What Was The Age Of Exploration

The Age of Exploration was a period starting in the early 15th century during which European ships, mostly belonging to Spain, France, and England, traveled around the world in search of new trading routes leading to India. All three countries set out to explore and possibly colonize, all expecting to find what they each set out for. While searching for what they came for, they established relationships, some friendly and some hostile, with indigenous Americans.

Spain’s most prominent reasons for exploration were its search for trading routes, wealth, national glory, and the hope to spread Catholicism. Spanish conquistadors hoped to find gold and slaves, and in 1519 Hernan Cortes arrived at Tanochtitlan, the center of the Aztec empire, and easily conquered the Aztec city. Spain established colonies in multiple places stretching across the Andes Mountains through present-day Mexico and into the southwestern United States, with its main center being Mexico City. Spain’s goal was to continue building its massive empire that reached from Europe to the Americas and Asia. Spain’s initial relationship with the indigenous Americans was rather hostile as the
When the French arrived in North America, they saw it as a barrier and believed it was not a promising site for settlement or exploration. They were more interested in commercial ventures than agricultural settlements. In 1608 Samuel de Champlain founded Quebec, while others claimed the Mississippi River, eventually forming an arc along St. Lawrence, Mississippi, and Ohio rivers. The French were dependent on Natives as trading partners and military allies, especially when the fur trade competition with the English precipitated the Beaver Wars between the Hurons and the Iroquois. The French were successful in converting Indians to Catholicism and much like the Spanish allowed marriages between the colonial and native