Ch. 1 Learning Objective: Explain the developements in Europe and Africa that led up to Colombus's voyage to America

During the 1400's, Marco Polo created a spark of interest in Europe for the spices of the East Indies. The only way they had to reach the spices was going through Europe and Asia to get to the Indies which was a difficult task. The Portuguese and other Europeans tried to figure out a way to get to the Spice Island by going around Africa on a boat. The Portuguese had a set route that went around Africa's southern Cape of Good Hope; additionally, Colombus tried to sail west bypassing the Portuguese's route around Africa. Colombus beleived the Earth's size was one third of its actual size. He set out west on his boat calculating to reach the Spice Islands but instead ended up in the Americas without realizing it. He thought the people there were Indians but he was wrong and his accidental discovery of new land led to the slave trade, the gold digging in the Americas, and the creation of market, capital, and technology in Europe.