Although there is debate as to whether the prehistoric culture of Clovis was of European origin, the first generally accepted European settlers were the Norse, beginning and then abandoning a process of colonization. (For more, see Vinland.) The first phase of modern European activity in this region began with the Spanish-sponsored ocean crossings of Christopher Columbus (1492–1500) and those of other explorers such as John Cabot, sponsored by Spain. England, and Giovanni da Verrazano, sponsored by France and according to some the German Didrik Pining and, perhaps mythically, the Pole John of Kolno 1473, sponsored by Denmark. What followed, particularly in the case of Spain, was a phase of conquest: The Spaniards (having just finished a war against the Muslims in the Iberian Peninsula) replaced the local Amerindian oligarchies and imposed a new religion: Christianity. European diseases and cruel labor systems (the notorious haciendas and the mining industry) decimated the Native American population. Black African slaves were introduced to replace Native Americans. 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 Guarani, thus contributing to the expansion of these Amerindian languages ​​and providing them with writing systems. One of the first schools for Native Americans was founded by Fray Pedro de Gante in 1523. The Portuguese moved from an initial plan to establish trading posts to 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 economy quickly shifted away from extraction resources towards trade with the natives. This was also practiced by the Russians on the northwest coast of North America. After the French and the Indians