North-America

In the first instance European interest was focused on South and Central America. The stories about hoards of gold and silver undoubtedly had a lot to do with this. The Spanish went no further north with their conquests than the areas which are now the most southern states of the United States: Florida, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and parts of California. The European states and merchants were aware of the existence of North America, but initially it was not considered to be of sufficient economic interest. In 1497 the ship the Matthew, captained by the Genoese seaman John Cabot at the request of the English king, sailed along the coast of North America in the hope of finding a shorter route to Asia. On this voyage he discovered Newfoundland. The waters off this island teemed with fish, and for a long time Europeans came here only to fish. In 1524 the Florentine navigator Verrazano also tried to find a passage, commissioned by the French king. By the time he was finished a considerable portion of the eastern coast of North America had been charted. Ten years later the Frenchman Cartier looked for a passage further north and discovered large parts of Canada. In the course of the 16th century a few half-hearted attempts were made by the English and French to colonise the region and during several voyages English sailors formally claimed large areas of the East Coast for their king, but this did not lead to any permanent settlements.