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Chapter 3 : Explorers Reach the Americas |
Northern sea traders briefly settled in North America in the early 1000s, while the rest of Europe was still living in the isolation of the Middle Ages. Beginning in the late 1000s, Western Europeans fought a series of religious wars in Palestine called the Crusades. European demand for new trade goods brought back by the Crusaders helped to spur the Age of Exploration.
Portugal led the way as Europeans sought a sea route to Asia. Spain, which supported the voyages of Christopher Columbus, was the first to reach the Americas. Spain quickly set up colonies in the Caribbean. Other European countries made a number of voyages of exploration to the Americas after Columbus first landed in 1492.
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