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In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue
Christopher Columbus was an Italian sea captian who convinced Spain to finance his voyage to find a sea route to Asia by sailing west across the Atlantic Ocean. However, he reached an island on the Caribbean and thought he had reached the East Indies. This voyage opened a way for European colonization of the Americas and this would change the world. -
1511: First enslaved Africans arrive in the Americas
Around 1500, Europeans colonists began using enslaved Africans on plantations and farms because they needed cheap labor. As natives in the European colonies began dying rapidly, Europeans found advantages for using Africans in the Americas.The buying and selling of Africans for labor in the Americas was called the Atlantic slave trade. Almost 300,000 Africans were transported to the Americas and the number would only increase. -
1533: Pizarro conquers Incan Empire
Fransisco Pizarro, a conquistador lead his army of about 200 men to meet the Incan ruler Atahualpa near the city of Cajamarca. Atahualpa commanded a force made up of about 30,000 and brought several thousand men to the meeting. The Spaniards kidnapped Atahualpa and defeated the Incan force. Fransico Pizarro and his men killed Atahualpa and the reamining Incan force retreated back from Cajamarca. Pizarro went to the Incan capital called Cuzco and captured it in the year 1533. -
1620: English found Plymouth
In 1620, a group called the Pilgrims founded a second colony in Massachusetts that was named Plymouth. They sought religious freedom because they were persecuted for their religious beliefs in England. -
1763: French and Indian War ends
The French and Indian War ended when the British colonists with help from the British army defeated the French and ended the war in the year 1763. The French surrendered the North American lands that they had claimed. This caused the British to gain control of the eastern half of North America. One reason why the British colonists could take over the lands the French had claimed was because those colonies had very little inhabitants. -
1521: Cortés conquers Aztec Empire
After arriving in Mexico Cortés soon learned of the wealth and size of the Aztec Empire.Cortés and his 600 men reached the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán. Montesuma II, the Aztec emperor was convinced that Cortéz was a god and gave him part of the empire's gold supply.The Aztecs rebelled against Cortés and his men and they struck back. Even though they were greatly outnumbered Cortés conquered the Aztec empire. This was because the Spanish had superior weaponry and had native groups on their side -
1607: English found Jamestown
In 1606, a company made up of London investors got a charter from King James of England to go find a colony in North America. The company left the English harbor with three ships and more than 100 settlers. in 1607 about four months after they left they landed on the coast of Virginia and they claimed the land as theirs. They named the settlement Jamestown in honor of King James. The colony had a horrible start because the settlers were more interested in finding gold than in planting crops.
