Atlantic World Timeline

Columbus Sails the Ocean

Oct 1, 1492

Columbus sails the ocean to fine a trade route to India without directly competing with Portugal.

First Enslaved African Arrives in America

Oct 1, 1511

Africans first arrive in America to be used as slaves mostly in plantations.

Cortes conquers Aztecs

Oct 4, 1521

Cortes uses his many advantages to conquer the Aztec empire. First, he had muskets and cannons. Cortes also found out many Aztecs were unhappy with the empire so these Aztecs fought for Cortes. Mostly, the diseases Cortes brought killed many Aztecs because the Aztecs did not build up their immune system for these diseases.

Pizarro conquers Incan Empire

Oct 7, 1533

Pizarro met the Incan ruler and kidnapped him. The ruler offered to fill a room with gold and two rooms with silver for his release. After the rooms were filled, the ruler was strangled and Pizarro conquers the Incans without struggle.

English Found Jamestown

Oct 16, 1607

Explorers found Jamestown and named it after King James. During the first few years there, many people starved because they were more interested in finding gold than growing crops. When they found tobacco, the situation started to improve.

English found Plymouth

Oct 16, 1620

Pilgrims left England to pursue religious freedom. The europeans needed people who were willing to go start colonies. The pilgrims arrived in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

French and Indian War Ends

Oct 16, 1763

The British win the French and Indian war and claim most of North America. The French only had a small piece of land as their colony.