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"People in Europe began to look to the seas and beyond, some longed adventure, others wanted to spread christianity far and wide."
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Columbus led his first expedition westward. He landed in the bahamas, islands that he believed to be near Asia.
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"Portuguese explorer Vaco da Gama found such a route and sailed all the way."
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King Henry VII sent Cabot on a voyage to the west. The English thougt that there might be a water route through the Americas that would lead north and west to Asia.
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Spain was taking control of much of South and Central America and many Caribbean islands, including Cuba and Hispaniola.
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He explored and settled the island of Puerto Rico. Taking notice back in spain, King Ferdnand authorized Ponce de Leon to explore lands north.
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Ponce Leon set out with ships and crew. His expedition landed on the east coast of Flordia, a name ponce de leon derived from the spanish word for "Flowers".
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Spain was the most powerful nation in the world. Spanish explorers had claimed huge tracts of land in the New World.
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King Francis I of France sent Italian navigator Giovanni da Verrazano westward. Verrazano first reached land at North Carolina's Outer Banks. Across those narrow islands he thought he saw the Pacific Ocean.
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Ayllon led a group of over 500 men, women, and children to a river he called Jordan. The 150 remaining Colonists returned to Hispaniola.