During the late 1800s in the United States, there was rapid improvement in the industrialization level. This led to the improvement in the standard of living of the people and their economic status.
Therefore the popular culture of the Americans changed during this period as a result of industrialization, in which there is an improvement in the standard of living for many people, enabling them to "spend more money on entertainment and recreation."
The Mayan empire were extremely religious so this meant that they needed peaceful places to worship their gods. Temples represented sacred places that the Mayan people could go to worship their gods.
It was a mixture of various reasons, although for the Spanish and Portuguese it was a question of reaching India for spice trades after the embargo instated on them by the Ottoman Turks.
The Portuguese went around Africa, and the Spanish tried sailing west across the barren ocean, and accidentally discovered America through Columbus.
