10 THE AGE OF EXPLOR ATION cacao the source of chocolate hot peppers pea nuts pineapple and tobacco were among the crops introduced to Europe Africa and Asia from the Americas New food sources from more productive crops led to population booms in the Old World Europeans introduced domesticated animals such as horses cattle sheep and pigs to the Americas They also brought crops such as wheat rice oats bananas olives sugarcane and coffee to the Americas and introduced steel and guns New World plantations began to produce sugar and cotton in great quanti ties leading to the creation of sugar processing and cotton textile industries in Europe
CHAPTER ONE 11 DISCOVERING THE NEW WORLD European explorers found the New World by mistake they were not looking to find new con tinents but new sea routes Europeans mainly wanted to find better trade routes to China India and Southeast Asia They valued many products from Asia including cloves pepper and other spices that were used to make food taste good and to keep it from spoil ing Also in demand were such luxuries as sheer colorful silken cloths rich carpets and sparkling jewelry The wealth of the East had been trickling into western Europe mainly by overland routes Asian mer chandise was thus both scarce and expensive in Europe Goods changed hands many times before they reached the consumer and at each exchange the cost increased Merchandise was transported by camel or horse cara vans with each animal carrying only a comparatively small load Ships could carry goods more cheaply and in greater quantity The Italian port cities were
12 THE AGE OF EXPLOR ATION In 1497 98 the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama’s ships rounded the Cape of Good Hope and reached India by sea successfully finding the eastern route to Asia satisfied with their monopoly of the old trading routes However Portugal Spain England and France wanted to find new sea routes to Asia in order to import goods directly In the late 15th century Portuguese explorers pioneered the eastern route to Asia by sailing around the southern tip of Africa
13 DISCOVERING THE NEW WORLD THE VIKINGS The Vikings of Norway are the first Europeans known to have visited North America However people in the rest of Europe were not aware of these discoveries A Viking named Gunnbjörn Ulfsson sailed near Greenland in the 10th century and Erik the Red was the first to colonize the island The first Europeans to land on the North American mainland were the Viking explorer Leif Eriksson and his party They are believed to have reached the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador now in northeastern Canada in 1001 Archaeologists have found evidence of Viking settlements there from about Leif’s time COLUMBUS By the 1490s educated people knew that the world was round and that the east could be reached by sailing west To believe however that it would be practical to make such a voyage was a different matter Master navigator Christopher Columbus was one of the most optimistic advocates of the western route In 1492 he set off on a voyage to find this route Columbus’s expedition had three ships The Niña and the Pinta were small speedy ships called caravels
