Portugal and Spain initially led the exploration efforts in the New World. Driven by the astronomical costs of trading over land with Asia, Portugal led the way for the search for a sea passage to the East in the late 1400’s. In 1488, Bartholomeu Diaz attempted to reach Asia by sailing around Africa. Although he ultimately failed, his voyage provided the foundation for his fellow countryman, Vasco de Gama, who succeeded in reaching India in 1497 by sailing around the Cape of Good Hope.

Finally, it would be remiss to discuss the European discovery of the Americas without pointing out that the sailors and explorers from the Age of Exploration were not the first Europeans to set foot on New World soil. Five hundred years earlier, the Vikings of Norway landed in present day Labrador and Newfoundland. Viking Leif Ericson led the first European settlement in North America in the town now called L’Anse aux Meadows. Although the Vikings found life in the Americas too harsh for a permanent settlement or colonization, they continued using the area as an outpost in their fishing expeditions all the way until the 1400’s.

However, around the time that Magellan was sailing around the world, Spanish explorer Hernan Cortes landed in Mexico and proceeded to conquer the native people, the Aztecs. The Aztecs were a society rich in gold and jewels, and with their defeat at the hands of the Spanish, they became a ready-made labor force working to increase Spain’s wealth. Several years later, in 1531, Fransisco Pizarro made a similar conquest of the Inca people of Peru, claiming all their riches for Spain as well. Also around this time, the Spanish made land claims in what is now the American Southwest and Southeast.

To conclude, although most of North America was eventually settled by the English, the actual discovery and exploration of the New World was a collective effort among many countries during the 1400-1600 time period. Without the exploration efforts of the Spanish and the Portug

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