Answer:
trade and religion
At first rulers wanted spices and silk from Asia, ivory and gold from Africa. When Christopher Columbus first came to America, he thought that he had landed in India. He had wanted to land in India to trade spices. Trade was a common reason to send explorers though some rulers wanted to spread their religion throughout the world to expand their own influence. When European colonists came to the new world (America) they introduced things like horses, firearms, and religious practices. The Spanish were one of the most determined to spread their religion which was Roman Catholicism, they sent priests and conquistadors which were explorers and soldiers who wanted to spread Catholicism across their colonies.