European colonization of the Americas
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A massive European colonization of the Americas started in 1492 when Columbus discovered America. The Norse however are considered to be the first European colonists when then started, but then abandoned, a colonization of Vinland about 500 years before Columbus.
The first conquests were done by the Spanish, who quickly conquered most of South and Central America and large parts of North America. The Portuguese took Brazil, the English, French and Dutch conquered islands in the Carribean Sea. The English and French also colonized parts of North-America: New England and Louisiana.
The first colonizations were expeditions organized by nations, later colonization was often done by individuals fleeing poverty and religious persecution in Europe.
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Early state-sponsored colonists
The first phase of modern European activity in this region began with the oceanic crossings of Christopher Columbus (1492-1500), sponsored by Spain, whose original attempt was to find a new route to India and China, known as "the Indies". These were followed by other explorers such as John Cabot, sponsored by England, who came in search of the riches the Spanish had found, and also Pedro Alvares Cabral, who discovered Brazil for Portugal. Other settlers included Giovanni da Verrazano, sponsored by France, and, according to some, the German Didrik Pining, and the Portuguese, João Vaz Corte-Real, in Newfoundland. The possibly mythical Polish sailor, John of Kolno, may have reached the Americas in 1476.
Inspired by the Spanish riches from their conquest of the Aztecs, Incas, and other large Native American populations in the sixteenth century, the first Englishmen expected the same when they first established a settlement in Jamestown, Virginia. The main purpose of this colony was the hope of finding gold or the possibility (or impossibility) of finding a passage through the Americas to the Indies. It took strong leaders, like John Smith, to convince the colonists of Jamestown that searching for gold was not taking care of their immediate needs for food and shelter and that "he who shall not work shall not eat." (That is a direction from the New Testament.)
Other early explorers, such as Englishman Francis Drake, arrived in the Americas to plunder the wealth of the Spanish settlements. Altogether, there was a strong pull at the beginning of the colonial period to come to America for its possible imperial riches; the truth was that these riches were sparse. There was nothing in particular to push these colonists away from England; only an overwhelming opportunity at extreme wealth. Although the success of these wealth-stealing attempts failed, they did establish the first permanent European settlements in the modern day United States. Tobacco cultivation and trade quickly became the sustaining economic driver of Virginia and other fledgling English colonies in North America.
These oceanic crossings were followed, notably in the case of Spain, by a phase of conquest: The Spaniards, just having finished a war driving the Muslims out of the Iberian peninsula, replaced the local Native American oligarchies and imposed a new religion: Christianity on the people. European diseases and cruel systems of work (the famous haciendas and the mining industry) decimated the American population. Black African slaves were introduced to substitute for Native Americans labor. On the other hand, the Spaniards did not impose their language in the same measure as other European conquerors and the Catholic Church even evangelized in Quechua, Nahuatl and Guarani, contributing to the expansion of these American languages and equipping them with writing systems. One of the first schools for Americans was founded by Fray Pedro de Gante in 1523.
The Portuguese switched from an initial plan of establishing trading posts to extensive colonization of what is now Brazil.
See also
- Conquistador
- Francisco Vasquez de Coronado
- Hernán Cortés
- Francisco Pizarro
- Spanish Conquest of Yucatan
- Treaty of Tordesillas
- Treaty of Alcaçovas)
Religious immigration
Other groups of colonists came to America searching for either an asylum to practice a religion without persecution or a refuge to begin a new and holier settlement where complete theological agreement could be found. After the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century and the new and seemingly radical doctrine of Calvinism, some Europeans began to drift away from their orthodox ways. Many more churches and denominations thus formed, leading to greater disagreement and tension among Europeans on the whole. Severe persecution did occur in some areas, such as Elizabeth’s Protestant troops in Catholic Ireland, but it was mainly less drastic circumstances that pushed some people from Europe. The freedom of unclaimed land was attractive to those who wished to escape from persecution, and with the help of a charter, groups then had a right to the land and a right to live in the way that they thought best. Some colonies were created as havens for specific religious groups, while others offered refuge to any group that wished to worship, believe, and live in their own manner. Other settlements, such as Pennsylvania, were designed to guarantee safe haven for certain groups (the Quakers), but were opened up to other religious denominations with complete freedom of religion. The stories of these successful colonies overshadowed the stories of American persecution (such as the Anne Hutchinson incident) and lured suffering people away from the Old World.
Major religious groups immigrating to the New World included:
Economic immigrants
Many of the other immigrants to the American colonies came for reasons that were economic. From the beginning of English settlements until the 1680’s, the main source of labour and a large portion of the immigrants were indentured servants looking for new life in the overseas colonies. For instance, during the seventeenth century, indentured servants constituted three-quarters of all European immigrants to the Chesapeake region. Most of the indentured servants were originally English farmers who had been pushed off their lands due to the expansion of livestock raising and overcrowding in the countryside. This unfortunate turn of events served as a push for hundreds of thousands of people (mostly single men) away from their situation in England. There was hope, however, as American landowners were in need of labourers and were willing to pay for a labourer’s passage to America if they served them for several years. This plan enticed many single displaced farmers who were looking for a way to start over and eventually gain property in a land where there was plenty. Life, however, was hard for these servants, who saw available land being eaten up by others, time going by very slowly, and work becoming harder. Also, the many young men could not find enough eligible women to start families with. Although life was difficult for these indentured servants, they added huge numbers to the national population and began to advance on the social ladder.
In the British and French colonial regions, the focus of economy soon shifted from resource extraction to trading with the natives. This was also practiced by the Russians on the northwest coast of North America. After the French and Indian War, Great Britain captured virtually all French possessions in North America, leaving only a few fishing isles to France.
Forced immigration
Slavery under European rule began with importation of white European slaves (or indentured servants), followed by the enslavement of local aborigines in the Caribbean. As the native populations declined through disease, they were replaced by Africans imported through a large slave trade. By the 18th century, the overwhelming number of black slaves was such that white and Native American slavery was less common. In the case of the Africans who were taken aboard slave ships, they were both pushed from their African homelands by coastal tribes who captured them and pulled to America by the slave traders that paid for them with kegs of rum. Numbering four hundred thousand in all, black slaves kept streaming into the ports of Charleston, South Carolina and Newport, Rhode Island for a good deal of time after the Revolution.
See also
- Population history of American indigenous peoples
- List of North American cities founded in chronological orderca:Colonització europea d'Amèrica
de:Europäische Kolonisierung Amerikas es:Colonización europea de América it:Colonizzazione europea delle Americhe lt:Amerikos kolonizacija no:Europeisk kolonisering av Amerika pt:História da colonização das Américas sv:Den europeiska koloniseringen av Amerika