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Christopher Columbus was sailing to India but he landed in the Caribbean and said "we discovered this land" actually there were people there so he did not discover North America.
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In the late 1500's, European countries had begun to colonize the area or build settlements and develop trade in lands that they controlled.
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the first wave was with European colonist
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Lewis and Clark left St. Louis on an expedition to find a route to the Pacific Ocean
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From 1820 to 1870 a second wave brought more than seven million people, many from Ireland and Germany, fleeing poor conditions.
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The construction of the Erie Canal 1825 provided a water route from the aAtlantic to the Great Lakes
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Some tribes in the southeast had highly developed farming and government. If tribes refused to leave troops forced them. The Cherokee who tried to negotiate to keep their land eventually forced into a strenuous 116 -day journey to Oklahoma.
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Starting in the 1840s thousands of Americans became pioneers or settlers of new land. Their westward journey was marked by rough lands, deep rivers, the threat of disease, and even possible attack by Native Americans
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Railroads allowed goods, and people to travel even greater distances especially the transcontinental railroad completed in 1869, this railroad crossed the entire continent. The movement to the west was faster and easier for Americans than it had ever been before.
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Starting in 1880, a third wave mostly from parts of southern and eastern Europe brought 23.5million more.
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A fourth wave, many from Asia and the Caribbean. Today most immigrants come from Mexico, China, the Philippines and India
