DBQ Prompt: Analyze the impact of maritime voyages on global exploration and trade between the years 1400-1650.

Documents: 1. Map of the known world in 1400, highlighting major trade routes and maritime exploration routes. 2. Excerpt from Christopher Columbus’ journal describing his first voyage to the Americas in 1492. 3. Letter from Zheng He, a Chinese explorer, detailing his voyages to Southeast Asia and Africa in the early 15th century. 4. Excerpt from the diary of Vasco da Gama, recounting his journey around the Cape of Good Hope to India in 1497-1498. 5. Painting depicting the arrival of Portuguese traders in Japan in the mid-16th century. 6. Excerpt from a letter by a Spanish conquistador describing the conquest of the Aztec Empire in Mexico in the early 16th century. 7. Chart showing the increase in European trade with Africa, Asia, and the Americas between 1400 and 1650. 8. Excerpt from a Dutch merchant’s account of the establishment of the Dutch East India Company in 1602. 9. Map showing the establishment of European colonies in the Americas, Africa, and Asia by 1650.