What was the main goal of Prince Henry the Navigator in the early 1400s?

To fund and encourage exploration and the study of navigation.

Why was salt considered a valuable commodity during the Age of Exploration?

Salt was valuable because it could preserve food and prevent it from decaying, especially meat.

Vasco de Gama found commodities like colorful cotton linens, finely crafted porcelain, and tea. These items were desired by wealthy Europeans.

Columbus believed he could reach the East Indies by sailing west because he thought the Earth was much smaller than it actually is.

Columbus landed in the Caribbean Islands and encountered the Taino people.

I can describe reasons why Europeans explored North America and what happened when they met Native Americans.

1
The European Age of Exploration, from the early 1400s through the 1600s, involved European nations exploring the world and finding new routes to places like India and the Americas.
2
Christopher Columbus, sponsored by the Spanish monarchs Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand, set sail in 1492 with the intention of finding a new route to the East Indies, but instead landed in the Caribbean Islands.
3
The arrival of European explorers had a devastating impact on the Indigenous Taino people, who faced enslavement, exposure to new diseases, and ultimately a significant decline in their population by the mid-1500s.