Literature to 1620
boldface titles indicate works in the anthology
| Texts | Contexts |
|---|---|
| Peoples indigenous to the Americas orally perform and transmit a variety of "literary" genres that include, among others, speeches, songs, and stories (e.g., Iroquois and Pima creation narratives, trickster tales, etc.) |  |
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1000-1300 Anasazi communities inhabit southwestern regions 1492 Christopher Columbus arrives in the Bahamas. Between 4 and 7 million Native American peoples estimated in present-day United States, including Alaska |
| 1493 Columbus, Letter to Ferdinand and Isabella Regarding the Fourth Voyage | |
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1499 Amerigo Vespucci visits South America 1500 Native American populations begin to be ravaged by European diseases |
| 1504-05 Vespucci, Mundus Novus | |
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1507 Martin Waldseemuller, geographer, names the new land "America" for Vespucci 1512 Spanish Laws of Burgos forbid enslavement of Indians; advocate Christian conversion 1514 Bartolomé de las Casas petitions Spanish crown to treat Native American peoples like other human (subject) populations |
| 1519 Hernán Cortés, First Letter from Mexico to the Spanish Crown | 1519-21 Cortés conquers Aztecs in Mexico |
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1526 Spanish explorers bring first African slaves to South Carolina 1539 First printing press in the Americas set up in Mexico City. Hernando de Soto invades Florida |
| 1542 Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, The Relation of Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca 1552 Casas, The Very Brief Relation of the Devastation of the Indies 1557 A Gentleman of Elvas, The Discovery and Conquest of Terra Florida |
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1558-1603 Reign of Elizabeth I, patroness of English explorers |
| c. 1568 Bernal Díaz del Castillo composes The True History of the Conquest of New Spain (pub. 1632) | |
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1582-98 Spanish begin settling New Mexico 1584 Walter Ralegh lands on "island" of Roanoke; names it "Virginia" for Queen Elizabeth 1587 John White leads expedition to Roanoke. Birth of Virginia Dare, first child of English settlers |
| 1588 Thomas Harriot, A Brief and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia 1589 Arthur Barlowe, The First Voyage Made to the Coasts of America |
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1590 White returns to Roanoke, where settlers have disappeared |
| 1600 John White, The Fifth Voyage of Mr. John White | |
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1603-13 Samuel de Champlain explores the St. Lawrence River; founds Québec |
| 1607 George Percy prepares Observations Gathered out of a Discourse of the Plantation of the Southern Colony of Virginia (pub. 1625) | 1607 Jamestown, the first successful English colony, is established in Virginia. Powhatan confederacy prevents colonists from starving; teaches them to plant tobacco |
| 1610 Gaspar Peréz de Villagra, The History of New Mexico
1613 Champlain, The Voyages of Sieur de Champlain
1624 John Smith, The General History of Virginia |
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1619 Twenty Africans arrive in Jamestown on a Dutch vessel as indentured servants |