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People in Europe read of Marco Polo's travels.
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People in Europe began to look to the seas and beyond.
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Christopher Columbus led his first expedition.
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He found a new route and sailed all the way to India.
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King Henry VII sent John Cabot to the west. He went to North America to try and find the North West passage.
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Columbus sailed westward again. He landed in South America. Later a map maker named it America after a exploroer named Amerigo Vespucci
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Juan Ponce de Leon settled in Puerto Rico. King Ferdinand told him to explore lands of North Cuba.
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Ponce de Leon set out ships and crew. They first landed on the East coast of Florida. They sailed in the Florida Keys.
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Spain is the most powerful nation in the world at the time. They claimed huge tracts on land in the new world. They sent gold and silver that they found back to spain. Ayllon had his eye on the mainland of Florida. He had some of the Atlantic Coast. He wanted to plant a strong colony along the coast. He lad men, women, and kids to a river he called Jordan. Historians believe that it was actually North Carolina's Cape Fear river. Ayllon died due to disease. R.I.P.
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King Francis I sent Giovanni da Verrazano westward. He reached North Carolina's Outer Banks. He went back to France and the king wouldn't let anymore people go to the Americas.
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Hernando de Soto sailed with military on expedition. They marched northward to present day Tallahassee, Florida. He met the Cherokee indians, who treated him nice. De Soto died on the trip, but many men went back to Mexico. The Colonist gave up in 1564 and returned to France. Laudenniere led huguenots and settled in Florida's North Coast. Jean Ribault brought supply ships to the fort. In 1565 spanish ambushed the France.
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Juan Pardo and Fernando Boyando led a small group to the South Carolina Coast, then pused Northwest. Conquistadores helped fight in the 1560's and later.