UNIT 1: THE COLONIAL PERIOD

1:1 European expansion:● The Iberian Peninsula took the lead in expansion because of:√ Geographic location.√ Political stability.√ Economic opportunity.

Christopher Columbus

●Spain and Portugal were replaced by the British, French, and Dutch because:√ Spain squandered its wealth in war.√ No manufacturing base.√ Influx of bullion led to runaway inflation.√ Aristocratic vales did not encourage economic growth.√ Portugal lacked the resources to sustain its efforts.

1:1 European expansion continued:

Hernando Cortez

1:2 Colonial Latin America:

●The Indians in the Americas were not unified—about 2,000 Indian languages.●Cortez conquered the Aztecs 1519-1521 and Pizarro defeated the Incas in 1533.●Europeans were able to defeat the Indians because:✓ The centralized government of the Aztecs and Incas and geography made resistance difficult.✓ European weapons were far superior to Indian weapons.✓ European and African diseases decimated the Indians.

✓ Indian enemies of the Aztecs and Incas assisted the Spanish.

✓ The Spanish looked at warfare as a means to an end, to the Indians warfare had a religious connotation.

1:2 Colonial Latin America Continued:● Spain was too poor to put many resources into Latin America.

● The Council of the Indies controlled the Spanish colonies. Colonists had little self-government. Graft and corruption were widespread.● Gold and silver flowed out of the Americas to Europe and the Americas were under-capitalized.

● The Hacienda and plantation were the foundation of economic and social life. Colonial labor systems were not free.● Race played a major role in social status. The lack of European women led to significant racial mixing.● The Catholic Church siphoned off much of Latin America’s wealth. The Inquisition helped control dissent.● A major breach developed between Spaniards born in the Americas (Creoles) and Spaniards from Spain (Peninsulars).

1:2 Colonial Latin America continued:

Prince Henry the Navigator

● Europe had contact with Sub-Saharan Africa through the caravan trade.● Desire for African gold led to Portuguese exploration and the slave trade.

● Africans were enslaved because they were a cheap, readily available supply of labor. Almost all labor was unfree during the Age of Exploration.● Indians were not a good source of labor because of deaths from disease.● Slavery in Latin America and the Caribbean was maintained only through the continued importation of slaves.

● Most slaves were captured and sold by other Africans.

1:3 The Origins of slavery:

1:3 The Origins of slavery continued:

1:4 The British North American colonies

Britain established colonies to:● Gain markets and raw material.● Increase its security.● Spread Protestantism and royal government.● Remove “excess” population.

JamestownThe Mayflower (replica)

Seal of MA Bay Company

1:4 The British North American colonies continued:● Established by private joint-stock companies.● Jamestown, VA first British North American colony (1607).● Plymouth settled by Pilgrims in 1620.● Massachusetts settled by the Puritans in 1630.

● Georgia, the last colony, settled in 1732.● Contact with the Indians, distance from Britain, and space of New World influenced settlers.● Geography caused New England, Middle Colonies and the South to develop different economies and cultures.

1:4 The British North American colonies continued:

1:4 The British North American Colonies:

1:4 Colonial Population Density, 1775

1:5 Unfree labor in British North America:● Indians were not a good source of unfree laborbecause of disease and ability to escape.● Indentured servants came from Britain.● Indentured servants were gradually replaced with Africans beginning in 1619. ● Beginning in the 1650s Virginia had laws regulating slavery.

1:6 Cultural conflicts between Europeans and Indians:● Indians did not have immunity to European diseases.● Europeans demanded that Indians follow their laws.● Europeans wanted the Indians to convert to Christianity.● Europeans wanted Indians’ land.● Alcohol helped destroy Indian self-esteem.

William & Mary

1:6 The English Civil War and Glorious Revolution (1642-1688):● Led to a period of benign neglect for the colonies.● Led to a belief in the “rights of Englishmen.”● Women had fewer social and political rights than men.

1:6 Nantucket Girl’s Song by Eliza Brock, Quoted in Nathaniel Philbrick, In the Heart of the Sea: the Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex (2000).

Then I’ll haste to wed a sailor, and send him off to sea,For a life of independence, is the pleasant life for me.But every now and then I shall like to see his face,For it always seems to me to beam with manly grace,With his brow so nobly open, and his dark and kindly eye,Oh my heart beats fondly towards him whenever he is nigh.But when he says “Goodbye my love, I’m off across the sea,”First I cry for his departure, then laugh because I’m free.

Cartier

1:7 French Canada: ●Canada’s climate made it suited to hunting, trapping, and fishing.● Jacques Cartier claimed Canada for France in 1543.● Québec established in 1608. Montreal established in 1642.● The coureur de bois were the primary contacts with the Indians. The Indians were soon overwhelmed by alcohol and disease.

Hudson Bay Company 1670-1763

● The Hudson Bay Company was founded in 1670 by the British. The Métis were the descendents of white-Indian relationships.● In the Seven Years War/French and Indian War (1754-1763) the French lost all of their territory in North America. French-Canadians felt abandoned.

1:7 French Canada continued: