History › Early modern › Columbus's voyage to the Americas
European colonies in North America
St. Augustine 1565 (Spanish); Jamestown 1607; Quebec 1608; Plymouth 1620· Empire, kingdom or state· Americas & Oceania
Well documentedSolid records, physical evidence or scientific consensus.
From 1565 Spain, France, England and the Netherlands planted colonies in North America, displacing Native nations and laying foundations for Canada and the United States.
See it on the History map →What happened
Spain founded St. Augustine in Florida in 1565 and Santa Fe in 1610. England's Jamestown (1607) survived by growing tobacco; Pilgrims and Puritans settled New England from 1620. France founded Quebec in 1608 and traded furs along the St. Lawrence and Mississippi. The Dutch built New Amsterdam, which England took in 1664 and renamed New York. Britain won Canada from France in 1763. By 1775 the thirteen British colonies held about 2.5 million people, roughly a fifth enslaved.
Why it matters
These colonies grew the self-government, slavery and religious diversity of the future United States and Canada, while war, disease and land seizures shattered Native nations.
How we know
Colony charters, letters and town records, archaeology at Jamestown and St. Augustine, Native oral histories, and colonial censuses and trade accounts.
Still debated
What became of England's 'Lost Colony' at Roanoke, whose settlers vanished after 1587, is still unknown.
Connections (3)
▸Atlantic slave trade supplied forced labor to European colonies in North AmericaWell documented
The connection
Enslaved Africans reached Virginia in 1619 and became the main labor force on tobacco, rice and indigo plantations in the Chesapeake and the Carolinas. Northern merchants and shippers also profited. Mainland North America received about 400,000 Africans directly, a small share of the total, but the enslaved population grew by natural increase to about 500,000 by 1775.
When and how
Point Comfort, Virginia, 1619, then Charleston, Newport and other ports; British and colonial traders, until the US banned imports in 1808.
How we know
Port records, the SlaveVoyages database, colonial censuses and plantation records; John Rolfe's letter records the 1619 arrival of 'twenty and odd' Africans.
Debates and open questions
Whether the first Africans in Virginia were treated as slaves or indentured servants is debated, as is when lifelong, race-based slavery became fixed in law.
▸European colonies in North America included the thirteen that launched the American RevolutionWell documented
The connection
Of Europe's many North American colonies, Spanish, French, Dutch and British, the thirteen British ones on the Atlantic coast had their own elected assemblies, used to taxing themselves. When Britain, after beating France in 1763, had Parliament tax them directly, they united and rebelled. Quebec, Nova Scotia, Florida and the Caribbean colonies stayed loyal.
When and how
From Jamestown (1607) to the Stamp Act (1765) and Boston Tea Party (1773); the thirteen, from New Hampshire to Georgia, then held about 2.5 million people.
How we know
Colonial assembly records, the Stamp Act Congress of 1765, Continental Congress journals, and the Declaration itself, which speaks for the 'united colonies.'
Debates and open questions
Why the thirteen rebelled while nearby Quebec, Nova Scotia and the rich Caribbean sugar islands did not is still discussed.
▸Protestant Reformation sent religious refugees to European colonies in North AmericaWell documented
The connection
Groups persecuted or dissatisfied after the Reformation sought freedom to worship their own way. Separatist Pilgrims founded Plymouth in 1620; Puritans built Massachusetts Bay from 1630. French Huguenots, English Catholics in Maryland (1634), Quakers in Pennsylvania (1681) and German Mennonites followed. Their churches, schools and town meetings shaped American culture.
When and how
From England, France, the Netherlands and German lands to New England, Maryland and Pennsylvania, 1620–1700s; leaders like William Bradford, John Winthrop and William Penn.
How we know
Colonists' own writings, such as Bradford's 'Of Plymouth Plantation' and Winthrop's sermons, plus colony charters and church records.
Debates and open questions
Many settlers came mainly for land or work, so how much religion drove migration overall is debated; many founders were intolerant of other faiths.