Describe the Orinoco River. Mississippi River. St. Lawrence River.
James River. Ohio River. Colorado River. Columbia River. St. John's
River (see map for Epoch V).

Where is Labrador? Central America? Florida? Mexico? New Mexico?
California? Oregon? Peru?

Locate St Augustine. Santa Fe (sahn-tah-fay). New York. Montreal.
Quebec. Albany. Jamestown. Port Royal. Isthmus of Darien. Cape
Henry. Cape Charles. Cape Cod. Chesapeake Bay. Hudson Bay.

Marco Polo and other adventurers returning from the East, told
wonderful stories of the wealth of Asiatic cities. Genoa, Florence,
and Venice, commanding the commerce of the Mediterranean, had
become enriched by trade with the East. The costly shawls, spices,
and silks of Persia and India were borne by caravans to the Red
Sea, thence on camels across the desert to the Nile, and lastly by
ship over the Mediterranean to Europe.]

The great problem of the age was how to reach the East Indies by
sea, and thus give a cheaper route to these rich products.

COLUMBUS conceived that _by sailing west he could reach the East
Indies_. He believed the earth to be round, which was then a
novel idea. He, however, thought it much smaller than it really is,
and that Asia extends much further round the world to the east than
it does. Hence, he argued that by going a few hundred leagues west
he would touch the coast of Eastern Asia. He was determined to try
this new route, but was too poor to pay for the necessary ships,
men, and provisions.