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What Was Happening In The World From 1500 - 1600
By Laura Sakowski - 2/8/2007

During this time period, Europe was changing in three major areas: The Renaissance, the Age of Exploration, and the Reformation.

The Renaissance, 1450 - 1600, was a time of great learning in the areas of art that was more life-like, more music because of new instruments like the piano, more books with new ideas because of the printing press which was invented in 1444, new construction in bigger cities, more trade between the towns and countries.

The Age of Exploration began with Columbus in 1492, then came all the Spanish explorers which were called the Conquistadors. They searched for gold in the West Indies, then moved to South America, Central America, up to Mexico. They found lots of gold and silver when they came into contact with the Indians. In South America, the Indians were called the Incas; in Mexico, they were called the Aztecs and the Mayans. These were all Indian civilizations that were very civilized. The Spanish came with their big ships, horses, their steel knives, swords, and armor, plus their guns. The Spanish conquered and enslaved the people because the Indians were no match for the Conquistadors.

In 1500, Amerigo Vespucci discovered South America; he claimed to be the first European explorer to reach America, and the map makers named the Americas after him. In 1519 - 1522, Magellan was the first to sail around the world. In 1565, Ponce de Leon discovered and established the first European/Spanish colony in North America and named it St. Augustine in Florida.

England, France, and Holland in the late 1500’s became jealous of all the gold and silver that Spain found in the Americas. In 1585, England sent Sir Walter Raleigh to establish the first English colony in America at Roanoke in what was Virginia. Raleigh left them there, as he returned to England for supplies; however, he got caught up in the English battle against the Spanish Armada. After the English defeated Spain, Raleigh returned to the Roanoke colony three years later; unfortunately, there was nothing left of the colony. The next, and first successful English American colony, was not established until 1607.

In the late 1500‘s, the Queen of England sent Sir Francis Drake to attack the Spanish ships in the Americas to take their gold and silver, which he did. Because of these attacks, Sir Francis became very rich which he shared with the queen.

The Reformation was a period of time when certain groups of people broke away from the catholic church and became known as protestants. The protestants broke away because of the corruption of money and power of the leaders of the catholic church. One of the leaders of the protestant movement was a German priest by the name of Martin Luther; he published a paper with 95 reasons why he broke away from the catholic church in 1517. Another supporter of this Reformation was King Henry the VIII of England, and he got upset with the Catholics and threw them out of his country and took their money and land in 1534. In the years 1562-1598, the protestants of France called the Huguenots, battled with the Catholics for religious freedom; it was a long and terrible war over religion.

During the 1500’s, the Muslim ottoman Turks grew to their largest size which included the northern coast of Africa and the middle east. They tried to push their way into Christian Europe which caused trouble for both.

There was one thing that all the powerful countries had in common during this period; they all wanted more land and riches.

Note: This paper Was Dictated By Laura To An Adult. This was so Laura could get accustomed to organizing her information without having to type and focus on writing.

Childrens Timeline of World History