1. Reasons for European Exploration of the Western Hemisphere
This isn’t the first time you’ve studied about why Europeans began exploring the world around them, so the information from this unit won’t be new. It will just be more detailed.
When you were younger, teachers took the detailed explanation and boiled it down to something simple you could remember: Gold, God and Glory.
Curiosity
Wealth
Fame
National Pride
Religion
Foreign Trade Goods
Faster, Cheaper Trade Routes
Gold, God and Glory

2. Now, you’re ready for the whole story!
Before we start though, let’s look at a mnemonic device that will help you remember all the detailed reasons:
Christopher (Curiosity)
Went (Wealth)
Fishing (Fame)
Near the (National Pride)
Rio (Religion)
Grande in (Foreign Trade Goods)
Texas. (Cheaper, Faster Trade Routes)

3. The 16th century was a time of great change in Europe
The 16th century was a time of great change in Europe. People were curious about the world around them.
The rediscovered writings of ancient Greeks and Romans inspired a new interest in learning and art. This period of lively new thinking has become known as the Renaissance, a word that means “rebirth.”
During this time, the invention of the printing press made books more available. As Europeans learned about the world beyond Europe, they became eager to explore these far off lands.
Also, new maritime technology made navigating the open ocean easier and safer.

4. The thought that their country might gain great wealth from exploring new lands motivated Europeans to explore the world around them.
There might be gold and silver in unknown lands! The country that had access to those types of precious metals would become wealthy.
Also, owning more land than the countries around you would add to the wealth of your nation.

5. Who doesn’t want to be famous?
Men who were brave enough to travel to an unknown land and conquer the people living there would be super stars back home.
If you were the man who discovered a land that made your country rich, you would be famous for that too.
You might need to fight the people you met along the way. Living to tell your story on your return would make your fellow countrymen respect you.

6. Pride in your nation also motivated people to explore the “new” world.
The English, French and Spanish had been competing with each other for years.
Each country wanted to be more powerful and more influential than its neighbors.
When Spain discovered land and wealth in the Americas, there was no way England and Spain were going to be left out!

7. Religion was important to Europeans.
Almost all Europeans of the 16th century were Christians. Some were Catholic and some were Protestant.
Christians of the time believed that the only way you could get to heaven was to be a Christian.
When they realized that the people of the Americas weren’t Christian, they felt it was their duty to teach them about Jesus.
Missionaries would follow behind explorers. Sometimes they treated the Indians they met kindly, but sometimes they would force them to accept Christianity or die.

8. Dominating the spice trade was a powerful motivator for exploring the Americas.
For quite a few years, Europeans were sure that this “new” land Columbus had stumbled across was part of Asia.
Europeans spent a lot of time exploring it because they wanted a direct connection to the spice merchants who lived in the East Indies.

9. A fast route from Europe to Asia was something all European countries prized.
Nobody wanted to have to pay Italian merchants a fee for shipping goods from Asia back to Europe. That made the price of goods go up.
The Muslim people who controlled the overland route to Asia from Europe sometimes shut down travel completely. Then the Europeans who had come to depend on the spices and silks that came from Asia would be cut off completely for a while.
Finding a fast, inexpensive route to Asia using water instead of land was the most important thing on the minds of European rulers in the early 16th century.