christopher columbus made the first spanish landing on the mainland of north america.
christopher columbus made the first spanish landing on the mainland of north america.
who made the first spanish landing on the mainland of north america?
christopher columbus
although there had been previous trans-oceanic contact, large-scale european colonization of the americas began with the first voyage of christopher columbus in 1492. the first spanish settlement in the americas was la isabela in northern hispaniola. this town was abandoned shortly after in favor of santo domingo de guzmán, founded in 1496, the oldest american city of european foundation. this was the base from which the spanish monarchy administered its new colonies and their expansion. santo domingo was subject to frequent raids by english and french pirates. on the continent, panama city on the pacific coast of central america, founded on august 15, 1519, played an important role, being the base for the spanish conquest of south america. the spread of new diseases brought by europeans and africans killed many of the inhabitants of north america and south america, with a general population crash of native americans occurring in the mid-16th century, often well ahead of european contact. european immigrants were often part of state-sponsored attempts to found colonies in the americas. migration continued as people moved to the americas fleeing religious persecution or seeking economic opportunities. millions of individuals were forcibly transported to the americas as slaves, prisoners or indentured servants.
americas
in the northern part of the bay there are two commercial "islands" (actually peninsulas connected to the mainland by a narrow strip of land) called harbor island and shelter island. they were built up from former sand bars and now hold hotels, restaurants, marinas, and public parkland. across from harbor island is a bayside park called spanish landing, a historic site which commemorates the meeting in 1769 of two expeditions from spanish mexico that made possible the european settlement of california. spanish landing park is the site of san salvador village, where the san diego maritime museum is constructing a full-sized, fully functional wooden replica of the san salvador flagship, in which explorer juan rodriguez cabrillo discovered san diego bay in 1542.
san diego bay