Maps
The age of Exploration officially began in the early 15th century and lasted until the 17th century. Because the Ottoman Empire blocked European access to the East, North Africa, and the Red Sea in the mid 1500s, Europe was desperately in search of new trading partners, routes, and goods.
The Portuguese were the first to act among major European powers. Explorations under the lead of Prince Henry the Navigator established trading ports in North and West Africa in search for goods and gold. The Spaniards soon followed. The Spanish government funded ships, supplies, and sailors for Christopher Columbus in the mission to discover a new route to Asia. He sailed west and reached the Americas in 1492. Columbus’s voyage is often seen to mark the beginning of the Age of Exploration. In the subsequent centuries, hundreds of explorers funded by European powers explored the Americas and the World. Several noticeable events included Ferdinand Magellan’s attempt at the first circumnavigation of the globe, Giovanni da Verranzano’s discovery of the Northwest Passage as another trade route to Asia, as well as British explorer James Cook’s voyages to Australia, New Zealand, and the Hawaiian Islands. Besides charting coastlines and the ocean, uncharted lands inland were further explored. Explorers from different national backgrounds traveled up the St. Lawrence River and the Mississippi River, discovered the Great Lakes, and explored the American Southeast and Southwest.
The evolution of maps reflects those developments in exploration. These maps are held as facsimiles in Carleton's Special Collections. Seven maps designed at different points thorughout the early modern period are listed to the left in chronological order. We first see the Ptolemy world map with the idea of coordinate system developed in the 2nd century. Then we see the Portolan chart that reflects the notion of coastline sailing. The charts of the Portolan charts are all zoomed in around coastlines, and the landmarks were clearly marked at close distances to one another; furthermore, the straight lines criss-crossing represent the thirty-two directions (or headings) of the mariner's compass from a given point. This is similar to the compass rose displayed on later maps and charts. However, these maps do not account for the curvature of the earth and its effects. Entering into the 16th century, Europe's knowledge to the world has clearly expanded, as marked by Columbus’s discovery of the new world.
Martin Waldseemüller, a German cartographer, created the next map in line. Waldseemüller is credited with the first usage of "America" to describe the New World continents, and by looking at the map, we can see a very rough form of North and South America, as well the Caribbeans. Following Waldseemüller’s piece is a 1529 world map created by the Portuguese cartographer Diogo Ribeiro. This map depicted the expanse of the Pacific Ocean and the continuous coast of the Americas for the first time. The Magellan-Elcano expedition (1519-1522) around the world provided Ribeiro with extensive cartographic information. Cartographers often relied on previously produced maps, as well as the the new geographic information collected and published by various explorers and navigators.
Geographer and cartographer Gerardus Mercator contributed to our next map. The Mercator projection exaggerates areas far from the equator. The grid is rectangular and lines of latitude and longitude are all parallel. The Mercator map was designed as an aid to navigators since straight lines on the Mercator projection are loxodromes or rhumb lines -- representing lines of constant compass bearing -- perfect for "true" direction. If a navigator wishes to sail from Spain to the West Indies, all they have to do is draw a line between the two points and the navigator knows which compass direction to continually sail to reach their destination.
The succeeding map is an image of the world map designed by the 17th-century Dutch cartographer Gerard van Schagen, while our last one was a map of the World by the great British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the Royal Navy. This map reflected Cook’s detailed attention during his three voyages to the Pacific Ocean.
This set of maps witness the increasing geographical knowledge of the Europeans of the "New World" and beyond; however, such increasing accuracy in maps could not be made possible without a correct method of measuring latitude and longitude as well as the equipment of better ships. In the next section, we will focus on the technology of exploration.