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The Reconquista was a long series of Christian campaigns to retake the Iberian Peninsula from Muslim kingdoms. It lasted nearly 800 years and ended in 1492 with the fall of Granada, the last Muslim stronghold.
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The Ottoman Empire captured Constantinople from the Byzantine Empire in 1453. This major event ended the Byzantine Empire and pushed Europeans to seek new trade routes — which helped lead to the Age of Exploration.
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Christopher Columbus reached the Caribbean in 1492, marking the beginning of sustained European contact with the Americas, although he believed he had reached Asia.
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Following Columbus, Spain, Portugal, England, France, and the Netherlands established colonies across the Americas from the 16th century onward, reshaping the continent’s populations, economies, and cultures.
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The transatlantic slave trade began in the early 16th century, intensifying through the 17th–18th centuries. Millions of Africans were forcibly transported to the Americas to work on plantations and mines.
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The encomienda system was established by Spain in 1503. It granted colonists the right to Indigenous labor and tribute in exchange for supposed “protection” and Christianization, but it often led to severe exploitation.
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Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés and his Indigenous allies defeated the Aztec Empire between 1519 and 1521. The capital, Tenochtitlan, fell in August 1521.
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The Spanish formally took control of the Inca Empire in 1533 after executing Atahualpa and occupying the capital city, Cuzco.
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Francisco Pizarro launched the campaign against the Inca Empire in 1531, capturing the Inca ruler Atahualpa in 1532.
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Jamestown, founded in 1607 in Virginia, was the first permanent English settlement in North America. It struggled with starvation and conflict but later prospered through tobacco cultivation.
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Plymouth Colony was founded in 1620 by the Pilgrims (English Puritan separatists). They signed the Mayflower Compact and survived with the assistance of Indigenous peoples like the Wampanoag.
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The Pueblo peoples of present-day New Mexico revolted against Spanish rule in 1680, temporarily expelling the Spanish for over a decade. It is considered the most successful Indigenous uprising against European colonizers in North America.
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Led by Túpac Amaru II, this massive Indigenous rebellion took place in the Andes between 1780 and 1782. It aimed to end Spanish abuses such as forced labor and heavy tribute. Although the rebellion failed, it became a symbol of Indigenous resistance.