Prompt 1

The initial motivation for empires to explore the new world was glory. We as humans are very curious and the thought of far off lands yet to be discovered drove us to exploration. Why is it that we spent billions and billions of dollars to fly to the moon? There isn't any gold or valuables on the moon, we went there to prove our countries technological might. The same could be said about European nations during the age of exploration. It was an impressive journey to travel from Europe to North America. Ships had to be built perfectly and be able to last out in the open ocean. Therefore these exploration vessels were a direct reflection of a countries navy. Gold and converts were just icing on the cake to a humanistic drive to explore our world and surroundings.