Identify the Europeans' motives for exploring the world. Then, explain how European exploration and trade changed the New World. In your opinion, is there a change that still impacts U. S. trade today? Use specific details from your research to support your statements. (Remember to cite your sources.)

There were many reasons for which the Age of Exploration occurred, the main ones being:

• The kingdoms of Europe (mainly England, France, Spain and Portugal) had commercial transactions with countries of the Far East (such as India, China and Japan) and were seeking new trade routes after realizing that the Silk Road, a pathway defined mostly by land, was slow and prolonged in comparison with potential sea routes.

• Breakthrough technology in ship-building (a good example is the caravel) made it possible to sail faster, farther, and with a significant increase in cargo.

• The rise of absolutism in Europe centralized the countries' riches and caused the expeditions to be funded by the monarchies.

Once the New World was discovered by the Europeans, began the centuries-spanning process of colonization and exploration:

• The explorers' and settlers' reasons for endeavouring in the expeditions can be summarized by the proverb "God, glory and gold".

- God: some explorers like Pizarro wanted to spread their religion and convert the indigenous people of the New World into Catholicism, while persecuted Protestants saw in the New World the possibility of refuge.

- Glory: others such as Vespucci and Magellan had in mind the prospect of having their names known for mapping and naming the new continent, as well as for circumnavigating the world, respectively.

- Gold: the discovery of the New World sparked all sorts of possibilities for trade, with the exploration of many kinds of natural resources.

• The land was divided, disputed and distributed among the European.

• Relations with the Native American peoples, although amicable upon first contact, quickly deteriorated and became extremely hostile, with the genocide of thousands and thousands of indigenous people due to both conflicts and infliction of European diseases unknown and never experienced before by them.

The Age of Exploration shaped the New World and what would later be named America in many ways, and so still holds influence over American trade today:

• Imported cattle and horses paved the way for the West expansion.

• Trade and commerce became the fastest, most efficient ways to make money.