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in 1750 .]] The first known Europeans to reach the Americas are believed to have been the Vikings ("Norse"), who established Several Colonies in the Americas from the 11th Century . One Viking from Iceland, Leif Erikson established a short-lived settlement in Vinland , present day Newfoundland . Settlements in Greenland survived for several centuries, during which time the Greenland Norse and the Inuit people experienced mostly hostile contact. By the 15th Century , the Norse Greenland settlements had collapsed. Some Medieval Arabic sources suggest that Muslim explorers from Al-Andalus ( Islam ic Iberia , comprising modern Spain and Portugal ) may have traveled across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas between the 9th and 14th Centuries .Tabish Khair (2006). ''Other Routes: 1500 Years of African and Asian Travel Writing'', p. 12. Signal Books. ISBN 1904955118.Dr. Youssef Mroueh (2003). Pre-Columbian Muslims in the Americas . Media Monitors Network. In 1492 , a Spanish expedition headed by Christopher Columbus reached the Americas, after which European exploration and colonization rapidly expanded, first through much of the Caribbean Sea region (including the islands of Hispaniola , Puerto Rico ('' Borinquen '') and Cuba ) and, early in the 16th Century , parts of the mainland of North and South America . Eventually, the entire Western Hemisphere would come under the domination of people of European descent, leading to profound changes to its landscape, population, and plant and animal life. The post-1492 era is known as the period of the Columbian Exchange . The European and Asian lifestyle included a long history of sharing close quarters with domesticated animals such as (ISBN 1-4000-4006-X), Charles C. Mann , Knopf, 2005. Estimates of the population of the Americas at the time Columbus arrived have varied tremendously. This population debate has often had rose and fell in the Americas before Columbus arrived, the indigenous population in 1492 was not necessarily at a high point, and may have already been in decline. Indigenous populations in most areas of the Americas reached a low point by the early twentieth century, and in a number of cases started to climb again.Thornton, p. xvii, 36. The number of deaths caused by European-indigenous warfare has proven difficult to determine. In his book ''The Wild Frontier: Atrocities during the American-Indian War from Jamestown Colony to Wounded Knee'', amateur historian William M. Osborn sought to tally every recorded Atrocity in the area that would eventually become the continental United States , from first contact (1511) to the closing of the frontier (1890), and determined that 9,156 people died from atrocities perpetrated by Native Americans, and 7,193 people died from those perpetrated by Europeans. Osborn defines an atrocity as the Murder , Torture , or mutilation of civilians, the wounded, and prisoners. The Wild Frontier: Atrocities During The American-Indian War The first conquests were made by the Spanish and Portuguese . In the 1494 Treaty Of Tordesillas , ratified by the Pope , the two kingdoms divided the entire non-European world among themselves, with a line drawn through South America. West of this line, the Spanish rapidly conquered territory, overthrowing the Aztec and Inca Empire s to gain control of much of western South America, Central America and Mexico by the mid-16th century, in addition to its earlier Caribbean conquests. Over this same timeframe, Portugal conquered much of eastern South America, naming it Brazil . Other European nations soon disputed the terms of the Treaty of Tordesillas, which they had not negotiated. England and France attempted to plant colonies in the Americas in the 16th century, but these met with failure. However, in the following century, the two kingdoms, along with the Dutch Republic , succeeded in establishing permanent colonies. Some of these were on Caribbean islands, which had often already been conquered by the Spanish or depopulated by disease, while others were in eastern North America, which had not been colonized by Spain north of Florida. Early European possessions in North America included Spanish Florida , the English colonies of Virginia and New England , the French colonies of Acadia and Canada , the Swedish colony of New Sweden , and the Dutch New Netherland . In the 18th Century , Denmark-Norway revived its former colonies in Greenland , while the Russian Empire gained a foothold in Alaska . As more nations gained an interest in the colonization of the Americas, competition for territory became increasingly fierce. Colonists often faced the threat of attacks from neighboring colonies, as well as from indigenous tribes and Pirates . EARLY STATE-SPONSORED COLONISTS The first phase of European activity in the Americas began with the Atlantic Ocean 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 ." He was followed by other explorers such as John Cabot , who discovered Newfoundland and was sponsored by England . Pedro Alvares Cabral discovered Brazil for Portugal . Amerigo Vespucci , who in voyages from 1497 to 1513 sailing for Spain and Portugal, established that Columbus had discovered a new set of continents. Map makers still use his name, America, for two continents. Other explorers included Giovanni Da Verrazzano , sponsored by France , the Portuguese João Vaz Corte-Real in Newfoundland and Samuel De Champlain (1567-1635) who explored Canada . In 1513, Vasco Núñez De Balboa crossed the Isthmus Of Panama , and led the first European expedition to see the Pacific Ocean from the West Coast Of The New World . In an action with enduring historical import, Balboa claimed the Pacific Ocean and all the lands adjoining it for the Spanish Crown. It was 1517 before another expedition from Cuba visited Central America , landing on the coast of the Yucatán In Search Of Slaves . These explorations were followed, notably in the case of Spain, by a phase of conquest: The Spaniards , having just finished the '' Reconquista '' of Iberian Peninsula from Muslim rule, were the first to colonize the Americas, applying the same model of governing to the former '' Al-Andalus '' as to their territories of the New World. Ten years after Columbus's discovery, the administration of Hispaniola was given to Nicolas De Ovando of the Order Of Alcántara , founded during the ''Reconquista''. As in the Iberian Peninsula, the inhabitants of Hispaniola were given new landmasters, while religious orders handled the local administration. Progressively the '' Encomienda '' system, which granted land to European settlers, was set in place. A relatively small number of '' Conquistadores '' conquered vast territories, aided by disease epidemics and divisions among native ethnic groups. Mexico Was Conquered by Hernán Cortés in 1519-1521, while the Conquest Of The Inca , by Francisco Pizarro , occurred from 1532-35. Over the first century and a half after Columbus's voyages, the Native Population Of The Americas plummeted by an estimated 80% (from around 50 million in 1492 to eight million in 1650 "La catastrophe démographique" (The Demographical Catastrophe) in '' L'Histoire '' n°322, July-August 2007, p.17 ), mostly by outbreaks of Old World Diseases but also by several Massacres and forced labour (the '' Mita '' was re-established in the old Inca Empire , and the '' Tequitl '' — equivalent of the ''mita'' — in the Aztec Empire ). The ''conquistadores'' progressively replaced the native American oligarchies, in part through Miscegenation with the local elites. In 1532, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor imposed a vice-king to Mexico, Antonio De Mendoza , in order to prevent Cortes' independantist drives, who definitively returned to Spain in 1540. Two years later, Charles V signed the New Laws (which replaced the Laws Of Burgos of 1512) prohibiting slavery and the '' Repartimientos '', but also claiming as his own all the American lands and all of the autochthonous people as his own subjects. When in May 1493, the Pope '' n°322, July-August 2007, pp.14- 21 (interview with Christian Duverger, teacher at the EHESS ) . The Spanish Roman Catholic Church , needing the natives' labor and cooperation, evangelized in Quechua , Nahuatl , Guarani and other Native American languages, contributing to the expansion of these Indigenous Language s and equipping some of them with writing systems. One of the first primitive schools for Native Americans was founded by Fray Pedro De Gante in 1523. To reward their troops, the ''Conquistadores'' often allotted Indian towns to their troops and officers. Black African Slave s were introduced to substitute for Native American labor in some locations - most notably the West Indies, where the indigenous population was nearing extinction on many islands. During this time, the Portuguese gradually switched from an initial plan of establishing Trading Post s to extensive Colonization of what is now Brazil. They imported millions of slaves to run their plantations. The Spanish and Portuguese royal governments expected to rule these settlements and collect at least 20% of all treasure found (the '' Quinto Real '' collected by the '' Casa De Contratación ''), in addition to collecting all the taxes they could. ECONOMIC IMMIGRANTS Many Immigrants to the American colonies came for Economic reasons. Inspired by the Spanish riches from colonies founded upon the conquest of the Aztecs , Incas , and other large Native American populations in the sixteenth century, the first Englishmen to settle in America hoped for some of the same rich discoveries when they first established a settlement in Jamestown, Virginia . They were sponsored by Common Stock companies such as the Virginia Charter Company financed by wealthy Englishmen who understood the economic potential of this new land. 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." (A direction based on text from the King James Version of the New Testament .) The extremely high mortality rate was quite distressing and cause for despair among the colonists. Tobacco quickly became a cash crop for export and the sustaining economic driver of Virginia and nearby colonies like Maryland. From the beginning of Virginia's settlements in 1587 until the 1680s, the main source of labour and a large portion of the immigrants were Indentured servants looking for new life in the overseas colonies. During the 17th century, indentured servants constituted three-quarters of all European immigrants to the Chesapeake region. Most of the indentured servants were English farmers who had been pushed off their lands due to the expansion of livestock raising, the Enclosure of land, and overcrowding in the countryside. This unfortunate turn of events served as a push for 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. By selling passage for five to seven years worth of work they could hope to start out on their own in America. In the French colonial regions, the focus of economy was the Fur Trade with the Natives . Farming was set up primarily to provide subsistence only, although Cod and other fish of the Grand Banks were a major export and source of income for the French and many other European nations. The fur trade was also practiced by the Russia ns on the northwest coast of North America. After the French And Indian War , the English captured virtually all French possessions in North America, leaving only the islands of Saint-Pierre And Miquelon to France. RELIGIOUS IMMIGRATION Other groups of colonists came to America searching for the right to practice their religion without Persecution . After the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century, King Henry VIII 's renunciation of the Catholic Church , and the publication of the Bible in English, many began to question the organization of the existing Church Of England . One of the primary manifestations of this was the " Puritan " movement, which wanted to "purify" the existing Church of England of its many residual Catholic rites that they believed had no mention in the Bible. As the English monarch, Charles I tried to impose his belief in the right of "Divine Right of Kings" to do as he pleased. Ministers and many people in England had a strong feeling of persecution. Crackdowns by the English Church led to the migration of about 20,000 Puritans to New England from about 1629 to 1642. One other manifestation was the English Civil War (1642-1650) that led to Charles I's capture and beheading under Puritan Oliver Cromwell . Pennsylvania was given to William Penn in settlement of a debt the king owed his father. Its government was set up by William Penn in about 1682 to become primarily a refuge for persecuted English Quakers; but others were welcomed. Baptists, Quakers and German and Swiss Protestants flocked to Pennsylvania . The lure of cheap land, religious freedom and the right to improve themselves with their own hand was very attractive to those who wished to escape from persecution and poverty. In America, all these groups gradually worked out a way to live together peacefully and cooperatively in the roughly 150 years preceding the American Revolution . Roman Catholics were the first major religious group to immigrate to the New World , as settlers in the colonies of Spain and Portugal (and later, France) were required to belong to that faith. English and Dutch colonies, on the other hand, tended to be more religiously diverse. Settlers to these colonies included Anglican s, Dutch Calvinists , English Puritans , English Catholics , Scottish Presbyterian s, French Huguenot s, German and Swedish Lutherans , Quakers , Mennonites , Amish , Moravians , and Jews . FORCED IMMIGRATION See Also: Atlantic slave trade s, particularly in the British Thirteen Colonies . The curse of Cromwell SEE ALSO
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