1、The start of the European colonization of the Americas is typically dated to 1492, when a Spanish expedition headed by Christopher Columbus sailed for India to sell, buy, and trade spices & other goods.He went on this voyage under the protection of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, who were searching
2、for wealth through the establishment of colonies and trade routes.On this trip, they landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts, accidentally discovering what is now North America.Soon after this discovery came European conquest, exploration, and colonization.When Columbus and his fellow explorers arrived in
3、 the New World, they were faced with pre-existing Native communities.As “conquerors,” the explorers believed that the Natives land belonged to them.The explorers took the land from the Native American peoples, stealing their treasures, and taking them as slaves.As the European explorers took the Nat
4、ives land, they also took countless Native lives in a wide-spread genocideA huge percentage of Native American lives were also taken by diseases, such as small pox: never introduced to “Old World” diseases, the Natives had no immunity against them, so they had no chance to survive.By the time the Eu
5、ropean settlers arrived between 1600-1650, the Native population was 80% destroyed due to disease and genocide.In the early to mid 17th century, European settlers began immigrating to America to further colonize the area.Arriving after the first explorers, they travelled to the New World to establis
6、h permanent residence and to build their families.In American folklore, the settlers that travelled to the New World are often referred to as “pioneers.”These pioneers sought to settle in land that was not already developed by European or American society (although the land may have been inhabited b
7、y native peoples.)The American pioneer is an iconic figure that is most often used in tales of the West, as the Eastern parts of America had already been discovered.The pioneer gave way to the figure of the cowboy, which later turned to the story of the American frontier, or more popularly, the Wild
8、 West.In 1846, a war began between the US and Mexico.As the war came to an end around 1849, gold was discovered in the north of California, and the word spread worldwide.Thousands of people made their way to California in search of gold: many sailed around South America, took a short cut through Pan
9、ama, or they walked the California trail.By 1852, the population of California was up from 10,000 to over 200,000 !The rush to California brought many different types of people, including precious metal specialists, doctors, saloonkeepers, gamblers, prostitutes, and thousands of miners.During the 5
10、years of the California Gold Rush, over 250,000 miners found a total of more than $200 million in gold.As thousands arrived, however, fewer and fewer miners struck their fortune, and most ended exhausted and broke.The communities that were built during the time of the gold rush were very primitive.A
11、t the time, supplies were expensive and the food was poor, so the “Forty-Niners” diets consisted mostly of pork, beans, and whiskey.These communities were impermanent, and made up of mostly men; there was a high level of violence, drunkenness, profanity, and greed-driven behaviour.There were many Am
12、erican-Indian wars during this time, and the Forty-Niners often had to fight off “Indian” cattle thieves. There was no proper law system in place, so the members of the community often acted as vigilantes, giving harsher punishment to the “Indians” of the land. The types of men that lived in California during the gold rush were the basis of the “cowboy” and “pioneer of the west” figures.People began to mythologize the story of the West, creating stereotypes of “courageous cowboys” and “savage Indians.”
