Final answer:
The Europeans who arrived in North America during the late 1400s and 1500s were primarily explorers seeking new trade routes, settlers looking for land and spreading their faith, and some were also conquistadors in search of gold and wealth. Their arrival had profound economic, religious, and territorial motives which greatly impacted the indigenous populations and led to the establishment of the transatlantic slave trade.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Europeans who came to North America in the late 1400s and 1500s can be best described as a mix of all the options provided, but the primary motives revolved around exploration for new trade routes, finding gold and riches, and expanding influence and territories. Explorers like Columbus were initially searching for new trade routes to Asia and inadvertently found the Americas. Economic incentives, such as the trade of furs, timber, precious metals, and eventually agriculture including tobacco and cotton, were significant reasons for European interest in North America. Settlers were looking for land to claim and cultivate, and for some, this was intertwined with the desire to continue their religious practices and beliefs. The Spanish conquests were also driven by the desire to find gold and expand their empire, while spreading Christianity. Notably, the labor issues in the colonies led to the grim development of the transatlantic slave trade.