what was the reason the Europeans explored America?

Answer 1

Initially they were looking for a way to the East Indies, and tried to go through the American continents. Then they found gold, and were looking for more gold and silver. Then they saw that the land was good for farming and wanted to make money, and acquire land, because the land in Europe was limited and already taken.

Answer 2

Towards the end of the 15th century, Europeans began to want spices and other things from the East. The trade route to the East was difficult-- mountains and all. Columbus felt like he could find an ocean route to the East even though most people believed he would sail off the edge of the Earth because people thought it was flat. He convinced Queen Isabella of Spain to finance an expedition to find such a trade route. What Columbus found was not India but what he called the West Indies, the islands of th Caribbean. Even though he made a mistake about the trade route he found gold. Later the French came to north america to hunt for animal furs to make fur coats for the growing European middle class. Soon the English came to northamerica to settle on the land. In the South the settlers used slave labor to produce cotton to send back to England where it was eventually woven into cloth by workers in the mechanized mills powered by coal. In Haiti, the French came to grow cane for the sugar which more and more Europeans wanted to use. Growing cane was labor intensive so the French used slaves to increase their profit on the cane plantations. Trade and mercantilism inspired exploration first, then colonization. The European middle-class began with the trade guilds who produced goods for the wealthy and the merchants who sold these goods.The merchant classes became a middle-class between the poor and the rich. With the Industrial Revolution the middle class continued to grow and grow. And like many Chinese today they began to want to buy more and more things. Trade was the reason Europeans explored America. In many cases it was also why they settled here.

Answer 3

MONEY !!! Free land to sell to the poor. Gold , silver , spices, Exotic woods, fish , furs , anything that could be sold at home in Europe. After America's discovery MONEY was the reason they kept coming back to explore it.

Answer 4

money, money and money. income grew to become into the reason. the rest grew to become into secondary. sure, the prefer to be first and escalate ones' empire grew to become into significant, yet growth's basically factor is to income administration over even if is there, ie, administration the income. If the explorers and those monarchs who funded them had seen no income skill, existence may be very diverse right this moment.

Answer 5

i cant believe all you americans dont even know why your country was founded, what do they teach you in school,how to clean a m16.your country was founded for religous freedoms that were not available in europe,yes a route to the riches of the far east is what spurred the first expeditions,but they soon realized they had something just as good

Answer 6

I am going to have to echo the "because it was there" answer. humans have a genetic predisposition to explore and investigate things. Also they had to explore to find out what natural resources existed so they could be exploited.

Answer 7

The same reason people climb Mt Everest: because it was there. Curiosity may kill the cat, but it's what sets us apart from animals.

Answer 8

Interesting thread!

Answer 9

Because they ran into it while looking for a route to Asia to find spices.

Answer 10

Because it was there.