Zheng He Dbq

Magellan’s main goal was to reach the Spice Islands by crossing the Pacific Ocean. While in the Philippines, “Magellan had his right leg pierced by a poisonous arrow, on which he gave orders to retreat by degrees” ( Doc E). This document was written by a crew member named Antonio Pigafetta who was a passenger in this expedition. Antonio was an eyewitness to the incidents that had occurred during that time. Pigafetta had a great admiration for Magellan for his determination and courage. Pigafetta was one of the six or eight crew members who fought along with

In the map and chart created by National Geographic titled “China’s Great Armada”, Zheng He traveled to Mombasa Kenya which is ~19,000 miles roundtrip(Doc A). This accomplishment is important because far seafaring expeditions of this extent were nearly unheard of in the 15th century due the lack of technology and knowledge. Therefore Zheng He’s skills as a great explorer are undoubtable. Moreover in the chart it exhibits that Zheng He transversed Calicut, Hormuz, Malindi, Mogadishu, and Mombasa(Doc A). All of these countries were over ~11,000 miles roundtrip and therefore, Zheng He displays that he can consistently travel far distances(Doc A).

Vasco Da Gama was a Portuguese explorer and the first person to reach India by sea. Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer, he was determined to find a water route to Asia, but he never did. He accidentally stumbled upon the Americas. Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer, known for being the first person to circumnavigate the planet Earth.

The first reason for celebration of Zheng He's voyages is his distance and destination. In 7 voyages he traveled over 105,300 miles. Examples of some places and distance he traveled was

1519: a Spanish armada of five ships set sail that would soon be the first to circumnavigate the globe. Their captain, a Portuguese noble, was an accomplished student of cartography and astronomy. Europe’s cravings for spices sent Columbus to Asia, and into the barrier that was the Americas. Magellan’s expedition sought to find a way through, on a mission to bring a new trade route and immense wealth to Spain. Through the crew’s starvation, two mutinies against him, and his harsh personality and lack of accomplishment, Magellan proved his life was not worth saving.

Lastly the third reason why Magellan led himself to his deathbed. Magellan’s navigational skills were poor. According to Over the Edge of the World, By Harper Collins “he regularly sent small scouting parties in the long boats”, “they would go and come back with news of the findings.. And the rest would follow” Gines de Mafra recalled. This evidence shows that Magellan had planned the way easily, but doing it was difficult. Magellan purely relied on his search parties to go throughout the way. You might argue that he still got through and reached the spice islands, but he reached there with just a handful of men in his Armada.

Should Zheng He be recognized for his travels to the east coast of Africa and the southern parts of Asia? Culture, country-to-country relationships, and trade seemed very important to Emperor Yongle, who decided that Zheng He was to explore the world for China. In document A, a map is shown, displaying his travels to east Africa and southern Asia. His furthest travels include India, Iran, Kenya, and Somalia. Along the way, he traded with these countries, including local products and animals.

Jacques Cartier was a determined,intelligent, and patient explorer of France who was born on December 1, 1491. Cartier was best known for being the first European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence River. He proudly named his rightful discoveries, “The country of Canada's.” Samuel De Champlain was a whole hearted, strong, intelligent, patriotic french navigator. Born August 13, 1574. Champlain founded New France and Quebec City on July 3, 1608, many referred to Champlain as, “The father of New France.” The pondering question that must be answered is; who is the better explorer, and more importantly who was the better leader? Leadership: To lead the way

According to Doc A, he went 105,300 miles all together. His ship and crew were much larger than Columbus’s. Doc B says Zheng He’s ship was 315 feet bigger than the Santa Maria. Doc C states that there were many different types of people on the ship, such as doctors, soldiers, fortune tellers, sailors, servants, horse groomers, and many more. Zheng He has the largest fleet of wooden ships in the world. Finally, in Doc D, it shows that his voyages were a valuable trading opportunity.

Zheng He, a Chinese explorer, was born in 1371 in the Yunan Province of southwestern China (background essay). When Zheng He was ten years old, his father was killed right in front of him by the Ming Dynasty’s army (background essay). He was then taken prisoner, castrated, and forced to become part of the eunuchs (background essay). As he grew older, Emperor Yongle began to trust him more and more (background essay). The Emperor trusted him to travel by ship and lead a crew down the coast of China and across the ocean to eventually land in India in 1405 (background essay). This was one of the seven voyages he would take (background essay). When asked if Zheng He’s voyages should be celebrated, three factors must be taken into account: skill, scale and significance. Skill is the measure of one’s ability to do something. Scale is the measure of actions taken to preform something. Significance is the meaning of an event. The voyages of Zheng He should not be celebrated because there was no new land discovered, the cost of the trips were expensive and wasteful, and the reasons for the voyages mainly purposed Zheng He himself and Emperor Yongle.

Ferdinand Magellan is the son of Portuguese nobility and a student of cartography and astronomy. Magellan had a goal to discover a western sea route through the Americans that led to the Spice Islands. Throughout this voyage Magellan wanted more such as his own fleet which was refused to be given by the King of Portugal. Instead, the Spanish king provided an armada or fleet or ships of five. Magellan employed a group of men in their teenage years and twenties which later staged a mutiny.

Things didn't go as plan and so what had ended up happening was that Magellan and all his crew members ended up traveling the entire world in a time of three years. Magellan was definitely worth defending for multiple reasons including the facts that he had the education and skill to play a role of navigator, a determined individual, and a spectacular leader with a plethora of

Most people would agree that Christopher Columbus was a courageous man. He sailed across unknown seas on four different occasions, used extraordinary navigational skills, and opened up the western hemisphere to exploration that created what is known today as the modern world. He was considered the greatest navigator of his time and he trained other navy captains who sailed for Spain. He had a firm belief in god and with that belief enjoyed the beauty of the coastlines that he explored. Many people praised Columbus because he “carried Christian civilization across the ocean.” There was ample evidence to show Columbus’s heroic exploits. However, historians have a more complete story to tell about Christopher Columbus. His explorations caused millions of deaths, destroyed countless cultures, added to the spread of slavery and treated the subjects he conquered with violence and cruelty. As a result the negative outweighs the positive. Columbus was not a hero. He was a villain.

Success had made Magellan a very religious man, so he tried to convert some Islanders to become Christian, and succeeded in turning a tribe Christian, but made a fatal mistake by agreeing to help the tribe fight an enemy tribe. Magellan was killed in the fight against the natives, and another man called Juan Sebastian finished the voyage and was given all the credit for sailing around the world. Out of the five ships only two ships, the

Zheng He was an explorer who was different with the other contemporary explorers from the middle ages. His accomplishments and achievements took place earlier than anyone else; yet he was more innovative and his fleets were way more advanced than anyone before his time and similar fleets did not appear until World War I. Compare with the European explorers, Zheng He and his crew exceeded on technology, resources, knowledge and diplomacy.