The Earliest Americans and the Age of Exploration

The Age of Exploration was a period between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries when Europeans traveled all over the world. Explorers from Spain, Portugal, France, and Great Britain led expeditions down the coast of Africa, to Asia, and to the Americas.

Several reasons pushed Europeans to travel abroad. One was the pursuit of wealth—in particular, valuable or rare goods like spices, silk, and gold. India and China produced valuable goods, and explorers like Christopher Columbus traveled in part to find a shorter route to Asia. Others went to spread Christianity to non-Christians or to escape religious persecution at home. Europe was undergoing a period known as the wars of religion as Catholics and Protestants went to war against each other. Finally, competition among different countries encouraged exploration. After Spain claimed land in the Americas, England and other nations hurried to do the same.

DID YOU KNOW?
Although Christopher Columbus is given credit for “discovering” North America, he wasn’t even the first European to travel there. The Vikings established a small base at L’Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland around 1000 CE.

Acting as an agent of Spain, Christopher Columbus arrived in the Caribbean in 1492 and claimed the region for Spain. Expeditions to Mexico led by Hernán Cortés conquered the Aztec Empire and brought it under Spanish control by 1521, and the Inca Empire in Peru was taken over by Francisco Pizarro in 1532. The Spanish also launched expeditions into North America, though their only permanent settlement was in Florida, and they took centuries to expand into what is now Arizona and Colorado.

In North America, the British founded their first permanent settlement in Virginia at Jamestown in 1607, in the hopes of finding gold. In 1620, a sect of English Christians called the Puritans settled in what is now Massachusetts at Plymouth Rock. Other colonies were established by investment companies or the English monarchy for trade and investment. France launched several expeditions to explore North America, founding Quebec City in 1608 in what is now Canada. The Dutch established a small trading post in what they called New Amsterdam, which is modern-day New York. England seized control of the city in 1664.

Example

Christopher Columbus explored on behalf of which European power?

The correct answer is C. Christopher Columbus was working on behalf of the Kingdom of Spain.