APUSH REVIEW: SPANISH,
ENGLISH, FRENCH, AND
DUTCH COLONIZATION
Everything You Need To Know About European
Colonization To Succeed In APUSH
Periods 1 and 2
• Much of these periods focus on European
exploration and their impact on the Americas
• This is a GREAT potential short answer/essay topic
• Big Idea Questions:
• What were similarities and differences among the
European powers?
• What impacts did each power have on North
America and its inhabitants?
European Exploration
• Reasons For:
• Wealth, power and status, spread of Christianity
• 3 Gs (Gold, Glory, God)
• Technological improvements
• Sextant, caravel
• Interactions with Natives:
• Many (most) Europeans saw Natives as “uncivilized”
• Differences over land “ownership,” family and gender roles,
and religion led to conflicts between Europeans and Natives
Spanish Colonization
• Spain became the early European leader in exploration - settled in South America and
SW US
• Spain sought precious metals (gold and silver)
• Spanish Conquistadores:
• Hernan Cortes - Tenochtitlan, 1519, conquered the Aztecs due to advanced weapons
and disease
• Francisco Pizarro - conquered the Incas in Peru
• The Columbian Exchange - transfer of goods, people, and diseases across the Atlantic
• **Impacts on the Americas**?
• Disease decreased Native populations drastically; livestock and guns altered
hunting and warfare
• **Impact on Europe**?
• New crops (potatoes, maize) increased the population; increased wealth led to
capitalism and decline of feudalism
Spanish Colonization Cont.
• Spanish colonial societies
• Sought tight control from the crown and wanted to convert many Natives
• Most Spanish settlers were men, leading to racially mixed populations
with the Natives
• Emergence of a caste system:
• Mestizo - mixed Spanish and Native ancestry
• Mullato - mixed Spanish and African ancestry
• Encomienda System:
• Royal land grants to Spanish settlers; promise to Christianize Natives
on the land and gain tribute from the Natives
• Eventually replaced by African slave labor
Spanish Colonization Cont.
• Debates over how Natives should be treated: (16th century)
• Juan de Sepulveda
• Argued harsh treatment of Natives was justified
• Bartolome de Las Casas
• Advocated for better treatment of Natives
• Helped lead to the decline of the Encomienda System
• Writings introduced the idea of the “Black Legend” - Spain was a brutal
colonizer that exploited Natives
• Pueblo Revolt: (1680)
• Pueblo Indians (New Mexico) successfully rid the Spanish for over 10 years
• After Spain regained control, they became more accommodating of Native
culture
English Colonization
• 1st permanent settlement was Jamestown in 1607
• Settled along the Atlantic in the present-day US and
Caribbean
• Applied many of the same tactics used in Ireland
towards the Natives
• Seen as “savages,” excluded from English
settlements
• England sent large amounts of men AND women to
colonies, focused on agriculture, and had hostile
relationships with Natives
English Colonization Cont.
• New England Colonies (Massachusetts, Rhode Island):
• Puritans - community of like-minded believers (“City upon a hill”), focused on agriculture
and commerce
• Those that were not “like-minded believers” were outcasts - Roger Williams, Anne
Hutchinson
• Middle Colonies (Pennsylvania, New York):
• Most diverse religiously, ethnically, and demographically of English colonies
• Many immigrants from Europe, religiously tolerant, Pennsylvania - William Penn’s “Holy
Experiment”
• Southern Colonies:
• Chesapeake (Maryland and Virginia) and North Carolina - focused on tobacco, initially
used indentured servants, later African slavery (post Bacon’s Rebellion)
• South Carolina and the West Indies - focused on rice and sugar, slaves made up most of
the population
• Colonies had some form of representative assembly
English Colonization Cont.
• England promoted mercantilism:
• Idea that colonies exist for the benefit of the mother
country
• Provide raw materials and markets
• Focused on controlling balance of trade - more gold
and silver should flow into the country than out
• Navigation Acts - allowed for colonies to trade ONLY
with England
• Many colonists resisted these acts and smuggled
French Colonization
• Samuel de Champlain founded Quebec in 1608 (1 year after
Jamestown)
• Most of the colonists were men
• Like Spain, France accepted intermarriage (metis)
• Focused on fur trade with Natives - friendly relations with
Natives
• Coureurs des bois - French “runners of the woods”
• New France had a governor-general that ruled and was
appointed in Paris
• No representative assembly
French Colonization
• Relations with Natives:
• Did not take a substantial amount of Native land
(like English)
• Did not force them into slavery (like Spanish)
• Christian Indians were allowed to have a lot of
autonomy (independence)
• Many Natives were killed by diseases
Dutch Colonization
• Henry Hudson of the Dutch East India Company reached NY in 1609
• The Dutch established trade posts in NY - Manhattan and Albany
• Like the French, the Dutch sent few Europeans to settle and
formed alliances and intermarried with Natives
• The Dutch created the joint-stock company - pooling $ together and
sharing the profits and losses of voyages - helped lead to modern
capitalism
• New Netherland - dominated the Atlantic slave trade
• Married women retained rights when married (unlike English
women who lost land)
• Some religious toleration - privately, not publicly
Test Tips
• Multiple-Choice and Short Answer:
• Reasons for European exploration (3 Gs, technological improvements)
• Characteristics of European colonies (know the characteristics of British colonies - New England,
Middle, Southern)
• Impacts of contact on Natives AND Europeans (Columbian Exchange)
• Essays:
• Comparing and contrasting characteristics/goals
• British - large numbers of men AND women, agriculture, and hostile relations with Natives
• French - sent fewer Europeans, focused on trade alliances with Natives
• Synthesis Point:
• Creating political, social, economic categories if NOT prompted to do so
• Connecting AND EXPLAINING (2-3 sentences) to another time period
• The arguments used by Europeans to justify colonization included spreading Christianity. This is a
similar argument that was used by some Americans that sought to spread Christianity in Asia in the
late 19th, early 20th centuries after the US acquired land in the Spanish-American War.
That’s It!
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