Learning

In 1492, a Spanish expedition headed by Columbus sailed to America to sell, buy, and rich spices and other goods. European conquest, exploration, and large-scale exploration and colonization soon followed. This first occurred along the Caribbean coasts on the islands of Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and Cuba, and since the early 16th century, extended into both North and South America. In 1497, sailing from the north on behalf of the England, John Cabot landed on the North American coast, and a year later, Columbus's third voyage reached the South American coast. Eventually, the entire Western Hemisphere came under the control of European governments, 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. The post-1492 era is known as the period of the Columbian Exchange. Early conquests, claims, and colonies Early state-sponsored colonists Economic immigrants The main purpose of this colony was the hope of finding gold or the possibility 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." 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 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 Anglicans, Dutch Calvinists, English Puritans, English Catholics, Scottish Presbyterians, French Huguenots, German and Swedish Lutherans, as well as Quakers, Mennonites, Amish, Moravians and Jews of various nationalities. Forced immigration Slavery existed in the Americas, prior to the presence of Europeans, as the Natives often captured and held other tribes' members as captives. Disease and indigenous population loss The European and Asian 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.Such diseases yielded human mortality of an unquestionably enormous gravity and scale – and this has profoundly confused efforts to determine its full extent with any true precision. Estimates of the pre-Columbian population of the Americas vary tremendously.