Chapter 16 Notes: The Transatlantic Economy, Trade Wars, and

Colonial Rebellion

Part 1: Periods of European Overseas Empires

- Since the Renaissance, European contacts with the rest of the world have gone

through four stages:

- 1) European discovery, exploration:

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

- This phase witnessed penetration of Southeast Asian markets by

Portugal and the Netherlands

- This established major imperial outposts: ____________________

- This stage ended in the late 17th century

- 2) This was of mercantile empires and was one of colonial trade rivalry:

____________________________________________________________

- Differing goals sparked intense rivalry and conflict in key imperial

trouble spots

- As a result, imperial ventures often led to: ___________________

- This was also the era that slavery increased greatly, with European

powers creating economies based on slave labor

- This era closed in: ______________________________________

- 3) The third stage occurred in: ___________________________________

- During this period, European governments carved out formal

empires in Africa and Asia

- The bases of these new empires were trade, national honor:

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

- Unlike the previous two eras, this era was based on free labor,

though there was still harsh treatment

- 4) The last era occurred during the: ______________________________

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- During this era, decolonization began

- This was due to the political dominance:

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

- The indigenous people became fed up with the harsh treatment and

revolted

- Before this, the Europeans were able to: _____________________

Part 2: Mercantile Empires

- The Treaty of Utrecht (1713) established the boundaries of empire:

__________________________________________________________________

- Spain controlled almost all of mainland South America, Florida, Mexico, CA, and

the Southwest, Central America, and the islands to the southeast of Florida

- Britain controlled colonies along: ______________________________________

- France controlled much of the American Midwest and some Caribbean islands

- The Dutch controlled some major trade areas within:

__________________________________________________________________

I. Mercantilist Goals

- Mercantilism was the driving force behind: ______________________________

- This was the practical creed of hard-headed businesspeople

- Basically, it was the idea that a nation had to gain a favorable:

__________________________________________________________________

- Mercantilists saw the world as an arena of scarce resources that one must fight for

control over

- Mercantilists believed that only slow economic growth was possible unless:

__________________________________________________________________

- This idea led to the practice of colonies providing for the home country, allowing

it to prosper, and in return receiving protection

- National monopoly was the ruling principle and colonies were to:

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

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- The problem was that the economies didn’t mesh well and colonies started trading

w/ one another

II. French-British Rivalry

- Colonists from both areas constantly clashed w/ each other over:

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

- The West Indies were the biggest problem as the French and British fought over

the valuable resources there

- India was another source of rivalry b/c it was seen as an eventual:

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

Part 3: The Spanish Colonial System

I. Colonial Government

- Because Queen Isabella of Castile had commissioned Columbus, the link:

__________________________________________________________________

- This meant the Castile line had few limitations and it assigned the gov’t in

America

- The monarchy used patronage, or appointing people wanting:

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

- All power structure flowed downward from Castile so in effect, no local

government existed or was actually in control

II. Trade Regulation

- Colonial political structures functioned largely to:

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

- Spain maintained a trade monopoly w/ its colonies and trade was closely

regulated

- Spanish fleets would carry goods to the New World and these fleets were:

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

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- Spain prohibited the colonists from trading within the American Empire

- Foreign merchants were also prohibited from:

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

III. Colonial Reform Under the Spanish Bourbon Monarchs

- A crucial change occurred in the Spanish colonial: _________________________

- The War of Spanish Succession (1701-1714) and the Treaty of Utrecht replaced

the Spanish Habsburgs w/ the Bourbons of France

- Philip V (r. 1700-1746) and his successors tried to use French administrative

skills to: __________________________________________________________

- Under Philip, Spanish patrol vessels tried to:

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

- The great mid-century wars exposed the weaknesses of the Spanish empire to

naval attack

- This convinced many that the: _________________________________________

- Charles III (r. 1759-1788) attempted to reassert Spanish control of the empire

- He abolished the monopolies and allowed: _______________________________

- To increase the efficiency of tax collection and end corruption, Charles

introduced: ________________________________________________________

- The reforms, however, brought the empire more fully under direct Spanish control

- More and more people born in Spain were: _______________________________

- As a result, creoles (persons of European descent born in the Spanish colonies)

felt like second class citizens

- Their discontent led to wars of: ________________________________________

Part 4: Black African Slavery, the Plantation System, and the Atlantic Economy

- Slavery had existed throughout: ________________________________________

- However, before the 18th century, little or no moral stigma was attached to slave

owning

- Slavery had a continuous: ____________________________________________

- Importing slaves from Africa started in the 15th century

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- In the 16th century, slave labor became essential for the European colonies in the

New World and slave owning:

__________________________________________________________________

I. The African Presence in the Americas

- Once the Spanish and Portuguese began to settle:

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

- They and most of the later French and English settlers had no intention of doing

the hard labor themselves

- At first, they used Native Americans but during the 16th century:

__________________________________________________________________

- As a result, the Spanish and Portuguese turned to African slaves

- Settlers in the English colonies turned more slowly to slavery but soon:

__________________________________________________________________

- The major source for slaves were slave markets on the west African coast

- Slavery and an extensive slave trade had: ________________________________

- Internal affairs in Africa made many Africans willing to sell their own people

- Europeans did not usually forcefully take slaves, rather they:

__________________________________________________________________

1. The West Indies, Brazil, and Sugar

- Far more slaves were imported into the West Indies and:

__________________________________________________________________

- Slavery entered the British colonies in 1619 but slavery had existed for 50 years

prior in the West Indies and South America

- Africans had a major social presence in these areas and their presence and:

__________________________________________________________________

- Soon, Africans in these areas outnumbered whites and a multiracial society was

created

- The cultivation of sugar was a major reason why slavery:

__________________________________________________________________

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- Sugar was a labor-intensive crop and since the European markets were demanding

sugar, plantation owners needed more slaves for more crops and more money

- By the close of the 17th century, the Caribbean islands were the world center:

__________________________________________________________________

- The 18th century required more slaves and it became a major period of

importation

- Other crops required slavery, such as tobacco and coffee, and so did gold mining:

__________________________________________________________________

- In Brazil and the West Indies and the southern British colonies, prosperity and

slavery went hand in hand

- The 18th century was when most slaves arrived to the New World, w/ as:

__________________________________________________________________

- It has been estimated that at one point, 90% of Jamaica’s population were slaves

- Newly imported Africans were needed b/c the fertility rate of the earlier:

__________________________________________________________________

- The West Indies were particularly harsh to maintain a stable slave population

- The conditions there led to high rates of mortality and new slaves had:

__________________________________________________________________

- One result of all this was that slaves were now African-born instead of African

descent

- This had a major impact on the: ________________________________________

II. Slavery and the Transatlantic Economy

- Different nations dominated the: _______________________________________

- The Portuguese and Spanish ruled in the 16th, the Dutch in the 17th, and the

English in the 18th

- Slavery touched most of the transatlantic world:

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

- European goods were carried to Africa to be exchanged for slaves, then slaves

were taken to the New World in exchange for raw materials, which were then

shipped to Europe

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- At various times, the prosperity of major European: ________________________

- All the shippers who handled cotton, tobacco and sugar depended on slavery

- Political turmoil rocked Africa in the 18th century, especially in:

__________________________________________________________________

- The tribes would sell their captives or have slave raids in order to fund the war

- As a result, warfare in West Africa and the economic development of:

__________________________________________________________________

III.The Experience of Slavery

- The European slave traders forcibly transported several:

__________________________________________________________________

- The travel conditions were horrible – cramped quarters, bad food, disease, heat,

etc.

- In the Americas, slave groups were divided between:

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

- Africans accustomed to slavery were preferred, as they already knew the way of

life, and they were more expensive

- New slaves had to go through a period of “seasoning” during which:

__________________________________________________________________

- Some slaves worked in a kind of apprentice relationship to an older African slave

of a similar background

- Others were broken into slave: ________________________________________

- Generally, North American plantation owners were only willing to purchase such

recently arrived Africans seasoned in the West Indies

1. Conversion to Christianity

- Most African slaves transported to the Americas were, like the:

__________________________________________________________________

- In the Spanish, French and Portuguese areas, they became Catholics

- In the English colonies: ______________________________________________

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- Both forms of Christianity preached to slaves to accept both their slavery and

natural social hierarchy with their masters on top

2. European Racial Attitudes

- The Europeans usually were very: ______________________________________

- Many Europeans considered Africans to be savages or less than civilized

- Many looked down on them just because they were slaves:

__________________________________________________________________

- Race was an important element in keeping black slaves in subservience

Part 5: Mid-Eighteenth-Century Wars

- From the standpoint of international relations, the state system in the 18th

century:

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

- Statesmen of the period thought warfare could further national interests

- No forces or powers really saw it in their:

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

- Wars rarely affected the civilian population until the French Revolution, so many

people viewed war in a positive way

- Two areas of great rivalry were overseas: ________________________________

I. The War of Jenkins’ Ear

- By this time, the West Indies had become a: ______________________________

- The Spanish patrolled the area, looking for British vessels that were smuggling

goods

- In 1731, the Spanish boarded a British vessel and there was a fight:

__________________________________________________________________

- In 1738, Jenkins used his ear as evidence that the Spanish were committing

atrocities

- Britain and Spain went to war in 1739, and while minor, it:

__________________________________________________________________

II. The War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748)

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- In December 1740, after being king of Prussia for less than 7 months, Frederick II

(r. 1740-1786): _____________________________________________________

- This invasion shattered the provisions of the Pragmatic Sanction and upset the

continental balance of power

- Frederick saw the House of Habsburg as another German state:

__________________________________________________________________

1. Maria Theresa Preserves the Habsburg Empire

- Maria Theresa (r. 1740-1780) was more interested in preserving:

__________________________________________________________________

- She was only 23 and had just gained control two months before the invasion

- She won loyalty through her heroism and by: _____________________________

- She allowed some nobility autonomy, which preserved the Empire but cost the

central monarchy some power

2. France Draws Great Britain into the War

- The war over the Austrian Succession and the British-Spanish dispute could:

__________________________________________________________________

- The French nobility convinced Cardinal Fleury to not attack Britain but instead to

support Prussia against Austria

- This had a few results:

- First, it made Prussia strong and: _________________________________

- Second, it brought Britain into war as Britain wanted to:

____________________________________________________________

- Later, the French supported the Spanish against the British in the New

World

- As a result, the French were stretched too thin and the:

____________________________________________________________

III. The “Diplomatic Revolution” of 1756

- The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (ended the two wars) had brought peace in Europe:

__________________________________________________________________

- George II (r. 1727-1760), who was also the Elector of Hanover, was worried that

the French would attack Germany in response to the conflicts in America

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- In 1756, Britain and Prussia signed the Convention of Westminster, which was a:

__________________________________________________________________

- Frederick II liked this alliance b/c he feared: ______________________________

- This meant that Britain, a traditional friend of Austria, now had made an alliance

w/ Austria’s enemy

- Maria Theresa was very unhappy about this, but her foreign minister:

__________________________________________________________________

- He thought this would allow for an alliance w/ France, which it eventually did

- France would now fight to restore: _____________________________________

IV. The Seven Years’ War (1756-1763)

1. Frederick the Great Opens Hostilities

- Frederick II started the Seven Years’ war: _______________________________

- He considered this a preemptive strike against a conspiracy by Saxony, Austria

and France to destroy Prussia

- The invasion created the destructive alliance Frederick feared and in 1757:

__________________________________________________________________

- Two factors saved Prussia:

1. First, Britain furnished: ________________________________________

2. Second, in 1762, Empress Elizabeth of Russia died (r. 1741-1762) whose

successor was Peter III who admired Frederick greatly

- Russia made peace with Prussia, allowing Frederick:

__________________________________________________________________

- The Treaty of Hubertusburg in 1763 ended the continental conflict with no major

territorial changes

2. William Pitt’s Strategy for Winning North America

- William Pitt(1708-1778) became Secretary of State in: _____________________

- He regarded the German conflict as a way to divert French resources and attention

from the colonial struggle

- North America was Pitt’s real concern b/c he wanted all of:

__________________________________________________________________

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- He sent more than 40k regular troops, both British and colonial, against the

French in Canada

- Pitt actually received unprecedented cooperation from the American colonists:

__________________________________________________________________

- The French gov’t was unwilling to dedicate so many resources to fighting in

North America

- As a result, the French army in America was weak and the British were:

__________________________________________________________________

- The British also wanting French trading routes and were able to gain control of

the French West Indies and India

3. The Treaty of Paris of 1763

- George III (r. 1760-1820) disliked Pitt and: ______________________________

- In the peace settlement, Britain received all of Canada, the Ohio River valley, and

the eastern half of the Mississippi River valley

- The Seven Year’s War was a complete world war with tens of thousands of:

__________________________________________________________________

- France was no longer a world power, and Prussia was gaining power in Europe

- In India, the British East India Company tried to impose its own authority on the

indigenous:

__________________________________________________________________

- The British had to organize their new territories in North America

- The war also convinced the: __________________________________________

- Major powers in Europe had to increase revenues to pay for debt, which caused

major problems for these nations

Part 6: The American Revolution and Europe

I. Resistance to the Imperial Search for Revenue

- After the Treaty of Paris, the British gov’t faced two problems:

- First, the cost of maintaining:

____________________________________________________________

- The British thought it was obvious for the American colonies to

pay for the war debt…

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- Second, the vast territory in: ____________________________________

- The British drive for revenue started in 1764 w/ the Sugar Act:

__________________________________________________________________

- This act tried to collect more taxes on imports, although the tax itself was lower

than before

- The next year, Parliament passed the Stamp Act, which put a tax on legal:

__________________________________________________________________

- The British considered both of these acts to be legal since the Parliament had

approved the decision to collect the taxes

- The Americans responded that they alone:

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

- Also, they said they weren’t represented in Parliament and therefore, Parliament

could not pass laws dealing w/ the colonies

- In 1765, the Stamp Act Congress met in America and:

__________________________________________________________________

- The colonists agreed to refuse to import British goods and in 1766, Parliament

repealed the Stamp Act, although a Declaratory Act said Parliament had the

power to legislate for the colonies

II. The Crisis and Independence

- In 1767, Charles Townshend (1725-1767), the British finance minister, led:

__________________________________________________________________

- The colonists once again resisted and Townshend sent over its own customs

agents to enforce the new laws

- To protect the agents, the British:

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

- In 1770, the Boston Massacre took place, during which British soldiers fired on

five citizens, killing them

- The same year, Parliament repealed the: _________________________________

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- In 1773, Parliament passed a new tea act, which lowered the price of tea while

keeping the tax intact

- In some cities, the colonists still refused to pay the tax and in Boston:

__________________________________________________________________

- Lord North (1732-1792) was determined to assert the authority of Parliament over

the colonies

- In 1774, Parliament passed what became:

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

- These closed the port of Boston, reorganized the gov’t of Massachusetts and

allowed troops to quartered in private homes

- The British also passed the Quebec Act, which extended the:

__________________________________________________________________

- The colonists saw this as a threat since they wanted to continue to move west

- During these years, citizens critical of British policy had:

__________________________________________________________________

- In 1774, the First Continental Congress was held in Philadelphia:

__________________________________________________________________

- By April 1775, the battles of Lexington and Concord had been fought and in June,

the Battle of Bunker Hill occurred

- The colonists still sought reconciliation and in May 1775:

__________________________________________________________________

- But, George III declared the colonies in rebellion

- Thomas Paine (1737-1809) wrote Common Sense which helped to:

__________________________________________________________________

- A colonial army and navy were formed and on July 4, 1776 the Congress adopted

the Declaration of Independence

- The War of the American Revolution continued until 1781:

__________________________________________________________________

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- The war had become a world affair when Benjamin Franklin convinced the

French to help U.S. and the Spanish joined too

III. American Political Ideas

- The political ideas of the Americans had evolved out of:

__________________________________________________________________

- The Americans had adopted many of the English ideas on political liberties and

John Locke’s ideas as well

- Americans also had strong republican beliefs from:

__________________________________________________________________

- Many of these men viewed parliamentary taxation as a means of financing

political corruption

- In Britain, these ideas had: ____________________________________________

- But in the American colonies, they had a huge impact and the colonists accepted

the ideas at face value

- The policies of Great Britain toward the American colonies after the Treaty of

Paris in 1763: ______________________________________________________

- All of these events coincided with George III’s accession to the throne

IV. Events in Great Britain

- George III believed that powerful Whig families had become:

__________________________________________________________________

- When Pitt resigned, George appointed the Earl of Bute (of Treaty of Paris fame)

who was against the Whigs

- The problem was that George couldn’t get:

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

- The Whigs claimed that he was becoming a tyrant, but he was only trying to

restore more royal influence

1. The Challenge of John Wilkes

- In 1763, a political radical named John Wilkes started publicly:

__________________________________________________________________

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- Wilkes was arrested, then released when he pleaded privileges of the Parliament

- Parliament expelled him for libel and Wilkes fled the country:

__________________________________________________________________

- In 1768 he returned to England and was elected to the House of Commons again,

but the house was under George’s control

- The House of Commons refused to seat him and:

__________________________________________________________________

- The House kept ignoring the results and seated the gov’t choice

- This caused major demonstrations among: _______________________________

- Americans followed this closely and these events confirmed their fears about a

monarchical and parliamentary conspiracy against liberty

- In the Americans’ eyes: ______________________________________________

2. Movement for Parliamentary Reform

- Both the American colonists and: ______________________________________

- Both groups were questioning the Parliament’s power and authority

- Both groups had leaders that appealed to: ________________________________

- The Americans showed the rest of Europe how people could fight an Old Regime

and win by forming legal gov’ts

3. The Yorkshire Association Movement

- By the close of the 1770s, many British resented the mishandling of:

__________________________________________________________________

- In 1778, Christopher Wyvil organized the Yorkshire Association Movement

which demanded moderate changes in the corrupt system of parliamentary

elections

- They intended to later: _______________________________________________

- The movement collapsed b/c it was unwilling to appeal to broad popular support

but it helped to bring about later movements

4. Broader Impact of the American Revolution

- The Americans had demonstrated to Europe the possibility:

__________________________________________________________________

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- They had shown that a nation could thrive on documents based on popular

consent and popular sovereignty

- The Americans embraced democratic ideals and asserted the idea of equality:

__________________________________________________________________

- The American society was not entirely free but it was more free than any other in

the world and it affected Europe greatly

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