Historians generally recognize three motives for European exploration and colonization in the New World: God, gold, and glory.
President Obama's first inauguration was held during the depths of the Great Recession. The situation was dire; the economy had lost nearly 3.6 million jobs in 2008 and was shedding jobs at a nearly 800,000 per month rate when he took office.
Political maps are designed to show governmental boundaries of countries, states, and countries, the location of major cities, and they usually include significant bodies of water.