irrational. The map says it was not.
European nations' efforts to explore and conquer the New World stemmed from a search for new sources of wealth, economic and military competition, and a desire to spread Christianity — economic, strategic and religious motives, unranked. Competition is its own logic; religion is stated, not implied; and motive is not capacity, which 1.4 supplies as maritime technology and joint-stock companies.