Europeans Arrive in North Carolina

Europeans Branch Out

Jan 1, 1400

In the early 1400s, people in Europe began to look the seas and beyond. Some longed for adventure. Others wanted to spread Christianity far and wide. Most of all. through, people wanted to find riches. The age of exploration and discovery had begun.

The search for new routes

Mar 30, 1400

By the late Middle Ages, Europeans had developed a taste for spices in their diets. Most spices came from islands in Asia. Because they had to be shipped halfway around the world on risky voyages, spices were costly. For hundreds of years, the Italian port city of Venice controlled this trade. Some Europeans began tom look for ways to bypass Venice's hold on the spice trade. In Portugal, a prince named Henery the Navigator urged sea captains to explore southward along the coast of Africa.

The Columbian Exchange

Sep 6, 1450

In the years following Columbus's voyages, a great interaction between the "New World" and "Old World" took place. This interaction is sometimes referred to as the Columbian Exchange, Plants, animals, and even diseases moved between the Western and Eastern Hemispheres. Ways of life changed forever for American Indians in the New World and Europeans and Africans in the Old World. Europeans enjoyed new American foods such as potatoes, tomatoes, beans, and corn.