The history of the lands that became the United States began with the arrival of the first people in the Americas around 15,000 BC.

Numerous indigenous cultures formed, and many saw transformations in the 16th century away from more densely populated lifestyles and towards reorganized polities elsewhere. The European colonization of the Americas began in the late 15th century, however, most colonies in what would later become the United States were settled after 1600.