This painting, “The Conquest of Tenochtitlan,” represents the 1521 Fall of Tenochtitlan in the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. Image Credit: Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress

During the 1500s, Europeans explored North and South America. Some nations, including the Spanish, began to establish settlements.

This painting depicts Captain John Smith trading with Native Americans in Virginia. Image credit: National Park Service, Colonial National Historical Park, Jamestown Collection

Some settlements were created to trade with the Native Americans for goods such as fur.

This painting depicts colonists engaged in tobacco production. Image credit: National Park Service, Colonial National Historical Park, Jamestown Collection

Other settlements were created as farming communities where colonists planted food crops, such as corn and wheat, and cash crops like tobacco.

This painting represents the transition of Jamestown from a wilderness fort to a city in the early 1620s. Image credit: National Park Service, Colonial National Historical Park, Jamestown Collection

Colonists came for many different reasons. Some colonists hoped to find gold quickly and return to their countries as wealthy people. Others sought new opportunities and a chance to make a living. Some looked for the freedom to practice their own religions.

This painting depicts Jamestown in the winter of 1690. Image credit: National Park Service, Colonial National Historical Park, Jamestown Collection

All of the settlements faced challenges. Disease killed many colonists. Settlements often faced hostile Native Americans. Some colonists chose poor locations for their settlements, in areas that were too cold or too damp, or had little fresh water. Some settlements succeeded and some failed, with the colony either dying out or colonists deciding to return to their home countries.