European colonization of America

Map of the territories in America claimed by major European powers in 1750.

While there has been some debate as to whether the prehistoric Clovis culture was of European origin, America's first recognized European colonists are Scandinavians who started colonization but then abandoned it. (See also: Vinland ).

Former government sponsored colonists

The first phase of modern European activities in this region began with the ocean crossing of Christopher Columbus , supported by the Catholic kings of Castile and Aragon (later Spain) who wanted to establish a copy of their empire in America. Columbus was followed by other explorers, such as Giovanni Caboto , who, supported by England , came to search for the riches that the Spaniards had found. Among the next settlers were Giovanni da Verrazzano , supported by France and, according to some German sources, Didrik Pining and the possibly mythical Pole Johannes Scolvus , who is said to have been supported by Denmark .

Inspired by the subjugation of the Aztecs , Incas, and other great Indian peoples in the 16th century, the early English expected the same when they established their first settlement in Jamestown, Virginia . The main purpose of this colony was the hope of finding gold or the possibility (or impossibility) of finding passage through America to India. It took some strong leaders like John Smith to convince the Jamestown colonists that the search for gold should not be their basic need and that "he who does not work should not eat" (that is a commandment from the New Will .)

Overall, at the beginning of the colonial period there was a strong drive to come to America for its potential fortunes, but in fact those fortunes were few and far between. There was no particular reason for the settlers to leave England; just the overwhelming prospect of extreme wealth and the incipient persecution of Catholics after the adoption of Protestantism as the state religion. Although these attempts to amass wealth were unsuccessful, they led to the first permanent European settlements in what is now the United States.

The ocean crossings were followed by a phase of conquest, especially in the case of Spain: the Spaniards, who had just won the Reconquista against the Muslims on the Iberian Peninsula , replaced the local American oligarchies and forcibly introduced a new religion: Christianity . European diseases and cruel forced labor (the haciendas and the mining industry) decimated the Indian population. Black African slaves were introduced to replace the Indians. On the other hand, the Spaniards did not force the introduction of their language to the same extent and the Catholic Church evangelized in the Indian languages Quechua , Nahuatl and Guaraní , thus helping to spread them and providing them with a script. One of the first schools for Indians was founded in 1523 by Brother Pedro de Grante .

The Portuguese deviated from their original plan of only establishing trading posts in favor of extensive colonization of what is now Brazil .

Religious immigration

Other colonist groups came to America in search of asylum , to practice a religion without the threat of persecution, or in search of a refuge to establish a new and more godly settlement where full consensus on theological issues could be found. After the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century and the new and apparently radical doctrine of Calvinism , some Europeans began to deviate from their orthodox ways. Many churches and denominations formed, leading to major disagreements and tensions among Europeans as a whole. Sharp persecution began in some areas, such as by the Elizabethan Protestant forces in Catholic Ireland . But it was mostly less drastic circumstances that drove people out of Europe. The freedom of the pristine land was attractive to those who wanted to escape persecution, and with the help of a charter , groups had the right to the land and the right to live as they saw best. Some colonies were established as harbors for certain religious groups, while others provided a refuge for any group who wanted to pray, believe and live according to their own way. Other settlements, such as Pennsylvania , were designed to provide a safe haven for certain groups (such as the Quakers ), but were also opened to other denominations and complete religious freedom. The stories of these successful colonies overshadowed the stories of American persecution (such as the case of Anne Hutchinson ) and lured the suffering people away from the Old World.

Economic immigrants

Many of the other immigrants from the American colonies came for economic reasons. From the beginning of the English settlement until the 1680s, the majority of the immigrants were contract workers looking for a new life in the overseas colonies. For example, contract workers made up three-quarters of all European immigrants in the Chesapeake Bay region during the 17th century . Most of the tied laborers were originally English farm laborers who had been driven from their land because of the expansion of the livestock industry. This unfortunate turn of events served as the motor for hundreds of thousands (mostly single men) to leave England. There was hope, however, because American landowners needed workers and were willing to pay the workers the passage if they worked for them for several years. This prospect attracted many single, homeless farm workers looking for a fresh start and a way to escape poverty in a rich country. However, the lives of these employees were tough. They had to watch the available land being taken over by others while their service time passed very slowly and the work became more and more arduous. Furthermore, these many men could not find enough suitable women to start families with. Although the life of these contract workers was tough, they made up a large part of the national population and began to climb the social ladder.

In the British and French regions, the focus soon began to shift from resource exploitation to trading with the Indians. The Russians did the same on the northwest coast of North America. After the Seven Years War , Great Britain captured all French possessions in North America.

Forced immigration

Slavery under European rule began with the importation of white European slaves (or tied laborers), followed by the enslavement of " natives " in the Caribbean . When the indigenous population had been decimated by disease, it was replaced by Africans who were imported through a large-scale slave trade . Since the 18th century, black slaves made up the overwhelming proportion of the slaves, while European and Native American slaves were less common. The Africans brought on slave ships were driven from their African homeland by tribes living on the coast and captured and brought to America by slave traders who paid for the tribes living on the coast with rum kegs . A total of 400,000 Africans were brought to America as slaves. And because of the good business, they streamed into the ports of Charleston (South Carolina) and Newport (Rhode Island) after the American Revolutionary War .

literature

Friedrich Edelmayer , Bernd Hausberger , Michael Weinzierl (eds.): The two Americas. The New World under colonial rule (= historical social studies . Supplement 7). Brandes and Apsel, Frankfurt am Main a. a. 1996, ISBN 3-86099-167-1 .