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Aug 3, 1492
Columbus Set Sail
Columbus left Spain with sponsership from Crown of Castile and three ships: the Santa Maria, the Pinta, and the Santa Clara. They were searching for the western route to Asia, but instead discovered the New World. Began Columbian Exchange (post-1492 era) -
Period: Sep 30, 1492 to Sep 30, 1542
Native American population plummeted 80%
Due to disease, massacres, and forced labor. -
Jun 7, 1494
Treaty of Tordesillas
The treaty divided the newly discovered lands between Crown of Portugal and Crown of Castile along a meridian. -
Period: Sep 30, 1500 to
Colonist Population Growth
240,000 Europeans entered American ports. -
Sep 30, 1510
French Explorers
John Cabot: 1497, Labrador. Little was done to follow up his voyage.
Giovanni da Verrazano: 1524, North Carolina to Maine. This voyage encouraged the king. He now wanted a Northwest Passage.
Jaques Cartier: 1534, 1535, 1541: never found the Northwest passage, but he did find the St. Lawrence River. -
Period: Sep 30, 1519 to Sep 30, 1535
Conquistadors
The Spanish claimed most of South/Central America. They destroyed the Aztec and Inca empires along with many lesser tribes. Alliances were also created. -
Sep 30, 1524
Christianization
Colonists wanted to convert Native Americans to Christianity. At first, it was very violent. They burned down Native Americans' sacred places of worship. Adaption began in 1530s; writing systems also created. -
Period: to
King James I
Issued charters for the colonization of the mid-Atlantic region of Virginia to joint stock companies. -
Jamestown
Jamestown was colonized. -
France Monopolizes Trade
Samuel de Champlain established Quebec on the St. Lawrence River so he could control the trade down the Atlantic. He forged an alliance with Native Americans so he would have even more control. -
Period: to
French Explored
French traders and missionaries began to explore more of the Canada region along with the Mississippi River. Society of inclusion. -
Craze for Tobacco Began
This jumpstarted the economy in the English colonies. -
House of Burgesses Created
This was the legislature in colonial VA. -
Period: to
Population
Colonial population doubled every five years. The Algonquians shrank that amount. -
Pequot War
Colonists against Pequot Indians; fighting over control of land. Forty years of peace followed this. -
Carolina Founded
Home to large tobacco planters -
Slave Trade in South
A large scale Native American slave trade began in the south. Extended until the 18th century. -
King Philip's War
Colonists against Naragansetts; colonists invaded and burned villages. -
Middle Passage
Main slave trade route. -
Period: to
African Slaves Imported
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Pennsylvania Founded
William Penn founded PA. It became America's breadbasket and a home to colonists seeking religious freedom. -
French on the Mississippi
The French began colonizing at the bottom of the Mississippi River (Biloxi, Mobile) -
French Cresent
French had established colonies in a cresent shape: they started in Canada along St. Lawrence River and continued down all the way to Mississippi. -
French and English Government
French: superior council including Royal Governor, intendant, and the bishop of Quebec.
English: almost a democracy. -
The Great Awakening
Enthusiam returned to religion. -
King George's War
War between England and France; fighting also broke out in the colonies. -
French and Indian War Began
Translation of Seven Year's War in the French and English colonies. English vs. Native Americans and French.
