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On August 3, 1492, an Itlanian explorer, Christopher Columbus,under the Queen and King of Spain, sets off to find a sea route to Asia by sailing west across the Atlantic Ocean. He ends us landing in an island of the Bahamas in the Caribbean, but thinks he has landed in the East Indies. This was the start of a whole new era of exploration in the Americas.
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In 1511, the first enslaved Afrians arrive in the Americas under the Portuguese and the Spanish. As the countries began to colonize more, so did the need for cheap labor. As a result, these countires ended up importing thousands of more slaves. This buying and selling was known as the Atlantic slave trade.
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A Spainard named Hernando Cortés landed on the shores of Mexico. He learns of the vast and wealthy Aztec Empire in this region. He sets out to the capital and ends up getting a share of the exisiting gold supply. In the end Cortés strikes back and defeats the Aztecs even though he was greatly outnumbered.
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Francisco Pizarro marched a small force into South America and meet the Incan ruler Atahualpa. Pizarro and his men caputre the leader and kill him. The rest of the Incans retreated and Pizarro now took control.
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The English were inspired by the Spanish and French to explore the Americas. So they set out to sail any reach the coast of Viriginia. The colonists calimed this land and named it Jamestown in honor of the king.
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A group who were known as the Pilgrims founded a second colony called Plymouth which was in Massachusetts. These colonists sought religious freedom because they were persecuted.
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England pushes farther west for land and the French began to interfere with them. There was a dispute over the Ohio Valley which led to a war between the British and the French which was known as the French and Indian War.(part of 7 years war)