In the beginning of the Age of Exploration, the main incentive of the voyagers was to find a sea route to Asia because the land route was much too treacherous. But once they discovered the Americas, their goals were distorted. When Columbus and his masses first arrived in the unknown land he believed that it was India and therefore deemed its inhabitants, Indians. Thanks to Columbus and his beautiful mistake, the world would never be the same. .
The world became an interdependent network of trade, whether it was of materials or labor or technology. After the people in Spain heard about all of the riches in the Americas, the conquistadores flocked there in search of gold and glory, which only a few people received. The Indians gave many of the new settlers numerous gifts hoping to please the people who they believed as gods. The settlers got accustomed to this gesture and began to take advantage. They would pillage many of the small pueblos of the Indians, taking their precious talismans, jewels and other trinkets. At home in Spain many of the people desired the precious metals that were in a great abundance in the new world, and this desire created the system we have in place today known as capitalism. .
There were also many trades and exchanges between the new and old world not solely in the economic sense. The Spanish toted many animals to the new world including pigs, horses, and cattle. They also brought many items of .
produce such as apples, grapefruit, celery and olives. They surprisingly brought sugar cane to the new world as well. With them they took back plants like beans corn (maize), potatoes and rice. They also brought back one of the biggest desires of the people in Europe, tobacco. The Spanish missionaries Christianized many parts of the Spanish empire and all parties created a new race of people, mestizos, which is a mix of the Spanish and the native Americans.
Between the two peoples, a new culture was created.
