European Colonization

What issues were involved in the European colonization of the New World from 1492-1640? How significant were these issues for the future course of U.S. History?

The world of Columbus, of 1492, may seem like a foreign country as well as another time, when comparing the new American nation of the 18th century to the European world of the 15th century. During the period from 1492-1640, the European powers were obsessed by trade, commodities, and racing to the New World in search of colonial dominion and gold. In contrast, America was interested in founding a new and enclosed national territory. However, Columbus' view of the native peoples, as quoted in Howard Zinns' A Peoples History of the United States illustrate that the initial encounters between Europeans and the natives of the land was to be a continuing limitation upon equitable relations between Anglo and Indian-Americans.

Columbus wrote of...
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