The age of Exploration 1492-1624: First colonies of the 5 main colonial countries

In August of 1492 Christopher Columbus sailed out to India. He was hoping to find a new trade route by going the other way around the world. This led to him discovering the Americas. Christopher Columbus arrived back in Spain on March 15, 1493 and told the king and Queen about the silver and Indians he had found on the island. So Spain set sail to the Americas and started establishing colonies.

Once word got out about the new continent, other countries started sailing there to get land and resources. Portugal was the second country to set sail to the Americas, and established the colony of Brazil on April 22, 1500. France established Port Royal in 1605. The English established Jamestown in 1607. The Netherlands established New Amsterdam in 1624.