I NEEED HELP WiTH US <span title="HISTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?">HISTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...</span>

Question

okay then, here's my question

Explain the political, economic, and technological changes in early modern Europe that led to exploration and eventual settlement of North America.

please explain as best as you can

thank you

Answer 1

www.google.com

We&#039;re not doing your work for you.

Answer 2

Hm, interesting question. What class is this for? I&#039;ll give you as condensed of an answer as I possibly can. Most likely, I&#039;ll end up leaving something out to avoid writing a novella, so please look up more information on the web or in a library.

Well, you can probably start your answer with the technological changes. Europe was in the middle of the renaissance. Brilliant men and women were seeking new knowledge. Improvements in astrological charts and mathematics, such as Copernicus&#039;s treatise on trigonometry, would led to better ship-building techniques and increased navigation. Ships could now undertake the longer voyages needed to reach distant parts of the world, such as North America.

Economical changes is slightly more tricky. You have to remember that Europe is very small and, at the time, embroiled in old aristocratic and religious feuds. Every country wanted/needed money in order to have their wars with one another. This was the start of imperialism for most of Europe; there was no better way to make money than to creating colonies in other countries and pretty much stripping these foreign areas of natural resources.

Very shortly before any forays were made into the new world, Isabella of Castile was conducting the inquisition in her newly re-conquered Spain, driving out the Moors and intending to drive out people of Jewish descent. The war in which Isabella and her husband, Ferdinand of Aragon, reclaimed Spain was incredibly expensive, and the Inquisition certainly didn&#039;t bring in money. The Spanish needed cash, and Christopher Columbus&#039;s idea of sailing into the East Indies by a possibly faster route, resulting in better trade/more money, would have seemed delightful. Of course they had their doubts and made him wait because something of this magnitude had never been attempted before, and like any two reasonable medieval monarchs, they had doubts.  Eventually, Columbus&#039;s was given leave to go and find new areas of the East Indies to trade with/ set up for colonization. Well, he made contact with the indigenous people, and started several hundred years of Spanish colonization in the New World.

Why did Christopher Columbus choose a new, supposedly faster route to the East Indies instead of using a traditional route around the southern tip of Africa? Simply, another country wouldn&#039;t let Spain through. This is extremely important, and fundamental to your answer. Portugal controlled the entire western coast of Africa with colonies. They wouldn&#039;t let any other country pass by without paying enormous fees. Most countries were losing almost their entire trading profit because they had to pay the Portuguese bribes. It also was a very long, dangerous route.

Spain became incredibly wealthy by colonizing South and Central America. They did set up a colony as far north as Florida, but the colony was not profitable. Spain&#039;s navy became known as invincible. They safe-guarded their precious new world, and wouldn&#039;t allow anyone, especially the English, to come anywhere near it. They would have sunk foreign ships that tried to cross the sea.

Political changes are what eventually led to the colonization of most of North America. The English and the Spanish had been at odds with each other for a while. When Henry VIII jilted the catholic Spanish infanta, Catherine of Aragon (daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella), for the protestant Anne Boleyn, he created a huge set of international problems. Catherine&#039;s nephew was Holy Roman Emperor and would not allow the divorce to go through, so Henry retaliated by revoking Catholicism and creating his own religion, divorcing Catherine and marrying Anne. You can imagine that it was quite the scandal at the time. England was only beginning its religious troubles.

Mary, daughter of Catherine, ascended the throne and married a Spanish prince, Philip, and began her own inquisition of sorts. She was a devout Catholic, and began persecuting Protestants doggedly. Most people switched religions to save themselves. It was chaos. Mary fell ill and passed away; Elizabeth ascended the throne. Her treasury was bankrupt from religious warfare. She needed money, and Spain had it. Even though Philip, her former brother-in-law, was sending her proposals of marriage, she neither refused nor accepted them. Despite the money Philip could bring, he would also bring staunch Catholicism back into England. Elizabeth was a Protestant. This would mean more religious warfare in her kingdom.

Instead, she obtained the help of a privateer, Sir Francis Drake, who helped Elizabeth basically steal the treasure coming back from America to Spain. As Elizabeth began to illegally gather money from Spain&#039;s coffers, Philip realized it was her who was responsible for the loss of much of his profit. After some very nasty letters were exchanged and an event or two, the Spanish Armada was sent to invade England. As you know, it failed and the Armada sank on its way back home due to a violent storm.

With the Armada gone, the Spanish navy was no longer invincible. England and the rest of Europe now had the opportunity to go make their own fortunes by colonizing America. OF course much of them settled in Northern America because the Spanish controlled Central and South America.

I hope that answers your question, and remember! I said it was condensed! The best thing is to go to wikipedia or other sources and examine the finer details and intricacies which led to the exploration of North America that I didn&#039;t include.

Answer 3

Ok, here&#039;s what you do: go to a library.