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Difficulty: HardExploration: Causes and Events

Source: Jacques Cartier, French navigator, account of his second voyage to North America, 1535–1536

"We, having by the commandment of the King our Lord, King Francis, set out to discover lands beyond the great ocean, sailed until we came to a land where we found people who received us with great joy. We made them presents of knives, beads, and other small wares, for which they gave us fish and fresh water. We asked them by signs if this was the way to Cathay [China] and if there was gold or silver to be found. They pointed to the west and made us understand that the river went so far that they had never seen the end of it, and that there were no rapids. They also showed us some copper, which they call caignetdaze, telling us it came from the land of the Saguenay, which lies far to the north."

Which of the following developments in the period 1450–1750 was a primary cause of the state-sponsored voyage described in the passage?

  1. The European desire to bypass Ottoman-dominated land routes and gain direct access to luxury trade networks in Asia.Answer
  2. B
    The transition of European states toward laissez-faire capitalist systems that discouraged royal monopolies on transoceanic commerce.
  3. C
    The immediate establishment of direct territorial administration and colonial annexation of East Asian land-based empires.
  4. D
    The coordination of the Triangular Trade network to ship plantation labor from North America to West Africa.

Answer

The European desire to bypass Ottoman-dominated land routes and gain direct access to luxury trade networks in Asia.
The correct answer is correct because Jacques Cartier's inquiry about the path to 'Cathay' (China) illustrates the primary cause of European transoceanic voyages: the desire to bypass overland trade routes controlled by the Ottoman Empire and other Middle Eastern intermediaries in order to secure direct access to the lucrative Asian spice and luxury goods markets.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the source text for evidence of motivation.
The text shows Cartier asking local inhabitants if the river led to 'Cathay' (China) and asking about precious metals like gold, silver, and copper.
Identifying the explorer's inquiries helps determine the main goal of the voyage.
2
Relate the motivation to the historical context of the period 1450–1750.
European monarchs sponsored transoceanic voyages to find alternative maritime trade routes to Asian markets because overland routes were heavily taxed or controlled by intermediaries like the Ottoman Empire.
Explaining the cause links Cartier's specific action (looking for a route to Cathay) to the broader European trend of bypassing traditional trade routes.
3
Evaluate the options and eliminate distractors.
Eliminate the option mentioning laissez-faire capitalism because mercantilism dominated this era; eliminate the option mentioning direct annexation of Asian empires because Europeans established trading-post networks rather than direct territorial rule in Asia; eliminate the option mentioning Triangular Trade labor routes because it inaccurately states the direction of labor shipment and represents a later commercial structure rather than a cause of early exploration.
Nuanced distractor analysis ensures the chosen answer is the only historically accurate cause.

Key Concept

State-sponsored transoceanic maritime exploration was driven by the desire to find direct trade routes to Asia and access luxury goods, bypassing traditional land-based networks.
Estimated Time:2m 0s
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Topics

Exploration: Causes and Events

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