Although it is debated whether the prehistoric Clovis culture was of European origin, the generally accepted first European settlers were the Norse, who began but then abandoned a process of colonization. (For more information, see Vinland.) The first phase of modern European activity in this region began with the ocean crossings of Christopher Columbus (1492-1500), sponsored by Spain, and those of other explorers such as John Cabot, sponsored by England , and Giovanni da Verrazano, sponsored by France and according to some the German Didrik Pining and, perhaps the legendary, the Polish Giovanni di Kolno 1473, sponsored by Denmark. This was followed, especially in the case of Spain, by a phase of conquest: The Spaniards (as soon as the war against the Muslims in the Iberian peninsula ended) replaced the local Amerindian oligarchies and imposed a new religion: Christianity. European diseases and cruel labor systems (the famous haciendas and the mining industry) decimated the Amerindian population. Black African slaves were introduced to replace the Amerindians. On the other hand, the Spanish did not impose their language to the same extent and the Catholic Church even evangelized in Quechua, Nahuatl and Guaraní, contributing to the expansion of these Amerindian languages ​​and providing them with writing systems. One of the first schools for Amerindians was founded by Fray Pedro de Gante in 1523. The Portuguese went from an initial plan of establishing trading posts to an extensive colonization of what is now Brazil. (See also: Conquistador, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, Hernán Cortés, Francisco Pizarro, Spanish Conquest of Yucatan, Treaty of Tordesillas, Treaty of Alcaçovas) In the British and French regions, the focus of the economy soon shifted from resource extraction to trade with the natives. This was also practiced by the Russians in the northwestern coast of North America. After the French and the Indians