Marcus Gravey said: “A people without knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots. » That being said, are the people of the United States, Canada and Mexico rootless trees? From a young age, students learn that Christopher Columbus “sailed the blue ocean in 1492,” a simple song used to help children remember that America was discovered in 1492. Additionally, Thackeray and Findling describe how Columbus' discovery presented an unimaginable amount of opportunities for children. Europeans, and thus Spanish, French, and later British explorers and settlers, began to flock to this new world. Although the only explanation presented to us regarding the reasoning or motives for this colonization was the vague answer of Gold, God and Glory. Which, from a general point of view, is correct, although, as with various subjects in history, there is much more to it than we initially thought. Similarly, Taylor explains how, "until the 1960s, most American historians assumed that 'settlers' meant English-speaking men confined to the Atlantic coast." Overall, after a lot of research and information from various sources, I will explain the general motivations of these countries and how they intertwine with each other. Spanish Imperial Goals: Spain's initial goals were to discover gold or other mineral wealth, explore the new world, spread Catholicism, and as a whole, continued Christopher Columbus' goal of find a passage to the east. Spain originally managed to find gold or other mineral wealth not by colonizing, but by conquering and enslaving the local population, such as the Aztecs. As a result, Spain discovered that there was no more gold or other mineral wealth beyond middle of paper...... ed. New York: WW Norton, 2012. Elisabeth Gaynor, Ellis and Anthony Esler. “The First World Age: Europe, the Americas and Africa”. In world history, the links with today. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2003.Eric, Foner. “A new world”. In Give me freedom! : an American story. Seagull third ed. New York: WW Norton, 2012. Eric, Foner. “A new world”. In Give me freedom! : an American story. Seagull third ed. New York: WW Norton, 2012. Eric, Foner. “A new world”. In Give me freedom! : an American story. Seagull third ed. New York: WW Norton, 2012. Eric, Foner. “A new world”. In Give me freedom! : an American story. Seagull third ed. New York: WW Norton, 2012. Jolie, Francis. and Sir Francis Drake's famous Journey Around the World. Hoboken, NJ: BiblioBytes, and eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost (accessed April 23, 2014).