Sir Walter Raleigh:

English (Tobacco)

Francisco

Pizarro:

Spanish

(Conqueror of

Inca)

CH 13: Political Transformations: Empires & Encounters

American Colonial Empires

Created, 1664, Holland. Map reflects the knowledge

developed by explorers in the 1500's & early 1600's.

Map included many interesting drawings around the edge.

Mythical figures are shown, as well as natives of the New

World. A number of angelic beings are portrayed at the top, a

well as wise old navigators & sailors.

Why didn’t China or India develop colonies & explore?

need: Chinese & Indians had rich markets in the Indian Ocean

that there wasn’t much incentive to go beyond

marginality: Europeans were aware of their marginal position in

Eurasian commerce & wanted to change it

What advantages did Europe have?

geography: European Atlantic states were well positioned for

involvement in the Americas & wealth & status: colonies were an

opportunity for impoverished nobles & commoners

rivalry: interstate rivalry drove rulers to compete

merchants: growing merchant class wanted direct access to

Asian wealth

religion: crusading zeal & persecuted minorities looking for more

freedom

An Early Modern World? Period covered by Chapters 13–15 is usually labeled “the early modern era.”

Signs of Modernity:

★ Globalization

★ Modern societies

★ Rising European presence in world affairs

Globalization: European exploration, conquest, & settlement

in the Americas 1. Atlantic slave trade linked Africa to Western Hemisphere

2. New World silver let Europeans buy their way into Asian markets

3. Columbian exchange created new networks of interaction

4. Christianity became a truly world religion

5. Russian, Chinese, & Ottoman expansion an emerging global web

An Early Modern World? Period covered by Chapters 13–15 is usually labeled “the early modern era.”

Signs of modernity:

Globalization, modern societies, & rising European

presence in world affairs

Signs of modernity appeared in several regions

1. Modern population growth, thanks to foods from the

Americas

2. More highly commercialized economies developed

(parts of Eurasia & Americas, centered in large cities)

3. Emergence of stronger & more cohesive states in

various places promoted trade, manufacturing, & a

common culture

Map 13.1:

European Colonial

Empires in the Americas Wars & rivalries led to an

expansion of Spanish &

English claims, at the

expense of the French.

European rulers were driven

by enduring rivalries of

competing states.

Growing & relatively

independent merchant class

in a rapidly commercializing

Europe sought direct access

to Asian wealth in order to

avoid the reliance on Muslim

intermediaries that they found

so distasteful.

For Spain

For Portugal

1494 Treaty of Tordesillas: Line of demarcation was about 1/2 way between

Cape Verde Islands (already Portuguese) & islands entered by Christopher Columbus

on his 1st voyage (claimed for Spain), named in the treaty as Cipangu & Antilia (Cuba

& Hispaniola).

European colonial rule in the

Americas varied

★ cultures & policies of the

colonizing power

★ character of the Native

American cultures

★ economy established in a

particular region

English were late to the

game of exploration Ironically, many felt the lands they

had left to take (NY, New England,

PA, & Virginia) were left-over &

worthless in comparison to the

treasures of Central & SA (gold).

English & Spanish Colonies

English & Spanish Colonies

Lands of the Aztecs & the Incas: Spanish empire ruled over the most

densely settled indigenous populations in

the Americas & developed an economic

system based on commercial agriculture

& mining.

Colonial rule replicated something of the

Spanish class hierarchy while also

accommodating the racially & culturally

different Native Americans & Africans.

Native peoples, rather than African slaves

or European workers, provided labor,

despite their much-diminished numbers.

Almost everywhere it was forced labor,

often directly required by colonial

authorities.

Encomienda (en-koh-mee-en-duh)

Some Native Americans decided to aid the

Spanish in their initial invasion of the New World,

mostly due to old tribal rivalries.

Encomienda: system employed mainly

by Spanish during colonization of

Americas to regulate Native American

labor, mostly farming & mining.

Spanish crown granted Spaniards

specified # of natives for whom they

were to take responsibility.

Theory: Receiver of the grant was to

protect natives from warring tribes & to

instruct them in Spanish language and

in Catholic faith. In return they could

extract tribute from the natives in the

form of labor, gold, or other products.

Encomienda (en-koh-mee-en-duh)

In practice, the difference between

encomienda & slavery could be

minimal. Natives were forced to do hard labor &

subjected to extreme punishment & death

if they resisted.

In the former Inca Empire, for example, the

system continued the Incaic (and even pre-

Incaic) Mita traditions of extracting tribute

under the form of labor.

Compare English & Spanish Colonies.

Brazil & Caribbean: No earlier civilization

existed & production of sugar for export

defined economy.

Spanish colonists rarely included women & families. Large #

of Africans were imported as slave labor.

Considerable amount of racial mixing took place. Mixed-race

population: Much of the urban skilled workforce &

supervisors in sugar industry, as well as some prominent

members of community.

More slaves were voluntarily set free by their

owners in Brazil than in N. America.

Compare English & Spanish Colonies.

Sugar Cane Plantations: Hell on Earth in Caribbean.

The worst place to work as a slave in the Americas.

What is a one major reason for higher literacy rates in British

North American colonies than in Spanish/Portuguese colonies?

Protestantism: Encouraged reading of the Bible, was

dominant form of Christianity in British colonies.

Women & families accompanied men & cultural expectation

was reading & interpretation of the Bible.

3rd distinctive type of colonial society: Northern British colonies of New England, New

York, & Pennsylvania.

Upon the arrival of British settlers, these

regions were not heavily settled with

Native Americans, in part because of

the ravages of European borne

epidemic diseases.

Compare English & Spanish Colonies.

Compare English & Spanish Colonies.

British North America:

★ Raising of different crops, including

tobacco, cotton, rice, & indigo, than in

Spanish colonies.

★ Less racial mixing

★ Self reproducing slave workforce

“Race" in N. America: Any amount of

African or “black” ancestry would make

someone African or “black”

This idea was sadly, long=lasting.

Compare English & Spanish Colonies Why So Literate?

Availability of land, climate, & geography of N.

America & the “outsider” status of many British

settlers, led to:

Economic & social system of small

independent farmers w/o sharp class

hierarchy, large rural estates, or dependent

laborers.

Weak British rule, largely literate population,

developed traditions of local self-government,

elected colonial assemblies, & vigorously

contested the prerogatives of royal governors

sent to administer their affairs.

Compare English & Spanish Colonies

British colonists sought to escape

European traditions, while

Spanish/Portuguese colonists

sought to recreate them in the

Americas.

Which makes sense when one considers the

resulting American Revolutionary War for

Independence. More on that in Unit 5.