European Colonization of the Americas free essay sample

European Colonization of the Americas It is largely believed that the Vikings were the first citizens to arrive in the Americas. They were a Scandinavian tribe of explorers that migrated from Greenland setting up several colonies in their travels. Following the exploration of the Vikings Christopher Columbus â€Å"founded† the Americas. The journey of Columbus to the continent made way for the rapid expansion of the Americas by European settlers. During the 19th century around 50 million people left Europe for the Americas. Disease Population Loss Disease was a widespread epidemic during the time of primitive medicine. Unclean conditions paired with a lack of knowledge about the spread of disease allowed for a highly contagious setting. Early settlers of European and Asian decent found it commonplace to share living quarters with animals, thus leading to epidemic conditions for most settlers. Small pox, typhus, influenza, and measles among other diseases were brought to the Americas during the expansion. We will write a custom essay sample on European Colonization of the Americas or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page These diseases were responsible for killing between 10 and 20 million people or around 95% of the natives. Early Conquests, Claims, and Colonies The first conquests of the Americas were made by the Spanish and Portuguese. Spanish and Portuguese settlers divided South America. England and France tried to colonize the Americas but failed. Soon after this attempt however with the combined efforts of the Netherlands France and England were able to succeed in taking over the Caribbean’s. As the push to colonize became stronger violent attacks became the norm. Fierce competition for territory pinned colonies against each other. Forced immigration Slavery was a part of the Americas long before the Europeans settled here. Native Americans often captured members of other tribes and enslaved them for themselves. The Aztecs would often use their slaves for human sacrifices as a part of their religious traditions. The Spanish started their slavery with the Natives of the area called the aborigines. Soon slavery spread to the Europeans also capturing natives and using them for slaves. The population of the natives drops dramatically because of slavery. When there were not enough natives to fulfill the needs of the Europeans they started buying and trading items for Africans that had been brought here from their tribes in Africa via ships. 300,000 to 400,000 black slaves came into Charleston, South Carolina, and Newport and were traded or sold to the highest bidder. Total slave trade is estimated to be around 12 million Africans.