-
-
Christopher Columbus’s voyage to the Caribbean in 1492 marked the beginning of contact between Europeans and Native Americans.This event marked the start of the Age of exploration where explorers form all over started to travel around the world to find new lands.
-
Vasco Núñez de Balboa was a Spanish explorer, governor, and conquistador. He is best known for having crossed the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean in 1513, becoming the first European to lead an expedition to have seen or reached the Pacific from the New World.
-
When the Europeans first arrived, millions of Native Americans were living on the land, in small villages and in large cities such as the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán, the site of present day Mexico City
-
Hernando de Soto Seeking greater glory and riches, de Soto embarked on a major expedition in 1538 to conquer Florida for the Spanish crown.
-
De Soto Seeking greater glory and riches, de Soto embarked on a major expedition in 1538 to conquer Florida for the Spanish crown.
-
Although the English were not the first Europeans to explore or colonize North America, their settlements along the Eastern seaboard became the thirteen colonies that later formed the United States. England relied on private trading companies to establish a presence in North America.
-
Those who settled in New England were Puritans, Protestant reformers who wanted to “purify” the Church of England. Their efforts met with little success, and some Puritans wanted to separate completely from the English Church. Among them was William Bradford, who helped organize the voyage of the Mayflower, bringing nearly a hundred people to Massachusetts in 1620.
-
William Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation records the early years of the Plymouth colony and its relations with the Indians. Bradford and other Puritan writers were motivated by their beliefs about their role in God’s plan. Their writings included historical narratives, sermons, and poems written in a generally plain style.
-
After early fishing expeditions beginning in the 1520s, France established settlements along the St. Lawrence River in eastern Canada in the early 1600s. French settlers were far fewer than English or Spanish settlers in the Americas.
