The sixteenth- and seventeenth-century maritime exploration efforts by England, France, and the Netherlands were most directly connected to which of the following historical processes?
a. The Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Reformation

b. Economic competition against Spain and Portugal and a desire to find a new sailing routes to Asia.

c. The transfer of engineering and navigational knowledge from the classical and Islamic worlds to Europe.

d. The need to ease population pressures in Europe by establishing settlement colonies.

France, the Netherlands and England, which had a long maritime tradition, made their way north thanks to new technologies and maps, despite Iberian protections.
The first of these missions was carried out by the British John Cabot. It was the first in a series of French and British missions to explore North America. Spain has largely ignored the northern part of America because there were few people there and far fewer riches than in Central America. Expeditions by Cabot, Cartier, and other explorers greatly hoped to find the Northwest Passage, which would connect with the riches of Asia. This passage was never discovered, but other opportunities were found in their travels, so in the early seventeenth century colonists from numerous northern European countries began settling on the east coast of North America.
The northerners also became major rivals to the Portuguese in Africa and the Indian Ocean. Dutch, French and British ships began to become accustomed to the Portuguese monopoly and established their own colonies. Gradually, the Portuguese and Spanish markets and contributions declined due to new competitors surrounding their valuable possessions such as Hong Kong. The northerners also took the lead in exploring the last unknown regions of the Pacific Ocean and the North American West Coast.

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michell96 michell96 · Answer 2 · 2020-04-13T03:27:12+02:00

The correct answer is B. Economic competition against Spain and Portugal and a desire to find a new sailing routes to Asia.

Explanation

During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in Europe, the main mercantile connections were with Asia because the great Asian civilizations such as India, China, and communities in the Middle East had products such as spices, paper, gunpowder, and many other objects that they were not common in Europe. Therefore, the European powers were in the task of discovering their commercial routes to avoid the busiest roads and thus avoid the possible theft of their products. This caused maritime trade routes to be developed surrounding Africa until Spain found the American continent during the 15th century. From this discovery as a sign of their economic competition, countries such as the Netherlands, France, and England launched into the sea to find new merchant routes to Asia and get products more easily, demonstrating their power against Portugal and Spain. So, the correct answer is B. Economic competition against Spain and Portugal and a desire to find a new sailing routes to Asia.