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In the early 1400's people in Europe began to look to the seas and beyond. The age of exploration and discovery had begun.
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Christopher Columbus led his first expedition westward. He landed in the Bahamas, islands that he believed to be near Asia.
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A great intercation between the "New World" and "Old World" took place. This interaction is sometimes referred to as the Columbian Exchange. Plants, animals, and even diseases moved between Western and Eastern Hemispheres.
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In 1497-1498, Portugese explorer Vasco da Gama found such a route and sailed all the way to India.
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In the early 1500s, Spain was taking control of much of South and Central America and many Caribbean islands, including Cuba and Hispaniola.
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King Francis 1 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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Hernando de Soto sailed with a military expedition from Havana, Cuba, to the west coast of Florida. From there, de Soto's soldiers marched northward to a site near present-day Tallahasse, Florida.
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France sent a colony under the command of Jean Ribault to North America. The colonists were Hugoenots, or French Protestants. Ribault's Hugoenots attempted to settle near present-day Port Royal, South Carolina.
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Spain sent troops under Pedro Menendez de Aviles to Florida. Just south of Fort Caroline, Menendez built a fort at St. Augustine. Meanwhile, Jean Ribault prepared to attack.
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An expedition set out for Chesepeake Bay from the West Indies to set up a Catholic mission. Strong winds kept the expedition from reaching Chesepeake Bay. Instead tehy entered an inlet in North Carolina's Outer Banks and sailed into Albemarle Sound.
