That being so, the Jews were well prepared to take advantage of the growth in the world economy which marked the sixteenth century; indeed, in view of their exclusion from the Spanish peninsula, and their treatment in Reformation and Counter-Reformation Europe, they had no alternative but to push the diaspora further and seek new outlets for their business skills. To the West, Columbus’ voyages were not the only ones which had a Jewish and marrano background in finance and technology. Expelled Jews went to the Americas as the earliest traders.
