Chapter 17
The Diversity of American
Colonial Societies,
1530 - 1770
AP World History
What was America like before the
colonies?
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1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann
Review Timeline
WHAT HAPPENED AFTER 1492?
1493: Uncovering the
New World Columbus
Created (by Charles
Mann)
Native American History Briefly
• Native Americans occupied North America
for thousands of years before the
Europeans arrived.
• One reason it took England a century to
establish a colony is because of Native
American resistence.
• Eventually disease reduced Native
American population enough for
Europeans to settle.
The First English Colonies
• In 1492, Columbus Sails the Ocean Blue
• As one can see, it takes England more than 100
years to establish…
• Jamestown (1607) - private venture established for
mercantilist reasons, eventually became a royal
colony (government bail-out)
• Plymouth (1620) - private venture established for
religious reasons, like Jamestown, not a
commercial success.
• Massachusetts Bay (1630) - colony was wellfinanced, established to be a colony, not for purely
economic reasons. Of the first three colonies,
easily the most successful.
Back in England…
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from Why Nations Fail, p. 19
•
As the Spanish began their conquest of the Americas in the 1490s, England
was a minor European power recovering from the devastating effects of a
civil war, the Wars of the Roses. She was in no state to take advantage of
the scramble for loot and gold and the opportunity to exploit the indigenous
peoples of the Americas.
Nearly one hundred years later, in 1588, the lucky rout of the Spanish
Armada, an attempt by King Philip II of Spain to invade England, sent
political shockwaves around Europe. Fortunate though England’s victory
was, it was also a sign of growing English assertiveness on the seas that
would enable them to finally take part in the quest for colonial empire.
It is thus no coincidence that the English began their colonization of North
America at exactly the same time. But they were already latecomers. They
chose North America not because it was attractive, but because it was all
that was available. The “desirable” parts of the Americas, where the
indigenous population to exploit was plentiful and where the gold and silver
mines were located, had already been occupied. The English got the
leftovers.
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•
What Motivates the English?
• The story people often focus on is
“religious freedom”. And that is
part of the story (told on the next
few slides)
• These ventures are also about
mercantilism. And we will tell
that story as well.
People of the New World lacked immunities to smallpox,
diphtheria, typhus, influenza, malaria, and yellow fever.
Sugar plantations of colonial Brazil depended on slave labor, Native
Americans used first; replaced as they died off in massive numbers (Africans
proved more resistant to European diseases – why?)
For one never believed that so many people would be
used up, let alone in such a short time
-Father Jose De Anchieta
Horses had a dramatic effect on life of native people; not only in conquest of
but also in increasing their efficiency as hunters and their military capacity on
the plains. Historians argure the initial contact lead to the proliferation of the
buffalo?
Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)
On May 4, 1493 Pope Alexander VI took action to clear up any confusion that may
have arisen over territorial claims. Why does this date matter?
“The cause by which the
Christians have been driven to
kill and destroy so many—
such an infinite number of
souls—has been simply to get
the Indians' gold.”- Bartolomé
de Las Casas
Bartolomé de las Casas (1484 -1566) - priest who witnessed
and opposed the poor treatment of the N.A. by Spanish. Fought
for better treatment; had originally come over with Columbus.
Franciscan missionaries brought Catholicism to the
natives and even trained some to become priests.
Played an important role in transferring European language, culture,
and Christian beliefs to the New World.
Spanish America and Brazil
State and Church
• Spanish exerted control through the Council of the Indies.
• In 1720 Portugal appointed a viceroy to administer Brazil.
– These highly developed, costly bureaucracies thwarted
local economic imitative and political experimentation.
Catholic clergy sometimes acted to protect Amerindians from
the exploitation and abuse of Spanish settlers.
Catholic missionaries were frustrated as native converts
blended Christian beliefs with elements of their own belief
systems – which is called?
In response to this the Church redirected its energies
toward the colonial cities and towns where the Church
founded universities and secondary schools.
Ecomienda
Latin American version of serfdom (forced labor). Due to disease as well as
brutal treatment native populations continued to decrease dramatically.
Replaced by - ?
Triangular trade (late 16th to the early 19th centuries).
Middle Passage -
According to this map which area of the New World were most of the slaves sent to -
Colonial Economies
• Colonial economies were dominated by:
– Silver mines of Peru and Mexico
– Sugar plantations of Brazil
http://www.melfisher.org/pdf/Mercury-on-a-Galleon.pdf
• Silver mining required a large labor force
– led to environmental effects that included deforestation
and mercury poisoning.
• Spanish used the forced labor system of
encomienda.
• African slave labor used to replace natives;
– unintended benefit greater resistance to European
diseases
• Both Spain and Portugal tried to control their
colonies through mercantilism
Creoles were whites born in
America to European
parents and were at the top of the
social hierarchy except
for actual European immigrants
Peninsulares – Spaniards born
in Europe moved to New World
Society in Colonial Latin America
• Spanish elite included a small number of immigrants from
Spain and creoles.
• Under colonial rule the cultural diversity of Amerindians
eroded. Why? What does this tell us about race
• Slaves and free blacks participated in the Spanish conquest
of the New World, but the direct slave trade led to an
increase of blacks but to a decline in their legal status.
• African traditions blended with European and Amerindian
languages and beliefs to form distinctive cultures.
The Roanoke Colony was financed and organized by Sir Walter Raleigh to
establish a permanent English settlement in the Virginia Colony (1585-1587),
- either abandoned the settlement or died; three years elapsed without
supplies from England during the Anglo-Spanish War. "The Lost Colony“; fate is
still unknown.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/roanoke-colony-deserted
Jamestown, Virginia. Founded 1607 by 144 settlers. 1st
permanent English settlement; easily defended, but it was
surrounded by marshland, and therefore an unhealthy, area.
In the 17th century, 80% of all
English immigrants to Virginia and
Maryland were indentured
servants (labored for 4 - 7 yrs) to
pay for their transport to
New World.
For many poor, taking ship to the plantations was a spectacular form of
subsistence migration, necessitated by the difficulties of earning a living and the
lack of any immediate prospect of conditions getting better. Across the century,
about three-quarters of all English settlers arrived in Virginia as indentured
servants and served usually four to five years in return for the cost of their
passage, board, lodging, and various freedom dues.
“O Dear Father, believe what I am going to
relate the words of truth and sincerity, and
Balance my former bad Conduct my
sufferings here, and then I am sure you'll
pity your Destress Daughter, What we
unfortunate English People suffer here is
beyond the probability of you in England to
Conceive” - Elizabeth Spriggs 1756
House of Burgesses - Virginia, was comprised of
representatives of towns from each colony
First form of democracy in European colonies in the New World.
Stono Rebellion (1739) slave rebellion that began in South
Carolina. Largest British slave uprising prior to the American
Revolution. Slaves killed 22 - 25 whites before being intercepted
by a militia.
Carolinas first prospered in the fur trade, but
overhunting, led to decline in fur trade
» Amerindian dependency on European goods, ethnic
conflicts, among Amerindians fighting over hunting
grounds,
» series of unsuccessful Amerindian attacks on the English
colonists in the early 1700s.
The southern part of the Carolinas were settled by planters
from Barbados and developed a slave labor plantation
economy producing rice and indigo.
Slaves formed the majority of the population and the Stono
Rebellion in 1739 led to more repressive policies toward
slaves throughout the southern colonies.
Colonial South Carolina was the most hierarchical society
in British North America.
http://www.plimoth.org/what-see-do/mayflower-ii
http://seagifts.com/mayflower.html
The Mayflower Compact (1620)
First governing document of Plymouth Colony. Written by Pilgrims, who
crossed the Atlantic aboard the Mayflower.
It was in essence a social contract in which the settlers consented to follow
the compact's rules and regulations for the sake of survival.
New England
The Pilgrims formed the Plymouth Colony in 1620.
The Puritans formed a chartered joint-stock
company (Massachusetts Bay Company) and
established the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630.
Was more homogenous and less hierarchical than the
southern colonies.
Government included an elected governor and a lower
legislative house.
Due to the lack of soil or climate to produce cash
crops the Mass Bay colony depended on fur, forest
products, and fish. Large scale commerce and
shipping made Boston the largest city in British North
America.
In the spring 1621, as the
Pilgrims were still building
Plymouth settlement,
Samoset, entered calling
out 'Welcome' in English.
The next day he brought
Squanto, who was fluent in
English.
The Dutch colony of New Netherland was purchased from the
Manhattan Indians in 1626. Renamed New York (Duke of York –
James II) in 1664, its location on the Hudson river made it an
essential commercial and shipping center.
William Penn (1644 - 1718) founded the colony of Pennsylvania
for the Quakers in 1682. It grew into a wealthy grain exporting
colony comprised of free family farmers, not slaves.
The Middle Atlantic Region
• Manhattan Island was first colonized by the Dutch
then taken by the English and renamed New York.
• It became a commercial and shipping center
benefitting from its position as an outlet for the
export of grain.
• Pennsylvania developed as a proprietary colony
for Quakers.
18th century European
colonies in the Americas.
French settlement patterns more
closely resembled
those of Spain and Portugal than of
England.
Difference?
Fur Trade – main source of conflict between English and French (French and Indian War)
Many N.A. tribes took part and as a result ended up taking sides
French America
• French were committed to missionary work, but emphasized the
extraction of natural resources (mainly furs).
• Resulted in depletion of beaver and deer populations; created
dependency on European goods.
• Jesuits and other missionaries attempted to convert
Amerindians, but they turned their attention to French
settlements.
• The French established colonies in Canada, Ohio Valley,
Middle Atlantic states, and Louisiana, but this expansion led to
the French-Indian war with Great Britain.
• The French were defeated and forced to give up Canada to the
English and cede Louisiana to Spain.
Spain took enormous amts of gold and silver from their New World
colonies; eventually resulting in inflation in Spain (and hurting Spain’s
economy). By the 1790s the wealthiest sectors of Spain’s colonial
society came to view Spain as an impediment to prosperity and growth.
To reduce the power of the Catholic Church, both the Portuguese
(1759) and Spanish (1767) monarchies expelled the Jesuits,
(symbolized the independent power of the church, in their American colonies).
Túpac Amaru II (1742 - 1781)
Leader of an indigenous uprising in 1780 against the Spanish in
Peru. Although unsuccessful, later became a mythical figure in the
Peruvian struggle for independence and indigenous rights
movement and an inspiration to a myriad of causes in Peru.
Imperial Reform in Spanish America and Brazil
• After 1713 Spain’s new Bourbon dynasty undertook a series of
administrative reforms:
– Expanded inter-colonial trade, new commercial monopolies
on certain goods, a stronger navy, and better policing of
trade in contraband goods to the Spanish colonies.
• These new policies limited the power of the Creole elites and
led to a number of Amerindian uprisings.
The English Navigation Acts (1651)
Series of laws that restricted the use of foreign shipping for
trade between England and its colonies. Goal was to protect
English shipping by stopping direct colonial trade with the
Netherlands, France, etc. and to secure a profit to the home
country from the colonies.
Reform and Reorganization in British America
• In 2nd half of 17th century the British Crown tried to control
colonial trading (smuggling) and manufacture by passing
a series of Navigation Acts and by suspending the
elected assemblies of the New England colonies.
• Colonists resisted by overthrowing the governors of New
York and Massachusetts and by removing the Catholic
proprietor of Maryland.
• During the 18th century, economic growth and new
immigration into the British colonies was accompanied by
increased urbanization and a more stratified social
structure.
Comparative Perspectives
Political, Economic, Environmental, and Cultural Comparisons
• Amerindians in the colonies of Spain, Portugal, France, and England all
experienced European subjugation.
• Of the Catholic powers, Spain gained the most wealth.
• British colonial governments were more likely to develop according to local
interests than the other powers.
• The environment in all colonies underwent change from the introduction of
European technology, animals, and plants. All lost natural resources to
European markets.
• The Catholic nations forced more cultural uniformity on their colonies than
Britain did in the more religiously and ethnically diverse British colonies.
• The British colonies welcomed a much larger influx of European migrants
than did the other New World colonies.