Expansion to the “New World”

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Expansion to the new world was both a blessing and a curse to both Europeans and the natives of the new land. The first motive for exploring the new world to find a easier and faster way to trade with the Asian countries, but soon after two new continents were discovered it sprouted different motives from everyone. Even though everyone had their own ideas and dreams about the new world they were all ended up with a common goal, to find silver and gold and become very wealthy. Every country heard about and expected to find an unlimited amount of riches. What the Europeans weren’t expecting to find was thousands of different civilizations already living in this unexplored “new world”.

There were many different types of explorers of the new world each with their own motives. One such explorer with extremely ambitious desires was Juan Ponce de Leon; he was a Spaniard who ventured into North America between 1513 and 1521. Juan Ponce de Leon explored Florida looking for one thing in particular, the fountain of youth in which he did not find but he did find out that Florida was not an island. Another explorer who decided to just explore the west was Jacques Cartier, he was a French explorer sent by the king to find new land, he took three voyages to the west and gave Canada its name. The last type of explorer that went to the new world was looking to spread faith and religion to the “heathens” that lived on the land. Priests and misters would come to the Americas and spread their religion to the indigenous people. Everyone that came to the new world had their own expectations and motives about the new world.

When Columbus first landed in the Bahamas and discovered an abundant amount of gold and silver Spain was the first to secure ...

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...nd rewards for both the natives and Europeans. When the Europeans landed on the shores of the Americas they unintentionally brought many diseases with them which wiped at thousands of Indians. The Europeans carried smallpox, measles, bubonic plague, influenza, typhus, diphtheria, and scarlet fever. In trade for all those diseases that the Europeans brought over, Indians spread syphilis to all of the unsuspecting explorers. There were also many benefits for both the Europeans and the Indians, the Europeans brought over with them horses, cows, pigs, wheat, sugar, rice, and coffee to the Americas. The Indians gave the Europeans many different crop techniques, corn, potatoes, pineapples, tomatoes, tobacco, beans, vanilla, and chocolate. Both societies of Europeans and Natives benefited from momentous discovery of Christopher Columbus and the expansion in the Americas.

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