History of North America

A composed satellite photograph of North America inorthographic projection

Contemporary political/physical map of North America

TheHistory of North Americaencompasses the past developments of people populating the continent of North America. While it was commonly accepted that the continent first became inhabited by humans when individuals migrated across theBering Sea40,000 to 17,000 years ago,more recent discoveries may have pushed those estimates back at least another 90,000 years.Peoplesettledthroughout the continent and, over time, developed into diverse communities, from theInuitin the far north to theMayansandAztecsin the south. These complex communities each developed their own unique cultures and ways of life.

Records of European travel to North America begin with theNorse colonizationin the 10th century AD. In 985, they founded a settlement onGreenlandthat persisted until the early 1400s. They also explored the east coast of Canada, but their settlements there were much smaller and shorter-lived. With theAge of Explorationand the voyages ofChristopher Columbus(starting in 1492),Europeans began to arrivein the Americas in large numbers and develop colonial ambitions for both North and South America.An influx of Europeans soon followed Columbus and overwhelmed native populations as North America became a staging ground for ongoing European rivalries. The continent was divided by three prominent European powers:England,France,andSpain.The influence of colonization by these states on North American cultures is still apparent today.

Conflict over resources in North America ensued in various wars between these powers, but the new European colonies gradually developed desires for independence. Revolutions, such as theAmerican Revolutionand theMexican War of Independence,created new, independent states that came to dominate North America. TheCanadian Confederationformed in 1867, marking the beginning of the modern political landscape of North America.

North American states have, since the 19th century, developed increasingly deep connections with each other. Although some conflicts have occurred, the continent has enjoyed general peace and cooperation, as well as open commerce and trade, between its states. Modern developments include the opening of free trade agreements in 1994and heightened emigration rates and drug trafficking concerns in Mexico and Latin America.

Pre-Columbian North America

Main articles:Peopling of the AmericasandPaleo-Indians

See also:Genetic history of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas

Map ofearly human migrationsbased on theOut of Africa theory

The specifics ofPaleo-Indians' migration to and throughout the Americas, including the exact dates and routes traveled, are subject to ongoing research and discussion.For years, the traditional theory has been that these early migrants moved into theBeringia land bridgebetween eastern Siberia and present-day Alaska around 40,000–17,000 years ago, when sea levels were significantly lowered due to theQuaternary glaciation.These people are believed to have followed herds of now-extinctPleistocenemegafaunaalong ice-free corridors that stretched between theLaurentideandCordilleranice sheets.Another route proposed is that, either on foot or usingprimitive boats,they migrated down the Pacific coast to South America.Evidence of the latter would since have been covered by asea level riseof hundreds of meters following the last ice age.

Archaeologists contend that Paleo-Indian migration out of Beringia (eastern Alaska), ranges from 40,000 to around 16,500 years ago.This time range is a hot source of debate and promises to continue as such for years to come. The few agreements achieved to date are the origin from Central Asia, with widespread habitation of the Americas during the end of thelast glacial period,or more specifically what is known as thelate glacial maximum,around 16,000–13,000 years before present.However, olderalternative theoriesexist, including migration from Europe.

Folsom projectile point

Stone tools,particularlyprojectile pointsandscrapers,are the primary evidence of early human activity in the Americas. Craftedlithic flakedtools are used byarchaeologistsandanthropologiststo classify cultural periods.Scientific evidencelinksindigenous Americansto Asian peoples, specifically easternSiberian populations.Indigenous peoples of the Americas have been linked to North Asian populations bylinguistic dialects,the distribution ofblood types,and ingenetic compositionas reflected bymoleculardata, such asDNA.8,000–7,000 BCE (10,000–9,000 years ago) the climate stabilized, leading to a rise in population andlithic technologyadvances, resulting in a moresedentary lifestyle.

Pre-Columbian era

Further information:Pre-Columbian era § North America,Timeline of North American prehistory,Indigenous peoples of the Americas,Indigenous peoples in Canada,Native Americans in the United States,andMesoamerica

Before contact with Europeans, the indigenous peoples of North America were divided into many differentpolities,from smallbandsof a few families to large empires. They lived in numerousculture areas,which roughly correspond togeographic and biological zones.Societies adapted their subsistence strategies to their homelands, and some societies werehunter-gatherers,somehorticulturists,someagriculturalists,and many a mix of these. Native groups can also be classified by theirlanguage family(e.g.AthapascanorUto-Aztecan).

People with similar languages did not always share the samematerial culture,nor were they alwaysallies.

TheArchaic period in the Americassaw a changing environment featuring a warmer morearidclimate and the disappearance of the last megafauna.The majority of population groups at this time were still highly mobile hunter-gatherers; but now individual groups started to focus on resources available to them locally, thus with the passage of time there is a pattern of increasing regional generalization, for example theSouthwest,Arctic,Poverty Point culture,Plains Arctic,Dalton,andPlanotraditions. This type of regional adaptation became the norm, with reliance less on hunting and gathering among many cultures, with a more mixed economy of small game, fish, seasonallywild vegetablesand harvested plant foods.Many groups continued as big game hunters, but their hunting traditions became more varied, and meat procurement methods more sophisticated.The placement of artifacts and materials within an Archaic burial site indicated social differentiation based upon status in some groups.

TheMayanruins ofPalenque,Mexico

Agriculture was invented independently in two regions of North America: theEastern WoodlandsandMesoamerica.The more southern cultural groups of North America were responsible for thedomesticationof many common crops now used around the world, such as tomatoes andsquash.Perhaps most importantly they domesticated one of the world's major staples, maize (corn). During thePlains Village period,agricultureand bison-hunting were important toGreat Plains tribes.

As a result of the development of agriculture in the south, many important cultural advances were made there. For example, theMaya civilizationdeveloped awriting system,builthuge pyramids,had acomplex calendar,and developed the concept ofzero500 years before anyone in theOld World.The Mayan culture was still present when theSpanisharrived in Central America, but political dominance in the area had shifted to theAztec Empirefurther north.

In the Southwest of North America,HohokamandAncestral Pueblosocieties had been engaged in agricultural production with ditch irrigation and a sedentary village life for at least two millennia before the Spanish arrived in the 1540s.Upon the arrival of the Europeans in the "New World", native peoples found their culture changed drastically. As such, their affiliation with political and cultural groups changed as well, several linguistic groups wentextinct,and others changed quite quickly. The name and cultures that Europeans recorded for the natives were not necessarily the same as the ones they had used a few generations before, or the ones in use today.

Population estimates

According to the Maddison Project at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, the population estimates of North America break down as follows. For the year 1500 AD, Angus Maddison estimates a population of 7.5 million for pre-Hispanic Mexico. He estimates that the population of what became Canada was probably close to 250,000 and 2 million for what became the United States. Maddison's total for all of pre-contact North America, then, is 9.75 million.

In 2020, indigenous peoples numbered 34 million (25.7 million for Mexico, 6.7 million for the United States, and 1.6 million for Canada), approximately 7 percent of North America's total population of 493.4 million.

Arrival of Europeans

Early contact

Main article:Norse colonization of North America

Map of North America (1621)

There was limitedcontactbetween North American people and the outside worldbefore 1492.Several theoretical contacts have been proposed, but the earliest physical evidence comes from theNorseorVikings.Erik the Redfounded a colony onGreenlandin 985 CE. Erik's sonLeif Erikssonis believed to have reached theIsland of Newfoundlandc. 1000,naming the discoveryVinland.The only Norse site outside of Greenland yet discovered in North America is atL'Anse aux Meadows,Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada. All ofthe Norse colonieswere eventually abandoned.

The Norse voyages did not become common knowledge in the Old World. Even the permanent settlement in Greenland, which persisted until the early 1400s, received little attention and Europeans remained largely ignorant of the existence of the Americas until 1492. As part of a generalAge of Discovery,Italian sailorChristopher Columbusproposed a voyage west from Europe to find a shorter route to Asia. He eventually received the backing ofIsabella IandFerdinand II,Queen and King of newly united Spain. In 1492 Columbus reached land in theBahamas.

Almost 500 years after the Norse,John Cabotexplored the east coast of what would become Canada in 1497.Giovanni da Verrazzanoexplored theEast Coastof North America from Florida to presumably Newfoundland in 1524.Jacques Cartiermade a series of voyages on behalf of the French crown in 1534 and explored theSt. Lawrence River.

European colonization

Main articles:European colonization of the Americas,Exploration of North America,andSpanish Empire

Further information:16th century in North American history

Colonization refers to large-scale population movements in which the migrants maintain strong links with their or their ancestors' former country, gaining significant advantages over other inhabitants of the territory by such links. When colonization takes place under the protection of clearly colonial political structures, it may most handily be calledsettler colonialism.This often involves the settlers' entirely dispossessing earlier inhabitants, or instituting legal and other structures which systematically disadvantage them.

Initially, European activity consisted mostly of trade and exploration. Eventually Europeans began toestablish settlements.The three principal colonial powers in North America wereSpain,England,andFrance,although eventually other powers such asthe NetherlandsandSwedenalso received holdings on the continent.

Settlement by the Spanish started theEuropean colonization of the Americas.They gained control of most of the largest islands in theCaribbeanandconquered the Aztec empire,gaining control of present-day Mexico and Central America. This was the beginning of theSpanish Empirein the New World. The first successful Spanish settlement in continental North America wasVeracruzfounded byHernán Cortésin 1519, followed by many other settlements in colonialNew Spain,includingSpanish Florida,Central America,New Mexico,and later California. The Spanish claimed all of North and South America (with the exception of Brazil), and no other European power challenged those claims by planting colonies until over a century after Spain's first settlements.

The first French settlements werePort Royal(1604) andQuebec City(1608) in what is nowNova ScotiaandQuebec.TheFur Tradesoon became the primary business on the continent and as a result transformed theindigenous North Americanways of life.

The first permanent English settlements were atJamestown(1607) (along with its satellite,Bermudain 1609) andPlymouth(1620), in what are todayVirginiaandMassachusettsrespectively. Further to the south,plantation slaverybecame the main industry of theWest Indies,and this gave rise to the beginning of theAtlantic slave trade.

Colonial era

Main articles:Colonial history of the United States,Former colonies and territories in Canada,New France,Thirteen Colonies,French and Indian Wars,andNew Spain

Non-Native American nations control over North America 1750–2008. In the interactive SVG version on a compatible browser, hover over the timeline to step through time.

By the year 1663 theFrench crownhad taken over control ofNew Francefrom the fur-trading companies, and the Englishcharter coloniesgave way to more metropolitan control. This ushered in a new era of more formalized colonialism in North America.

Rivalry between the European powers created a series of wars on the North American landmass that would have great impact on the development of the colonies. Territory often changed hands multiple times. Peace was not achieved until French forces in North America were vanquished at theBattle of the Plains of AbrahamatQuebec City,and France ceded most of her claims outside of the Caribbean. The end of the French presence in North America was a disaster for most Native nations in Eastern North America, who lost their major ally against the expanding Anglo-American settlements. DuringPontiac's Rebellionfrom 1763 to 1766, a confederation of Great Lakes-area tribes fought a somewhat successful campaign to defend their rights over their lands west of theAppalachian Mountains,which had been "reserved" for them under theRoyal Proclamation of 1763.

Viceroyalty of New Spain (present-day Mexico) was the name of theviceroy-ruled territories of theSpanish Empirein Asia, North America and its peripheries from 1535 to 1821.

Revolutions

Main articles:American Revolution,Haitian Revolution,Industrial Revolution,andMexican War of Independence

The coming of the American Revolution had a great impact across the continent. Most importantly it directly led to the creation of the United States of America. However, the associatedAmerican Revolutionary Warwas an important war that touched all corners of the region. The flight of theUnited Empire Loyalistsled to the creation ofEnglish Canadaas a separate community.

Meanwhile, Spain's hold on Mexico was weakening. Independence was declared in 1810 byMiguel Hidalgo,starting the Mexican War of Independence. In 1813,José María Morelosand theCongress of Anáhuacsigned theSolemn Act of the Declaration of Independence of Northern America,the first legal document where the separation of the New Spain with respect to Spain is proclaimed. Spain finally recognized Mexico's independence in 1821.

Expansion era

Main articles:History of the United States (1789–1849),Canada under British Imperial control (1764–1867),andMexican–American War

1844 Map of North America, after theMexican American War

From the time of independence of the United States, that country expanded rapidly to the west,acquiring the massive Louisiana territoryin 1803. Between 1810 and 1811 a Native confederacy under Tecumsehfought unsuccessfullyto keep the Americans from pushing them out of the Great Lakes. Tecumseh's followers then went north into Canada, where they helped the British to block an American attempt to seize Canada during theWar of 1812.Following the war, British and Irish settlement in Canada increased dramatically.

US expansion was complicated by the division between "free" and "slave" states, which led to theMissouri Compromisein 1820. Likewise, Canada faced a division betweenFrenchandEnglishcommunities that led to the outbreak ofcivil strife in 1837.Mexico faced constant political tensions between liberals and conservatives, as well as the rebellion of the English-speaking region of Texas, which declared itself theRepublic of Texasin 1836. In 1845 Texas joined the United States, which would later lead to theMexican–American Warin 1846 that beganAmerican imperialism.As a result of conflict with Mexico, the United States made further territorial gains inCaliforniaand the Southwest.

Conflict, confederation, and invasion

Main articles:History of the United States (1849–1865),American Civil War,Canadian Confederation,andSecond French intervention in Mexico

The secession of theConfederate Statesand the resulting civil war rocked American society. It eventually led to the end of slavery in the United States, the destruction and laterreconstructionof most of the South, and tremendous loss of life. From the conflict, the United States emerged as a powerful industrialized nation.

Partly as a response to the threat of American power, four of the Canadian colonies agreed to federate in 1867, creating theDominionof Canada. The new nation was not fully sovereign, but enjoyed considerable independence from Britain. With the addition ofBritish Columbia,Canada would expand to the Pacific by 1871 and establish a transcontinental railway, the Canadian Pacific, by 1885.

In Mexico, conflicts such as theReform Warleft the state weak, and open to foreign influence. This led to theSecond French Empireto invade Mexico.

Late 19th century

Main articles:History of the United States (1865–1918),Reconstruction era,Post-Confederation Canada (1867–1914),andPorfiriato

In both the United States and Canada, the second half of the 19th century witnessed massive inflows of immigration to settle the West. These lands were not uninhabited however: in the United States the government fought numerousIndian Warsagainst the native inhabitants. In Canada, relations were more peaceful, as a result of theNumbered Treaties,buttwo rebellionsbroke out in 1870 and 1885 on the prairies. The British colony ofNewfoundland became a dominionin 1907.

In Mexico, the entire era was dominated by the dictatorship ofPorfirio Díaz.

World Wars era

Main articles:Canada in the World Wars and Interwar Years,Mexican Revolution,andHistory of the United States (1918–1945)

World War I

Main articles:World War IandCanada in World War I

As a part of theBritish EmpireCanada immediately was at war in 1914. Canada bore the brunt of several major battles during the early stages of the war including the use ofpoison gasattacks atYpres.Losses became grave, and the government eventually brought inconscription,despite the fact this was against the wishes of the majority ofFrench Canadians.In the ensuingConscription Crisis of 1917,riots broke out on the streets ofMontreal.In neighboring Newfoundland, the new dominion suffered a devastating loss on July 1, 1916, theFirst day on the Somme.

The United States stayed apart from the conflict until 1917, joining the Entente powers. The United States was then able to play a crucial role at theParis Peace Conference of 1919that shapedinterwarEurope.

Mexico was not part of the war as the country was embroiled in the Mexican Revolution at the time.

Interwar years

Main articles:Roaring Twenties,Great Depression,andCristero War

The 1920s brought an age of great prosperity in the United States, and to a lesser degree Canada. But theWall Street Crash of 1929combined withdroughtushered in a period of economic hardship in the United States andCanada.

From 1937 to 1949, this was a popular uprising against the anti-Catholic Mexican government of the time, set off specifically by the anti-clerical provisions of theMexican Constitution of 1917.

World War II

Main articles:World War II,Canada in World War II,Military history of the United States during World War II,United States home front during World War II,SS Potrero del Llano,Faja de Oro,andEscuadrón 201

Once again Canada found itself at war before her neighbors, however even Canadian contributions were slight before the Japaneseattack on Pearl Harbor.The entry of the United States into the war helped to tip the balance in favor of theAllies.On August 19, 1942, a force of some 6000, largely Canadian, infantry was landed near the French channel port ofDieppe.The German defenders under General von Rundstedt destroyed the invaders. 907 Canadians were killed and almost 2,500 captured (many wounded). Lessons learned in this abortive raid were put to good use 2 years later in the successful Normandy invasion.

Two Mexican tankers, transporting oil to the United States, were attacked and sunk by the Germans in theGulf of Mexicowaters, in 1942. The incident happened in spite of Mexico's neutrality at that time. This led Mexico to declare war on the Axis nations and enter the conflict.

The destruction of Europe wrought by the war vaulted all North American countries to more important roles in world affairs. The United States especially emerged as a "superpower".

Postwar

Main articles:History of the United States (1945–1964),History of Canada (1945–1960),Cold War,andCivil rights movement

The early Cold War era saw the United States as the most powerful nation in a Western coalition of which Mexico and Canada were also a part. At home, the United States witnessed convulsive change especially in the area ofrace relations.In Canada this was mirrored by theQuiet Revolutionand the emergence ofQuebec nationalism.

Mexico experienced an era of huge economic growth after World War II, a heavy industrialization process and a growth of its middle class, a period known in Mexican history as the"El Milagro Mexicano"(Mexican miracle).

The Caribbean saw the beginnings ofdecolonization,while on the largest island theCuban Revolutionintroduced Cold War rivalries into Latin America.

In 1959 the non-contiguousUS territories ofAlaskaand Hawaii became US states.

Vietnam War and stagflation

Main articles:History of the United States (1964–1980)andHistory of Canada (1960–1981)

During this time the United States became involved in theVietnam Waras part of the global Cold War. This war would later prove to be highly divisive in American society, and American troops were withdrawn from Indochina in 1975 with theKhmer Rouge's capture ofPhnom Penhon April 17, theVietnam People's Army'scaptureofSaigonon April 30 and thePathet Lao's capture ofVientianeon December 2.

Canada during this era was dominated by the leadership ofPierre Elliot Trudeau.Eventually in 1982 at the end of his tenure, Canada received a new constitution.

Both the United States and Canada experiencedstagflation,which eventually led to a revival in small-government politics.

The 1980s

Main articles:1980s,History of the United States (1980–1991),andHistory of Canada (1982–1992)

Mexican presidentsMiguel de la Madrid,in the early 1980s andCarlos Salinas de Gortariin the late 1980s, started implementing liberal economic strategies that were seen as a good move. However, Mexico experienced a strong economic recession in 1982 and the Mexican peso suffered a devaluation. Presidential elections held in 1988 were forecast to be very competitive and they were. Leftist candidateCuauhtémoc Cárdenas,son ofLázaro Cárdenasone of the most beloved Mexican presidents, created a successful campaign and was reported as the leader in several opinion polls. On July 6, 1988, the day of the elections, a system shutdown of theIBM AS/400that the government was using to count the votes occurred, presumably by accident. The government simply stated that"se cayó el sistema"( "the system crashed" ), to refer to the incident. When the system was finally restored, the PRI candidate Carlos Salinas was declared the official winner. It was the first time since the Revolution that a non-PRI candidate was so close to winning the presidency.

In the United States presidentRonald Reaganattempted to move the United States back towards a hard anti-communist line in foreign affairs, in what his supporters saw as an attempt to assert moral leadership (compared to theSoviet Union) in the world community. Domestically, Reagan attempted to bring in a package ofprivatizationandtrickle down economicsto stimulate the economy.

Canada'sBrian Mulroneyran on a similar platform to Reagan, and also favored closer trade ties with the United States. This led to theCanada-United States Free Trade Agreementin January 1989.

Recent history

Main articles:History of the United States (1991–2008),History of the United States (2008–present),andHistory of Canada (1982–present)

The End of the Cold War and the beginning of the era of sustained economic expansion coincided during the 1990s. On January 1, 1994, Canada, Mexico, and the United States signed theNorth American Free Trade Agreement,creating the world's largest free trade area. Quebec held a referendum in 1995 for national sovereignty in which 51% voted no to 49% yes. In 2000,Vicente Foxbecame the first non-PRIcandidate to win the Mexican presidency in over 70 years.

The optimism of the 1990s was shattered by the9/11attacks of 2001 on the United States, whichprompted the 20-year period of military intervention warin Afghanistan, which Canada also participated in. Meanwhile, Canada and Mexico both did not support the United States later moves toinvadeIraq.

From January 2007, drug war in Mexico evolved into anactual military conflictwith each year more deadly than the last.

Starting in early 2008, theGreat Recessionin the three North American nations began, which eventually triggered a worldwide recession in the Fall of 2008 and did not recover until 2009. In 2009,Barack Obamawas inaugurated as the first African American to be President of the United States. On December 18, 2011, theIraq Warwas declared formally over once the troops hadpulled out.

In the 2016 United States presidential election,Donald Trumpwas elected 45th President of the United States, defeatingHillary Clinton,and in 2017, he was sworn in as president. Between January 2020 and May 2022, the three North American nations were impacted by theCOVID-19 pandemicandDeltacronhybrid variant, which claimed the lives of 1.3 million people by May 2022.

In 2020,Joe Bidenwas elected 46th President of the United States, who defeatedDonald Trumpin2020 presidential election,although Trump refused to concede the election, and on January 6, 2021, a group of his supportersstormed the United States Capitolin anunsuccessful effortto disrupt thepresidential Electoral College vote count.

Canadian Prime MinisterJustin Trudeaucalled asnap electionin 2021 to try and increase theLiberalsseat share and reach a majority government. The results of2021 federal electionwere mostly unchanged from2019 federal election,with the Liberals forming another minority government.

See also

• History of the Americas
• History of Western civilization
• Making North America

By region

• American Old West
• History of Central America
• History of Latin America
• History of New England
• History of the Caribbean
• History of the Southern United States
• History of the west coast of North America
• Histories of cities in the United States
• History of cities in Mexico
• History of the US States and Territories
• Local history in Canada

Further reading

• Aldrich, Robert.Greater France: A History of French Overseas Expansion.New York: St. Martin's Press, 1996.
• Ambrose, Stephen E.Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West.New York: Simon and Schuster, 1997.
• Anderson, Fred, and Andrew Cayton.The Dominion of War: Empire and Liberty in North America, 1500–2000.New York: Penguin, 2005.
• Axtell, James.Beyond 1492: Encounters in Colonial North America.New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992.
• Bailyn, Bernard.Voyagers to the West: A Passage in the Peopling of America on the Eve of the Revolution.New York: Knopf, 1986.
• Bakewell, Peter J.Silver Mining and Society in Colonial Mexico: Zacatecas, 1546–1700.Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1971.
• Balmer, Randall H.A Perfect Babel of Confusion: Dutch Religion and English Culture in the Middle Colonies.New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
• Bannon, John Francis.The Spanish Borderlands Frontier, 1513–1821.New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1970.
• Barratt, Glynn.Russia in Pacific Waters, 1715–1825.Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1981.
• Baseler, Marilyn C. 'Asylum for Mankind': America, 1607–1800.Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1998.
• Baum, Steven K., Neil J. Kressel, Florette Cohen-Abady, and Steven Leonard Jacobs, eds.Antisemitism in North America: New World, Old Hate.Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2016.
• Black, Jeremy.Fighting for America: The Struggle for Mastery in North America, 1519–1871.Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2011.
• Blackhawk, Ned.The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History.New Haven: Yale University Press, 2023.
• Bolton, Herbert E.The Colonization of North America, 1492–1783.New York: Macmillan, 1920.
• Bough, Barry M.First Across the Continent: Sir Alexander Mackenzie.Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1997.
• Brescia, Michael M., and John C. Super.North America: An Introduction.Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2009.
• DePalma, Anthony.Here: A Biography of the New American Continent.New York: Public Affairs, 2001.
• Echenberg, Myron.Humboldt's Mexico: In the Footsteps of the Illustrious German Scientific Traveller.Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2017,
• Fernlund, Kevin Jon.A Big History of North America, from Montezuma to Monroe.Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2022.
• Fischer, David Hackett.Champlain's Dream: The European Founding of North America.New York: Simon and Schuster, 2008.
• Flannery, Tim.The Eternal Frontier: An Ecological History of North America and Its Peoples.New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2001.
• Goetzmann, William H.Exploration and Empire: The Explorer and the Scientist in the Winning of the American West.New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1967.
• Hämäläinen, Pekka.Indigenous Continent: The Epic Contest of North America.New York: Liveright, 2022.
• Haywood, John.Ocean: A History of the Atlantic Before Columbus.London: Head of Zeus, 2024.
• Hyde, Anne F.Empires, Nations, and Families: A New History of the North American West, 1800–1860.New York: Ecco, 2012.
• Malotki, Ekkehart, and Ellen Dissanayake.Early Rock Art of the American West: The Geometric Enigma.Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2018.
• McNeill, J. R., and George Vrtis, eds.Mining North America: An Environmental History since 1522.1st ed. University of California Press, 2017.
• Melosi, Martin V.Water in North American Environmental History.New York: Routledge, 2022.
• Pyne, Stephen J.The Great Ages of Discovery: How Western Civilization Learned About a Wider World.Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2021.
• Rosier, Paul C.Environmental Justice in North America.New York: Routledge, 2024.
• Russell, Israel C.North America.New York: D. Appleton, 1914.
• Sauer, Carl O.Northern Mists.Berkeley: University of California Press, 1968.
• Sauer, Carl O.The Early Spanish Main.Berkeley: University of California Press, 1966.
• Sauer, Carl O.Seventeenth Century North America.Berkeley: Turtle Island, 1980.
• Sauer, Carl O.Sixteenth Century North America.Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971.
• Taylor, Alan.American Civil Wars: A Continental History, 1850–1873.New York: W. W. Norton, 2024.
• Taylor, Alan.American Colonies: The Settling of North America.New York: Viking Press, 2001.
• Thomas, Hugh.Conquest: Cortes, Montezuma, and the Fall of Old Mexico.New York: Simon and Schuster, 1994.
• Thompson, James.Making North America: Trade, Security, and Integration.Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2014.
• Webb, Walter Prescott.The Great Frontier.1951. Reno, NV: University of Nevada Press, 2003.
• Weber, David J.The Spanish Frontier in North America.New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994.
• West, Elliott.Continental Reckoning: The American West in the Age of Expansion.Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2023.
• Williams, Glyndwr and William H. Goetzmann.The Atlas of North American Exploration: From the Norse Voyages to the Race to the Pole.Hoboken, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1992.
• Woodard, Colin.American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America.Penguin Books, 2012.