Basic Info:

Before the very first temporary settlement in today’s United States, the Spanish had explored the southeastern coast near Georgia and South Carolina to raid nearby Native villages for slaves to transport to their Caribbean plantations. This settlement located in Georgia was short-lived, as extreme cold, dysentery, starvation, and Indian attacks ended it after two years.

Purpose: 

A slave Indian had told Spanish explorers about gold found near his home. The Spanish established this settlement in order to search for the gold. The strong Native peoples in the area would be a good source for a work force in the Caribbean plantations, and this base would be useful to capture Natives to use as slaves.

First Encounters: 

The Spaniard’s policy regarding the Natives was to “treat them as good neighbors under their own rule” and wanted to trade, though the Natives were not keen to trade, either because the tribes were warned of the Spanish, or because the extremely cold year left nothing extra to trade with. There is little indication of what other encounters these groups had.

Impact:

The Native slave had escaped as soon as the settlers reached the shore, and is probably the first example of a Native telling Europeans what they wanted to hear so they could return home. While this settlement was short-lived, this was the very first recorded time in history that 100 African slaves were brought to the present-day United States. This was also the first time Africans had been possibly taken in by Native tribes after an uprising. 

Basic Info:

The first European settlement in the United States was in St. Augustine, Florida. In 1565, About 70 settlers of a mixed population landed, including Spanish, Minorcans (from the Mediterranean islands), free and slave Africans, French, Germans, and eventually some Native American women who married into the settlement. 

Purpose: 

When the Spanish heard that the French wanted to build forts in Florida and use them to attack and raid Spanish ships, they sent men to root them out of Florida and to settle their own permanent establishment. At first, this settlement was to be a military outpost; a way for Spanish fleets to be better protected while hauling gold and silver from Central America back to Spain. Eventually, it became a safe haven for those wishing to flee British tyranny. Today, the city lives on as the oldest occupied settlement in the United States.

First Encounters: The Spanish

Spanish explorers had first come into contact with the Americas in what is known today as the Caribbean when Christopher Columbus had mistaken the islands for Japan. Spanish colonists spread across New Spain (most of today’s Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South American countries), mining for gold and silver, and establishing plantations to grow crops to support Spain’s decreasing farmland. Their explorations spread across the southern portion of the United States: northward from Mexico to New Mexico, Arizona, California… and from Florida spread as far north as Georgia and over to Texas.

Many Spanish explorers brought with them religious leaders, intent on converting the Indians into Catholics. Many brought conquistadors looking for riches as they had found in Central America… only to miserably fail, so their explorations into the United States area was limited and unfruitful. At first, many Indian tribes thought that the priests were magicians, especially when people they prayed to survive smallpox had recovered. Eventually, they had realized the truth; the disease came with the Europeans and would not even spare the Spanish, so many tribes refused to allow contact with Spaniards. Settled Spanish land did not go much further north than New Mexico and Arizona, as quests for gold had turned up dry and no existing Indian civilizations had surpluses of food.

Impact:

The Saint Augustine colony had a significant and mostly negative impact on the native Timucua people in the area. It brought forced labor, violence, and diseases, leading to cultural disruption, population decline, and loss of land and autonomy for the Timucua.

Basic Info:

The Roanoke Colony, also known as the Lost Colony, was an English settlement established on Roanoke Island off the coast of present-day North Carolina. This colony was England’s first attempt at establishing a colony in the Americas. The first expedition there was in 1585, but conflicts and food shortages caused it to disband only one year later, and another expedition, which was more permanent, was sent in 1587. By 1590, when some settlers had returned from a trip back to England, the colony had vanished, leaving behind only the word "Croatoan" carved on a post and "Cro" carved on a tree, suggesting they may have moved to Croatoan Island or been assimilated into the local Native American tribe, the Croatoans. However, their fate remains a mystery, with the survivors likely dying on their own or assimilated into local tribes.

Purpose: 

The purpose of the Roanoke Colony was mainly to establish a control base in the New World for England, expand their trade routes, and follow the footsteps of the Spanish to find their own gold, while showing other European powers that they can have a strong colony presence as well.

First Encounters: 

The indigenous people were likely curious about the newcomers and initially welcomed them, offering food and assistance. There were instances of trade and exchange between the English settlers and the Native Americans, with the Europeans offering metal tools, beads, and other goods in exchange for food, furs, and knowledge about the land.

Impact:

Even though the colony ultimately failed, it led to other colonial attempts, which had succeeded. It was also the beginning of trade between England and the Native tribes, as well as the beginning of a long road of English control and manipulation in the colonies.