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The Americas
Beginnings to 1607

Typus orbis terrarum_Voorhees055_03.jpg

The study of American history begins more than 30,000 years ago with the arrival of the first peoples on the continent. Ancient societies existed in both North and South America, and would interact differently with European colonial powers. While the Vikings forayed onto American soil first, it was the late 15th century Columbian voyages that truly set the stage for the clash of cultures. These conquistadors were met with native populations undergoing their own changes and growth, which would be drastically altered by the arrival of more and more Europeans. The previous years of economic growth, scientific innovation, and religious conflict led to an increase in global exploration, the development of colonial systems in the Americas, and the introduction of enslaved Africans to both continents.

Indigenous peoples were displaced, often by force, as Europeans colonized the continent. Europe developed the first trans-oceanic empires, a system that would continue far past the American Revolution. Economic and commercial growth increased with the introduction of new natural resources and new labor forces. While Western Europe moved away from the idea of slavery and serfdom, these ideas had already taken hold in the American South.

 Learn more in the National U.S. History Content Standards.

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Typus Orbis Terrarum (Map of the World), 1607

Gerard Mercator (1512–1594) was born in Flanders, now known as Belgium. The son of a shoemaker, he graduated in 1532 from the University of Louvain, where he studied astronomy, geography, and mathematics. Afterwards he worked as an engraver,…

Americae Pars, Nunc Virginia Dicta (That Part of America, Now Called Virginia) Map, 1590

This map engraved by Theodor de Bry (1528–1598) was published in 1590 to accompany his reprint of Thomas Harriot's A Brief and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia, which he issued in Latin, German, French, and English to ensure the book…

Sir Walter Raleigh, Portrait

Sir Walter Raleigh (ca. 1552–1618) was an English explorer, soldier, writer, and a favorite at the court of Queen Elizabeth I, who granted him a charter to explore North America. Although he sponsored the attempts in the 1580s to colonize Roanoke…

Captain John Smith, Map of Virginia

This map is attributed to Captain John Smith (1580–1631) and is one of the earliest representations of Virginia. Smith began a three-month exploration of the Chesapeake Bay and its adjacent waterways in June 1608. He interacted with Indigenous…