Ap Euro Dbq

Two of the major powers in Europe quickly took the lead in settling the New World. The first, Spain, was very interested in acquiring huge amounts of gold, silver, and other rare valuables. In fact, the only reason they stumbled upon America is because they were en route to the Far East in search of the "fabled wealth of the Indies." What they found turned out to be much more valuable than a shipload of gold. A new continent was discovered-- one with unbelievable potential. Spain was able to take great advantage of its new found wealth, but made some bad decisions that in the long run did not help to solidify their existence in America. The pursuit of riches was not the only motivation for the Spaniards to come to America, though. Some men wanted to create a "profitable agricultural economy" as well as spread the Christian religion.
The second, England, was not as intent of finding great cities of gold. At the time of the great discovery, England was in great turmoil over religion. Many people were persecuted because of their beliefs, and this generated much interest in finding a place where they could practice freedom of religion instead of always having to answer to the Church of
Between the years 1485 and 1603 England's kingdom had flourished so that there was a population surplus. Employment as well as supplies became very difficult to find. Because of their belief in Mercantilism, though, England did not want to trade away its wealth in order to acquire supplies from other nations. They felt that money was finite and that if one country got rich that another nation would in effect become poor. Money equaled power. By trading away their money for supplies they were in essence giving up some of their power. What they needed was some new land on which they could produce the products needed by England and not have to deal with other countries. America was the