True Left

Portugal continued to rule the seas for years after Henry the Navigator’s death, sparking a less-than-friendly rivalry with its Spanish neighbors and earning the undivided attention of all of Europe. Businessmen and ambitious explorers from around the world found themselves in Portugal trying to make a living on Portuguese ships that benefited from his charting of the oceans. Because of this exploration and colonization, the Portuguese Empire eventually stretched from Europe to Japan, covering South America, Africa, and the Caribbean. Despite the African continent offering every natural resource in the world, because Portugal led the way in human trafficking, African bodies became the key to European expansion in the New World. And perhaps no one is more responsible for the four-hundredyear competitive empire-building race than Henry the Navigator, whose advancement in exploration and charting the world’s sailing routes made Portugal the first modern European empire.