The Age of Exploration: Motivations, Impacts, and Settlement Patterns

This essay delves into the Age of Exploration, examining the driving forces behind European exploration and colonization during the 15th and 16th centuries. It explores various factors such as economic desires for raw materials, the quest for new trade routes, the need for labor, the spread of religion, and the pursuit of glory. The essay highlights the motivations of different European countries, including France and Spain, and contrasts their settlement patterns in the Americas. It also discusses the impacts of exploration, including wealth acquisition, the spread of diseases, and the transatlantic slave trade. The analysis covers the varied experiences of explorers and settlers, including the challenges they faced and the establishment of settlements. The essay concludes by summarizing the multifaceted nature of the Age of Exploration and the diverse approaches taken by European powers.

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The Age of Exploration and Colonization in the 15th and 16th century
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The age of exploration can be defined as the period in which the European countries
engaged in some investigations to find out more about the rest of the world. Some of the main
reasons that led to exploration include the need to discover new knowledge and acquiring wealth.
This period led to both positive and negative impacts such as massive wealth acquisition and
spread of diseases respectively. Some of the European countries that took part in exploration
include; Portugal, France and Spain (Potter et al., 2017). This paper has focused on some of the
factors that influenced exploration and colonization during the 15th and 16th centuries.
There are many factors that led to exploration and colonization. Firstly, the European
countries were influenced by the desire to thrive economically. These countries had industries
that produced different goods (Eltis, 2017). Following this development, there was a need to
acquire raw materials such as gold from different parts of the world. Other than raw materials,
exploration was also influenced by the need to identify new routes which improved trade
between different countries, hence enabling the Europeans to acquire variety of goods such as
spices easily (Eltis, 2017). Apart from the spices, there was also a need of exchanging animals.
Furthermore, the need for workers was also another factor that led to colonization since the
European countries had less number of workers, hence lowering productivity. This resulted in
slave trade which impacted negatively on different parts of the world especially in Africa.
In addition, religion is also another factor that led to colonization and exploration. Having
learnt that many people believed different things, there was a need of spreading Christianity by
the Europeans (Grady, 2015). In the process, many people across the globe were taught how to
read and write. Finally, glory was also another factor that led to exploration. For instance, the
Europeans were influenced by the need of being superior to other countries. Also, they explored
the rest of the world for fame when they find new places as well as routes (Grady, 2015).

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However, some of the reasons for exploration varies from one country to another. For
instance, the French were motivated by the need of expanding trade. Other than trade, they were
also interested in acquiring new land in the Northern America (Borucki, Eltis & Wheat, 2015). In
addition, they explored the United States for glory as they competed with the other European
countries such as Spain. On the other hand, Spanish were motivated by religion as they struggled
to spread Christianity to the rest of the world. For instance, many Native Americans were taught
catholic doctrines (Borucki et al., 2015). Other than religion, they were also motivated by the
need of expanding trade which led to colonization as Native Americans were forced to work in
mining areas. Precious metals is one of the minerals that was exploited by Spanish.
Apart from motivations, the settlement patterns of European countries were also
different. The process of settling in the United States by French and Spanish was not easy
because of illness and fatigue. It took sometime before explorers adapted the environmental
conditions of the U.S. Thereafter, the explorers from Spain built several cities and towns (Pyne,
2016). They established mining sites as well as large plantations. The settlement patterns was
based upon Spanish patterns in accordance with the law of Indies. Furthermore, the land for
farming was set aside where irrigation was used widely (Pyne, 2016). On the other hand, the
French settlement patterns were determined by fur trade and fishing activities in the Northern
America. Also, they related well with Native Americans unlike French. Later, the settlement
patterns were determined by French customs (Chaplin, 2016). The French were not biased basing
on class distinctions but they depended on each other to make ends meet. Like the Spanish, they
established large plantations.
In conclusion, the age of exploration started in the early 15th century. The European
countries such as Spanish and Portuguese explored different parts of the world for fame and

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economic gains. Other than fame and thriving economically, these countries also explored to
spread Catholicism. However, the settlement patterns varied from one country to the other in
relation to their customs. For instance, the French divided land in rectangular shape while the
Portuguese set aside the farming land.

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References
Borucki, A., Eltis, D., & Wheat, D. (2015). Atlantic history and the slave trade to Spanish
America. The American Historical Review, 120(2), 433-461.
Chaplin, J. E. (2016). Creoles in British America: From denial to acceptance. In Creolization (pp.
54-73). Routledge.
Eltis, D. (2017). Europeans and the rise and fall of African slavery in the Americas: an
interpretation. In Critical Readings on Global Slavery (pp. 1155-1186). BRILL.
Grady, T. P. (2015). Anglo-Spanish Rivalry in Colonial South-East America, 1650–1725.
Routledge.
Potter, B. A., Reuther, J. D., Holliday, V. T., Holmes, C. E., Miller, D. S., & Schmuck, N.
(2017). Early colonization of Beringia and Northern North America: Chronology, routes,
and adaptive strategies. Quaternary International, 444, 36-55.
Pyne, S. J. (2016). Space: a third great age of discovery. Space Policy, 37, 113-119.

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