Exploration and Colonization in The New World Name: ________________________ What motivated Columbus? Money? Fame? God? Well, the truth is a little of each. The Silk Road spanned thousands of difficult miles of terrain. As goods passed over the route, they passed hands between many ‘middlemen.’ At each exchange, the goods became more valuable. By the time they reached the mainland of Europe, usually via the Mediterranean, only a few people could afford these luxuries, ie silk and spices. If Columbus could only sail directly to India/China, he could cut out all those middlemen and make himself and his monarchs even more wealthy. 2. So, what is the big deal? The answer is that Columbus accidentally bumps into two previously unknown continents, North and South America. While the Europeans are initially ecstatic about the possibility of great riches from gold, the true ‘value’ of the New World is simply a tremendous amount of space and other natural resources. It will take a number of years of exploration and the beginning of colonization before they really figure this out. After Columbus, in fairly short order, other explorers “fill in the blank corners “of the rest of the world map.

Where How Goals French British Spanish What is mercantilism? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ What is the difference between an explorer and a colonist? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ What did the Spanish missions on the barrier island hope to do? ____________________________________________________________________ Summarize DeSoto’s expedition and evaluate it’s effectiveness: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________