factors that motivated the Europeans to colonize the Americans that concerned material gain and religious freedom
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The factors that motivated the Europeans to explore and colonize North and South America did concern material gain and religious freedom. Material gain and religious freedom had it's own meaning to each of these European people the Spanish, Portuguese, French, Dutch, and English.
Before 1492, certain Europeans were restlessly expanding the limits of the world known to them. Their efforts made possible by Columbus's encounter with the Tainos. Beginning in 1492, the promise of the New World lured more and more Europeans to venture their lives and fortunes. Initially, the Spanish monarchy was disappointed by Columbus's discoveries. The crown wanted to find either access to the Asian spice trade or large quantities of gold and silver. Their first New World holdings provided neither. The real value of the New World for the first generation that knew of it was the stimulation of geographical knowledge and the Columbian exchange, which provided Europeans with new crops like corn, potatoes, and pineapples. There were a number of factors that encouraged Europeans to look for new ways to travel to the East in the fifteenth century...