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Oct 12, 1492
Columbus Discovers America
Columbus and 90 men sailed out on the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria to reach "Asia".Instead they landed in the Americas. -
Jan 1, 1510
Vasco Nunez De Balboa
Vasco Nunez De balboa explored the caribean coast of what is now Panama. he became the first European to set eyes on the Pacific Ocean. -
Jan 1, 1513
Juan Ponce De Leon
Ponce De Leon sailed from Puerto Rico north to check out a reported large island.Upon finding beautiful flowers he named the place La Florida.He became the first spainiard to set foot in present day United States. -
Jan 1, 1517
Human Trade
the death toll for Native Americans was rising,causing the Spanish colonists to look across the Atlantic Ocean for a new source of labor. Spain brought four thousand africans to the Caribbean Islands forcing them to work. by the middle fifteen hundreds 2,000 enslaved africans were being shipped to Hispaniola alone. -
Jan 1, 1519
Cortes
Conquistador Henando Cortes sailed from Cuba to Mexico with more then five hundred soldiers. the first Native Americans he encountered presented him with gold.Cortes marched into Tenochtitlan as the spainiards moved farther in the capital city. Native Americans joined them. Cortes held and executed the aztec leader Moctezuma -
Sep 1, 1519
Ferdinand Magellan
Portugese explorer Ferdinand Magellan set out to find an Atlantic Pacific Passage.His small fleet slowly moved down the South American coast looking for a strait.He became the first person to circumnavigate the entire earth. -
Jan 1, 1550
Bartolome de Las Casas
Bartolome de Las Casas was a priest that traveled through New Spain working for reform. The government of Spain ordered reform of the encomienda system -
The Spanish Armada
King Phillip II assembled a fleet of 130 warships, the Spanish Armada.The smaller and faster English ships sank many of the Spanish ships. Barely half of the ships returned to Spain. -
Samuel de Champlain
In 1603 Samuel de Champlain made the first of 11 voyages to explore the lands along the St. Lawrence River. He established a settlement on the banks of the St. lawrence RIver he named Quebec. He explored the large lake on the border of Vermont. -
Henry Hudson
English explorer Henry Hudson made four voyages in search of the northwest passage. he made two voyages in the Artic Ocean. His English backers gave up on him. The Dutch grew interested in his activities and financed his third expidition. He crossed the Atlantic into New York. His fourth voyage again sailed into the Artic. -
John Smith
John Smith was sent from London to lead the colony of Jamestown. He made tough new rules for Jamestown. Under Smith's new leadership. the colonists cut timber, buildings and planted crops. To get more food, they raided Native Americans.He then had a starving time in Jamestown. By the spring of 1610, 60 colonists were still alive. -
The Mayflower Compact I
In September of 1620, about 100 pilgrims sailed to VIrginia aboard the Mayflower. After the long voyage they landed safley in North America, however strong winds blew them of course and they were farther North in Massachusetts, they called it Plymouth, after a port in England. Since they were outside Virginia the Pilgrims believed they werent bound by the laws of The Virginia Company. Because rules were needed 41 adult men signed the Mayflower compact before going ashore. -
The Mayflower Compact II
This compact called for a goverment that would follow and make "just and equal laws", their colony's adult males would elect the officeholders. -
Thomas Hooker
He was a minister who disagreed with the Puritan leaders. Because of this he left Massachusetts with about 100 other people and settled in what today is Connecticut.While there he founded the town of Hartford. Many people followed and sonn Connecticut had several new settlements.Then,in 1639 the colonists made up the Fundemental Orders of Connecticut which established a government where there was a legislature and governor. They then recieved an official charter to self-government from the king. -
John Wheelright
Wheelright was yet another forced to leave Massachusetts. He got in trouble because he too agreed with some of Anne Hutchinson's views. So,he and some other followers moved to New Hampshire where they founded the town of Exeter. For awhile Massachusetts tried to control New Hampshire until 1680 when they recieved a charter from the king to become a seperate colony. -
Jacques Marquette
Jaques Marquette had founded two missions along the Great Lakes. Marqutte had looked for the Northwest Passage. but was unsucessful. His river exploration was finished in 1682. -
Anne Hutchinson
A woman who lived in Boston questioned a few of the Puritan teachings. This was deemed "unaceptable" so she was put on trial and then expelled from Massachusetts. Hutchinson then established her own settlement on an island which was part of what today is Rhode Island. In 1642 she traveled even farther North into present day New York.
