THE HUNDRED YEARS FOLLOWING THE VOYAGES OF Christopher Columbus many other European explorers sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to reach the New World At first they came in search of new trade routes to the Far East Then as the riches of the Americas were discovered the explorers were followed by conquerors and later by settlers, Spain, with her strong naval fleet ruled the seas, and by 1600 her treasury was filled with gold and silver stolen from the people of South America and Mexico.