Americas

Raphael: "Most men stoke their imagination of what lies beyond the ocean sea with stories of quick routes to Cipango and Cathay... But Christoffa's maps tell another tale, one the Templars know quite well... legends of an intermediate land as large as our own."

Ezio: "Another continent?"

Raphael: "A new world, Ezio..."

—Raphael Sánchez revealing to Ezio Auditore the contents of Columbus's atlas, 1491.

Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad discovering the Americas through the Apple of Eden.

The Americas, formerly known popularly as the New World, is a continent that comprises almost the entirety of the land of the Western Hemisphere of Earth. The giant landmass is traditionally divided into two constituents, North America and South America, both of which more commonly receive the appellation of continent instead. To its west is the vast Pacific Ocean and to the east, the Atlantic Ocean that serves as its divide from the Eastern Hemisphere.

Though it was home to several powerful civilizations such as the Maya, the Inca, and the Aztecs, for the great majority of human history, it was unknown to virtually everyone in Europe, Asia, and Africa. The Atlantic Ocean served as a natural barrier that segregated the peoples of the two landmasses, and only select members of the Assassin Brotherhood were aware of its existence.

This changed in 1492 when the voyage of the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus publicly exposed the existence of the continent to the majority of Europeans for the first time. A flurry of colonialism by European powers followed, and nations such as England, Spain, and France rushed to claim territory in the landmass in a contest for resources. With little respect to the rights of technologically inferior peoples which preceded them, entire populations of indigenous Americans were wiped out in the ensuing centuries of conquest.

In the meantime, the Assassins and the Templars extended their operations to the continent as well, establishing new guilds and rites as their millennia-long conflict continued to rage on. In modern times, the Americas are host to many prominent nations that are the legacy of European colonialism, including Canada, Mexico, Cuba, Brazil, Peru, and the United States of America.

History

Isu Era

The Grand Temple's location in North America

Under the Isu, the Americas were the site of many of their Temples, most notably the Grand Temple near modern-day Turin, New York that served as the central facility where the Capitoline Triad worked to devise solutions to save themselves from the impending solar cataclysm. Other complexes included the Observatory, a surveillance center in modern-day Jamaica; a vault under what would later become Chichen Itza that held the Prophecy Disks; and a series of infrastructure that stabilized the planet's crust.

After the Isu civilization collapsed in 75,000 BCE due to their failure to prevent a cataclysm that decimated the planet and the revolution of their human servants, the surviving humans proliferated freely, no longer under the dominion of their creators. For the following millennia, human civilization across the world progressed gradually.

Early human settlements

The human societies of the Americas, separated from those on other continents by the oceans, developed independently and without contact with the peoples of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Such was the segregation that, by the time of the Third Crusade in the 12th century, the Levantine Assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad was mystified to gaze upon the Americas from a map of the globe holographically projected by an Apple of Eden.

At that point, Altaïr was one of the few humans in the Eastern Hemisphere to learn of the Americas' existence, but the continent did not elude the attention of the Templars. In 1398, the Templar knight James Gunn partook in an expedition led by the Scottish nobleman Henry I Sinclair, Earl of Orkney that explored the coast of North America, likely reaching Nova Scotia and what is now Massachusetts.

Vinland

Long before the Assassins' and Templars' discovery of the Americas, the Irish Celtic monk Brendan of Clonfert arrived on the east coast of North America during the 6th century, believing he was following his God's will. Unbeknownst to Brendan, he was in fact a Sage—a reincarnation of the Isu Aita—and was being compelled by Aita's memories to find the Grand Temple and free his captive wife Juno. Ultimately, Brendan was unable to unlock the complex's entrance and returned to Ireland.

Three centuries later, the Norse people began settling the coastal area of North America, which they referred to as Saint Brendan's land or Vinland. Around 875 CE, Gorm Kjotvesson, a Viking of the Wolf Clan who served as the Maegester of the Wardens of War sect of the Order of the Ancients, led an expedition to Vinland, guided by a Crystal Ball which allowed him to communicate with Juno. Gorm sought to excavate the Grand Temple and free Juno, whom he mistook for a goddess, but was assassinated by his rival Eivor Varinsdottir of the Raven Clan, who had tracked him from England. Later in life, Eivor would choose to make Vinland her final home, and after her passing, she was buried by the native Kanien'kehá:ka people she had befriended in the area near modern-day Concord.

Circa 1000 CE, the Norse explorer Leif Ericson became the first recorded European to set foot in the Americas, landing in what is now Newfoundland, Canada.

Race to the Americas

Map of the Earth, including the Americas, drawn on the pages of Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad's Codex

In the 15th century, the Americas became known to the Ottoman geographer Piri Reis, who decided to include them in a series of maps he drew. By 1491, these maps had fallen into the hands of the Genoese navigator Christopher Columbus. Compiling an atlas from Piri Reis's maps and those drawn by other cartographers, Columbus became determined to chart a western, seaward route to Asia. By this point, the Templars had become privy to the secrets of the atlas. Realizing that there was an entire continent virtually empty of major world powers, they became desperate to explore it first. Establishing their influence in this land before the European nations or their mortal enemies, the Assassins, could prove pivotal in their quest to inaugurate a New World Order.

Needing time to prepare their own expedition across the Atlantic, the Templars sought to cut short the voyage planned by Columbus, anxious that he would publicize the Americas to all of Europe. After they failed to murder him in Venice thanks to the timely intervention of the Italian Assassin Ezio Auditore, they resorted to a more convoluted plan: to exhaust the treasury of the Crown of Castile—the only venue left for Columbus—by keeping it embroiled in the Granada War for as long as possible. This scheme failed dramatically when Ezio and the Spanish Assassins Raphael Sánchez and Luis de Santángel helped put an end to the war.

European colonization

Columbus's voyage proceeded at last in 1492, and all of the Templars' fears materialized, with Columbus's "discovery" of the continent spreading rapidly throughout all of Europe in a flurry of excitement. What followed were a series of further expeditions by Spain as they rushed to claim the "New World" for themselves.

Spanish conquistadors fighting the Inca during the Siege of Cuzco

Under conquistador Hernán Cortés, the Spaniards encountered the Aztecs for the first time in 1519. The invasion that followed led to the annexation of the Aztec Empire by Spain, and about a decade later the Inca also fell to Spanish conquest.

European colonization of the Americas progressed dramatically in the succeeding centuries, always at the expense of the indigenous populations. As the more readily accessible region, the Caribbean, better known then as the West Indies, was among the first to be widely colonized, with islands throughout its archipelago being seized by competing European powers. As a consequence, the Taíno were virtually extinct by the beginning of the 18th century. Prominent settlements in this area included the Spanish city of Havana in Hispaniola, the British city of Kingston in Jamaica, and the French city of Port-au-Prince in Saint-Domingue.

Owing to the lesser political control in these colonies, the West Indies became a hotbed for piracy, particularly in the aftermath of the War of Spanish Succession, whose end left many privateers without a livelihood. At its peak, the Golden Age of Piracy, as it became known, saw a pirate proto-state dubbed the "Pirate Republic" be established in Nassau, before the British finally cracked down on it in 1718.

The Dutch, British, and French had all trailed after the Spanish. Each of them set their sights on the closer lands along the northeastern coast of North America. The British's first attempt at a permanent settlement in 1585 failed when the Roanoke Colony mysteriously vanished by the time it was revisited in 1590. They had better success throughout the 17th century with the establishment of colonies that would coalesce to form New England along with others such as Virginia and Pennsylvania.

In 1617 and 1624, the Dutch West India Company founded the settlements of Albany on the Hudson River Valley and New Amsterdam at the river's mouth, respectively. The latter would be renamed New York when it was surrendered to the British in 1664. The French, in turn, seized the lands north of the Great Lakes and everything northeast of New England, dubbing the region Canada. From Canada, they navigated down the Mississippi River all the way to its delta, where they founded New Orleans, a port city that would be ceded to Spain at the end of the Seven Years' War to preempt the British from taking it.

Expansion of the Assassins and Templars

"I am writing to inform you that a new Brotherhood is being created in the New World. Already I have allies amongst English colonists, French colonists, and the indigenous people of the area. I have sent similar letters of friendship across the known world. For I believe that we are growing ever more connected, day by day. If my Brotherhood is to succeed, we will need allies from all empires, of all genders, of all races, who believe in the same thing: The Creed."

―Achilles Davenport in a letter to other Assassins, 1746.

Giovanni Borgia observing the Aztecs

As the New World developed into an entirely new arena for global affairs, it was natural for it to become a new theater in the Assassin-Templar War as well. The Assassin Giovanni Borgia had secretly accompanied Hernán Cortés when the conquistadors met with the Aztecs, and recovered a Crystal Skull—a Piece of Eden—which he brought back to Europe. Unbeknownst to Giovanni, Cortés himself was in possession of an Isu artifact—a prong of the Trident of Eden—which greatly aided him in his conquests by bending the minds of his enemies to convert them to his side.

Meanwhile, the Templars influenced explorers such as Juan Ponce de León, who searched for the Fountain of Youth—a rumored Piece of Eden—in Florida, and Francisco Pizarro, the conqueror of the Inca Empire. Both Ponce de León and Pizarro were killed by the Assassins after they discovered their affiliations with the Order.

Earlier explorations of the Americas by the Templars had occurred as far back as 1398, but neither were able to commit to a permanent presence until at least the end of the 17th century. The Roanoke Colony that had mysteriously vanished in 1590, however, may have been an idyllic Assassin settlement.

In 1692, the infamous Salem witch trials occurred in the Puritan town of Salem, Massachusetts, overseen by the Templars Samuel Parris and William Stoughton, who were searching for a Piece of Eden. The Assassins Thomas Stoddard and Jennifer Querry also arrived in Salem to find the artifact, but their mission ended in failure and Querry's death at the hands of Stoughton. Parris, believing there had been enough bloodshed, later allowed Stoddard to leave the city, with the Templars themselves also departing not long after.

The Assassin insignia in Tulum

Towards the end of the 17th century, the Spanish Rite of the Templar Order sent Laureano de Torres y Ayala to establish the West Indies Rite based in Havana. The Assassins did not lag behind, with their own West Indies Brotherhood settled in Tulum while bureaus were located in prominent cities like Havana and Kingston. While the Templars were preoccupied with finding the Observatory, the Assassins focused on countering their efforts as well as achieving the emancipation of slaves, after the Europeans had developed an African slave trade on a scale unprecedented in history.

To that end, the Assassins actively supported the cause of the Maroons who rebelled against the European slavers. However, trouble ensued when the Maroon leader and Mentor of the Saint-Dominigue Assassins, François Mackandal, radicalized and attempted to twist the Creed into an instrument for terrorism, leading to a schism. The internal conflict echoed in the Louisiana Brotherhood, established by an apprentice of Mackandal, Agaté, though it would be resolved by his own apprentice Aveline de Grandpré. Through the workings of Madeleine de L'Isle, a Louisiana Rite was also founded in New Orleans, as approved by the Parisian Rite. However, this Templar branch was ultimately short-lived, being completely eradicated by 1777 thanks to Aveline's efforts.

The Davenport Homestead, headquarters of the Colonial Assassins

Expansion of the two orders to northeastern America came only in the mid-18th century, shortly before the outbreak of the French and Indian War. The Parisian Brotherhood sent their agent, John de la Tour, to Acadia on a mission to develop a network of informants in Canada. From 1740 to his death in 1745, de la Tour cooperated with Achilles Davenport, the last apprentice of Ah Tabai, Mentor of the West Indies Brotherhood, who set off to New England to lay the foundations for what would become the Colonial Brotherhood.

Under Grand Master Reginald Birch of the British Rite, the Templars refocused their operations to searching for Isu relics in the New World. Hoping to find the Grand Temple and other Isu vaults, Birch actively promoted the expansion of the Order to the continent, most notably by sending his protégé Haytham Kenway to found the Colonial Rite in Boston in 1754.

Under Haytham's leadership and with the aid of the Assassin defector Shay Cormac, the Templars battled the Colonial Brotherhood for supremacy in North America during the French and Indian War. Thanks to Shay's efforts, the prominent members of the Colonial Brotherhood were killed during the conflict, while Achilles was left crippled after a confrontation inside an Isu temple found by the Assassins in the Arctic. No longer deeming the Mentor a threat, the Templars allowed him to live the rest of his days in exile on the Davenport Homestead, though other Assassins were not shown the same mercy. By 1763, the Templars launched a purge of the Colonial Brotherhood that resulted in the eradication of the guild.

Resistance of indigenous Americans

"But for how long? Come spring two dozen men will have moved here. By fall there will be two dozen more. They will hunt in these forests. They will settle on this land. In less than a year there will be a hundred of them. In time they will swallow us whole."

―Ratonhnhaké:ton to Kanen'tó:kon, 1769.

With little regard for the welfare of indigenous peoples, the European powers decimated the native populations with their centuries of expansion. Aside from the Aztecs, Inca, and Maya, most indigenous Americans had not developed advanced civilization and could not hope to match the invaders' military superiority. The encroachment of the Europeans, while gradual, was constant and unending, and territory was routinely annexed or "claimed" with poor and at times, non-existent, recognition of indigenous sovereignty.

Kesegowaase leading an attack against the British

Indigenous peoples throughout the continent feared that their way of life and even their very existence were threatened and were forced to cope in whatever way they could. A great many turned to the Assassin cause, finding it most supportive of their rights and desire for independence. The most prominent of these were the Maya, who comprised the core of the manpower for the West Indies Brotherhood. They were joined by the Taíno, such as Opía Apito. The Wolastoqiyik Kesegowaase similarly joined the Colonial Brotherhood, though his fury at the Europeans led him to carry out punitive raids on their colonies' inhabitants in violation of the Creed.

Not all indigenous Americans found solace with the Assassins, however. Cuali, an Aztec warrior, pledged his allegiance to the Templars when he disputed that the Assassins' ideals could possibly save his people. The psychopathic Assassin hunter known only as the Coyote Man was feared for having slain an Assassin Mentor with his bare hands.

Perhaps the most significant case of an indigenous effort at combating European encroachment was Ratonhnhaké:ton of the Kanien'kehá:ka, who apprenticed himself to Achilles Davenport and fought the Templars in the hopes that this would protect his people. Though his efforts led to the temporary destruction of the Colonial Rite and the restoration of the Colonial Brotherhood, his ultimate goal failed because his allies, the Patriots of the American Revolution, did not respect the rights of his people any more than the British did. His village was forced to retreat west, a common story of many indigenous peoples who would be constantly shoved from their homelands by the expanding United States of America.

Modern times

With the American Revolution, where thirteen British colonies rebelled against British rule, the United States of America was founded. Over the next century, it would pursue a policy of expansionism until it reached the other coast of the continent so as to border the Pacific Ocean. By the end of World War II, the United States had become the world's premier superpower.

Because of the history of European imperialism, the demographics of the Americas were forever changed, with the catastrophic mortality of as much as 90% of the indigenous population. The modern political composition of the continent lies in the legacy of European colonization, with most of the nations, such as the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Brazil, having originated as colonies that acquired independence from their parent empires.

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed (first appearance) (map only)
• Assassin's Creed II (map only)
• Assassin's Creed II: Discovery (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy
• Assassin's Creed: The Fall
• Assassin's Creed: Revelations
• Assassin's Creed: Revelations – Discover Your Legacy
• Assassin's Creed: The Chain
• Assassin's Creed III
  • Benedict Arnold
  • The Tyranny of King Washington
• Assassin's Creed III: Liberation
• Assassin's Creed: Forsaken
• Assassin's Creed: Initiates
• Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
  • Freedom Cry
• Assassin's Creed: Black Flag
• Assassin's Creed: Pirates
• Assassin's Creed: Rogue
• Assassin's Creed: Memories
• Assassin's Creed (Titan Comics)
• Assassin's Creed: Templars
• Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants
• Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants – Locus
• Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants – Tomb of the Khan
• Assassin's Creed film
• Assassin's Creed: The Official Movie Novelization
• Assassin's Creed: Uprising
• Assassin's Creed: Conspiracies
• Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants – Fate of the Gods
• Assassin's Creed: Rebellion
  • Dead Men's Gold
  • Caribbean Sea, 1713 CE
• Assassin's Creed: Bloodstone
• Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – Assassin's Creed Crossover Stories (map only)
• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla
  • The Last Chapter
• Assassin's Creed: Nexus VR
• Assassin's Creed: Visionaries (non-canon)
• Assassin's Creed Roleplaying Game