Conquest and Exploitation: The Development of the Transatlantic Economy

1. 17 Conquest and Exploitation: The Development of the Transatlantic Economy

2. Conquest and Exploitation: The Development of the Transatlantic Economy • Periods of European Overseas Expansion • Mercantilist Theory of Economic Exploitation • Establishment of the Spanish Empire in America • Economies of Exploitation in the Spanish Empire • Colonial Brazil • French and British Colonies in North America • The Columbian Exchange: Disease, Animals, and Agriculture

3. Conquest and Exploitation: The Development of the Transatlantic Economy • Slavery in the Americas • Africa and the Transatlantic Slave Trade

4. Slave Auction Notice

5. Introduction • European encounters with the Americas • European traditions prevailed in Americas • Gave Europe disproportionate global power • Slave trade profoundly altered Africa • Transatlantic interactions of populations • Transatlantic economy

6. Global Perspectives:The Atlantic World • How did the encounter of Europe and Africa with the Americas change the global ecological balance? • Why was the Spanish Empire based on economies of exploitation? How was the labor of non-European peoples drawn into the economy of this empire?

7. Global Perspectives:The Atlantic World (cont'd) • How and why did the plantation economy develop? Why did it rely on African slaves for its labor? What were the consequences of the slave trade for individuals and institutions in each of the three continents constituting the Atlantic world?

8. Global Perspectives:The Atlantic World (cont'd) • Why do we think of the plantation economy as a global, rather than regional, system of production? Why was it the “engine” of Atlantic basin trade?

9. Periods of European Overseas Expansion

10. Periods of European Expansion • Four periods of European overseas expansion • Initial period of expansion • Fifteenth through seventeenth centuries • Colonial trade rivalry • England, Spain, France • Seventeenth through early nineteenth century

11. Periods of European Expansion (cont’d) • New empires in Africa and Asia • Nineteenth century • Decolonization – mid-twentieth century

12. El Morro, Puerto Rico

13. Mercantilist Theory of Economic Exploitation

14. Mercantilist Theory • A system in which governments heavily regulate trade and commerce in hope of increasing individual national wealth • Favorable trade balance of gold and silver • National monopoly of home country • Colonies provide markets and natural resources

15. Mercantilist Theory (cont’d) • Desire to forge trade-tight systems • Navigation laws, tariffs, prohibitions • Discourage trade with other European nations

16. Mercantilism

17. Establishment of the Spanish Empire in America

18. Conquest of Aztecs • Hernán Cortés (1484-1547) • Small force of 500 soldiers • Moctezuma II (1466-1520) • May have thought Cortez to be Quetzalcoatl • Cortés forms alliance with Tlaxcala • Welcomed into Tenochtitlan • Capture and death of Moctezuma II • Cuauhtemoc defeated in 1521

19. Conquest of Incas • Francisco Pizarro (ca. 1478-1541) • Two-hundred men • Military might that Incas did not understand • Atahualpa (ca. 1500-1533) • Tricked and captured by Pizarro • Garroted in 1533 • Cuzco captured • Full Spanish control not until 1560s

20. Consequences of the Conquests • Conquests of Mexico and Peru • Dramatic and brutal events • Two huge amd powerful empires destroyed by small groups with advanced weapons

21. Consequences of the Conquests (cont’d) • Spread of European diseases • Smallpox • Impact of isolation • Turning point in Americas • Entire civilizations destroyed

22. Roman Catholic Church • Vast new regions opened to Catholic Church • Relation to crusade against Islamic forces • Policy of military conquest on ground of converting non-Christians • Eradicating indigenous religious practices

23. Roman Catholic Church (cont’d) • Roman Catholic Church often acted as a conservative force • Working to protect political power and prestige of the conquerors

24. Spanish Conquest of Mexico

25. Black Legend • Papacy turned over much of the control of the church in the New World directly to Spanish monarchy • Conversion by Franciscans, Dominicans, Jesuits • Bartolomé de Las Casas (1474-1566) • Dominican • Deplored harsh conditions

26. Black Legend (cont’d) • Emergence of “Black Legend” • Spanish treatment unprincipled and inhumane

27. Economies of Exploitation in the Spanish Empire

28. Economies of Exploitation • Colonial economy of Spanish America was an economy of exploitation in two senses • The organization of labor involved structures of highly dependent servitude or slavery • The resources of the continent were exploited in mercantilist fashion for the economic advantage of Spain • Conquistadores interested in gold • Silver was chief interest of crown – quinto

29. Encomienda • A formal grant by the crown • Right to the labor of a specific number of Native Americans • For a particular time • Usually a few hundred Native Americans • Spanish crown disliked encomienda system • Reports of poor treatment • Also growing power of encomienda holders

30. Repartimiento • Replaced the encomienda system • Copied from the draft practices of the Incas • Adaptation of the Inca mita • Required adult male Native Americans to devote a set number of days of labor annually to Spanish economic enterprises • Time limit led some Spanish managers to use their workers in extremely harsh fashion

31. Hacienda • Royal grants led to establishment of large landed estates owned by whites • Peninsulares – whites born in Spain • Creoles – whites born in America • Transfer of principle of large unit of privately owned land from Europe to America • Laborers had formal servitude to owner • Debt peonage

32. Hacienda (cont’d) • Two major products – foodstuffs and leather

33. The Silver Mines of Potosí

34. Commercial Regulation • Council of the Indies • Nominated viceroys of New Spain and Peru • Audiencias – subordinate judicial councils • Corregidores – presided over municipal councils • Opportunities for royal patronage

35. Commercial Regulation (cont’d) • System of monopolistic trade regulation • Casa de Contratación (House of Trade) • Flota • Fleet of commercial vehicles

36. Map 17–2. The Americas, ca. 1750

37. Colonial Brazil

38. Sugar plantations

39. Colonial Brazil and Slavery • Treaty of Tordesillas, 1494 • Portuguese control over Brazil • Very different labor practices than Spain • Imported African slaves early • Preeminence of sugar production • Fazendas – large sugar cane estates • Gold discoveries • Portuguese allowed more local autonomy

40. French Colonies • French explorers sailed down St. Lawrence River • Fur traders • Roman Catholic Jesuit missionaries • Trade rather than extensive settlements • Quebec – founded in 1608 • No drive to permanently claim land • Reduced conflicts between French and Native Americans

41. French and British Colonies in North America

42. British Colonies • Settlement for enrichment • Virginia and New Amsterdam • Development by royal favorites • Carolinas • Refuge for English debtors • Georgia • Pursuit of religious freedom • Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Maryland

43. Fur Trade

44. British Interactions • Complex relations with Native American population • Little interest in missionary efforts • English encountered no large native cities • Occasional well-organized opposition • Powhatan conspiracy, Pequots, Iroquois • Agriculture was largest economic activity • Southern colonies dependent upon slaves • Close ties with England until 1760s

45. The Columbian Exchange Disease, Animals, and Agriculture

46. The Columbian Exchange • Massive movement and interaction of biological organisms after Columbus • People, plants, animals, diseases • Between Europe, Americas, Africa • Shapes world up to present

47. The Columbian Exchange: Disease • Long isolation of Americas • Americans vulnerable to European diseases • Pre-contact population figures controversial • Epidemics of European diseases killed huge numbers of indigenous peoples • Facilitated European conquest • Syphilis transmitted from Americas to Europe

48. Map 17–3. Biological Exchanges

49. Smallpox

50. The Columbian Exchange:Animals and Agriculture • European livestock revolutionized American agriculture • European plants important to Americas • Sugar • Wheat • American plants altered European and African diets