The colonial history of the United States covers the period of European colonization of North America from the early 16th century until the unifying of thirteen British colonies and creation of the Un
The cover of Interview of Samoset with the Pilgrims, an 1853 book depicting Samoset's meeting the Pilgrims on March 16, 1621
The Spaniard Juan Ponce de León, who named and explored Florida in 1513
The ruins of the Spanish Mission San Juan Capistrano in present-day San Juan Capistrano, California
The Italian explorer Enrico Tonti, who founded the first European settlement in Illinois in 1679 and in Arkansas in 1683, known as Poste de Arkansea, making him "The Father of Arkansas". He co-founded New Orleans, and was governor of the Louisiana Territory for the next 20 years.
The history of the United States from 1776 to 1789 was marked by the nation's transition from the American Revolutionary War to the establishment of a novel constitutional order.
Declaration of Independence, an 1819 portrait by John Trumbull, shows the Committee of Five submitting its draft of the Declaration of Independence to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia.
Preamble through Article V of the Articles of Confederation
The Constitutional Convention was convened in the old Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia, now known as Independence Hall.
A one dollar continental banknote in 1776