European Exploration and Cortez With the invention of the compass and the astrolabe, Europeans began sailing and exploring all over the world. And when they got to these far away places they realized they had better weapons than the local people - so they killed and enslaved them. The Spanish (led by Columbus and Cortez) easily defeated the native people in the New World. They had better weapons, and they carried diseases that devastated the New World people. Once they established contact in the New World - both sides started trading with each other. This is called the Columbian Exchange - Europeans got new world goods (corn and potatoes), and the New World people got Old World goods (horses, and eventually slaves). Chistopher Columbus started a  vast cultural exchange between the two hemispheres. Sample Regents Questions: 1) The Native American population of Mexico in 1492 has been estimated at 25 million; the population in 1608 has been estimated at 1.7 million. This decrease in population was mainly a result of 1.  crop failures brought on by poor weather conditions 2.  emigration of Native Americans to Europe and Africa 3.  wars between various native groups 4.  diseases introduced by the Spanish 2) A major result of the Age of Exploration was 1.  a long period of peace and prosperity for the nations of Western Europe 2.  extensive migration of people from the Western Hemisphere to Europe and Asia 3.  the fall of European national monarchies and the end of the power of the Catholic Church 4.  the end of regional isolation and the beginning of a period of European global domination Answers: 1) - 4 2) - 4