European colonization of the Americas 52447 221405848 2008-06-24T10:52:25Z 193.151.14.190 [[Image:Non-Native American Nations Control over N America 1750-2008.gif|thumb|300px|Territorial changes in North America, 1750-present.]]{{euromericas}} [[Image:Non-Native American Nations Control over South America 1700 and on.gif|thumb|300px|Europeon Nation's Control over South America 1700 and on]] The start of the '''European colonization of the Americas''' is typically dated to 1492, although there was at least one earlier colonization effort. The first known [[Europe]]ans to reach the [[Americas]] are believed to have been the [[Viking]]s ("[[Norse]]") during the 11th century, who established [[Norse colonization of the Americas|several colonies]] in [[Greenland]] and one short-lived settlement at [[L'Anse aux Meadows]] in the area the Norse called [[Vinland]], present day [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]]. Settlements in [[History of Greenland|Greenland]] survived for several centuries, during which time the Greenland Norse and the [[Inuit]] people experienced mostly hostile contact. By the end of the 15th century, the Norse Greenland settlements had collapsed<ref>Kirsten Seaver,The Frozen Echo: Greenland and the Exploration of North America, C.A.D.1000-1500, chapter Nine, Greenland 1450-1500</ref>. In 1492, a [[Spain|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]] and [[Cuba]]) and, early in the 16th century, parts of the mainlands of [[North America|North]] and [[South America]]. Eventually, the entire [[Western Hemisphere]] would come under the domination of European nations, leading to profound changes to its landscape, population, and plant and animal life. In the 19th century alone over 50 million people left [[Europe]] for the Americas.<ref>David Eltis ''Economic Growth and the Ending of the Transatlantic slave trade''</ref> The post-1492 era is known as the period of the [[Columbian Exchange]]. ==Disease and population loss== The European and [[Asia]]n lifestyle included a long history of sharing close quarters with domesticated animals such as [[cows]], [[pigs]], [[sheep]], [[goats]], [[horses]], and various domesticated [[fowl]], which had resulted in [[epidemic]] diseases unknown in the Americas. Thus the large-scale contact with Europeans after 1492 introduced novel germs to the [[indigenous people of the Americas]]. Epidemics of [[smallpox]] (1518, 1521, 1525, 1558, 1589), [[typhus]] (1546), [[influenza]] (1558), [[diphtheria]] (1614) and [[measles]] (1618) swept ahead of initial European contact,<ref>,[http://www.kporterfield.com/aicttw/articles/disease.html American Indian Epidemics]</ref><ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/smallpox_01.shtml Smallpox: Eradicating the Scourge]</ref> killing between 10 million and 20 million<ref>{{cite book| title=[[1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus]]| author= [[Charles C. Mann|Mann, Charles C.]] |ISBN= [[1-4000-3205-9]]. Publisher= [[Knopf]] | year=2005}} Mann's claim has been disputed because he does not cite any demographic data to support this number.</ref> people, up to 95% of the indigenous population of the Americas.<ref>[http://www.seercom.com/bluto/science/2/immunoweb/bad/invaders/viruses/smallpox/history.html Smallpox's history in the world]</ref><ref>[http://www.pbs.org/gunsgermssteel/variables/smallpox.html The Story Of... Smallpox]</ref><ref>[http://www.allicinfacts.com/epidemics07.htm Smallpox: The Disease That Destroyed Two Empires]</ref> This population loss and the cultural chaos and political collapses it caused greatly facilitated both colonization of the land and the conquest of the native civilizations.<ref>[[1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus]] (ISBN 1-4000-4006-X), [[Charles C. Mann]], Knopf, 2005.</ref> Estimates of the [[Population history of American indigenous peoples|population of the Americas]] at the time Columbus arrived have varied tremendously. This population debate has often had [[ideological]] underpinnings. Some have argued that contemporary estimates of a high pre-Columbian indigenous population are rooted in a bias against aspects of [[Western civilization]] and/or [[Christianity]]. Robert Royal writes that "estimates of pre-Columbian population figures have become heavily politicized with scholars who are particularly critical of Europe often favoring wildly higher figures."<ref>Jennings, p. 83; [http://www.youdebate.com/DEBATES/rush_indian_population.HTM Royal's quote]</ref> Since [[civilization]]s [[History of the Americas|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.<ref>Thornton, p. xvii, 36.</ref> 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 [[wiktionary:atrocity|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.<ref>[http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Frontier-Atrocities-American-Indian-Jamestown/dp/0375503749 The Wild Frontier: Atrocities During The American-Indian War]</ref> Michno estimates 21,586 dead, wounded, and captured civilians and soldiers for the period of 1850–1890 alone.<ref>Michno, ''Encyclopedia of Indian Wars'' Index. </ref> ==Early conquests, claims, and colonies== [[Image:Colonization of the Americas 1750.PNG|right|300px|thumb|Territories in the Americas colonized or claimed by a European [[great power]] in 1750.]] The first conquests were made by the [[Spanish Empire|Spanish]] and the [[Portugal|Portuguese]]. In the 1494 [[Treaty of Tordesillas]], ratified by the [[Pope]], these two kingdoms divided the entire non-European world between themselves, with a line drawn through South America. Based on this Treaty, and the claims by Spanish explorer [[Vasco Núñez de Balboa]] to all lands touching the Pacific Ocean, the Spanish rapidly conquered territory, overthrowing the [[Aztec Empire|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. [[Kingdom of England|England]] and [[Ancien Régime in France|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 [[Colony of Virginia|Virginia]] (with its [[List of islands in the Atlantic Ocean|North Atlantic]] off-shoot, [[Bermuda|The Somers Isles]]) and [[New England]], the French colonies of [[Acadia]] and [[Canada, New France|Canada]], the [[Sweden|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 [[Piracy in the Caribbean|pirates]]. ==Early state-sponsored colonists== {{see|Portugal in the Age of Discovery|Spanish colonization of the Americas|First European colonization wave (15th century–19th century)}} The first phase of European activity in the Americas began with the [[Atlantic Ocean]] crossings of Christopher Columbus (1492-1504), sponsored by Spain, whose original attempt was to find a new route to [[India]] and [[China]], known as "[[Indies|the Indies]]." He was followed by other explorers such as [[John Cabot]], who discovered Newfoundland and was sponsored by England. [[Pedro Álvares Cabral]] discovered Brazil for Portugal. [[Amerigo Vespucci]], working for Portugal in voyages from 1497 to 1513, established that Columbus had discovered a new set of continents. [[Cartography|Cartographers]] still use a [[Latinisation|Latinized]] version of his first name, ''America'', for the 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 [[History of the west coast of North America|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]], [[Spanish colonization of the Yucatán|landing on the coast of Yucatán]] [[Slavery in the Spanish New World colonies|in search of slaves]]. [[Image:Iberian Union Empires.png|thumb|400px|Spanish and Portuguese Empires in the period of their personal union (1581-1640).]] These explorations were followed, notably in the case of Spain, by a phase of conquest: The [[Spanish people|Spaniards]], having just finished the ''[[Reconquista]]'' of Spain 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 [[Nicolás de Ovando]] of the [[Order of Alcántara]], founded during the ''Reconquista''. As in the Iberian Peninsula, the [[Taíno|inhabitants of Hispaniola]] were given new landmasters, while [[Roman Catholic religious order|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. [[Spanish conquest of Mexico|Mexico was conquered]] by [[Hernán Cortés]] in 1519-1521, while the [[Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire|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<ref name=Histoire>"La catastrophe démographique" (The Demographic Catastrophe) in ''[[L'Histoire]]'' n°322, July-August 2007, p.17</ref>), mostly by outbreaks of [[Old World]] [[Infectious diseases|diseases]] but also by several [[indian massacres|massacres]] and forced labour (the ''[[Mita (Inca)|mita]]'' was re-established in the old [[Inca Empire]], and the ''[[tequitl]]'' &mdash; equivalent of the ''mita'' &mdash; in the [[Aztec Empire]]). The ''conquistadores'' 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 [[Alexander VI]] enacted the ''[[Inter caetera]]'' bull granting the new lands to the [[Kingdom of Spain]], he requested in exchange an [[Roman Catholic Church and colonialism|evangelization of the people]]. Thus, during [[Christopher Columbus|Columbus]]'s second voyage, [[Benedictine]] friars accompanied him, along with twelve other priests. As [[Slavery in medieval Europe|slavery]] was prohibited between Christians, and could only be imposed in non-Christian [[prisoners of war]] or on men already sold as slaves, the debate on Christianization was particularly acute during the 16th century. In 1537, the papal bull ''[[Sublimis Deus]]'' recognized that Native Americans possessed [[soul]]s, thus prohibiting their enslavement, without putting an end to the debate. Some claimed that a native who had rebelled and then been captured could be enslaved nonetheless. Later, the [[Valladolid controversy]] opposed the Dominican priest [[Bartolomé de Las Casas]] to another Dominican [[philosophy|philosopher]] [[Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda]], the first one arguing that Native Americans were beings doted with souls, as all other human beings, while the latter argued to the contrary and justified their enslavement. The process of Christianization was at first violent: when the first [[Franciscan]]s arrived in Mexico in 1524, they burned the places dedicated to pagan cult, alienating much of the local population <ref name=Histoire2/>. In the 1530s, they began to adapt Christian practices to local customs, including the building of new churches on the sites of ancient places of worship, leading to a mix of Old World Christianity with local religions <ref name=Histoire2> "Espagnols-Indiens: le choc des civilisations", in ''[[L'Histoire]]'' n°322, July-August 2007, pp.14- 21 (interview with Christian Duverger, teacher at the [[EHESS]]) </ref>. The [[Roman Catholicism in Spain|Spanish Roman Catholic Church]], needing the natives' labor and cooperation, evangelized in [[Quechua]], [[Nahuatl language|Nahuatl]], [[Guaraní language|Guarani]] and other Native American languages, contributing to the expansion of these [[Indigenous languages of the Americas|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 [[Slavery|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 people|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 Portugal and Spanish 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. By the late 16th century American [[silver]] accounted for one-fifth of Spain's total budget.<ref>[http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761575057_13/spain.html Conquest in the Americas]</ref> In the 16th century perhaps 240,000 Europeans entered American ports.<ref>[http://www.millersville.edu/~columbus/data/art/AXTELL01.ART "The Columbian Mosaic in Colonial America" by James Axtell]</ref><ref>[http://www.bartleby.com/67/908.html The Spanish Colonial System, 1550-1800. Population Development]</ref> ==Economic immigrants== Many [[immigrants]] to the American colonies came for [[economic]] reasons.<ref>[http://www.ilt.columbia.edu/projects/bluetelephone/html/health.html Public Health and Technology during the 19th Century]</ref> Inspired by the Spanish riches from colonies founded upon the conquest of the [[Aztecs]], [[Incas]], and other large [[Native American (Americas)|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 chartered [[London Company|Virginia Company]] (and its off-shoot, the [[Somers Isles 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 of Jamestown|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 [[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 [[Amerindians|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 British were ceded all French possessions in North America east of the [[Mississippi River]], aside from the tiny islands of [[Saint-Pierre and Miquelon]]. ==Religious immigration== [[Roman Catholics]] were the first major religious group to immigrate to the [[New World]], as settlers in the colonies of Portugal and Spain (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 [[Maryland Toleration Act|Catholics]], Scottish [[Presbyterian]]s, French [[Huguenot]]s, German and Swedish [[Lutherans]], as well as [[Quakers]], [[Mennonites]], [[Amish]], [[Moravians]], and [[Jews]] of various nationalities. Many groups of colonists came to the Americas searching for the right to practice their religion without [[religious persecution|persecution]]. The [[Protestant Reformation]] of the sixteenth century broke the unity of Western European Christendom and led to the formation of numerous new religious sects, which often faced persecution by governmental authorities. In England, many people came to question the organization of the [[Church of England]] by the end of the sixteenth century. One of the primary manifestations of this was the Puritan movement, which sought to "purify" the existing Church of England of its many residual Catholic rites that they believed had no mention in the Bible. A strong believer in the notion of the [[Divine Right of Kings]], England's [[Charles I of England|Charles I]] persecuted religious dissenters. Waves of repression led to the migration of about 20,000 Puritans to [[New England]] between 1629 and 1642, where they founded multiple colonies. Later in the century, the new [[Pennsylvania]] colony 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]]. ==Forced Immigration== {{main|Atlantic slave trade}} [[Slavery]] existed in the [[Americas]], prior to the presence of [[European ethnic groups|European]]s, as the Natives often captured and held other tribes' members as captives.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/blackhistory/article-24156 Welcome to Encyclopædia Britannica's Guide to Black History]</ref> Some of these captives were even forced to undergo [[human sacrifice]] under some tribes, such as the [[Aztecs]]. The Spanish followed with the enslavement of local [[indigenous peoples of the Americas|aborigine]]s in the [[Caribbean]]. As the native populations declined (mostly from European diseases, but also and significantly from forced exploitation and careless murder), they were often replaced by [[African]]s imported through a large commercial [[slave trade]]. By the 18th century, the overwhelming number of black slaves was such that Native American slavery was less commonly used. Africans, who were taken aboard slave ships to the Americas, were primarily obtained from their African homelands by coastal tribes who captured and sold them. The high incidence of disease nearly always fatal to Europeans kept nearly all the slave capture activities confined to native African tribes. Rum, guns and gun powder were some of the major trade items exchanged for slaves. In all, approximately three to four hundred thousand black slaves streamed into the ports of [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston]], [[South Carolina]] and [[Newport, Rhode Island]] until about 1810. The total slave trade to islands in the [[Caribbean]], [[Brazil]], [[Mexico]] and to the United States is estimated to have involved 12 million Africans.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ronald Segal |title=The Black Diaspora: Five Centuries of the Black Experience Outside Africa |year=1995 |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |location=New York |isbn=0-374-11396-3 |pages=p. 4 |quote=It is now estimated that 11,863,000 slaves were shipped across the Atlantic. [Note in original: Paul E. Lovejoy, "The Impact of the Atlantic Slave Trade on Africa: A Review of the Literature," in ''Journal of African History'' 30 (1989), p. 368.] ... It is widely conceded that further revisions are more likely to be upward than downward. }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/6445941.stm |title=Quick guide: The slave trade |accessdate=2007-11-23 |date=[[March 15]], [[2007]] |publisher=bbc.co.uk }}</ref> Of these, 5.4% (645,000) were brought to what is now the [[United States]].<ref>Stephen D. Behrendt, David Richardson, and David Eltis, [[W. E. B. Du Bois Institute|W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African-American Research]], [[Harvard University]]. Based on "records for 27,233 voyages that set out to obtain slaves for the Americas". {{cite book |last=Stephen Behrendt |title=Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience |year=1999 |publisher=Basic Civitas Books |location=New York |isbn=0-465-00071-1 |chapter=Transatlantic Slave Trade |quote= }}</ref> In addition to African slaves, poor Europeans were brought over in substantial numbers as [[indentured servant]]s, particularly in the British [[Thirteen colonies]].<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/ashorthistory/archive/intro99.shtml The curse of Cromwell]</ref> ==See also== {{col-begin}}{{col-2}} *[[Portuguese Empire]] *[[Spanish Empire]] *[[Pedro Álvares Cabral]] *[[Francisco Vasquez de Coronado]] *[[Hernán Cortés]] *[[Francisco Pizarro]] *[[Martín de Argüelles]] *[[Spanish conquest of Yucatán]] *[[Treaty of Tordesillas]] *[[Treaty of Alcáçovas]] *[[New Spain]] *[[Colonial Brazil]] {{col-break}} *[[Viceroyalty of Peru]] *[[Bandeirantes]] *[[Conquistador]] * [[Atlantic world]] * [[Colonialism]] * [[Immigration to the United States]] * [[Romanus Pontifex]] and [[Inter caetera]] * [[Columbian Exchange]] * [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas]] * [[Population history of American indigenous peoples]] * [[History of the west coast of North America]] * [[List of North American cities founded in chronological order]] {{col-end}} ==Notes== {{reflist}} ==References== *De Roo, Peter (1900). ''History of America before Columbus : according to documents and approved authors'', Philadelphia : J.B. Lippincott, 1900, [http://books.google.com/books?id=cLmFJL1wM6gC&vid=OCLC01736407&dq=%22+History+of+America+before+Columbus%22&jtp=iii vol. 1: ''American Aboriginies''] [http://books.google.com/books?as_brr=1&id=jwkGtlEJsScC&vid=OCLC01736407&dq=%22vatican+secret+archives%22&jtp=iii vol. 2: ''European Immigrants''] – [[Google Books]] *Starkey, Armstrong (1998). ''European-Native American Warfare, 1675-1815''. 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