NativeAmericansandEuropeansettlers

　　TheindigenouspeoplesoftheU.S.mainland,includingAlaskaNatives,arebelievedtohavemigratedfromAsia,beginningbetween12,000and40,000yearsago.Some,suchasthepre-ColumbianMississippianculture,developedadvancedagriculture,grandarchitecture,andstate-levelsocieties.AfterEuropeansbegansettlingtheAmericas,manymillionsofindigenousAmericansdiedfromepidemicsofimporteddiseasessuchassmallpox.

　　In1492,GenoeseexplorerChristopherColumbus,undercontracttotheSpanishcrown,reachedseveralCaribbeanislands,makingfirstcontactwiththeindigenouspeople.OnApril2,1513,SpanishconquistadorJuanPoncedeLeónlandedonwhathecalled"LaFlorida"—thefirstdocumentedEuropeanarrivalonwhatwouldbecometheU.S.mainland.Spanishsettlementsintheregionwerefollowedbyonesinthepresent-daysouthwesternUnitedStatesthatdrewthousandsthroughMexico.FrenchfurtradersestablishedoutpostsofNewFrancearoundtheGreatLakes;FranceeventuallyclaimedmuchoftheNorthAmericaninterior,downtotheGulfofMexico.ThefirstsuccessfulEnglishsettlementsweretheVirginiaColonyinJamestownin1607andthePilgrims'PlymouthColonyin1620.The1628charteringoftheMassachusettsBayColonyresultedinawaveofmigration;by1634,NewEnglandhadbeensettledbysome10,000Puritans.Betweenthelate1610sandtheAmericanRevolution,about50,000convictswereshippedtoBritain'sAmericancolonies.Beginningin1614,theDutchsettledalongthelowerHudsonRiver,includingNewAmsterdamonManhattanIsland.

　　In1674,theDutchcededtheirAmericanterritorytoEngland;theprovinceofNewNetherlandwasrenamedNewYork.Manynewimmigrants,especiallytotheSouth,wereindenturedservants—sometwo-thirdsofallVirginiaimmigrantsbetween1630and1680.Bytheturnofthe18thcentury,Africanslaveswerebecomingtheprimarysourceofbondedlabor.Withthe1729divisionoftheCarolinasandthe1732colonizationofGeorgia,thethirteenBritishcoloniesthatwouldbecometheUnitedStatesofAmericawereestablished.Allhadlocalgovernmentswithelectionsopentomostfreemen,withagrowingdevotiontotheancientrightsofEnglishmenandasenseofself-governmentstimulatingsupportforrepublicanism.AlllegalizedtheAfricanslavetrade.Withhighbirthrates,lowdeathrates,andsteadyimmigration,thecolonialpopulationgrewrapidly.TheChristianrevivalistmovementofthe1730sand1740sknownastheGreatAwakeningfueledinterestinbothreligionandreligiousliberty.IntheFrenchandIndianWar,BritishforcesseizedCanadafromtheFrench,butthefrancophonepopulationremainedpoliticallyisolatedfromthesoutherncolonies.ExcludingtheNativeAmericans(popularlyknownas"AmericanIndians"),whowerebeingdisplaced,thosethirteencolonieshadapopulationof2.6millionin1770,aboutone-thirdthatofBritain;nearlyoneinfiveAmericanswereblackslaves.ThoughsubjecttoBritishtaxation,theAmericancolonialshadnorepresentationintheParliamentofGreatBritain.