Columbus 1492 Summary

1492 – Columbus Discovers the New World. Columbus landed on the Caribbean Islands in 1492. Columbus quickly noticed the exotic crops and decided to trade with the Native Americans. The Columbian Exchange is the result of this, which introduced exotic crops that were easy and fast to grow like potatoes and corn. These fast growing and abundant crops helped increase the population in the European countries. The increase of food and news of unexplored lands inspired many young men to explore.

1497 – Spain Becomes Interested. Conquistadors such as Cortez and Pizarro led the Spanish exploration of Central and South America. Cortez and his army defeat the Aztecs in Mexico, while Pizarro defeats the Incas in Peru. They find a great deal of wealth,

Queen Elizabeth is appointed to the throne after her father, King Henry VIII, could not produce a male heir. England did not want to advance their colonies in the New World, but the emergence of Spain as the world’s new superpower threatened the English. Elizabeth needed to stop this increase in Spain’s naval power, so she employs privateers, like Sir Francis Drake, to loot Spanish ships. This angered the Spanish and caused them to create an Armada to keep England in check. Because Spain was quickly building up arms and wealth, Queen Elizabeth decided to prevent this quick expansion by pillaging Spanish

The way joint stock companies worked helped provide financial security for its investors. It made it so that the investors would not lose everything if the company bankrupted, because there would be a lot of investors to contribute to the company. The profit if the company didn’t bankrupt was well worth the risk so many investors joined together to form the Virginia Company. The popularity of joint stock companies was made possible because of England’s victory over the Spanish Armada. The boost in nationalistic pride from the win helped the English people place more faith in their government and