Exploration of America
Ever since Christopher Columbus landed in the New World in 1492, there has been a European fervor to explore it. The main European countries that took on this task were the Spanish, English, and the French. The way they explored the lands were very similar with some exceptional differences. The explorers’ motives, treatment of the natives, settled colonies, and their influences share similarities and differences. It can be said that a motive of all three European nations was gold. Each of these countries wanted to build an empire on riches. This was most evident with the Spanish conquistadors, like Cortes and Pizarro that accumulated riches from the Incas and Aztecs. They all also sought to convert the Indians to a form of Christianity, Protestantism, or Catholicism.