European Colonization of the Americas Timeline

Search Results

  • c. 980 - c. 1030
    Norse settlement established in Newfoundland, North America, by Leif Erikson.
  • 1453
    The Ottoman Empire closes the overland Silk Road trade routes between Europe and the East, initiating the European Age of Discovery.
  • 1492 - 1504
    Christopher Columbus makes four voyages to the New World; opens the way for European colonization of the Americas.
  • 1500
    Brazil is claimed for Portugal by Pedro Álvares Cabral.
  • 1519 - 1521
    Hernán Cortés of Spain conquers the Aztec nation of Mexico.
  • 1534 - 1535
    North American region of Canada claimed for France by Jacques Cartier.
  • 1572
    The Inca of South America are conquered by Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro.
  • 1587 - 1590
    English colony of Roanoke in North America established and fails.
  • 1607 - 1608
    English Popham colony established in present day state of Maine, North America; fails after 14 months.
  • 1607 - 1699
    Colony of Jamestown succeeds as the first permanent English settlement in North America.
  • 1609 - 1624
    Hudson River Valley and parts of present-day New York State and Canada claimed by Henry Hudson for the Netherlands.
  • 1620 - 1691
    Plymouth Colony established in modern-day Massachusetts, North America; foundational colony of the later United States.
  • 1697
    The conquest of the Maya Civilization completed by the Spanish conquistador Martín de Ursúa.
Membership