Explain how the Americans went from lands controlled by European colonizers to multiple independent states

The vast majority of the Americas were controlled by European states until the late 18th century. The only exceptions were a few areas in the extreme geographical points of the continent, like Patagonia in South America, or Northern Canada.

Explanation:

Slowly, people from the Americas began to rebel against the European colonizers. The first were the Americans in the English colonies, who founded the United States. The Haitians in the island of Hispaniola followed soon, rebelling against the French. In the following decades, the lands dominated by the Spanish Empire rebelled, and by 1830, Spain had lost all its former colonies but Cuba and Puerto Rico.

By the end of the 19th century, there were very few colonies in the Americas, mostly small Caribbean Islands, some of which are still colonies.