Influence on Exploration

Exploration was influenced by many events. The Renaissance, Reformation, and other events all influenced exploration. The Renaissance influenced exploration by getting people interested in new ways of doing things and wanting more knowledge. The Reformation influenced exploration because the Reformation challenged the Catholic Church. This was similar to when Nicholas Copernicus said that the Earth wasn't flat and that it was one of the planets that revolved around the sun (both statements challenged the Catholic Church). So then Christopher Columbus sailed across the horizon and didn't fall off,  he discovered the Americas and many more people came to explore the New World.

Reasons for Exploration

There are many reasons to explore:
-  To find an all-water route to Asia for trading
- To expand Christianity
- To get animal furs
- To be in control of a bigger empire
- To know more about the world
- To find riches (gems, gold, silver)

All-Water Route to Asia

Spices weren't found in Europe and it was very hard to go to Asia on land because there were many mountains on the route and people waiting to attack and rob the people who dared to go to Asia for spices. That left the ocean, so people started to explore the ocean and lands around it, trying to get to Asia. This is how Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas. He was trying to find an all-water route to Asia. Instead, he found the Americas.

Expand Christianity

The religous leaders wanted to convert everyone to Christianity, so they tried to find everyone in the world. When they were discovered, the religous leaders sent people over to explore the Americas to try to convert all the Native Americans to Christianity. Europeans set up places where Native Americans were forced to live, called missionaries. Missionaries included farmland, a town, and a church, except that in missionaries, Native Americans there were treated like slaves. Europeans even tried to take away Native American traditions and religion.

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Animal Furs

When animal furs became valuable in Europe and it was found that they could be traded for in the Americas, people went to explore those areas to try to get animal furs. 

Controlling Bigger Empires

Many of the rulers in Europe wanted as much land as they could get their hands on. They also wanted the people on that land to use as slaves. Therefore, what ended up happening is that they sent people to explore the Americas, to destroy Native American empires, and to capture all the Native Americans. 

Knowledge

In that time period, no one knew anything about the world. By exploring, people could come back and tell people about what they had seen, therefore gaining knowledge about the world.

Riches

Gold, Silver, and various gems have always been valuable, but hard to find. They were also worth a lot of money, so they came in handy when the rulers were in need of money, especially when fighting wars.

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