Americas

=== Large-scale European colonization ===
{{Main|European colonization of the Americas}}
[[File:Landing of Columbus (2).jpg|thumb|[[Christopher Columbus]] leads expedition to the New World, 1492.]]

Although there had been previous [[Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact theories|trans-oceanic contact]], large-scale European colonization of the Americas began with the first voyage of [[Christopher Columbus]] in 1492. The first Spanish settlement in the Americas was [[La Isabela]] in northern [[Hispaniola]]. This town was abandoned shortly after in favor of [[Santo Domingo|Santo Domingo de Guzmán]], founded in 1496, the oldest American city of European foundation. This was the base from which the Spanish monarchy administered its new colonies and their expansion. Santo Domingo was subject to frequent raids by English and French [[Piracy in the Caribbean|pirates]].

On the continent, [[Panama City]] on the Pacific coast of Central America, founded on August 15, 1519, played an important role, being the base for the Spanish conquest of South America. Conquistador [[Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón]] established [[San Miguel de Guadalupe]], the first European settlement in what is now the [[United States]], on the [[Pee Dee River]] in [[South Carolina]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lucas-Vazquez-de-Ayllon |website=Britannica|date=January 2024 }}</ref> During the first half of the 16th century, Spanish colonists conducted raids throughout the [[Caribbean Basin]], bringing captives from Central America, northern South America, and [[Florida]] back to Hispaniola and other Spanish settlements.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ldhi.library.cofc.edu/exhibits/show/african_laborers_for_a_new_emp/the_spanish_and_new_world_slav|title=The Spanish and New World Slavery · African Laborers for a New Empire: Iberia, Slavery, and the Atlantic World · Lowcountry Digital History Initiative|website=ldhi.library.cofc.edu}}</ref>

France, led by [[Jacques Cartier]] and [[Giovanni da Verrazzano]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Giovanni da Verrazzano |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Giovanni-da-Verrazzano |website=Britannica|date=January 2024 }}</ref> focused primarily on North America. English explorations of the Americas were led by [[John Cabot|Giovanni Caboto]]<ref>{{cite web |title=John Cabot |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Cabot |website=Britannica|date=December 14, 2023 }}</ref> and [[Sir Walter Raleigh]]. The Dutch in [[New Netherland]] confined their operations to Manhattan Island, Long Island, the Hudson River Valley, and what later became New Jersey. The spread of new diseases brought by Europeans and African slaves killed many of the inhabitants of North America and South America,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Thornton|first=Russell|year=1997|title=Aboriginal North American Population and Rates of Decline, c.a. A.D. 1500–1900|url=https://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?q=intitle%3AAboriginal+North+American+Population+and+Rates+of+Decline%2C+c.a.+A.D.+1500+-+1900&as_publication=Current+Anthropology&as_ylo=1997&as_yhi=1997&btnG=Search|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220328174355/https://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?q=intitle%3AAboriginal+North+American+Population+and+Rates+of+Decline%2C+c.a.+A.D.+1500+-+1900&as_publication=Current+Anthropology&as_ylo=1997&as_yhi=1997&btnG=Search|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 28, 2022|journal=Current Anthropology|volume=38|issue=2|pages=310–315|doi=10.1086/204615|jstor=00113204|s2cid=143901232}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Crosby|first=Alfred W.|s2cid=44458578|date=April 1976|title=Virgin Soil Epidemics as a Factor in the Aboriginal Depopulation in America|journal=William and Mary Quarterly|volume=33|issue=2|pages=289–299|doi=10.2307/1922166|jstor=1922166|pmid=11633588}}</ref> with a general [[Population history of indigenous peoples of the Americas|population crash of Native Americans]] occurring in the mid-16th century, often well ahead of European contact.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Dobyns|first=Henry F.|year=1993|title=Disease Transfer at Contact|journal=Annual Review of Anthropology|volume=22|issue=1|pages=273–291|doi=10.1146/annurev.an.22.100193.001421|jstor=2155849|author-link=Henry F. Dobyns}}</ref> One of the most devastating diseases was [[smallpox]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Smallpox |url=https://www.britannica.com/science/smallpox |website=Britannica|date=January 2, 2024 }}</ref>

European immigrants were often part of state-sponsored attempts to found colonies in the Americas. Migration continued as people moved to the Americas fleeing [[religious persecution]] or seeking economic opportunities. Millions of individuals were forcibly transported to the Americas as [[Slavery|slave]]s, prisoners or [[Indentured servitude|indentured servant]]s.

[[File:Americas independence map.PNG|thumb|right|Map showing the dates of independence from European powers. Black signifies areas that are [[dependent territory|dependent territories]] or parts of countries with a capital outside the Americas.]]

[[Decolonization of the Americas]] began with the [[American Revolution]] and the [[Haitian Revolution]] in the late 1700s. This was followed by numerous [[Latin American wars of independence]] in the early 1800s. Between 1811 and 1825, [[Paraguay]], [[Argentina]], [[Chile]], [[Gran Colombia]], the [[United Provinces of Central America]], [[Mexico]], [[Brazil]], [[Peru]], and [[Bolivia]] gained independence from Spain and Portugal in armed revolutions. After the [[Dominican War of Independence|Dominican Republic won independence from Haiti]], it was re-annexed by Spain in 1861, but reclaimed its independence in 1865 at the conclusion of the [[Dominican Restoration War]]. The last violent episode of decolonization was the [[Cuban War of Independence]] which became the [[Spanish–American War]], which resulted in the independence of [[Cuba]] in 1898, and the transfer of sovereignty over [[Puerto Rico]] from Spain to the United States.

Peaceful decolonization began with the United States's purchase of [[Louisiana Purchase|Louisiana from France]] in 1803, [[Adams–Onís Treaty|Florida from Spain]] in 1819, of [[Alaska purchase|Alaska from Russia]] in 1867, and the [[Treaty of the Danish West Indies|Danish West Indies from Denmark]] in 1916. [[Canada]] became independent of the United Kingdom, starting with the [[Balfour Declaration of 1926]], [[Statute of Westminster 1931]], and ending with the [[patriation of the Canadian Constitution]] in 1982. The [[Dominion of Newfoundland]] similarly achieved independence under the Balfour Declaration and Statute of Westminster, but relinquished self-rule in 1934.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/politics/commission-government.php | title=The Commission of Government, 1934-1949 |first1=Jeff A. |last1=Webb |date=March 2008 |website=Newfoundland Heritage |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231209010155/https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/politics/commission-government.php |archive-date= Dec 9, 2023 }}</ref> It was subsequently [[Newfoundland Act|confederated with Canada]] in 1949.

The remaining European colonies in the Caribbean began to achieve peaceful independence well after [[World War II]]. [[Jamaica]] and [[Trinidad and Tobago]] became independent in 1962, and [[Guyana]] and [[Barbados]] both achieved independence in 1966. In the 1970s, the [[Bahamas]], [[Grenada]], [[Dominica]], [[St. Lucia]], and [[St. Vincent and the Grenadines]] all became independent of the United Kingdom, and [[Suriname]] became independent of the Netherlands. [[Belize]], [[Antigua and Barbuda]], and [[Saint Kitts and Nevis]] achieved independence from the United Kingdom in the 1980s.