History of the Americas
The history of the Americas traces the peoples, societies, and events of North, Central, and South America and the Caribbean over time.
Peopling of the Americas: The migration and settlement of the continents by the ancestors of Indigenous American peoples. The earliest migrations set the deep chronology for the history of the hemisphere.
Indigenous peoples of the Americas: The diverse peoples descended from the original inhabitants of the Americas, with distinct languages, societies, and histories. Their histories long predate European arrival and continue throughout the hemisphere's recorded past.
Slavery in the United States: The system of forced labor and hereditary bondage that existed in the United States until its abolition in 1865. Its legacy remains central to the country's racial and political history.
History of North America: The history of Canada, Mexico, the United States, and the region's earlier societies and territories. It follows the northern portion of the hemisphere in greater geographic detail.
Columbian Exchange: The movement of organisms, people, goods, and diseases between the Americas and Afro-Eurasia after 1492. It captures the profound biological and economic consequences of sustained transatlantic contact.
Maya civilization: A Mesoamerican civilization known for its city-states, writing system, mathematics, and calendar traditions. Maya societies illustrate the complexity and longevity of Indigenous political and intellectual traditions.
Abolitionism: The movement to end slavery, which took different forms across the Americas and over several centuries. Abolitionist campaigns challenged an institution that had shaped societies throughout the hemisphere.
History of Latin America: The history of the parts of the Americas shaped primarily by Spanish and Portuguese languages and colonial rule. It connects much of Central and South America and the Caribbean through shared but varied histories.
Spanish colonization of the Americas: Spain's conquest and rule over territories in the Americas from the late fifteenth century onward. Spanish empire reshaped Indigenous societies and established enduring colonial institutions.
Aztec Empire: A Mesoamerican empire centered on Tenochtitlan that dominated central Mexico before Spanish conquest. Its rise and defeat reveal the political dynamics of precolonial and early colonial Mexico.