In 1492, while on expeditions to find new trade routes from Europe to Asia, Christopher Columbus, an Italian

explorer, accidentally discovered a "New World" that possessed all the natural wealth which the Europeans sought so
eagerly.
With great deposits of gold and other minerals as well as vast plains, valleys and mountains, this new land was viewed by
the Europeans as an enormous wilderness area with great economic potential, and thus became the land of dreams for those
who were longing for resources and wealth.
The first European country to conquer and colonize the New World was Spain. By 1512, the larger Caribbean islands were
occupied by the Spanish, with the first Spanish town established on the island of Hispaniola, and Santo Domingo becoming
the first capital of Spain's New World possessions. Other areas then settled by the Spanish were Cuba, Puerto Rico, and
Jamaica. Spanish conquistadors then sailed from the island harbors to explore the coasts and penetrate the continents. After
all, Spain possessed the largest land area of the colonial empires in the New World, including several islands in the West
Indies, all of Mexico, most of Central America; most of South America, and what are now Florida, California, and the U.S.
Southwest.
England also took part in the exploration and colonization of the Americas, and their most significant
establishment proved to be the 13 colonies along North America's Atlantic coastline. Following the success of the
Jamestown and Plymouth Colonies, the English gradually established colonies in the region that became known as New
England. Massachusetts Bay, another settlement established in 1629, was the landing place of the Mayflower and the
Pilgrims. As Massachusetts prospered and expanded, the settlers sought the new colonies in New England.
New Hampshire was another piece of New England to be formed in 1632. Connecticut and Rhode Island were formed in
1635 and 1636 respectively for people to have the opportunity to live and worship in accordance with their beliefs. Today,
New England also includes Maine and Vermont. In the Middle Colonies, New York was originally colonized by the Dutch
in 1626 with the name New Netherland, but then became an English colony in
1664. This colony also included the first permanent settlement in New Jersey.Delaware, as part of the Swedish colony in
New Sweden, was founded in 1638, and then became an English colony in 1664. In 1680, the Quakers settled
Pennsylvania, forming the last piece of the Middle Colonies. In the Southern Colonies, the English settled Maryland to the
north of Virginia in 1634 and Carolina in 1653 (later split into North Carolina and South Carolina in 1729). Georgia colony
was established in 1732 as a buffer zone between the British colonies and Spanish settlements in Florida. By the 17th
century, the English had taken the lead in colonizing North America with the formation of 13 colonies, which later became
the 13 original states of the United States of America.
France, one of the two northern Atlantic kingdoms besides England, began sending ships to explore and colonize the
Americas in the 17th century. In North America, France established a large colony called New France. Seeing the potential
for fur trading, the founder of Quebec in 1608, Samuel de Champlain, attempted to explore the region and to build up the
French fur trade with the help of the Huron Indians. Three years later, he established the beginning of a settlement on
Huron island, which is today the site of Montreal.
In 1682, René-Robert Cavelier - the most famous of all the explorers - had his expedition descended the
Mississippi River from the Illinois Territory to the Gulf of Mexico, and later claimed the entire territory for France.
Many other French permanent settlements in North America were founded including Detroit, St. Louis, Baton Rouge, and
New Orleans. Down to the Caribbean islands and South America, by 1664, France controlled 14 islands in the Caribbean,
with the principal possessions including St-Domingue (now Haiti), Martinique, Guadeloupe, and Dominica.
On the northeast coast of South America, after numerous changes in control alternating between France, Britain, the Dutch,
the Netherlands and Portugal, the colony of French Guiana was finally confirmed as French in 1817.