The Discovery of the New World and the Spanish C...
On October 12，1492，the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus landed on a Caribbean island.Believing that he had arrived in the Indies，a name that Europeans used to refer to southeastern Asia and the Indian subcontinent at that time，he referred to the native people he found there as“Indians”.He brought some of the natives back with him to present to the Spanish King and Queen who had sponsored his voyage.Later，Amerigo Vespucci，another Italian navigator in the service of the Spanish monarchs，explored the northern and eastern coast of the South American Continent from 1499 to 1502.He found that the islands where Columbus arrived were not the Indies，and were previously unknown to Europeans.For this reason，the Europeans called these lands the New World，in spite of the fact that the native peoples had lived there for thousands of years and had highly⁃developed civilizations.Later，the Caribbean islands became known as the West Indies and the continent was named America to honor Amerigo Vespucci.However，the native peoples continued to be referred to as“Indians”.Today they are officially called Native Americans.
Indians had lived in America long before Columbus arrived.Archaeologists believe that they migrated to America from Asia across a land bridge where the Bering Strait is located today.The land bridge connected Asia and Alaska during the periods between 36，000 and 32，000 years ago and between 22，000 and 17，000 years ago.It is believed that it was during the second period that nomadic hunters from Siberia first migrated across that bridge in pursuit of big animals.It is estimated that at the time of Columbus’discovery of America，there were about 50 million Indians living in the Americas.
Soon after the discovery of the New World，the Spanish，enticed by the gold and silver mines in the Americas，began a war of conquest and established an empire there which they called New Spain.The Spanish conquered the Aztec Empire（in today’s central Mexico）whose capital had a population of approximately 200，000 people.They also subjugated the Inca Empire in South America（modern Peru）and destroyed the Mayan civilization in Central America.The native people were killed in large numbers both in battles and by European diseases such as measles and smallpox.Many of those who survived were enslaved.It is estimated that when Columbus discovered America，there were about 25 million native people in today’s Mexico alone.But within a century after the Spanish conquest，the native population in Mexico had dropped to around 2 million.Indians in other parts of the Americas suffered similar consequences whenever they came into contact with Europeans.They brought so much gold and silver back to Spain that Europe experienced monetary inflation in the late 16th century and early 17th century.
Prompted by the example of Spain，England and France began efforts to colonize the coast of North America.The French settled in Quebec and traded with Indians there for precious animal furs，in exchange for European goods such as glass beads and alcohol.By the end of the 17th century，French settlers had established a large colony called New France which included the entire Mississippi watershed and the region along the St.Lawrence River.