Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus was the first European to land in the territory of what is now the United States when he arrived in Puerto Rico in 1493. The subsequent arrival of settlers from Europe began the colonial history of the United States. The Thirteen English colonies that would become the original US states, were founded along the east coast beginning in 1607. Spain, France and Russia also founded small settlements in what would become US territory. The population of the Thirteen Colonies grew very rapidly, reaching 50,000 by 1650, 250,000 by 1700, and 2.5 million by 1775. High birth rates and low death rates were augmented by steady flows of immigrants from Europe as well as slaves from the West Indies. Occasional small-scale wars involved the French and Indians to the north, and the Spanish and Indians to the south. Religion was a powerful influence on many immigrants, especially the Puritans in New England and the German sects in Pennsylvania, with boosts from the revivals of the First Great Awakening.America's national memory is filled with icons and symbols, avatars of deeply held, yet imperfectly understood, beliefs. The role of history in the iconography of the United States is pervasive, yet the facts behind the fiction are somehow lost in an amorphous haze of patriotism and perceived national identity. Christopher Columbus, as a hero and symbol of the first order in America, is an important figure in this pantheon of American myth. His status, not unlike most American icons, is representative not of his own accomplishments