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During this period, Portugal was the first European power to begin building a colonial empire as during the Age of Exploration Portuguese sailors and explorers discovered an eastern route to India (that rounded the Cape of Good Hope) as well as several Atlantic archipelagos

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Christopher Columbus was a navigator born in italy. Columbus thought that sailing to the west would be the fastest route to Asia but the Portuguese thought this would be risky and did not want to pay, but Isabella, the Queen of Spain decided to pay for ships so they can beat Portugal to trade in Asia. So Columbus and some men sailed out in August 1492. Then on October 12 they found an island off the coast of the Caribbean Sea and spent three months exploring nearby islands.

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in 1500 Pedro set sail for india with 13 ships. Pedro he sailed southwest to avoid places without wind and reached the east coast of brazil after claiming this land for Portugal. he sailed back to the east rounded Portugal he returned in June 1501.

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Because the Columbus found the "New World" or the Americas this resulted in the start of new settlements in West Indies. The Spanish then started mining for gold and silver which gave Spain great wealth. But for the native people the settlement of the Spanish was not good because they were made slaves and forced to switch to Christianity. The native population also drastically decreased after they settled because of starvation and working too hard.

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Magellan believed he could sail west to the Indies if he found a strait, or channel, through South America. The strait would connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, allowing ships to continue on to Asia. Magellan won Spain's support for a voyage to find the strait and, in August 1519, set sail with 5 ships and around 250 men.

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sailiors would go to anywhere that would pay for there sails and money.john Cabot made the first discorevery for england.in 1497 he landed in Canada and claimed it for england.

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Henry Hudson sailed to North America in 1609 on the Netherlands's behalf. Hudson went to try to find a passage that would go through North America to the Pacific Ocean but instead he explored what is now known as the Hudson River in present day New York so he made claims for the land. Later coming to North America with the same goal he found a large bay in Canada now known as Hudson Bay so he made claims on that as well.

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Verrazano explored the Atlantic coast from present-day North Carolina to Canada. He unfortunately was killed by native tribes in the West Indies (Caribbean).

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The triangular trade was trade routes between the Americas Europe and Africa.

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Another Italian, Giovanni da Verrazano, sailed under the French flag. In 1524, Verranazo explored the Atlantic coast from present-day North Carolina to Canada. His voyage gave France its first claims in the Americas. Unfortunately, on a later trip to the west Indies, he was killed by native people