Printing Press and New Routes
Exploration or Reformation: Which Was the More Important Consequence of the Printing Press? As André Gide once said, “Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” During the 15th century the printing press was invented by Johannes Gutenberg. It had a massive effect on the world at the time. One of the most important effects was exploration. The printing press started a revolution because it made it easier to print more maps, and explore new routes. Without the printing press, Christopher Columbus would not have been able to share the news about discovering current day America. The printing press has made amazing changes to the world. During the 1400s the need for printing presses increased, and so did the need to explore. Once the printing press was made more maps were printed, and people became more interested in geography. In document A, it talks about how people became more interested in geography now that it was easy to get access to maps. This new invention interested explorers, and sparked their curiosity. Explorers set out to find new routes, and sure enough they did. Ferdinand Magellan was the first person to find a route from Europe to Asia going westward. He was also the first to circumnavigate the world. Magellan would never have been able to achieve this without the printing press. Did you ever wonder what would have happened if America was never discovered? Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492, but without the printing press no one would know of his discovery. In document D it shows that the printing press helped Columbus distribute his findings to many countries. He sent letters to Lisbon, Valladolid, Barcelona, Paris, Antwerp, Strasbourg, Basel, Florence, and Rome. In document E it shows that the printing press helped to spread the first map to record the existence of the American continents. It was created by Martin