Visual Timeline: European Colonization of the Americas

To navigate the timeline, click and drag it with your mouse, or click on the timeline overview on the bottom.

900 CE 1000 CE 1100 CE 1200 CE 1300 CE 1400 CE 1500 CE 1600 CE  
 
980 CE - 1030 CE: Norse settlement established in Newfoundland, North America, by Leif Erikson.
 
1453 CE: The Ottoman Empire closes the overland Silk Road trade routes between Europe and the East, initiating the European Age of Discovery.
 
1492 CE - 1504 CE: Christopher Columbus makes four voyages to the New World; opens the way for European colonization of the Americas.
 
1500 CE: Brazil is claimed for Portugal by Pedro Álvares Cabral.
 
 
1519 CE - 1521 CE: Hernán Cortés of Spain conquers the Aztec nation of Mexico.
 
 
1534 CE - 1535 CE: North American region of Canada claimed for France by Jacques Cartier.
 
 
1572 CE: The Inca of South America are conquered by Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro.
 
 
1587 CE - 1590 CE: English colony of Roanoke in North America established and fails.
 
 
1607 CE - 1608 CE: English Popham colony established in present day state of Maine, North America; fails after 14 months.
 
 
1607 CE - 1699 CE: Colony of Jamestown succeeds as the first permanent English settlement in North America.
 
 
1609 CE - 1624 CE: Hudson River Valley and parts of present-day New York State and Canada claimed by Henry Hudson for the Netherlands.
 
 
1620 CE - 1691 CE: Plymouth Colony established in modern-day Massachusetts, North America; foundational colony of the later United States.
 
 
1697 CE: The conquest of the Maya Civilization completed by the Spanish conquistador Martín de Ursúa.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
900 CE 1000 CE 1100 CE 1200 CE 1300 CE 1400 CE 1500 CE 1600 CE