1.3 European Exploration in the Americas

What were the primary motivations for European nations to explore and conquer the New World?

• To find a new place to settle due to overpopulation in Europe

• To find new sources of wealth, economic and military competition, and spread Christianity

• To escape from the Black Plague

• To establish new trade routes with Africa

What historical events exposed Europeans to new goods like spices and silk?

• The Age of Enlightenment

• The Renaissance

• The Industrial Revolution

• The Crusades

Why did Europeans seek new trade routes to Asia?

• To avoid long and expensive overland and sea routes

• To find new lands to colonize

• To escape religious persecution

• To establish new alliances with Asian empires

Who was the first European to navigate to the tip of Africa at the Cape of Good Hope?

• Christopher Columbus

• Bartolomeu Dias

• Ferdinand Magellan

• Vasco de Gama

What was Christopher Columbus's theory about the world?

• The world was larger than estimated

• The world was infinite

• The world was round and smaller than estimated

• The world was flat

What did Columbus mistakenly believe he had reached during his voyages?

• Australia

• The East Indies

• South America

• Africa

What motivated Ferdinand and Isabella to continue sending explorers to the New World?

• To find new spices

• To spread Catholicism and find gold

• To establish new trade routes with Africa

• To escape from the Black Plague

What evidence of gold did Columbus find in the Caribbean?

• Gold mines

• Gold coins

• Gold statues

• Jewelry and necklaces with signs of gold

What was the primary agricultural product of the Caribbean where Columbus landed?

• Tobacco

• Cotton

• Coffee

• Sugarcane

What fueled further exploration by the Spanish in the New World?

• The search for new spices

• The desire to escape religious persecution

• The need for new lands to settle

• The rivalry with Portugal and the quest for precious metals