Chapter 17
The Diversity of
American Colonial
Societies
By: Kayla Brennan
Colombian Exchange
• It was the transfer of people, animals, plants,
agriculture, and diseases between the Old and
New Worlds.
• Diseases from the Old World wiped out the
majority of the native population.
• Spain and Portugal, England, and France
became areas of cultural and social
experimentation.
Demographic Changes
• Death rates in the New World were very high
due to lack of immunity.
• New World staple crops impacted European,
Asian, and African diet and agriculture.
• Livestock were brought to the New World and
therefore altered the land and jobs of the
natives.
Spanish Colony
• Spain and Portugal expanded into the New
World rapidly.
• The Spanish and Portuguese set up there
societies based on cultures and traditions of
their own lands.
• Amerindian culture and practices continued.
• African slave trade began.
State
Spanish
• Council of the Indies
supervised the Spanish
Colony.
• There were many areas
controlled by viceroys.
• Taxes were in gold and
silver.
Portuguese
• They set up
administrative
responsibilities.
• They eventually had a
viceroy in Brazil.
• Sugar plantations and
gold mines= intrusive
colonial bureaucracy.
Church
Spanish And Portuguese
• Wanted to convert Amerindians to Christianity
• Began using torture, executions, and destruction of
native manuscripts
• Bartolome de Las Casas protested the natives’
treatment
• Amerindian Christianity came out which was the blend
of their beliefs with Catholic rituals associated with the
Virgin Mary
• Churches made improvements to intellectual life
– The printing press
– Universities
– Secondary schools
Economy
Spanish
Portuguese
• Silver mines dominated the
economy
• Encomienda- forced labor
on the Amerindians
• Low Amerindian
populations led to free
wage labor
• Became a Spanish speaking
Catholic colonial society
• Increased trade
• Sugar plantations
dominated the economy in
Brazil
• Worked by Amerindian
slaves at first, but changed
to African slaves
• This connected them
commercial links around the
world
Society
Spanish and Portuguese
• Populations dominated by Africans, Amerindians, and creoles
• Creoles were whites born in the Americas
• Indigenous elite became closer to Spanish authorities to help
them survive
• Afro-Iberian slaves had similar roots of Spain and Portugal
• African slaves had different languages, beliefs, and practices
• Black populations grew and a lot of them bought their
freedom
English Colony
• Multiple failed attempts to settle in the New
World
• Jamestown brought 144 settlers to VA but 80%
died
• The survivors stayed and moved inland
• They discovered tobacco and this brought more
settlers.
• Immigrants that could not afford the trip were
brought as indentured servants.
Government
• They were ruled under the House of Burgesses
and a governor and his council
• They had major fur trade
• Altered the environment and Amerindian
agriculture
The Carolinas
• They used slavery and plantations
• African slaves brought new agricultural
techniques
• South Carolina had a hierarchy type society
– The rich at the top
– Small farmers, cattlemen, artisans, merchants,
and fur traders were middle class
– Indigenous people and slaves were at the bottom
New England
• Pilgrims wanted to break off of the England
church so they emigrated to the Americas.
• Settled in Plymouth and dispersed according to
their beliefs.
• Puritans wanted to purify the Church of England.
• They set up Massachusetts Bay Colony and
absorbed Plymouth.
• Little diversity, no agriculture, few slaves
• Shipped and provided commercial services
The Middle Atlantic Region
• English speaking societies
• Dutch settle on Manhattan Islands and
Quakers settle Pennsylvania
• New York: large commercial and shipping
center
• Pennsylvania: grain-exporting colony
• Traded with Iroquois Confederacy
French Colony
• Interested in beaver and other animals’ furs
• Made allies with Huron and Algonquin Indians
• Couveurs de bois- were sent to live among
native tribes and master their customs
• Deadly wars between Algonquin and Iroquois
• Firearms spread and mixed in some areas with
horses
French
• Jesuits converted natives to Christianity
• Native religions persisted so they used money
to build schools, hospitals, and churches.
• Eventually they lost Canada to the English and
lost Louisiana to Spanish.
Summary
• All of the colonies applied their knowledge from
the Old World to the transforming of the New
World.
• They all permanently altered the native peoples.
• They brought African Americans to the New
World creating diverse societies.
• They also brought silver, sugar plantations, and
fur trade into the commercial networks of that
time period.