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This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 11 January 2022 and 6 May 2022. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): NJHaley1776 (article contribs).

Was Ingólfr Arnarson the first European to settle the American continent ? Arnarson and his wife, Hallveig Fróðadóttir, settled in Iceland, divided by a rift, mid-Atlantic Ridge, that splits Iceland into Europe Eastside and America Westside. Arnarson and his wife founded Reykjavík Geography of Iceland in 874, apparently the westside of Iceland, the American Continent. So Reykjavík would be the first American colony by a European. I am not sure there are sources on this, but 874 could mark the beginning of European colonization. Of course, I am not suggesting anything be put in the article, unless there are sources. Are there any sources that suggest such a thing? Cmguy777 (talk) 05:50, 8 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Is Reykjavik located in the continent of North America? Iceland is divided by the Mid-Atlantic Rift at Þingvellir and Reykjavik is on the North American tectonic plate. Cmguy777 (talk) 06:14, 8 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]

@Cmguy777: see Geography of Iceland. It's considered European and in any case we'd need reliable sources, not our interpretation of the geography. Doug Weller talk 09:06, 8 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]

I agree Iceland, the nation, is politically and culturally European. But wasn't America just an extention of European culture and political society? I only presented this question for discussion, not to be put into the article, unless sources can be found. Technically, Reykjavík is on the North American continent, and was founded by a male and female Europeans in 874. Maybe historical research of European colonization of the Americas, at this time, has not incorporated the science of platectonics, or defined where America begins and Europe ends. Cmguy777 (talk) 15:57, 8 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]

@Cmguy777: talk pages are to be used only to discuss the article, not subjects such as this. Doug Weller talk 18:03, 8 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]

I was talking about the article that does mention Norse colonization starting in the 1000s. Reykjavík is a Norse colony started in 874. My question was whether Reykjavík, located on the North American plate should be considered a "North American" colony. There is no further need to continue this conversation. I am dropping the stick. I consider this conversation closed. Cmguy777 (talk) 15:41, 9 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Here's one way to look at it. It may be that in some specialized context / venue (e.g. plate tectonics) that could be considered to be true. But common meanings of the term are what we communicate in, so "Americas" means the common meaning of "Americas" and so that is the defined topic of this article. Sincerely, North8000 (talk) 17:50, 9 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Europeans are not homogenous, there is NO such thing as politically and culturally European.. do they share the same politics and culture as Volga Bulgars, Crimean Tatars, Kalmyks, Albanians? 2607:FEA8:4AA3:D100:2084:BD6B:B0A9:93F2 (talk) 04:31, 8 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Shouldn't the American frontier and the Far West be part of this article? 5.171.88.101 (talk) 19:40, 15 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 4 January 2023 and 15 March 2023. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Pittarchy (article contribs).

— Assignment last updated by Suspicious Turtle (talk) 17:13, 23 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

This page seems to treat European colonization as an exclusively historical phenomenon (as tellingly exemplified by the use of the past tense in the concluding sentence of the lead, "European contact and colonization had disastrous effects on the indigenous peoples of the Americas and their societies"). I would question that approach, which implicitly seems to categorize colonization by people of European origins as a thing of the past.

Within the current editorial framework, I would struggle to know how to provide pertinent information to the page about highly relevant current effects of ongoing colonization (example) by people of European origins (in an appropriately weighted way). For this reason, I added[1] an entry linking to Mennonites to ==See also==. Not ideal, I know... and the edit was reverted by Masterhatch with the edit summary "already mentioned in the body". While that's true, the 'mention' is merely as a name on a list of religious groups (under ==Religion and migration==).

Given this situation, for the time being, I think it may be reaonable to insert under ==See also== * Mennonites#Environmental damage. (More generally, I think it would be good for the page to be less restricted to historical narrative.) 86.140.161.217 (talk) 16:40, 19 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Europeans ARE NOT HOMOGENOUS, viewing them as so is wrong and ahistorical.. wtf do mennonites have to do with colonialism? 2607:FEA8:4AA3:D100:2084:BD6B:B0A9:93F2 (talk) 04:32, 8 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 31 March 2025 and 20 June 2025. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): TraskL (article contribs).

— Assignment last updated by TraskL (talk) 01:43, 18 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

With this edit in Summer 2025 ([2]), user Skitash deliberately removed a sourced picture added by me years ago, and replaced with it an unsourced one (a painting of Columbus) that is already in the body of the article, out of nowhere and without justification.

On 2 November 2025, I restored the aforementioned first picture with source and notified the same user for disruptive editing ([3]). After warning her/him the first time, she/he immediately proceeded to delete the picture that I had restored and replace it again with the same Colombus painting ([4]), after which I reverted them back to the revision with both pictures ([5][6][7][8]), notifying them again of their unreasonable and uncollaborative disruptive editing, three times, despite their refusal to understand and collaborate, as the edit summaries and the removals of all warnings on their talk page clearly shows ([9][10][11][12][13]). GenoV84 (talk) 20:25, 2 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I've clearly justified my edit and explained why John Vanderlyn's painting is more significant and commonly associated with the topic than the Thomas Hart Benton painting you added. Also, it's not about sourcing, as both are properly attributed works by their respective artists. Vanderlyn's piece is more contemporaneous with the subject matter and is the prototypical choice. Moreover, you've violated WP:3RR by making four reverts within 24 hours,[14][15][16][17] so I suggest you self-revert. Skitash (talk) 20:34, 2 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Skitash: Regarding the historical relevance of the painting by Benton about the Native American perspective on the European colonization of the Americas that I have restored, the one that has been featured on this article for years before your first deliberately disruptive edit without justification in Summer 2025 ([18]), let me explain it to you very briefly: in February 1495, Christopher Columbus took captive over 1,500 Arawaks. About 550 of them were shipped to Spain as slaves, with about 40% dying en route.^[1][2][3] There is an entire article about it on this encyclopedia. Do I need to say more? GenoV84 (talk) 20:52, 2 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Skitash: No you didn't, the edit summaries of your reverts don't explain anything about your edits. You are explaining it now, and it didn't cost you anything to explain it before, am I right? GenoV84 (talk) 20:41, 2 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Skitash: You still refuse to explain why both pictures can't be featured in the same article, since the one that you have restored is already in the Spanish section, in case you didn't see it. What is the point of deleting a picture that has been there for years and replacing it with one that is already featured in the same article? Let's hear it. GenoV84 (talk) 20:41, 2 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Please check my edit closely. I moved the lede picture from the Spain section to avoid duplicates. Both pictures can stay in the article, but this is a matter of which image belongs in the lede. You've yet to self-revert per WP:3RR. Skitash (talk) 20:46, 2 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Skitash: From my perspective, no image should stay in the lead section, as the Template:Euromericas already occupies enough space there. I'd rather keep both pictures and move them to their respective sections or subsections. GenoV84 (talk) 20:52, 2 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Skitash: I restored the article to the latest revision before both users' edits. GenoV84 (talk) 20:56, 2 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Fine, that works for me. Skitash (talk) 20:59, 2 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

WP:CONSENSUS has been established, both users agree on the appropriate solution. GenoV84 (talk) 21:03, 2 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]