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Aug 3, 1492
Columbus Sailed the Ocean Blue
The Niña, Pinta, and Santa Maria sailed out of a Spanish port around dawn on August 3rd, 1492. On October 12, 1492, a lookout aboard the Pinta caught sight of a shoreline in the distance. Columbus thought he had reached the East Indies, so he called the surprised inhabitants who greeted him, los indios. Columbus had not actually reached the East Indies. Coloumbus claimed the land for Spain. He named it San Salvador, or "Holy Savior". -
Jan 1, 1511
First enslaved Africans arrive in the Americas
Europeans saw advantages in using Africans in the Americas. First, many Africans had been exposed to diseases and had built up an iummunity. Second, many Africans had experience in farming and could be taught plantation work. Third, Africans were less likely to escape because they did not know their way around the new land. Fourth, their skin color made it easier to catch them if they escaped. Atlantic slave trade, buying and selling of Africans for work in the Americas, became a massive empire. -
Jan 1, 1521
Cortés conquers Aztec Empire
Cortés learned of the vast and wealthy Aztec Empire in Mexico. Montezuma II gave Cortés a share of the empire's gold supply. However, it was not enough. After a few fights between the Aztecs and the Spaniards, desbite being outnumbered, Cortes and his men conquered the Aztecs because of a few reasons. First, the Spanish had superior weaponry. Second, Cortés was able to enlist the help of various native groups. Third, natives had developed no natural immunity to disease. -
Jan 1, 1533
Pizarro conquers Incan Empire
Pizarro and his army met the Incan ruler, Atahualpa, near the city of Cajamarca. Atahualpa brought thousands mostly unarmed men for the meeting. The Spaniards waited in ambush, crushed the Incan force, and kinapped Atahualpa. The Incan ruler offered gold and silver in exchange for his release, however, after receiving the ransom, the Spanish strangled him. Demoralized, the remaining Incan force retreated from Cajamarca. Pizarro then march on the Incan capital and captured it without a struggle. -
English found Jamestown
In 1606, a company of London investors received a charter to found a colony in North America from King James. In late 1606, the company's three ships, and more than 100 settlers, pushed out of an English harbor. In 1607, they reached the coast of Virginia. The colonists claimed the land as theirs. They named the setlement Jamestown in honor of their king. Jamestown became England's first permanent settlement in North America. -
English found Plymouth
In 1620, Europeans first made a home in New England in a town named Plymouth. A group known as Pilgrims founded a second English colony, Plymouth, in Massachusetts. Persecuted for their religious beliefs in England, these colonists sought religious freedom. -
French and Indian War ends
A dispute over land claims in the Ohio Valley led to a war between the British and French on the North American continent. The French and Indian war became part of a larger conflict known as the Seven Years' War. Britain and France, along with their European allies, also battled for supremacy in Europe, the West Indies, and India. In North America, the British colonists and army defeated the French in 1763. The British seized control of the eastern half of North America.
