Great Age of European Discovery

The Great Age of European Discovery began in 1492, with the journeys of Columbus to the Western Hemisphere, and ended in 1620, when the Pilgrims settled in North America.

During this time, Europeans discovered and explored the American continents, discovered and navigated the Pacific Ocean (the Polynesians had done this earlier), and established a passage to the East Indies around the Cape of Good Hope.

European voyagers had to endure many hardships, including extreme weather conditions and illnesses such as cholera and smallpox, which were contagious, and scurvy, which came from a lack of fresh food.

Navigation was much more difficult than it is today.

Although navigators could use astrolabes and quadrants, they did not have the ability to calculate longitude exactly. This meant that nobody knew exactly how big the Earth was or how far they had to travel.

Why were these explorers willing to suffer through such difficult conditions?

While some were motivated by curiosity, others were in search of wealth.

In the 16th century, there were many legends of wealthy mythical kingdoms in foreign lands. These included the golden Kingdom of El Dorado, the seven golden cities of Cibola, and the Fountain of Youth, which was thought to be located in Florida.

A lost Christian king named Prester John was supposed to rule over a land of riches in the Orient. Hy-Brazil was a mythical island in the Atlantic, thought to be cloaked in mist.

The European powers themselves wanted to lay claim on overseas possessions and to control trade in spice and minerals.
Christian missionaries wanted to convert the foreign "heathens" to the worship of Jesus. The bible said that Christ's Second Coming would take place only after God's Word had been spread everywhere in the world.