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Colonism In Europe

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It is evident that in 16th century Europe there existed both the motivation and the means to explore and colonize territory across the seas. As it can be said, “With the dawn of the 16th century, there came together in Europe both the motivation and the means to explore and colonize territory across the seas.” This statement is true to a large extent, especially in the areas of trade and technology. The physical means to explore and colonize came from the advances in technology that the Europeans had gone through, allowing them to sail far across the oceans and take over native populations easily. The motivation, on the other hand, came from trade-related reasons, such as the desire to trade new resources, to find gold, and to find new trade routes. Without the technology or trade at the dawn of the 16th century, there would not have been the means nor the motivation for Europeans to explore and colonize the New World. First, the Europeans had the means to explore and colonize the New World mainly because of their advances in technology. As Schweikart put it, “a wide range of technologies coalesced to encourage long-range voyages of discovery.” For example, the Arabs’ development of the astrolabe helped sailors establish the sun’s altitude above the horizon. Vikings farther north introduced new methods of hull construction, allowing vessels to withstand violent ocean storms. Sailors on the Baltic coast tinkered with larger and more controlled ship designs. Improved ships

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