All of American history wasn't really American. It all started when European nations decided to explore and maybe even colonize in the New World. Most of the events that occurred here for the Age of Exploration all began with the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus. After he came from Hispaniola, other people came and saw that this was a new land. Most of these reasons came from the 3 G's. These G's stood for Gold, God, and Glory. The Gold part is pretty self explanatory. Explorers came here for the valuable resources that the New World had to offer and if there was any, they would search for gold. The second G, God, was the idea that the Europeans should convert the natives there into Christians. Glory was something that every kingdom believed that they should have. Glory was found when a certain person from a certain nation claimed new land for a monarch or nation.
Let's start with Spain. Even though the Spanish nation was the first to find the New World, the Portuguese were the first to actually start in the race for the east. After Columbus's voyage to Hispaniola, the Spanish had now found a way to be more wealthy. So many explorers such as, Ponce de Leon and Vasco Nunez de Balboa, went to explore the land and found the good resources for cash crops. After they started to collect. the Portuguese saw this as unfair because the Spanish were hogging all of the land. So the Pope Alexander VI created the Line of Demarcation which stated that a line that is drawn from the 2 poles will separate which land belonged to whom. The Spanish got the west and the Portuguese got the east. However, the Portuguese did not like this because they thought the line was in favor of the Spanish. So the Treaty of Tordesillas was signed and all was good. The Spanish later had missions that would make the natives convert to Christians.
The British mainly came to America so that they may be able to expand their nation and gain a ton of money. When the British came to America for the money, they invented the idea of mercantilism. Mercantilism was an economical theory that said if you export more than you import, then you get lots and lots of money. This was used when the British settlers sent their raw materials to Britain (for the money), and they paid more for the refined materials that they had received back to them. The English later claimed the entire eastern sea border for themselves, ignoring the pope's decree. The Spanish were infuriated by this and later created the right of discovery. This right decrees that a nation's people must settle in a land before claiming that the land is theirs. So 80 different voyages had occurred just for the sake of this cause.
The French were still racing for a way to the east. After Ponce de Leon came the French explorer, Giovanni de Verrazano. He also believed that you could find a faster way to Asia by traveling west. He saw that America was in his way and never made it to Asia. France was the first European nation to actually build forts in America. The group of people who built these massive forts were groups of people called Huguenots (French Protestants). The first group of Huguenots were led by Jean Ribault. He and his men found a protected inland in which they started building Fort Charles. The inland was named Port Royal and was later abandoned due to famine and other hardships. A second group came two years later and built Fort Caroline. The Spanish were infuriated by this because the French were building on Spanish-American soil. In 1565, Pedro Menéndez and his men went to America and killed all of the Huguenots. The fort was then taken over.
Let's start with Spain. Even though the Spanish nation was the first to find the New World, the Portuguese were the first to actually start in the race for the east. After Columbus's voyage to Hispaniola, the Spanish had now found a way to be more wealthy. So many explorers such as, Ponce de Leon and Vasco Nunez de Balboa, went to explore the land and found the good resources for cash crops. After they started to collect. the Portuguese saw this as unfair because the Spanish were hogging all of the land. So the Pope Alexander VI created the Line of Demarcation which stated that a line that is drawn from the 2 poles will separate which land belonged to whom. The Spanish got the west and the Portuguese got the east. However, the Portuguese did not like this because they thought the line was in favor of the Spanish. So the Treaty of Tordesillas was signed and all was good. The Spanish later had missions that would make the natives convert to Christians.
The British mainly came to America so that they may be able to expand their nation and gain a ton of money. When the British came to America for the money, they invented the idea of mercantilism. Mercantilism was an economical theory that said if you export more than you import, then you get lots and lots of money. This was used when the British settlers sent their raw materials to Britain (for the money), and they paid more for the refined materials that they had received back to them. The English later claimed the entire eastern sea border for themselves, ignoring the pope's decree. The Spanish were infuriated by this and later created the right of discovery. This right decrees that a nation's people must settle in a land before claiming that the land is theirs. So 80 different voyages had occurred just for the sake of this cause.
The French were still racing for a way to the east. After Ponce de Leon came the French explorer, Giovanni de Verrazano. He also believed that you could find a faster way to Asia by traveling west. He saw that America was in his way and never made it to Asia. France was the first European nation to actually build forts in America. The group of people who built these massive forts were groups of people called Huguenots (French Protestants). The first group of Huguenots were led by Jean Ribault. He and his men found a protected inland in which they started building Fort Charles. The inland was named Port Royal and was later abandoned due to famine and other hardships. A second group came two years later and built Fort Caroline. The Spanish were infuriated by this because the French were building on Spanish-American soil. In 1565, Pedro Menéndez and his men went to America and killed all of the Huguenots. The fort was then taken over.