Hi there. My name is Maya and welcome to US history 2: the Colonization of the U.S. In this video, you'll learn all about how Europe first colonized what we now know as the United States of America.
In the early 1500s following Christopher
Columbus's discoveries Spain became the
first country to colonize parts of
America this meant they were the first
ones to send over settlers and claim
control for their country they focused
mainly on South America but also began
to explore parts of North America the
first permanent European settlement in
the U.S. was created in 1565 by
Pedro Menéndez de Avilé in st. Augustine Florida
the Spanish continued to explore parts
of what are now New Mexico and Texas as
well however at the time they left the
majority of North America untouched by
anyone but the Native Americans due to
foreign diseases in the area it wasn't
long until other European countries
became aware of the uncolonized land and
sailed off to try to claim some as their
own while the French sent ships to
explore the East Coast leading into
modern-day Canada the English focused on
parts of the US the Spanish weren't
occupying Sir Humphrey Gilbert was the
first man sent by the English in an
effort to colonize America while his
attempt was unsuccessful
his half-brother Sir Walter Raleigh set
up the first English colony in 1585
named Virginia after the current Queens
nickname as the Virgin Queen
unfortunately this colony couldn't last
as the supplies sent from England never
reached their destination making
England's first successes at
colonization short-lived
however in the early 1600s the English
been a much stronger push towards
colonizing America their population was
growing leaving them with a need for
more space and jobs so King James sent a group called the
Virginia company to sail off in an
effort to establish a more permanent
presence where Sir Walter Raleigh and
his brother had failed in 1607 their
ships arrived by the James River and
they set up the first permanent English
colony Jamestown a colonist by the name
of John Smith led this colony in
negotiations with the nearby Native
Americans and the colonists worked
tirelessly to set up a fully functioning
system there they started tobacco
plantations and learned the lay of the
land from the natives during this time
Smith was captured by the Powerton tribe
and legend has it that he was rescued by
the Chiefs daughter you may have heard
of her as her famous story was made into a Disney movie
Pocahontas as Jamestown and Virginia
continued to persevere another group
made their way to the colonies the
pilgrims because they were not a part of
the English church they went looking for
a new home and arrived in the Mayflower
at Plymouth Rock in 1620 although many
of their group couldn't survive the
winter the Native Americans taught as
many as they could how to grow crops and
survive the different terrain and
weather we now celebrate the partnership
between the Pilgrims and the Native
Americans each year at Thanksgiving in
the following years the English managed
to settle a total of 13 colonies along
the east coast Rhode Island Connecticut
Massachusetts New Hampshire Delaware New
York Pennsylvania New Jersey Maryland
Virginia North Carolina South Carolina
and Georgia each colony offered more
opportunities for different groups from
England to settle and start fresh but
they also offer new challenges as the
colonists began to get a taste for
freedom from the British monarchs if you
want to learn more about how the
colonists came to rebel in the great
Revolutionary War check out our third us
history video the Revolutionary War and
the Declaration of Independence.
