Age of Exploration

The Age of Exploration lasted between 1418 and 1620. Portugal, Spain, England, France, and the Netherlands are all countries that were a part of the Age of Exploration and had the most effect on it. These countries would send ships out to see to spread their religion (Christianity), find better routes to travel on, and to become more aware of everything going on in the rest of the world. The main reason for the A.O.E. was to find more efficient sea routes to Asia, which was a very significant place for trade. This was a very important thing for explorers to find, because with every other important discovery, they would gain wealth and fame. All of the countries that were participating in the A.O.E. were very eager to find new land and claim all of the benefits that came with their new land. This caused much tension between the countries and even though they weren't physically fighting, they were silently competing with one another.
Merchants were the most beneficial people during this time. This was because merchants were trading a lot more than usual and because they were making a lot of money they were able to go on more journeys/voyages. With even more money some were able to form their own companies. Because of all of this the economy was impacted and changed to a Capitalist Economy.
I would think the most important explorers were Christopher Columbus, Hernan Cortes, and Ferdinand Magellan. Christopher Columbus, in my opinion, would be the most important explorer because he founded America. I think the second most important explorer would be Ferdinand Magellan because he was the first to find out that our Earth was round and was even the first to sail the entire way around. I think Hernan Cortes was not as important as Columbus and Magellan but still very significant because he went exploring in Mexico and was able to learn more about the Aztects which is an important part of history.
If I was living in Europe during the Age of Exploration I would take advantage of all of the benefits that the merchants were getting and become one. This way I would be very wealthy with the successful trading that went on during this time. I would also appreciate the time that I was living in because of its significance in history and because of all the momentous new discoveries and accomplishments that were going on.