Explorers & Trade Routes

European exploration and trade with Africa

European Exploration and Trade

From the 1400s, Europeans explored sea routes to Asia seeking spices, silk and gold. Portuguese explorers sailed around Africa. This opened trade routes but also led to colonisation.

Example

Key Explorers

• 1488: Bartolomeu Dias — rounded Cape of Good Hope • 1497: Vasco da Gama — reached India by sea • 1652: Jan van Riebeeck — set up Cape refreshment station They wanted: spices, silk, gold, precious stones Consequences: trade grew, but colonisation and slavery followed

Note

Remember

European exploration had both positive effects (new trade) and negative effects (colonisation, slavery, destruction of local cultures). African people already had their own trade networks before Europeans arrived.

Key Vocabulary

ExplorerA person who travels to unknown places to learn about them

Trade routeA path regularly used for buying and selling goods

SpicesFlavourings from plants (pepper, cinnamon, cloves)

ColonyA country or area controlled by another country

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