Commerce and Trade
Pretend that you are an explorer during the Age of Discovery and that you are in search of work. Since you worked as a deckhand on Vasco da Gama's trip around the world, you already have a lot of experience. You have seen some of the vast amounts of wealth available in the New World, and you are sure that you could find your own, given the opportunity.
Unfortunately, you will need a financial backer to invest in your journey. Amongst other items, you will need a ship that can sail across the Atlantic Ocean and a crew for the ship. Both of these things are very expensive. You heard that the King of Spain is willing to finance such voyages. He gave money to Columbus, so he may be willing to finance your voyage, too.
Through a friend, you are able to arrange a meeting with the King. You need to decide how you are going to get the king to finance your journey by convincing him of all the money and glory he is going to receive as a result of your discoveries. In preparation for your meeting, you will need to create a short proposal that answers the following questions. For each of the following questions, write two to three sentences to support your plan:
- Where are you going? How are you going to get there?
- Why are you planning to visit those specific territories? What makes them important?
- What you are going to find that will be valuable?
- What kinds of obstacles might you encounter and how you will overcome them?
Remember, your livelihood depends on the approval of the King, so be convincing and include all of the supporting facts! Before you begin, access the Trade Proposal Checklist to make sure that you include all of the items required for full credit. You may need to use resources outside of this course to complete this assignment. If so, please submit a Works Cited document. If you need assistance, visit the Developmental Module for information on citing any resources that you used.
Once you have completed your plan, please submit your assignment to the dropbox.