The
colonial history of the United States covers the history of
European settlements from the start of colonization of America until their incorporation into the United States. In the late 16th century,
England,
France,
Spain and the
Netherlands launched major colonization programs in eastern
North America. Small early attempts—such as the English Lost Colony of Roanoke—often disappeared; everywhere the death rate of the first arrivals was very high. Nevertheless, successful colonies were established. European settlers came from a variety of social and religious groups. No
aristocrats settled permanently, but a number of adventurers, soldiers, farmers, and tradesmen arrived. Diversity was an American characteristic as the Dutch of
New Netherland, the
Swedes and
Finns of
New Sweden, the English
Quakers of
Pennsylvania, the English
Puritans of
New England, the English settlers of
Jamestown, and the "worthy poor" of
Georgia, came to the new continent and built colonies with distinctive social, religious, political and economic styles. Non-British colonies were taken over and the inhabitants were all assimilated, unlike in Nova Scotia, where the British expelled the French
Acadian inhabitants. There were no major civil wars among the 13 colonies, and the two chief armed rebellions (in
Virginia in 1676 and in
New York in 1689–91) were short-lived failures. Wars between the French and the British—the
French and Indian Wars and
Father Rale's War—were recurrent, and involved French support for
Wabanaki Confederacy attacks on the frontiers. By 1760, France was defeated and the British seized its colonies.