Why Ships Were Sent
Three 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.
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.
'Economic and military competition' means a state may act because...
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 is listed as a cause, so it belongs in an answer.
Whether or not it seems primary.
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.
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.
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.