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For centuries, Europeans traveled Polo’s route – the
Silk Road – to trade with the East but Empires
wanted to expand to other places and began
exploring the “New World”.
Alarmed by Portugal’s early success, the Spanish rulers,
King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, were desperate to
find a water route to India. To help Spain, they hired
Christopher Columbus.
Columbus took his idea to the ruler of
Portugal. They refused. Columbus
then went to King Ferdinand and
Queen Isabella of Spain. They agreed
to finance Columbus and provided
three ships—The Nina, the Pinta
and the Santa Maria. Columbus left
Spain in August 1492 sailing to the
West. He believed Asia was 6 weeks
away. The trip lasted much longer
than 6 weeks.
On October 12, 1492, Columbus landed on the island of
San Salvador, off the coast of North America. Believing
he had found India, he called the inhabitants Indians.
Columbus believed that the earth was much smaller than
most people believed, and that Asia was much larger. He believed the
quickest way to India was to sail west.
Columbus made a total of 4 trips before
returned to Spain in leg irons to spend the
remainder of his life imprisoned for wasting
the royal money of Ferdinand and Isabella.
After Columbus-Other explorers followed his route
West. As a result, today Christopher
Columbus is the one who receives the
credit for the discovery of the New
World, North America and South
America. Columbus Day is observed as
a U.S. government holiday in October
each year.
The most powerful kingdoms
were: France
Video
Reasons for European Exploration:
French (France)
• France began sending explorers to North
America in 1562 in search of gold.
• French explorers created a colony in
South Carolina (Charlesfort in 1562)
and Florida (Fort Caroline in 1564) but
these were later taken over by the
Spanish.
French Explorer
• Samuel de Champlain found a great number
of beaver near the Canadian shores. He
claimed this area for France and established
the town of Quebec.
The most powerful kingdoms
were: England
Parker Points 2005
Reasons for European Exploration:
British (Great Britain)
• Great Britain (England) began sending explorers to
the New World in the 1580’s in search of exotic
foods, wealth (gold), and mercantilism.
• Mercantilism – Economic system based on the belief
that a country could increase its wealth by exporting
more than they import.
• The British wanted to create colonies that would help
produce raw materials (cotton, tobacco, forest
products, etc.) that could be imported into Great
Britain. British companies would then refine these
products and sell the finished product back to the
colonies at a higher rate.
Reasons for European
Exploration of North America
• Country: Spain
• Settlement Regions (North America):
Florida, GA Coast
• Reasons: Gold
• Famous Explorers: Francisco Coronado
(1541) , Hernando de Soto
By the 1660’s, England had established 12 colonies along
the eastern coast of North America.
The most powerful kingdoms were:
SPAIN
Reasons for European Exploration:
Spanish (Spain)
• Spain began sending explorers to the New
World for God, glory, and gold.
• Spain hoped to convert the Native Americans
to Catholicism/Christianity (God), gain more
power through the expansion of the Spanish
Empire (glory), and discover new riches
(gold).
• Juan Ponce de Leon came to Florida as early
as 1513; Hernando DeSoto was the
first Spanish explorer to lead an expedition
through Georgia.
• 1. GOD:
• Spain wanted to spread the faith of the Roman Catholic
Church to the Native Americans, by force if religious
motivation).
• 2. GOLD:
• Spain wanted to acquire wealth, primarily gold and
precious jewels, from the “New World” for the benefit of
the Spanish Empire (an economic motivation).
• 3. GLORY:
• Spain wanted to acquire new lands in order to expand
the Spanish Empire (an military motivation).
Hernando DeSoto
• In 1540, Spanish explorer Hernando DeSoto, with
approximately 600 men, marched north from Tampa,
Florida into southwest Georgia (near today’s Albany) in
search of Gold.
• DeSoto’s metal weapons, plated armor, war dogs, and
horses overwhelmed the Native Americans; thousands
of Georgia’s Native Americans died, many from
diseases (such as Small Pox) brought by the Spaniards.
DeSoto also brought pigs to the New World. These
pigs were not used for food but were used for
protection from reptiles.
Leaving the Spanish base in the Caribbean, he marched across the
entire southeast in search of gold, became the first to look upon
the Mississippi River, and was ultimately killed by hostile Indians.
Unfortunately, the Spanish presence had many terrible, unintended
consequences, for the Native American cultures, permanently
changing them.
• 1. Native Americans were often forced to accept European
religion.
• 2. Thousands of Native Americans were enslaved by the
conquering Spanish and relocated to other Spanish colonies.
• 3. Perhaps millions of Native Americans were killed by Spanish
weapons and, more significantly, Spanish diseases like
smallpox.
• 4. Some tribes (ex., the Careb & Arawok) were killed into
extinction.
Spanish Missions
• Mission – Definition: A religious church or station
established in a foreign land to allow missionaries to spread
their religion.
• In 1566, Spain established missions on Georgia’s
Cumberland Island and St. Catherine’s Island, called Santa
Catalina. During the same century, posts were established
at Sapelo and St. Simon’s Island.
• The Spanish missionaries called the region Guale
(pronounced “Wallie”) after the Guale Indians.
• The missions were used by the Spanish to convert the
Native Americans to Catholicism but also served as a
trading post; Native Americans used the missions to
integrate themselves into the European world.
Effects of the Spanish
• New forms of government and religious
beliefs were shared with the natives.
• Many natives died of smallpox and other
diseases spread by the Spanish.
• The Spanish enslaved many Indians living
here.