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Europe is about to embark on a journey that will change the course of history. You will chose one explorer to take this journey with. I wish you the best of luck. May the best explorer survive...
Once you have secured the money and supplies, it is time to plot your course. The goal is obviously to find a better trade route, probably to what was then called the "East Indies." You have to decide if you will journey east by going around Africa or if you will sail west into the great unknown.
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It doesn't matter what country the explorer is from originally - what matters more is what country agreed to pay for the trip. That's why it was possible for someone like Christopher Columbus, who was Italian by birth, to claim land and fortune in the name of Spain.
How would you feel if this happened to you? Imagine that you are, as an American, claiming land for Iraq. How would that impact your life?
The Shores of Europe
First you have to find someone to finance your exploration. Somebody has to be willing to pay for the ships and food you will need!
Who had the money?
The monarchs, or royals of Europe financed exploration. The first major supporter of exploration was a man by the name of Prince Henry the Navigator. Learn about him by clicking here. For a more detailed experience click here!
Basically people who would want to be explorers would come to the royal family and lay out their plan for exploration. They would have to tell them several things:
- Where are they going?
- What will find there?
- How will it be beneficial to the government?
- How much will it cost?
- How long will it take?
If the answers to these questions satisfied the monarchs, they may decide to finance the trip.
Next stop...
The New World
The End
8,000 km
A New Colony
Once all the local opposition had been removed (either killed or enslaved in most cases), the European explorers set up a permanent residence. Sometimes the explorers quit their wandering ways to become politicians and served as governors. Other times they continued exploring. It was very easy to become extremely wealthy on exploring expeditions, especially if you stole from the native peoples.
7,891 km
Cast Off!
It would take several months to prepare before leaving. You had to get a crew and fill your ship with supplies. Many times you had no idea how long your journey would last.
CONGRATULATIONS!!
You have survived your journey! Most of your shipmates probably died and you may have had a revolt, and you probably spent most of the journey thinging you were about to die. But none of that matters now. You claimed this land* for your country!!
The *
By the way, there were people already living there. The land wasn't your to claim. But you probably killed them, so it's all okay!