King Ferdinand's Discovery Of America

Before King Ferdinand II sponsored one of the most legendary expeditions within the history of mankind, he had his mind set on finding a western sea route to Asia, China, and India. However, King Ferdinand never would have guessed in his wildest dreams that he would stumble onto something greater—the New World. Although King Ferdinand died centuries ago, his memory is forever immortalized around the discovery of America, along with Christopher Columbus, the legendary Italian explorer. Soon after the discovery of the Western hemisphere, Europe began to colonize, explore, and conquest the New World, a mystifying place filled with new possibilities. Throughout history, I believe that the discovery of America is one of the most significant milestones that we have discussed so far. Today, I will evaluate the importance of America, and discuss three key motivations that prompted Europe to explore: God, Gold, and Glory. …show more content…
Why? So they can reap the many benefits that only new land can offer. Both empires wanted the recognition and glory of finding new territory to claim as their own. Also, the search of gold and other riches became an overwhelming obsession with Spain and Portugal. However, religion was also a key pushing factor to find new land. These two empires wanted to convert people all over the world to their religious beliefs. Thus, these three motivating factors, “God, Gold, and Glory,” are very important within American history, because these factors would later shape the face of America today. Nevertheless, the discovery of America was also very significant because it not only changed our view of the world as a sphere, but introduced new plants, animals, and diseases not yet