From 1492 onwards, European explores sailed across the Atlantic to what they called the
New World of North, Central and South America. There they discovered a treasure trove
of gold and silver. They also found foods that only grew in the New World, such as sweet
corn, potatoes and plants that could be made into medicines. The people that settled in the
New World were traders rather than soldiers. Their first contact with the people already
living there was friendly. The Native Americans showed the newcomers how to hunt, fish
and farm in a land of plenty. In return they were given objects such as knives, needles,
fish hooks and cloth.