THE city of Tyre stood on a small island, three or four miles in diameter, on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It was, in those days, the greatest commercial city in the world, and it exercised a great maritime power by means of its fleets and ships, which traversed every part of the Mediterranean. Tyre had been built originally on the mainland; but in some of the wars which it had to encounter with the kings of Babylon in the East, this old city had been abandoned by the inhabitants, and a new one built upon an island not far from the shore, which could be more easily defended from an enemy. The old city had gone to ruin, and its place was occupied by old walls, fallen towers, stones, columns, arches, and other remains of the ancient magnificence of the place. The island on which the Tyre of Alexander's [148] day had been built was about half a mile from the shore.
The theory that the earth was flat and that it was therefore possible to sail off the edge of it was common in the middle ages, but had been discredited by Columbus' time. His first New World journey did help fix one common mistake, however: it proved that the earth was much larger than people had previously thought. Columbus, basing his calculations on incorrect assumptions about the size of the earth, assumed that it would be possible to reach the rich markets of eastern Asia by sailing west. Had he succeeded in finding a new trade route, it would have made him a very wealthy man. Instead he found the Caribbean, then inhabited by cultures with little in the way of gold, silver or trade goods.
If Higgins had not designed and built those LCVPs, we never could have landed over an open beach. The whole strategy of the war would have been different” (LCVP, 2010). Andrew Higgins was born in Columbus, Nebraska in 1886, but moved to Louisiana when he was a young man. Higgins created his business Higgins Industries when in Louisiana, which produced boats. “Higgins Industries grew from being a small Southern boat company to owning and operating seven large plants, employing 30,000 employees at one point in their operation.
Having the geographical advantage, Indonesia had attracted merchants and traders from different parts of the world. The first Europeans to come and penetrate an area which then became the main destination for in-and-out trade was the Portuguese. Maluku islands or the Mollucas were indeed the first place where the Europeans settled down in. This was done during the European’s Age of Exploration. The Mollucas was well known for its richness of spices and ever since the Portuguese’s settlement in Indonesia, different European powers began to come in and dominate the archipelago.
Although the motivation of the Europeans conquest was about gold, God, and glory neither outweighed the other. In my opinion, the driving force originally was about gold. This conquest was justified by the Europeans desire to obtain a trade root. When Columbus landed in the new world the original meeting was genuine however, greed would soon change the relationship with the Europeans and the Indies. It is apparent that when Columbus landed in the Bahamas he believed he was somewhere near the East Indies.
It contained well over 130 ships and at least 30,000 men (“The Spanish Armada” pg 89- Walter Buehr). The great fleet started to leave port on May 28, 1588; it took two days for every ship to actually set sail towards England (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Armada). The Spanish were not fully prepared for what they were trying to accomplish, even though they had what seemed to be the greatest force known for that era. The ships in which they sent were mostly merchant ships converted into war galleons, given
I handed in this essay and got a 100 so i hope it helps ;) Roman Expansion Essay Rome started out a small city in the middle of the Italian Peninsula, near the Mediterranean Sea. Soon it’s influence spread through out the whole peninsula, and by 265 B.C. Rome dominated the region. Carthage, a large city with extensive military control, became worried of Rome’s newfound power and by 264 B.C. the two cities went to war.
They were still using these nautical technologies to help them navigate through this region. Also from the beginning anybody that wanted to sail in this region had to have a firm grasp about what the monsoon winds were and how they affected their ability to trade in the Indian Ocean, and even today they still need to know about them to sail in this area. Because India was in such a prime spot in the India Ocean it was not afraid to use that power and make as much money as they could off of the trade routes in the Indian Ocean, and India's economy depended on that trade later on in time because of the huge European demand for Indian spices that would soon emerge. India remained in control of trade in the Indian ocean because its location in the center of the ocean made it a perfect stop for traders. Because of all this increased trade in the Indian Ocean, countries that lie on it began to move away from an agricultural mindset to one with ideas about specialized production.
Because the Babylonians have created the money and trade, they were credited as the founders of travel business. The Phoenicians and Greeks improved ships and accelerated the Mediterranean trade. Early tourist attractions were the Seven Wonders of the World. The first Cruises were organized and conducted from Egypt. The Egyptians were the first ones to start celebrating festivals.
Vasco De Gama reached India in 1498. This was the beginning of the European infiltration of Indian Ocean trade, bringing about many changes. The Portuguese took over more trade and established ports like Goa in India. Then Britain too dominated trade in conjunction with joint stock companies like the Dutch East India Company. The Chinese traded silks, porcelain and other luxury goods with Europe and Arabia, even as the Ming set rules up for when, where and who could trade at specific spots.