Chronology of Important Events in Atlantic World History

c.1450 Portuguese navigators begin importing West African slaves to Europe (see Chapter 1, Selection 1).

1492-1504 Christopher Columbus completes four voyages to the Americas, initiating European colonization of the Americas (see Chapter 1, Selection 2).
1494 Treaty of Tordesillas demarcates Portuguese (eastern) and Spanish (western) claims in

Atlantic World.

1500-1560 Portuguese establish first colonial settlements in Brazil (see Chapter 3, Selection 1).
1519-1521 Spanish conquest of Mexico.
1532-1533 Spanish conquest of Peru.
1542 Spanish “New Laws of the Indies” impose repartimiento system of tribute labor on Native

Americans (see Chapter 7, Selection 1).

1585-1590 English colony at Roanoke fails (see Chapter 2, Selection 1).
1607 English establish colony at Jamestown, Virginia (see Chapter 3, Selection 2).
1608 French colonization of Canada begins in earnest with founding of Quebec (see Chapter 2,

Selection 2).

1609 Henry Hudson’s exploration of the Hudson River initiates the colonization of New

Netherland (see Chapter 1, Selection 3).

1609-1763 Jesuits establish multiple missionary communities among Algonquian and Iroquoian peoples in New France (see Chapter 4, Selection 2 and Chapter 11, Selection 1).
1620-1680 Buccaneers dominate Caribbean piracy (see Chapter 9, Selection 1).
1640-1660 Sugar Revolution in the Caribbean expands the plantation complex and increases the Atlantic Slave Trade (see Chapter 6, Selections 1-3).
1664-1676 English conquer Dutch New Netherland and rename it New York (see Chapter 8, Selection 1).
1680 Pueblo Revolt disrupts Spanish colonization of New Mexico (see Chapter 4, Selection 1).
1697-1701, British Navy fights two “wars against the pirates” in Atlantic World (see Chapter 9,
1716-1726 Selection 2).
1707-1775 Colonial population of British North America grows rapidly because of waves of migration from Rhine River Valley, Ireland, and Scotland (see Chapter 8, Selection 3 and Chapter 10, Selections 2 and 4).
1740-1760 Protestant religious revival known as the Great Awakening sweeps through British North America (see Chapter 4, Selections 3 and 4).
1756-1763 Seven Years’ War results in British conquest of Canada (see Chapter 3, Selection 3;

Chapter 8, Selection 2; and Chapter 10, Selection 3).

1760-1800 Peak decades of the Atlantic Slave Trade (see Chapter 5, Selections 1-3).
1775-1783 American Revolution (see Chapter 12, Selection 1).
1775-1790 First anti-slavery societies founded; British Parliament investigates the Atlantic Slave Trade (see Chapter 5, Selection 4).
1780-1850 Rise of global whaling industry (see Chapter 9, Selection 4).
1789-1799 French Revolution (see Chapter 12, Selection 2).
1791-1804 Saint Domingue slave rebellion and Haitian Revolution (see Chapter 12, Selection 3).
1793 Philadelphia yellow fever epidemic (see Chapter 2, Selection 4).
1799-1815 Napoleonic Wars lead to increased impressment and naval warfare in the Atlantic World
(see Chapter 9, Selection 3).

1807 Great Britain prohibits Atlantic Slave Trade.
1808 United States prohibits Atlantic Slave Trade.
1810-1824 Spanish American Wars of Independence (see Chapter 12, Selection 4 and Chapter 13, Selection 1).
1830-1840 US government forces removal of Native Americans to territory west of the Mississippi

River (see Chapter 11, Selection 4 and Chapter 13, Selections 2 and 4).

1830-1860 Abolitionist movement grows in the United States (see Chapter 13, Selection 3).
1833 British Parliament abolishes slavery in British West Indies.
1861-1865 American Civil War ends slavery in the United States.
1886-1888 Slavery abolished in Cuba and Brazil.