Traces of their former colony have been found in Newfoundland, but it is believed that they may have also lived in Maine and Nova Scotia. There is an old Mi'qmaq legend that speaks of bearded visitors with red hair and green eyes who showed them how to fish with nets.
That being said, the Portuguese were actually the first to seriously explore the world beyond their own horizons. In 1415 they captured Ceuta, an Islamic city on the coast of Africa, opposite Gibraltar. In the next generation Madeira, Canary and Azores islands; by 1460, they had reached present-day Sierra Leone; by 1475 the Cameroons; and by 1482 Angola.
Greater breakthroughs came about between 1487-88, when Bartholomew Diaz rounded the Cape of Good Hope into the Indian Ocean, and just ten years later, Vasco da Gama landed in India. This prompted the King of Portugal to announce triumphantly that he was now "Lord of the Conquest, Navigation and Commerce of Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia and India", and added that to his royal title.
Europeans loved their meat, and before the days of refrigeration, salt and a light smoking was used to preserve it during the times that it would be in short supply. However, by the end of winter, the remaining surplus was often quite putrid and to mask the stench, and add a bit of variety to their bland diet, Europeans craved spices and would pay almost anything to get them. Therefore, India and the Spice Islands {the Moluccas) soon overshadowed Africa, as prime destinations.
However, the desire to actually colonize did not fit into the equation; so except for a few fishermen who summered in Canada and a trading post in the Azores; the Portuguese preferred to remain in Portugal. There were a few forts established along their major trade routes, but they were only there to police the route to the east, guarding against the attacks of pirates and privateers.
At a time when European kingdoms were consolidating for military and financial strength, Spain was determined to conquer and drive out the former inhabitants, and as a result were fast becoming a super power. That would change with the marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile in 1469, that would be an act of conformity, and make them a strong military power without additonal conquest. In 1492, when they successfully drove the Moors from their last stronghold of Granada, they had nobody left to challenge.
Therefore, they would have to look beyond Europe for future conquests, or risk having their own armies turn on them. So it was that Queen Isabella hired Christopher Columbus, who ironically was Portuguese; to find access to the world beyond. She was interested in his challenge that the world was not flat, but round, so funded an expedition to give him a chance to prove it. Who knew what riches were out there, or under there, as the case may be.
Before we go any further, Christopher Columbus DID NOT discover America. Many knew of it existance, but to date had not found anything worthy of sinking a lot of capital into. We know that Canadians and Americans were trading with foreign countries long before old Chris was even born. As a matter of fact, it would appear that he never even landed in North America, though he did generate an interest in colonizing the New World and funding future exploration.
Mind you it was only because of his errors in judgement and not what he actually found. Believing that a landfall in the Caribbean was actually India, he erroneously named it the West Indies, and for centuries all people of North America would be known as 'Indians'. Regardless, it was enough to peak an interest and in his second voyage to the 'West Indies', he brought with him a 'Colonial Government' to take contol of the aboriginal people. It was hoped that the Spanish gentry, feeling empowered, would use their own capital to look for great wealth, and bring millions to Christianity, which would please Rome; where the real power lay. However, it was doomed to failure and it would be almost three decades before spain would make another attempt at colonization.
Again circumstance creates history, or at least opens the door for history to be created, and when Cortes began his mission in 1519, the time couldn't be better for a takeover.
The whole basis of the Aztec political system was military strength; against both internal and external forces; which created two classes: warriors ands slaves. Public order was achieved through the use of terror, and public displays of human sacrifices were practised on a horrifying scale. Just before Cortes showed up on their doorstep, 80,000 were slain over a four-day period, and the people had all but resigned themselves to a life of cruelty and servitude.
Their only hope was an old Mexican legend that foretold of the arrival of a benevolent god, named Quetzacoatl, who would one day become their emperor and put an end to human sacrifice, so that they could all live happily ever after. As luck would have it, this saviour was supposed to be bearded and pale skinned, so Cortes was not seen as an invader, but the fulfillment of a prophecy. Even Montezuma, the notorious Aztec leader, abdicated without a fight.
But to further add to his luck, he was now seen as an emperor, with vast riches at his disposal and thousands of subservient peasants at his beck and call; who were only to eager to win the favour of their celestial ruler. Colonists from Spain flooded in; a new empire was born and the rest of the world took notice.
Another recorded visitor to Canada, prior to French involvement, was Estevan Gomez; a Spanish trader, who often raided the areas now known as Nova Scotia and Maine for slaves. All Europeans considered slave trading a civilized practice and the capture of natives for this purpose was all too common. As early as 1502, there is a record of three 'American Indian' slaves presented at the court of Henry VIII.
