What were Europeans' motivations for exploring and settling the Americas, and why did competition increase during the 1500s and 1600s?

Wealth, power, and prestige were the primary motivations for exploring the new world.

Explanation:

The supply of precious metals was limited in Europe and the rulers expecting great reserves of gold and silver in the New World.  Apart from the prospect of precious metals, the European governments have sought to figure an alternative way to India to cut the middlemen on the eastern route. Moreover, they wanted to spread Christianity to distant lands to increase their sphere of influence. During the sixteenth century, there was competition among European nations to broaden its sphere of influence. The possession of the land, natural resources, and colonized inhabitants of distant land was a matter of power, prestige, and wealth.

no options provided, here,but the answer to this question is often: a historian cites a japanese newspaper article published a year after the end of world war ii in order to draw conclusions about the effect of the war on the japanese economy.

clearly from the answer, the historian alludes to historical sources,and records to aid in analyzing and drawing conclusion on the effect of the war on the economy of japan.