We Could Perceive No Sign of Them: Failed Colonies in North America, 1526-1689

The Story of the Many Ill-Fated Attempts by Europeans to Create Permanent Settlements in the New World The nations of the modern Americas began as successful colonies, but not all colonies succeeded, and the margin between colonies that survived and those that failed was small. In We Could Perceive No Sign of Them: Failed Colonies in North America, 1526-1689, historians David MacDonald and Raine Waters tell the fascinating stories of the many attempts to establish a European foothold in the New World, from the first Spanish colony in 1526 on the coast of Georgia to the final disastrous French endeavors near the arctic. Using as many primary source texts as possible, the authors assimilate the shared experiences to better understand the very fine line between success and failure and the varieties of Native American responses.