18th Century American Exploration

The European exploration has forever changes the lives of the North Americas in the 14th to 18th century. The Spanish, French, and British countries were driven by three basic motives: a desire for material gain, a desire to spread religion, and a desire to expand territory. Using these motives, they created effects in the culture, economy, and religion of the areas that were colonized, especially in the Americas.

One impact of European exploration is a change in the culture of the Americans. The Spanish or Europeans brought North America many different languages. They gave them the languages of Spanish, French, and English. The English gave New England their language, then Spanish gave New Mexico, and Central America, …show more content…
When the Europeans first reached the shores of the Americas, Old World crops such as wheat, barley, rice, and turnips had never traveled across the Atlantic Ocean, and New World crops like maize, white potatoes, sweet potatoes, and manioc had not traveled east to Europe. In either of the Americas, there were no horses, cattle, sheep, or goats, were all animals that were from the Old World. Although, the animals that were there were the llama, alpaca, dogs, a couple birds, and the guinea pig. The New World didn't have anything close to the domesticated animals of the Old World, and they didn't have as big a population. They did have chickens, chickens, cattle, and black rats. There were multiple diseases that occurred such as smallpox, measles, chickenpox, influenza, malaria, and yellow fever. With the meeting of two worlds, animals, insects, and plants were exchanged, deliberately and by chance, in what is called the Columbian Exchange. The crops and animals that the Colombians exchanged, effected both the New World and the Old World. Sheep, pigs, horses, and cattle were all Old World animals that were introduced to contemporary Native Americans. Horses were brought to the Americas by the Spaniards and other Europeans in the 16th century. The early American horse had been game for the earliest humans on the continent and led them to extinction. The reintroduction of the horse to North America had a profound impact on Native American culture of the Great Plains. The tribes trained and used horses to ride and to carry packs or pull travois. The people fully incorporated the use of horses into their societies and expanded their territories. They used horses to carry goods for exchange with neighboring tribes, to hunt game, especially bison, and to conduct wars and horse raids. When Europeans arrived as colonists in North America, Native Americans began selling war captives to whites rather