The history of the 13 American colonies that would become the first 13 states of the United States dates to 1492 when Christopher Columbus discovered what he thought was a New World, but was really North America, which along with its indigenous population and culture, had been there all along.
Spanish Conquistadors and Portuguese explorers soon used the continent as a base for expanding their nations’ global empires. France and the Dutch Republic joined in by exploring and colonizing northern regions of North America.
England moved to stake its claim in 1497 when explorer John Cabot, sailing under the British flag, landed on the east coast of what is now America.
Twelve years after sending Cabot on a second but fatal voyage to America King Henry VII died, leaving the throne to his son, King Henry VIII. Henry VIII had more interest in marrying and executing wives and warring with France than in global expansion. Following the deaths of Henry VIII and his frail son Edward, Queen Mary I took over and spent most of her days executing Protestants. With the death of “Bloody Mary,” Queen Elizabeth I ushered in the English golden age, fulfilling the promise of the entire Tudor royal dynasty.
Under Elizabeth I, England began to profit from transatlantic trade, and after defeating the Spanish Armada expanded its global influence. In 1584, Elizabeth I commissioned Sir Walter Raleigh to sail towards Newfoundland where he founded the colonies of Virginia and Roanoke, the so-called “Lost Colony.” While these early settlements did little to establish England as a global empire, they set the stage for Elizabeth’s successor, King James I.
