Final answer:
Christopher Columbus is credited with the discovery of America in 1492, leading to the establishment of settlements by European nations such as the English, Dutch, and French.
Step-by-step explanation:
In 1492, it was Christopher Columbus who embarked on a voyage that led to the discovery of the Americas, a continent unknown to Europeans at the time. His journey, initially aiming to find a new trading route to the Indies, resulted in the encounter with the landmass that would later be named America after the explorer Amerigo Vespucci who recognized that these lands were not part of Asia as Columbus believed.
Subsequent European settlers came to reside beside the native communities that they encountered. These Indigenous communities, however, faced significant challenges and suffering due to European colonization, which included being exposed to diseases brought by the Spaniards, losing their lands, and experiencing profound cultural disruptions.
The English, Dutch, and French explorers followed in the wake of Columbus's discovery, with aspirations to find riches and establish settlements. The first permanent English settlement was eventually established at Jamestown in 1607 by the Virginia Company of London, in a location chosen for its strategic defense against potential Spanish discovery but ultimately proving to be less than ideal because of its marshy environment.