Question #aa65e
1 Answer
Oct 11, 2017
...In order to have a shorter, easier route to the far east.
Explanation:
The ocean trade in silk, spices, etc., was fabulously lucrative, but very long and dangerous. You either went around the southern tip of Africa, headed eastwards, or around the southern tip of South America, headed west. It was thought that a passage westwards through the northern latitudes of North America would greatly ease these difficulties.
