Explorers of All Nations: Moving beyond the National Framework to Uncover Forgotten Contributors

The history of exploration is often framed within Eurocentric, nationalistic boundaries which place emphasis on the flag under which the expedition took place. The field itself is often divided into subcategories, such as “Spanish Exploration,” “British Exploration,” or “Ottoman Exploration,” with each category treated as a self-contained entity. This method of studying exploration in distinct, independent national fields reinforces the images many have of exploration as the white European explorer planting the flag of his patron nation in an unclaimed land. This image, which has become synonymous for many with Eurocentric studies of colonialism and exploitation, masks the entangled nature of exploration, particularly during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. This paper argues that nationalistically driven narratives of exploration hide the transnational nature of exploration and inherently devalue and mask the contributions of indigenous information to expeditions. By taking a broad view of the so-called “Great Age of Exploration,” this paper will highlight the entangled, transnational methods of exploration to demonstrate that by moving beyond national narratives a new depth to our understanding of exploration can be gained. Not only does it become clear that exploration during this period involved actors from many nations working together for the good of the expedition, but recognizing the transnational nature of exploration highlights the role of non-European and indigenous actors, placing their contributions at the center of the discussion rather than the periphery.