Th e Beginning of European Rivalries
5. After de Soto’s failure to find any treasure,
the southern woodlands were undisturbed for
another 130 years. Eventually, the great pow-
ers of Europe realized that the real treasures of
the New World were not gold and silver. More
profit could be made from trade and commerce
with the colonies (geographical areas politi-
cally controlled by a distant country) that could
be established in this vast land that Columbus
had discovered. So France, Spain, and England
began establishing colonies in the New World.