Five Nations started
colonies in the New World
§ Spain – in South, Central and
North America
§ Portugal – in Brazil
§ France – In Canada
§ Great Britain – along the East
Coast of North America
§ The Dutch – On Long Island
European Empires in the Americas
Cycle of Conquest &
Colonization
Explore
rs
Official
European
Colony!
Ferdinand Magellan & the First
Circumnavigation of the World:
Early 16c
European Explorations

Christófo Colón [1451-1506]
Columbus’ Four Voyages
T he Treaty of Tordesillas, 1494 &
T he Pope’s Line of Demarcation
T he First Spanish Conquests:
T he Aztecs
vs.
Fernando Cortes
Montezuma II
T he Death of Montezuma II
Mexico Surrenders to Cortés
T he First Spanish Conquests:
T he Incas
vs.
Francisco
Pizarro
Atahualpa
Father Bartolomé de Las
Casas
New Laws --> 1542
The “Columbian Exchange”
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Squash
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Avocado
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Peppers
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Sweet Potatoes
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Turkey
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Pumpkin
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Tobacco
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Quinine
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Cocoa
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Pineapple
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Cassava
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POTATO
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Peanut
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TOMATO
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Vanilla
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MAIZE
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Syphilis
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Trinkets
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Liquor
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GUNS
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Olive
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COFFEE BEAN
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Banana
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Rice
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Onion
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Turnip
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Honeybee
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Barley
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Grape
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Peach
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SUGAR CANE
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Oats
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Citrus Fruits
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Pear
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Wheat
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HORSE
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Cattle
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Sheep
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Pigs
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Smallpox
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Flu
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Typhus
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Measles
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Malaria
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Diptheria
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Whooping Cough
Docs. 1- 4
The Spanish
Gain land and riches
§Gain converts (Catholic)
§Conquered and destroyed
native cultures (Encomeinda
system)
Spain
in the New World
§Motivated by the 3 G’s
§God, Glory and Gold
§Destroyed native culture
§Encomienda system
Mercantilism
§Economic activity should
enhance power of the
state (more gold and
silver).
Mercantilism
An economic policy of the major trading
nations from the 16th to the 18th cent…
…based on the premise that national wealth and
power were best served by increasing exports
and collecting precious metals in return.
State action, an essential feature of the
mercantile system…
…used to accomplish its purposes-to sell more
than it bought to accumulate bullion and raw
materials.
Under a mercantilist policy, a government
exercised much control over economic life
by…
regulating production,
encouraging foreign trade,
levying duties on imports to gain revenue,
making treaties to obtain exclusive trading
privileges, and
exploiting the commerce of the colonies.
Mercantilism
§Favorable balance of
trade – Spanish try to
control access to wealth
§Mining (gold and silver)
§Control commerce.
Fight for control
§Spanish crown,
colonists, and church
fight for Indian cheap
labor.
Foundation of economy
– Indian labor.
§Indian slavery and coercion
– Indians paid tribute of
gold and silver and worked
for almost nothing or
nothing.
Encomienda
§An assignment of
Indians who were to
serve the Spanish
grantee (colonist) with
tribute and labor…Indian
slavery!
Encomienda System
= Feudal System
§ Headed by the Viceroy – a noble
§ Social hierarchy based on race
§Peninsulares
§Creoles
§Mestizos
§Mulattoes
§ Presidio – fort used to defend the mission
– castle
Haciendas
§As the encomienda system
began to fail colonists created
plantations called Haciendas –
moved towards capitalism
§Tribute was no longer given
§Slavery still existed
The Congregacion
§Churches attempt to control
Indians
§Placed Indians on
reservations
The Missions
§Once Indians were
concentrated, Missions were
established to convert and
westernize the natives
§Church schools
The Influence of the Colonial
Catholic Church
Guadalajara
Cathedral
Spanish Mission
Our Lady of
Guadalupe
Spanish Colonial Class System
Peninsulares
Creoles
Mestizos
Native Indians
Mulattos
Black Slaves
Treasures
from the Americas!
English Migration: 1610-1660
The English
Transplantations:
Motives for Settlement
§ Commercial
§European belief in mercantilism
§Find wealth or escape poverty
(enclosure movement)
§ Religious
§Puritans wanted to escape
persecution
§Establish religious communities
The English
§Commercial ventures ($)
§Joint Stock Companies
Must Know
§Religious freedom
(Protestants)
§Friendly at first – later fought
natives for land
English Colonization
The Charter of the Virginia Company:
 Guaranteed to
colonists the same
rights as Englishmen
as if they had stayed
in England.
 This provision was
incorporated into
future colonists’
documents.
 Colonists felt that, even in the Americas,
they had the rights of Englishmen!
The English
Transplantations:
Jamestown
§ The first permanent English
settlement
§Colonists were “gentlemen”
§Expected to find gold
§ Poor location and management
§Located for defense
§Smith saved colony from disaster
Captain John Smith:
The Right Man for the Job??
There was no talk…but dig gold, wash
gold, refine gold, load gold…
Jamestown
§Their neighbors were the Powhattan
Indians
§Pocahontas
§The English mistreated the Indians
and used force to get what they
wanted. This angered the Indians
who refused to help the settlers
Jamestown
§Jamestown nearly failed due to
lack of supplies, poor weather and
poor location 60 miles up the
James River in a swampy area
(Defense).
High Mortality Rates
The “Starving Time”:
1607: 104 colonists
By spring, 1608: 38 survived
1609: 300 more immigrants
By spring, 1610: 60 survived
1610 – 1624: 10,000 immigrants
1624 population: 1,200
Adult life expectancy: 40 years
Death of children before age 5: 80%
John Rolfe
What finally made the colony prosperous??
What saved Jamestown?
Must
Know
§Tobacco was grown and the
colony began to make a profit.
Brought more settlers and $
Tobacco Plant
Virginia’s gold and silver.
-- John Rolfe, 1612
English Tobacco Label
First Africans arrived in Jamestown in
1619.
 Their status was not clear  perhaps
slaves, perhaps indentured servants.
 Slavery not that important until the end of
the 17c.
Virginia: “Child of Tobacco”
Tobacco’s effect on Virginia’s
economy:
 Vital role in putting VA on a firm
economic footing.
 Ruinous to soil when continuously
planted.
 Chained VA’s economy to a single crop.
Tobacco promoted the use of the
plantation system.
 Need for cheap, abundant labor.
Early Colonial Tobacco
1618 — Virginia produces 20,000 pounds of
tobacco.
1622 — Despite losing nearly one-third of
its colonists in an Indian attack,
Virginia produces 60,000 pounds of
tobacco.
1627 — Virginia produces 500,000 pounds
of tobacco.
1629 — Virginia produces 1,500,000 pounds
of tobacco.
Tobacco Prices: 1618-1710
Why did tobacco prices decline so precipitously?
Why was 1619 a
pivotal year for
the Chesapeake
settlement?
Virginia
House of Burgesses
Growing Political Power
The House of Burgesses established
in 1619 & began to assume the role of
the House of Commons in England
 Control over finances, militia, etc.
By the end of the 17c, H of B was able
to initiate legislation.
A Council appointed by royal governor
 Mainly leading planters.
 Functions like House of Lords.
 High death rates ensured rapid
turnover of members.
Indentured
Servitude
Headright
System
The English
Transplantations:
Plymouth
§ Pilgrims
§Separatists looking for
religious freedom
§ Created Mayflower Compact
§Government gets power from
the people
§ Relations with the natives
New England
§Pilgrims (1620) were religious
dissenters who wanted to
separate from the Church of
England. They faced fines,
imprisonment or death in England
for practicing their religion
§Came for Religious Freedom
New England
§ The Pilgrims were headed for
Virginia, but were blown off course in
a storm, and ended up in
Must
Massachusetts
Know
§ Created the Mayflower Compact – a
document that says the government
gets its power from the people
Must
Know
The English
Transplantations:
Massachusetts Bay
§Puritans
§Wanted to purify church
§Faced persecution
§“City on a hill”
§A religious model for the
world
§Intolerant of dissent
New England
§ Puritans (1630) also sought religious
Must
freedom
Know
§ Wanted to create Cities on a hill –
religious cities that would serve as a
model for others
Must
§ Covenant Communities
Know
§intolerant of dissent
New England
§ Puritans were governed by the
male members of the church
Must
Know
§ Town meetings – discussions about
church rules that eventually
became legislative assemblies
France
in the New World
§Commercial Incentives
§Fishing and fur trade
§Northwest Passage
§Adopted native customs
§Married into families
§Learned language
The French
Fishing, Fur Trapping
§Looking for the Northwest Passage
§Gain converts (Catholic)
§Traded w/ natives (partners)
§Married Native American women
Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade
Slave Ship
“Coffin” Position Below Deck
A frican Captives
T hrown Overboard
Slaves Working in a
Brazilian Sugar Mill
Sacrifice of the First-Born
by T heodore de Bry