Before revision: Spain Christopher Columbus voyages|250px Ferdinand Magellan and other circumnavigation explorers|250px Amerigo Vespucci wakes up "America" in Americae Retectio, engraving by the Flemish artist Jan Galle (circa 1615) While the Norse established some colonies in the north-eastern part of North America as early as the tenth century, systematic European colonization began in 1492.
After revision: Spain Christopher Columbus voyages|250px Ferdinand Magellan and other circumnavigation explorers|250px Amerigo Vespucci wakes up "America" in Americae Retectio, engraving by the Flemish artist Jan Galle (circa 1615) Systematic European colonization began in 1492.