History of the United States

The migration to North America in the 17th century was just one part of mankind's constant movement across the globe. The Greeks and Romans also expanded their territories, as did the Teutonic tribes. The settlement of America was just a small aspect of Europe's expansion to all corners of the world. The tide of migration that set in towards the shores of North America during the early years of the 17th century was but one phase in the restless and eternal movement of mankind upon the surface of the earth. The ancient Greeks flung out their colonies in every direction, westward as far as Gaul across the Mediterranean, and eastward into Asia Minor, perhaps the very confines of India. The Romans, supported by their armies and their government, spread their dominion beyond the narrow lands of Italy until it stretched from the heather of Scotland to the sands of Arabia. The Teutonic tribes, from their home beyond the Danube and the Rhine, poured into the Empire of the Caesars and made the beginnings of modern Europe to this great sweep of races and empires. The settlement of America was merely a part, and it was moreover only one aspect of the expansion which finally carried the peoples, institutions, and the trade of Europe to the very ends of the earth.