European Exploration of the Americas - Key Points

First documented European contact: Norse settlement in Newfoundland (eastern Canada) around 1000 AD.
Interactions described in sagas as violent; little lasting impact on Native Americans; the Americas had limited impact on early Europeans.
Settlement abandoned; reasons debated.

Triple G's: Gold, God, Glory.
Columbus's motive: wealth and glory; sailed for Spain under Ferdinand and Isabella.
Sought a westward route to Asia; arrived in the Caribbean in 1492; believed he reached the East Indies.
Native interpretations varied; some Europeans claimed natives would be easy to subjugate, while natives often found Europeans unfamiliar and misunderstood them.
Columbus took six natives to Spain as proof of success; subsequent voyages established towns and trade.

Over three voyages to the Caribbean, Spanish towns were established and trade with natives continued.
Natives were subsistence farmers and fishers, not producers of valuable exports.
Mistaken expectations and stereotypes (on both sides) led to violence and abuse.
Decimation of native populations was largely due to disease; settlement of Spaniards in the Caribbean facilitated broader incursions.
Complex modern legacy: Columbus is viewed differently by historians and in contemporary discourse.

Portuguese discovered Brazil in 1500, initially focusing on peaceful coastal trade of Brazilwood.
French traders remained active until 1531; colonization followed with land grants to settlers and sugar production facing slave labor.
Not all first contacts resulted in enslavement; some encounters involved alliance with sedentary civilizations (e.g., Tlaxcalans allied with Spaniards to overthrow the Aztec; alliances in central Mexico and Peru).

Christopher Columbus — From Spain; Reason: find a shorter route to the riches of the East (Gold and Glory); Best Known For: discovering the New World.
Amerigo Vespucci — From Spain; Reason: find a sea route to Asia (Gold and Glory); Best Known For: realizing the lands were not Asia; the Americas are named after him.
Ferdinand Magellan — From Spain; Reason: find Asia (Gold and Glory); Best Known For: being the first to sail around the world.
Hernando Cortes — From Spain; Reason: conquer natives and find gold (Gold and Glory); Best Known For: conquering the Aztecs.
Francisco Pizarro — From Spain; Reason: conquer Peru (Glory); Best Known For: defeating the Inca with only 180 men.
Henry Hudson — From England; Reason: find a passage to India; Best Known For: being the first English explorer in the Americas (Hudson River named after him).
Jacques Cartier — From France; Reason: find a northwestern passage (Glory); Best Known For: claiming areas of Canada for France.
John Cabot — From England; Reason: settlement (God and Glory); Best Known For: claiming parts of Canada for England.

The Spanish and Portuguese established colonies across much of South America and into the southern areas of North America.
English permanent settlement in the contiguous United States began with Jamestown in 1607 in the Chesapeake Bay area.

European exploration introduced new technologies, animals, and plants; also brought devastating diseases such as smallpox, measles, and influenza.
Diseases spread rapidly and killed approximately 90\% of indigenous populations, disrupting societies and paving the way for colonization and exploitation.
Enslavement and slave trade emerged as a marketable practice in many regions.