In the fifteenth century, commercial supremacy was transferred from the Mediterranean and the Baltic to the Atlantic seaboard. Portuguese and Spanish explorers opened up great opportunities for trade in gold and spices. The exploration era had a significant impact on Europeans and Native Americans. Europeans introduced new crops, animals, and diseases from Europe to America and from America to Europe. Alien diseases such as measles and smallpox caused massive epidemics among the Americans. The European voyages would be the beginning of a long period of conquest.
What were the reasons for the early voyages by the Portuguese and Spanish during the late fifteenth and sixteenth century? How were they conducted?