Chapter 1: AP

The Collision of Cultures

I. America before Columbus
a. The people of the Precontact Americas
i. Long held belief that all early migration to America came across an
ancient land bridge, over the Bering Strait, in Alaska – 11,000 years ago
ii. Migrations were a development of the new stone tools – spears and other
hunting tools – allowed for people to hunt and follow large land animals –
that would regularly cross from Asia to the Americas
iii. Migrants came from Mongolian stock – related to the modern day Siberia
1. “Clovis” people (known as by scholars) – named after the town
in New Mexico where archeologists first discovered their tools
and weapons
iv. New evidence
1. Migrants from Asia – migrated as far south as Peru and Chile –
suggesting they did not come by land but by boat by the sea
2. Discoveries have suggested that Japan and Australia were
populated by migrants who sailed their
3. People were traveling long distances by sea
4. The population of America was much more diverse then once
thought
5. Came from farther south in Asia than Mongolia – Japan and/or
Polynesia
6. DNA evidence also suggests that they were groups in the
Americas that may have come from early Europe or Africa –
thousands of years before Columbus
7. The Archaic period – is a scholarly term for the history of
humans in America during the period of about 5,000 years
beginning around 8,000B.C.
a. At the beginning of the period people supported themselves
through hunting and gathering – stone tools
b. Largest animals that humans had hunted became extinct
c. People continued to hunt with spears – bows and arrows
were not known in the Americas until 400 – 500 A.D.
d. Later – population groups began to expand their activities
and developed new tools to facilitate them
i. Nets and hooks –fishing
ii. Traps – smaller animals
 iii. Baskets – gathering berries, nuts, seeds, and other
plants
e. Agricultural communities – most important crop – corn –
grew others beans and squash – led to sedentary
communities – basis for larger settlements
b. The Growth of Civilizations: The South
i. Most elaborate of the civilizations emerged south of what is today the
United States – in South and Central America and in present day Mexico
ii. Incas:
1. Peru – Created the largest empire in the Americas
2. Small tribe in the mountainous region of Cuzco – early 15th
century
3. Powerful leader – Pachacuti (World Shaker)
a. Incorporated 2,000 miles of land, in the western part of
South America into his empire – using both persuasion and
force
b. His agents spread out and informed other tribes of the
benefits of the empire – most local leaders agreed to ally
themselves with the Incas
c. The government was sustained by innovative
administrative systems and a large network of paved roads
iii. Mayan:
1. Meso –Americans – people of what is now called Mexico and
Central America
2. Olmec people – complex society – around 1000 B.C.
3. A more sophisticated society began to emerge around 800 A.D.
in parts of Central America and the Yucatan peninsula of
Mexico – in an area known as Maya
4. Mayan civilization will develop: Written language, a numerical
system (similar to Arabic), an accurate calendar, an advanced
agricultural system and important trade routes into other areas
of the continents
5. Gradually the Mayans will be superseded by other Meso-
American tribes who became collectively known as the Aztec
iv. Aztec:
1. Called themselves the Mexica (name eventually came to
describe people of a number of different tribes)
2. 1300 A.D. they will establish a city – Tenochtitlan – site of
present day Mexico City
 3. Greatest city created up to this point - population of 100,000
by 1500
4. Aqueducts to connect the city and the surrounding areas
5. Large and impressive public buildings, schools (all males
attended), organized military, a medical system, and a slave
work force gathered from conquered tribes – dominated
Central Mexico
6. System of tribute (heavy tax system – paid in goods such as
crops or cloth or animals) and enforced by the military
7. Developed a religion based on the belief that the gods drew
their subsidence from human sacrifice – believed the only way
the gods could be satisfied was by feeding them the living
hearts of humans – as a result they sacrificed people –
prisoners captured in combat
8. The Meso-American civilizations were the center of civil
activity in the region – culture and trade – disease and disunity
make it difficult for them to survive the Europeans
9. Do remain behind the Europeans and Asian cultures as far as
technology goes –as late as the 16th century no American
society had yet created a wheeled vehicle
c. The Civilizations of the North
i. The people of northern Mexico (present day United States and Canada)
did not develop empires as large or political systems as elaborate as the
Incas, Mayas, and Mexica
ii. They did build complex societies:
1. Subsisted on hunting, gathering, fishing or some combination
of
a. Eskimos – Artic Circle – hunting seals and fishing
b. Hunters of the northern forests – nomadic – caribou and
moose
c. Pacific Northwest – fishing – salmon – permanent
settlements along the coast – violent competition
d. Far West – wealthy and densely populated communities –
fishing, hunting small game, and gathering
e. Many areas in North America – Agricultural
2. Elaborate Communities
a. Southwest
i. large irrigation systems – farming on dry land
ii. constructed towns – centers of trade, crafts, and
religious, and civic rituals
 b. Chaco Canyon
i. Densely populated
ii. Stone and adobe structures that resemble apartments
– called Pueblos
3. Great plains
a. Sedentary Farming – corn and other grains
b. Permanent settlements
c. Some nomadic tribes as well – hunting buffalo
i. Only after the 18th century after Europeans had
introduced the horse did hunting the buffalo become
a way of life for large communities
ii. Many of the farmers will leave to hunt the buffalo
4. Eastern
a. Forests – Woodlands Indians
b. Greatest resources in the region
c. Many different tribes
d. Hunting, farming, fishing, gathering
5. South
a. Early on permanent settlements – trade networks based on
corn and other grains
b. Major cities based on trade
i. Cahokia (near present day St. Louis)
1. Peaked 1200 A.D.
2. Population of about 10,000
3. Complex of earthen mounds (Pg.7)
6. North East
a. Agricultural but nomadic – less fertile land and moved to
find land
b. Combo of farming and hunting
c. Burned the forests and planted their crops amongst the ash
– corn, squash, beans, pumpkins, and others
d. Land became exhausted and filth from the communities
accumulated they would move on and every winter the
communities would break up and it was every family for
themselves to forage until the spring – make come back to
the community
7. East of the Mississippi River
a. Tribes linked – common linguistic roots
b. Largest language group was the Algonquian – dominated
the Atlantic seaboard – Canada to Virginia
 c. 2nd largest language group – Iroquoian – upstate New York
i. Iroquois – five distinct northern “nations” - Seneca,
Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk and had
links to the Cherokee and Tuscaroras – Carolinas
and Georgia
d. 3 largest language group – Muskogean
rd

i. Tribes of the southernmost region of the eastern sea

board
ii. Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, and Seminoles
e. Though connected they had only fragile alliances and when
the Europeans came the tribes saw them as other invading
tribes and needed to be resisted
d. Tribal Cultures
i. Enormous diversity of economic, social, and political structures
ii. In the last century before the Europeans arrived – the Native Americans
were experiencing an agricultural revolution just like the rest of the world
1. Tribes were more sedentary – new sources of food, clothing
and shelter
2. Developing elaborate social customs and rituals – Religion was
important – connected to the natural world around them –
worshiped many gods
3. Some had religious totems and others held festivals for
harvests and major hunts
iii. Tasks – divided by gender
1. Women – caring for the children, preparing meals, and
gathering certain foods was common amongst most of the
tribes
2. Other jobs – varied based on the tribe
a. Pueblos – reserved farming tasks for men
b. Algonquin, Iroquois, and Muskogees – women tended the
fields while the men engaged in hunting, warfare, or
clearing land
c. Iroquois – women and children were left alone for long
periods while men were hunting or fighting battles – thus
women tended to control the social and economic
organization of the settlements and played powerful roles in
the family
II. Europe Looks West
a. Europeans
i. Unaware of the Americas before the 15th century
 1. A few wanders – Leif Eriksson (Norseman) – and maybe
others had a glimpse of the Americas but it was not common
knowledge
2. Europe in the Middle Ages (500 – 1500 A.D.) – not an
adventurous civilization – divided into many different small
duchies and kingdoms – provincial outlook – not looking
beyond their own land
3. Agriculture dominated, trade limited few looked beyond
Europe for trade, Catholic Church exercised spiritual authority
over the region
b. Commerce and Nationalism
i. Two important developments pushed Europeans to look for new lands:
1. Population Growth of the 15th Century
a. After the “Black Death” the population will rebound and
grow
b. Population growth led to the growth of land values, a new
push for commerce, and an increase in prosperity
c. Affluent landlords wanted to purchase goods from exotic
regions and merchants will rise to meet their demands
d. Trade increased as advances in navigation and shipbuilding
will make long distance travel easier – develop new
markets, find new products, and open new trade routes
2. Rise of new governments
a. United and powerful
b. Strong new monarchs emerged and created centralized
nation states – national courts, national armies, and national
tax system
c. Eventually the kings and queens will want to increase their
wealth and power – wanted to enhance the commercial
growth of their nations
ii. Marco Polo
1. Ever since his journeys to Asia –bringing back goods and even
more important exotic stories
2. Dreams of the Far East
3. Commercial glory – led them to want trade with the Far East
4. Problem – long and dangerous (Muslims gain control over
parts of the overland route) route
5. 14th century the – maritime advancements – find a faster safer
route to the Far East – sea route
 6. Found an audience with the New Monarchs and by the 15th
century they were ready to finance the voyages of exploration
iii. Portuguese
1. Maritime power of the 15th century
2. Prince Henry the Navigator
a. He wanted to explore the western coast of Africa – not a
sea route to Asia
b. Wanted a Christian empire there to help his country against
the Moors of North Africa and stores of gold
c. Did not fulfill his hopes but his mariners went farther than
he had dreamed
i. Some as far south as Cape Verde
ii. 1486 – 6 years after Henry’s death, Bartholomeu
Dias rounded the southern tip of Africa, The Cape
of Good Hope
iii. 1497-1498- Vasco da Gama – around the Cape to
India
iv. 1500 – Fleet bound for India – Pedro Cabral -
blown off course and landed in Brazil
iv. Christopher Columbus
1. Born in Italy – but his sea faring experience was for the
Portuguese
2. Wanted to sail west and find a route to Asia, which he believed
extended farther west than it really does
3. But no support from the Portuguese
4. He will turn to the Spanish:
a. Not yet a maritime power like Portugal
b. Marriage of two powerful regional leaders: Ferdinand
(Aragon) and Isabella (Castile) created the most powerful
monarchy in Europe
c. Wanted to prove their power they will sponsor new
commercial ventures (i.e. – CC)
5. 1492 – Queen Isabella will sponsor CC westward voyage
a. 90 men
b. Three ships – The Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria
c. August 1942 – heading towards what he thought was Japan
d. 10 weeks later – land
e. Thought he had reached his goal – but was an Island in the
Bahamas, pushed on and encountered Cuba – he assumed it
was China
 f. He will return to Spain – triumphant? – bringing with him
captured natives – he called the “Indians” because he
believed they were from the West Indies in the Pacific

6. 1493
a. Since he did not encounter the court of the Great Khan or
the vast wealth that was in Asia
b. He will lead a second voyage – larger expedition – landed
in the Caribbean again and discovering a number of islands
and he left a small short lived colony on Hispaniola
7. 1498
a. Third voyage
b. Reached the mainland of northern South America
c. When he discovered the mouth of the Orinoco River he
realized that a fresh water river of that size could only
originate on a large continent and not on a suspected island
off the coast of China
d. He will believe the rest of his life that he was very close to
the Indies and just had to find a way around this land mass
which he will never do
8. Very Religious
a. Was completing Gods work as well as commercial interest
b. A man destined to advance the coming millennium “ God
made me the messenger of the new heaven and the new
earth, and he showed me the spot where to find it”
9. Amerigo Vespucci
a. Europeans will completely ignore CC, when naming the
New World and instead give the distinction to AV
b. A Florentine Merchant – a member of a later New World
expedition for the Portuguese – he wrote a number of vivid
descriptions of the New World and recognized it as a new
continent
10. As a result of CC efforts Spain will begin devoting more
efforts to exploration
11. Spain will surpass Portugal as the leader in exploration
12. Vasco de Balboa – fought his way across the Isthmus of
Panama in 1513 to become the first known European to see the
Pacific from a western view
 13. Ferdinand Magellan – Portuguese but working for Spain –
found the Strait that now bears his name – at the southern tip of
South America
a. Struggling with the wicked weather and currents once
reaching the calm ocean he christened it the “Pacific”
b. Though he was killed in battle in the Philippines, his
expedition will be the first known circumnavigation of the
globe (1519 -1522)
14. By 1550 – the Spanish had explored as far north as Oregon in
the west and Labrador in the East and some of the interior
regions of North America
v. The Conquistadores (conquerors)
1. Began to see the New World as not an obstacle but as an
opportunity of wealth that might even exceed that of the Indies
2. Spanish claimed all of the New World as theirs – based on CC
discovery – only exception was present day Brazil, by way of
papal decree was reserved for Portugal
3. Mid-16th century they were well on their way to establishing an
empire
4. Spanish Colonies
a. Columbus will try to settle the islands of the Caribbean,
enslave the people and find gold, not much luck
b. 1518 – Hernando Cortes will lead 600 men into Mexico
(Riches) – Cortes had been a colonial official in Cuba
i. Will meet strong resistance from the Aztecs and
their powerful emperor – Montezuma
ii. But the Spanish had unleashed an unseen plague
upon the Aztec – Smallpox – on an earlier visit to
Tenochtitlan
iii. Smallpox will decimate the population and will
allow the Spanish to be successful in their second
attempt
iv. The Spanish saw the epidemic as a sign from God, “
God saw fit to send the Indians smallpox”
v. Cortes was brutal in his treatment of the Indians and
proved to be the most brutal of the Spanish
Conquistadores (conquerors)
5. News of the discovery of silver will peak the interest of other
Spaniards and a wave of Conquistadors will ascend on Mexico
 6. Francisco Pizarro will conquer Peru (1532 – 1538) and will
reveal to Europe the wealth of the Incas – opened up
advancement into South America
7. Hernando de Soto (1539 – 1541) in his futile search for gold,
silver, and jewels will lead several expeditions through Florida
and west to become the first known white man to have crossed
the Mississippi River
8. Francisco Coronado (1540 – 1542) traveled north from
Mexico into what is now New Mexico – futile search for gold
and jewels – he will open up the southwestern part of the now
US to Spanish settlement
9. The Conquistadores – the story of brutality and greed, they
subjugated and in some areas almost exterminated the natives
through warfare and disease
vi. Spanish America
1. 3 periods of the Spanish Empire in the New World
a. Age of Discovery and Exploration
i. Columbus through the first two decades of the 16th
century
b. Age of the Conquest
i. Spanish military aided by disease will establish
their dominance over the region
c. Age of Colonization
i. 1570s – new Spanish law – the Ordinances of
Discovery – banning the brutal conquests – Spanish
will expand their presence in America through
colonization
2. Wanted to get rich and it will pay off
a. For 300 years the mines in Spanish America will yield
more than ten times as much gold and silver as the rest of
the world’s mines put together
b. Made Spain the richest and most powerful nation for a
period
3. After the conquest Spanish will travel to the new World for
other reasons:
a. Hopes of creating a profitable agricultural economy
i. Help to establish elements of European civilization
in America (altering both landscape and culture)
b. Catholic Church
i. The only religion of the Spanish New World
 ii. Catholic Missions – commercial lives but their
primary mission – converting the natives to
Catholicism
iii. Usually had military garrisons connected to them
for protection and military bases (Presidios) would
grow up around them
iv. Became the most important impulse for
colonization in the third period – priest and friars
would accompany all new colonizing efforts –
through their efforts Catholicism will stretch from
the southwestern part of the US down through
Central and South America
vii. Northern Outposts
1. 1565 – Spanish will establish a fort at St. Augustine (Florida) –
became the first permanent settlement of Europeans in the US
a. Military outpost, administrative center for the Franciscan
missionaries and the headquarters for the unsuccessful
campaigns against the North American Natives
2. 1598 – Don Juan de Onate traveled from Mexico with 500 men
he will claim Spain some of the lands of the Pueblo Indians
a. The Spanish migrants will establish a colony in New
Mexico
b. Each settler received an encomiendas – a license to exact
labor and tribute from the natives in specific areas
c. Spanish colonist founded Santa Fe in 1609
d. Onate’s harsh treatment of the natives will get him
removed as governor of the area in 1606
e. Over time the relationship between the Spanish and the
Pueblos will improve: many will convert to Christianity,
develop trading relationships, and worked together to fend
off attacks by the Apache and Navajo
f. Colony will continue to grow by 1680 – 2,000 Spanish and
30,000 Pueblos living in the area
g. Economics of the area: cattle and sheep raised on the
Ranchos – scattered throughout the area
h. 1680 – the colony was almost destroyed when the Pueblos
rose up in revolt
i. Cause – the Catholic missionaries and the Spanish
government were trying to suppress tribal rituals in
the 1660’s and 1670’s
 ii. Plus a major drought and constant raids by Apache
tribes
iii. Pope – a Indian religious leader led a revolt that
killed hundreds of European settlers, including 21
priests, captured Santa Fe and drove the Spanish
temporarily out of the region
iv. 12 years later the Spanish will reclaim all of their
lost land and then continue taking more and more
from the Pueblos and crushed the last revolt in 1696
i. Spanish in the area realized they could not prosper if they
were under constant fear of attacks by the outnumbering
Pueblos:
i. Intensified efforts to assimilate the Indians –
baptizing Indian children at Birth and enforcing
observance of Christian Rituals
ii. Permitted the Pueblos to own land, stopped
commandeering Indian labor, replaced the
encomienda system with a less demanding and
oppressive one, and tolerated the practice of tribal
religious rituals
iii. Efforts were partially successful:
1. Intermarrying between Indians and
Europeans
2. Pueblos came to see the Spanish as their
allies against the Apache and the Navajo
3. By 1750 – 4,000 Spanish and 17,000
Pueblos remained
viii. The Empire at High Tide
1. End of the 16th century the Spanish empire had become one of
the largest in the world
a. Caribbean
b. Mexico
c. Central and South America
d. Parts of North America
2. Started out using indirect rule then monarchy wants more
control
3. End of 16th century – direct rule of the colonies, not allowing
the colonist to establish any real form of government
 4. Mostly concentrated economic efforts on extracting gold and
silver – but did not establish agricultural and commercial
ventures – when it is done they are done!!!!!
a. Plus strict commercial policies did not help
b. Collection of duties and protection against pirates – the
government had restrictive regulations all trade had to go
through one port, and a fleet of ships only making two
voyages a year
c. This hurt economic development
5. Spanish colonist will begin to reproduce and eventually will
outnumber the natives
a. Did rule the empire but did not people it
b. Number of Spanish colonists remained small in comparison
to most other colonizing nations – people from the mother
country did not go to the colonies
c. Small ruling class ruled over a much larger population –
did not create a self-contained European society in the New
World
ix. Biological and Cultural Exchanges
1. Lines separating the races in the Spanish Empire grew less and
less
2. Increasing levels of exchange – some beneficial and some
catastrophic
a. Decline of native population
i. Importation of Disease – on the native population –
influenza, measles, chicken pox, mumps, typhus,
and small pox
1. Millions died
2. Natives in some areas of Mexico and the
Caribbean Islands were extinct within 50
years
3. Hispaniola – Dominican Republic and Haiti
– native population declined from 1 million
to 500
4. Mayan areas in Mexico – 95% of the native
population went extinct
ii. War and assaults
1. Conquistadores’ – policy of subjugation and
extermination
2. Considered the natives savages
b. New Crops (Agricultural)
i. Europe to America – sugar and bananas/ Domestic
livestock – cattle, pigs, sheep **Horse (disappeared
from N. Amer. During the ice age)
ii. America to Europe – new agricultural techniques/
new crop – Corn (Maize), squash, tomatoes, beans,
pumpkins, sweet potatoes, peppers
c. Culture
i. South & Central America and Mexico – intimate
contact with one another, the Indians will adopt
many European ideals
ii. Learned Spanish and Portuguese languages – with a
range of dialects, a combo of the native language
and the European
d. Religion
i. Spread Catholicism
ii. Hybrid religions – a combo of native religions and
Catholicism – Christian with an American Flare
e. Intermarriages
i. European men outnumbered European women –
sexual contact between natives and Spanish were
common and led to intermarriages
ii. Population became dominated by – Mestizos –
people of mixed race
iii. Racial hierarchy developed – Spanish on top,
Mestizos in the middle and natives on the bottom
iv. Eventually “wealth” will become the determining
factor in the hierarchy and race will mean less and
less – so anyone regardless of race could become
“Spanish”
f. Labor system
i. Natives were the work force
ii. Varied: did have slavery/ worked for wages/ or a
combination of the two/ depended where and who
you worked for
iii. Great need for labor led many Spanish to fight for
control over the native villages sometimes than
spend time searching for more resources
iv. Could not always meet the labor demands – so the
Europeans needed to import slaves from Africa
x. Africa and America
1. Most black men and women who were forced to come here as
slaves came from one region of Africa, below the Sahara
Desert, known as Guinea or central Africa
2. Half of all the new arrivals in America between 1500 -1800
were Africans – their culture will greatly affect America
3. Africans were portrayed as uncivilized (to enslave them) when
in fact all of them came from cultures with governments,
economies, religion and culture
4. The area of North Africa, upper Guinea, had commercial
contact with the Mediterranean world – trading ivory, gold, and
slaves for finished goods
a. Converts to Islam
b. Collapse of the kingdom of Ghana in 1100 A.D. the larger
empire of Mali will emerge and survive into the 15th
century
c. Mali – great trade city of Timbuktu – trade and educational
center
5. Africans further south
a. No great empires
b. Lived in small family centered villages
c. Did have a few small kingdoms – Benin, Congo, and
Songhay
d. Did develop extensive trade – woven fabrics, ceramics, and
wooden and iron goods, crops and livestock – more so
between themselves and less with the outside world
6. Some nomadic hunting tribes did exist but most were sedentary
groups with developed political, economic and familial
relationships
7. African societies were Matrilineal – trace heredity and
inherited property from the mother rather than the father
a. Marriages – husband left his family to go with the wife’s
family
8. Work
a. Divided by gender (varied place to place)
b. Women played a major if not dominate role in trade, many
areas they were the principle farmers while men hunted,
fished, and raised livestock/ plus they raised the children
and made the meals
9. Political power
 a. was divided by gender – men choosing leaders and systems
for managing what were defined as male affairs and women
choosing political leaders to handle female matters
b. Tribal chiefs –Men/ position did not pass down to the son
usually to the chiefs eldest sister
10. Religion
a. In areas where the indigenous religions survived the spread
of Islam – people worshiped many gods associated with the
natural world and spirits they believed lived in trees, rocks,
forests, and streams
b. Ancestor worship – traced family lineage
c. Most revered priests (important political and social leaders
as well) were the oldest people
11. System of Social Rank
a. Small elites of priest and nobles on top
b. Large middle group – farmers, traders, craft workers, and
others
c. Bottom – slaves/ men and women in bondage after being
captured in wars or criminal behavior or unpaid debts –not
for life but a fixed period and did retain some rights/
children did not inherit their parents conditions of servitude
12. Slave trade had developed long before the founding of the New
world
a. 8th century A.D. – slaves were being traded from Africa to
traders of the Mediterranean
b. Demands from affluent families who wanted black
domestic servants
c. Demands for laborers in Europe and North Africa
d. Portuguese – bought slaves 15th century – criminals or
captured in war – brought back to Europe
e. 16th Century the demand for slaves grew – as demand for
sugarcane increased – the small areas in the Med. Were no
longer sufficient, on the Portuguese colony of Madeira, off
the coast of Africa, is where production moved
f. Then moved to the Caribbean Islands and Brazil – labor
intensive crop the demand for more labor grew rapidly
g. Slave trader will meet the demand – the kingdoms of Africa
warred with one another to capture slaves in exchange for
European goods
 h. 17th century – the Dutch had control of the slave trade and
in the 18th century the British dominated
i. By 1700 the slave trade was a part of all the Americas
c. The Arrival of the English
i. Commercial Incentive
1. 1497
a. The English will come to the New World
b. John Cabot – will lead an expedition along the north coast
of NA – sponsored by King Henry VII – in search of a
“Northwest passage” to the orient
c. Others will attempt the same and even though the English
laid claim to all the lands they explored they did not settle
the areas for nearly a century
d. England needed an internal transformation before it could
begin settling new lands
th
2. 16 Century
a. Social and economic ills of England (Tudor)
i. Costly wars
ii. Religious strife
iii. Economic transformation of the countryside – The
Enclosure Movement
b. Attraction to the new world, its newness
c. People could start anew – where a perfect society could be
created
i. Sir Thomas More’s Utopia – described a mythical
and nearly perfect society on an imaginary island
near the New World, supposedly discovered by a
companion of Amerigo Vespucci
ii. A commentary on the present situation of England
d. Demand for wool (Enclosure Movement)
i. Converting fields for crops to pastures for sheep
ii. Land worked by agricultural serfs and tenant
farmers would no longer be available
iii. The land was “enclosed” for sheep runs
iv. Evicted tenants roamed the countryside in gangs –
begging and stealing when and what they could
e. Removal of land
i. Limited England’s ability to feed its rising
population – 3 mil in 1485 to 4 mil in 1603
f. Merchant Capitalists
 i. Foreign trade was going well
ii. Wool at first then textiles
iii. At first as individuals then as joined forces as
charter companies – charter acquired from the
monarch
iv. Charter gave the company a monopoly in trade in a
particular region:
1. Muscovy Company (1555)
2. Levant Company (1581)
3. Barbary Company (1585)
4. Guinea Company (1588)
5. East India Company (1600)
v. Investors in these companies would make huge
profits for the trade of wool and woolen goods for
exotic merchandise – kept pushing to discover more
g. New Economic concept – Mercantilism
i. Assumption that the nation as a whole not the
individual within it was the principal actor in the
economy – goal is to increase the nation’s total
wealth
ii. Worlds wealth was finite – grow rich at the expense
of others – economic health depended on extracting
as much wealth as possible from foreign lands and
exporting as little wealth as possible from home
iii. The principles of mercantilism guided economic
policies for all European states during the 16th and
17th century
iv. Enhanced the position of the Merchant Capitalist –
whose overseas ventures would benefit the nation as
a whole and was worthy of government assistance
v. This will increase competition as well among the
nations – all were trying to find markets for exports
and limit imports – leads to the attractiveness of
founding colonies source of goods that they might
otherwise have to buy from other countries
h. English economy flourished at first – wool and textiles –
1550’s market was glutted and economy began to fail –
merchants had to look elsewhere – the establishment of
colonies seemed like a good answer
 i. Richard Hakluyt
i. Oxford clergyman and propagandist for English
colonization
ii. Argued: colonies – new markets/ end
unemployment and poverty send surplus population
to the colonies/ poor left over would find work
because of all the wealth the colonies would bring
in
iii. Would be able to obtain new resources that they had
once be reliant on other countries – lumber, naval
stores, silver and gold
d. The Religious Incentive
i. Protestant Reformation
1. Germany 1517 – Martin Luther
a. Challenged some of the practices and beliefs of the Roman
Catholic Church - the authority in Europe
b. Indulgences/ bible only authority not the church/faith alone
could save ones soul
c. Wanted to reform not revolt against the church
d. Pope excommunicates him in 1520 – he will lead his
followers out of the church
e. The schism had begun in the Catholic Church and never to
be healed
2. John Calvin (French Theologian)
a. Doctrine of Predestination
b. The “elect” saved others dammed – determined before birth
c. Way people lived their lives would reveal their chances of
salvation
d. His teaching will produce the Huguenots in France and the
Puritans in England
ii. English Reformation
1. Differences between king and pope
2. 1529 – King Henry VIII – wants a divorce from his wife (no
son) pope will not grant it
3. King will break ties from the Catholic Church and established
himself as the head of the Christian faith in England and the
Church of England – few other changes were made
4. Queen Mary (“Bloody Mary) Catholic persecuted the
protestants/ re-joined the Catholic Church and made an alliance
with Spain
 5. 1558 – Queen Elizabeth – broke away from the Catholic
Church again and with Spain
6. Church of England (Anglicans)
a. Official religion
b. Not all good with that
c. Catholics still praised the pope
d. Many protestants felt the “reformation” did not create
enough changes in theology
e. The Puritans – most ardent of the Protestants – wanted to
purify the church
i. Separatists – went against English law and did as
they saw fit for their religion
ii. Chief amongst them – the Quakers permitted
women to serve as preachers which would have
been impossible in the Anglican church
7. Puritans
a. Many reforms of the Church
b. Discontent will grow rapidly after the death of Elizabeth
(last of the Tudors)
c. James I (Stuarts) 1603 –believed in Divine Right and felt
no need to compromise
d. Will upset the Puritans, many of whom had become
wealthy business leaders, by favoring Catholics in the
granting of charters and placing arbitrary taxes on all others
e. Nonconformists were looking for refuge outside of England
e. English in Ireland
i. First experience with colonization –Ireland
1. Small settlements in and around Dublin
2. 1560s and 1570s – would be colonists began capturing land
and trying to subjugate the natives
3. All along developing their assumptions for future colonization
4. Savages? – Irish were – Catholic Religion, governmental
structure, language (Gaelic), and they fought back with a
ferocity that the English considered baric
5. Since savages could not be assimilated into English society –
they would have to be suppressed, isolated, and if needed
destroyed!
6. Might be “civilized” but only after they were suppressed
7. Men like Sir Humphrey Gilbert, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Sir
Richard Grenville – active in brutally colonizing Ireland will
 take their experiences to the New World and ways in dealing
with those who resisted
ii. The Irish experience led the English to another assumption: that the
English settlements must maintain a rigid separation from the natives
1. In Ireland the English established “Plantations” –
transplantations of English society in foreign lands
2. Not just subdue the natives but build a separate society peopled
with emigrants from England
3. Exist within a “pale settlement” separate from the natives
4. But this will prove to be impossible
f. The French and Dutch in America
i. English would not only encounter the natives but also other Europeans
1. Spanish – south and southwest – besides Mexico the Spanish
made little effort to colonize North America
2. France – most formidable rival in North America – 1608 first
permanent settlement in Quebec
a. The French unlike the English created a close bond with the
natives in trade deep inside the interior
b. Jesuit missionaries were some of the first to establish
relationships with the Indians
c. The coureurs de bois – adventurous fur traders and trappers
who travelled deep into the wilderness and set up extensive
trade that will be the backbone of French colonial economy
d. The coureurs de bois – were more like agents to the Indians
who were the principle fur traders – Hurons and
Algonquians
e. French formed successful partnerships with the Indians and
lived amongst them – even intermarrying
f. The less populace French were able to compete with the
English because of their relationship with the natives –
along with other reasons – Agricultural estates
(Seigneuries) along the St. Lawrence River, trade and
military centers in Quebec and Montreal, and their alliances
with native tribes like the Algonquians
g. Their alliances will bring them into conflict with the
Iroquois – ancient enemies with the Algonquians
h. The Iroquois will be central to the fur trade with the British
i. 1609 – Samuel de Champlain ‘– founder of Quebec – will
lead an attack on a tribe of Mohawks – instigated by his
alliance with the Algonquians
 3. The Dutch
a. Holland had won its independence from Spain – became a
leading trading nation in the world
b. Merchant fleet was larger than England’s - trade in
Europe, Asia, Africa, and increasingly North America
c. Englishman – Henry Hudson – under the employ of the
Dutch will sail up the “Hudson” river in what is New York
State, believing it was the sought after river route to Asia
the Dutch will stake their claim in North America
d. Will lead an active trade in fur in and around New York
e. 1624 the Dutch East Indie Company will set up permanent
settlements along the Hudson, Delaware, and Connecticut
rivers
f. The company encouraged settlement from Holland,
Germany, Sweden, and Finland
g. Whole families were transported to the New World,
granted vast feudal estates to landlords, Patroons, on the
condition that they had to bring more settlers to the New
World
h. The result was the colony of New Netherland and its
principle town, New Amsterdam, on Manhattan Island was
diverse and only loosely united with weak leadership
g. The First English Settlements
i. First enduring settlement in the New World was Jamestown in Virginia in
1607
1. But for 30 years prior to that English merchants and
adventurers had tried to establish colonies
2. Under Elizabeth I they began to develop a sense of nationalism
that began to encourage expansion, but at the same time they
were leery of Spain the dominate force in North America and
the dominate naval power
3. In the 1570’s and 1580’s this will change – Sir Francis Drake
and other English “Sea Dogs” staged successful raids on
Spanish Merchant ships and built England’s confidence
against Spain
4. 1588 – Philip II attempted invasion of England in 1588 –
Spanish Armada (one of the largest fleets in the history – sent
to defeat England to bring them back into the Catholic Church
and stop their rise in commerce
 5. The English will defeat them and end Spain’s domination of
the Atlantic
6. English colonization was led by Sir Humphrey Gilbert and his
half-brother Sir Walter Raleigh – Friends of Queen Elizabeth
7. 1578 – Gilbert obtained from Elizabeth a patent granting him
exclusive rights for six years “to inhabit and possess at his
choice all remote and heathen lands not in the actual possession
of any Christian prince”
8. Gilbert will lead an expedition to Newfoundland in1583 and
took possession of it in the Queens name
9. Will eventually be lost at sea looking for a military outpost
h. Roanoke
i. Raleigh, the next year after Gilberts death, will obtain a 6 year grant
similar to Gilberts
1. Sent a small group of men on an expedition to explore the
North American coast
2. They returned with 2 captive Indians and tales of an Island
called Roanoke and the mainland close to it (now North
Carolina)
3. Raleigh – will ask permission to name the entire region
“Virginia” after Queen Elizabeth “the virgin Queen” – trying to
butter her up to receive financial backing for the venture, it
failed so he will find the backing, from private investors
4. 1585 – Raleigh will recruit his cousin, Sir Richard Grenville, to
lead a group of men to Roanoke to establish a colony
5. Grenville, stayed long enough to raze an Indian village, upset
the natives, and then left to return to England
6. 1586 – Sir Francis Drake will unexpectedly arrive in Roanoke
with supplies and reinforcements – but the colonists will board
the ship and leave
7. Raleigh will try again in 1587 – 91 men/ 17 women (2
pregnant)/ 9 children – hoped the nucleus of a viable
“plantation”
8. Settling on Roanoke, hoping to leave off where the other group
left off
9. The daughter of the commanding officer, John White, gave
birth to a daughter, Virginia Dare, the first person born in
America to English parents
 10. White left to get supplies and new settlers, supposed to return
in a year, but hostilities with the Spanish, delayed his return for
3 years
11. 1590 when he returned – the island was deserted – no clue
where the settlers were – except for a cryptic phrase carved on
a post “Croatoan”
a. Historians
i. Settlers slaughtered by the natives
ii. Left the settlement and joined the native society
ultimately becoming assimilated
iii. No conclusive solution to the mystery of the “Lost
Colony” has ever been found
b. Roanoke – was the end of Raleigh’s involvement in
colonization of the New World
ii. James I
1. 1603 – will succeed Elizabeth to the throne – Raleigh will be
accused of plotting against the king and imprisoned for a
decade/ released to lead another ill-fated exploration and then
executed by the king in 1618
2. The colonization impulse still was strong – two companies will
be given charters from the king – divided America in two
3. The Plymouth merchants – received the right to the north and
the London merchants – received the right to the south through
their efforts they will plant the colonization seed for England