Age of Exploration (by Gabrielle Brown, Alpha Kalle, Lisa Le, Adenike Ogunbiyi, and Isabella Valerio)
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Christopher Columbus reaches the Americas and begins exploring the coastline of Cuba and the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean. -
Plantations are established along the coast of Brazil and other Caribbean islands to grow sugar cane. Labor is demanded to grow these crops, but the Native population falls due to disease, resulting in the enslavement of Africans. -
Pedro Cabral, the Portuguese sea captain, lands in South America, establishing Portugal's claim of the Brazilian region. -
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The first Spanish slave ship carries enslaved Africans from West Africa to the Americas. -
Commander Hernán Cortéz landed at Veracruz on the Gulf of Mexico. There, he marched his troop of 550 soldiers and 16 horses to Tenochtitlán, and on the way made alliances with the city-states tired of the Aztec rule. In November, Cortéz’s troops made it to the Aztecs where they were at great advantage with much more weaponry. By 1520, the local population of the Aztecs drove away the invaders and killed many of the Spaniards. -
Francisco Pizzaro lands on the Pacific coast of South America, bringing 180 men, weapons, gunpowder, and smallpox. By 1535, after capturing the new Aztec emperor Atahuallpa, Pizarro established a new capital at Lima as a new colony for the Spanish Empire. -
The first Dutch fleet arrives in India. Shortly after, the East India Company is formed, which gradually pushes the Portuguese out of the spice trade in Southeast Asia. -
James I, who believes in the divine rights of kings, becomes the king of England -
Due to new dangerous and infectious diseases that were spread through the Columbia exchange, many natives were exposed to them. In Mexico, the population dwindled from 25 million to 1 million in 1630. -
The Qing Dynasty in China began, exports throughout China and America created a population explosion -
The Dutch Commercial Empire in the Americas fell to its rivals the English and the French -
New France became a royal province, with its governor, military commander, and soldiers -
The English seized the colony of New Netherlands from the Dutch and renamed it New York -
The King signed the Charter of Pennsylvania in 1681, officially proclaimed on April 2, and named it after William Penn's father, covering 39-42 degrees north latitude. -
King James II establishes the Dominion of New England, encompassing all colonies in New England, including Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Plymouth Plantations, with Sir Edmund Andros as governor general. -
South Carolina settlers, aided by Cherokees, defeat the Yamasee Indians, and move southward into lands claimed by Spain. -
Georgia, the last of thirteen colonies, was established in Savannah in 1733, half a century after Pennsylvania's charter in 1681 and 70 years after South Carolina in 1663. -
A massive slave uprising occurred on September 9, 1739, at the Stono River, 20 miles (30 kilometers) southwest of Charleston, South Carolina. Slaves assembled, stormed a gun shop, and proceeded south, killing more than 20 white people. -
This started when Vitus Bering discovered Alaska in 1741 along with George Steller during a Russian expedition. They continued to explore the region and named it Russian America before naming it "Alaska", its' current name today. -
The Seven Years' War between Britain and France. This resulted in a few familiar treaties in history such as the Treaty of Saint Petersburg and the Treaty of Paris.
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The first European discovery of Hawaii done by James Cook when he landed at Waimea, Kauai Island. He unfortunately died the following year upon his return due to an altercation with a number of Hawaiians at Kealakekua Bay. -
In 1800, James Grant discovered the Australian coastline from Cape Banks to Cape Otway.