The European movement to colonize the New World was a response to a new age. In the fifteenth century Europe was just emerging from the Middle Ages (c. 500–c. 1500 C.E.). Most people of that age lived in a feudal system, in which a local lord who had received his land from the king owned all the land and ruled over the people in his area. The workers, or peasants, farmed the lord's land and worked for him in exchange for his protection. Over the centuries, the lords became more and more powerful while the power of the heads of state weakened. Because of the constant violence of wars, people tended to focus on religion and safety more than on learning or venturing out into unknown territory. It was not until the end of the Middle Ages that many heads of...