Discoveryof the New Continent   

    In 1492, financed by the Spanish monarch,Christopher Columbus, an Italian navigator, sailed west in search of a newtrade route to India. He failed to reach India,but found the islands of the Caribbean instead. Columbus called the natives on the islands Indians as he believed he had reached India. Following in hisfootsteps, Amerigo Vespucci, another Italian navigator, discovered thecontinent of South America. This newly-found continent was later named after him and became known as America.

Settlementof Colonies

    European countries developed colonies to generate income. Beginning in 1519, Spain, Portugal, France, the Netherlands,and England established colonies in the Americas. They used colonies to provide raw materials for trade and to serve as markets for finished products,developing the colonies in their own ways. Among these European invaders, only the English established colonies of agricultural settlers, whose interests inNative Americans was more about the acquisition of land, rather than abouttrade.

EarlyEnglish Colonies

    In the year of 1588, the English Navy helda noteworthy victory, as it destroyed the Spanish Armada and controlled some sea routes leading to America. This marked a turning point in American history,for the English immigrants became the most important colonists in NorthAmerica. This led to the establishment of the 13 English-American colonies. 

    The first successful English colony was founded at Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. This region soon developed from itstobacco crop, which had a big market in England. By 1620, great plantations had already risen and the population had increased to a thousand.

“Pilgrims”from the Europe

    In 1620, some Puritans set sail for Americaon a ship called Mayflower（五月花号）, so as to escape from religious persecution（宗教迫害） at home.They called themselves “pilgrims” as they research for religious freedom in the New World. When landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts, the pilgrims were not wellprepared to live in such a wild place. During their first winter, half of them were dead because of the cold weather and poor food. At that time, it was theNative Americans who helped them in many ways. The Native Americans showed them what crops were safe to eat and how to plant, and guided them how to go through the wild forests. All these made it possible for the settlers to live in their strange new homes.

First13 English Colonies

    By 1750 the population of the 13 colonies increased to more than one million. The colonies were divided into threegroups: the New England Colonies, the Mid-Atlantic Colonies, and the Southern Colonies.

    The New England Colonies, covering NewHampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, became a center for lumbering（木材业）, fishing, and shipping. New England has no advantage in developingagriculture, so people harnessed waterpower to establish sawmills（锯木厂）; encouraged shipbuilding by timber（木材） resource;and relied on labors and fishery resource to promote trade. From the mid-17thcentury, it grew prosperous, and Boston became one of America’s greatest ports.

    The Mid-Atlantic Colonies, composed of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware, became a region of small farms. Farming here is much easier than itwas in New England. People were able to provide food for themselves and to sendto the other colonies. Some big cities, such as New York and Philadelphia,became the thriving centers of colonial America within a commercial atmosphere.

     The Southern Colonies, which consist of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, developed a plantation（种植园） system with the exploitation of slave labor. By the late 17th century, the southern planters held most of the political power and the best land, built great houses, and adopted an aristocratic way of life.