European Colonization Timeline

  • 1494

    The Treaty of Tordesillas

    signed in 1494 and divided the newly discovered lands between Spain and Portugal.
  • 1524

    New York Harbor

    Explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano sailed to North America in search of a sea route to the Pacific but, he didnt find a route but did dicover The New York Harbor
  • James town

    the Londons investors company’s three ships pushed out of an English harbor they reached the coast of Virginia. The colonists claimed the land then named the settlement Jamestown in honor of their king.
  • New Netherland

    The Dutch claimed the region along these waterways and the Dutch government valued the company's permission to enlarge the region and expand the fur trade. The Dutch possessions in North America became known as New Netherland.
  • the Hudson River, Hudson Bay, and Hudson Strait.

    Henry Hudson sailed west he was searching for a northwest sea route to Asia. Hudson didn't find a route. He found three waterways that were later named for him
  • Pilgrims

    A second English colony was founded by the pilgrims in Massachusetts
  • Puritans

    The Puritans sought religious freedom from England’s Anglican Church and established a larger colony beside Massachusetts Bay.
  • New York

    Charles II, granted his brother, permission to drive out to Dutch. Once duke’s fleet arrived at New Netherland, the Dutch surrendered without firing a shot. The Duke of York claimed the colony for England and then renamed it New York.
  • Louisiana

    Sieur de La Salle explored the lower Mississippi and claimed the entire river valley for France. He then named it Louisiana in honor of the French king, Louis XIV.
  • French and Indian War

    an argument over land states the Ohio Valley led to a war between the British and French on the North American continent. The dispute is now known as the French and Indian War.