Human Legacy Course/Exploration & Expansion (1400 - 1700)
Between 1400 and 1700, a new world opened up for Europe. Sailors set out on great voyages of discovery to lands that the people of Europe had not previously known existed. As news of the discoveries spread, countries scrambled to claim new lands, setting up colonies in hopes of gaining wealth and power. Once colonies were established, ships crossed the Atlantic in both directions laden with goods of all kinds.
The arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Americas in 1492 was a turning point in world history. In the years that followed Columbus’s voyage, European migration to the Americas took off, and the diffusion of goods and ideas changed societies worldwide.