Introduction

1. Introduction State of Europe on the verge of Exploration and Colonization

2. I. Politically • Medieval European Government --Decentralized and Local • New View of Politics during the Renaissance --Machiavelli, The Prince • Emergence of Centralized, Competitive Monarchies

3. II. Religiously • Growing Secularism • Protestant Reformation • Division Breeds Dissent • No sense of religious toleration or separation of church and state • Dissenters need places of refuge = colonies

4. III. Economically • Increasing Secularism --move away from “just price” theory • Emergence of Long-Distance Trade --breaks monopoly of the guild system • Emergence of Middle-class capitalists -- “New rich” = lots of $, wrong blood • Mercantilism and the role of colonies • Joint Stock Companies—Source of capital for colonial ventures

5. IV. Socially • Very Hierarchical society • Emergence of a new “middle class” • Increasing Social Tensions between classes • Agricultural changes leads to excess population heading toward European towns and American colonies

6. V. Technologically • New Sailing Technology --New Instruments: Astrolabe, Compass --Caravels—Multi-sail ships

7. V. Technologically (cont) • New Military Technology --Emergence of gunpowder weaponry --The Rise of the “Standing Army” --Royalized Warfare • Merged and Used against colonial populations • Lots of imperial warfare—competition for power

8. VI. Racially • New notion, type and scope of slavery • Colonial populations viewed as weak due to disease disaster created by European contact • Death of native population leads to the need of alternate labor supply = African slave trade • Traditional American problem = abundant land and capital, but scarcity of labor

9. Patterns of Discovery Rival European powers converge on a “New World” that isn’t really “new” at all—just “different”

10. I. European Background to Exploration • Myth of the “West” goes all the way back to the Greeks—Atlantis • Vikings discover Greenland around 1000 A.D. • Columbus’ Voyage—1492 • Motivations for Exploration?

11. II. Native Americans

12. A. Pre-European Contact • Mode and timing of arrival on the continent • Not a “new world” but rather a “different” world when the Europeans arrive • Great diversity among Native American tribal units • Begin to farm as a early as 5000 B.C. • Most advanced civilizations in Mexico and Central America • Tribes of North America = less technologically accomplished

13. A. Pre-European Contact (cont.) • Moved from centralized, coercive societies (Mississipian centers like Cahokia) to small villages linked by reciprocity • Algonquian-speaking people inhabited the area from Maine to North Carolina • Significance of Kinship and Reciprocity • “Manitou” and other Spiritual Values • Reciprocity as applied to land use • Warfare as ritual to restore order • Incorporated strangers for more thoroughly and enthusiastically than Puritans

14. B. European Contact • Transitional phase with periodic contact during the 15th and early 16th centuries • No sudden invasion, then, but a slow infiltration of men and microbes

15. C. Results of European Contact • Initial phase of mutual dependence • Upsets balance between Native American tribes • Epidemiological disaster --America = “widowed land” • Inherent differences in value systems and land use patterns • The “Columbian Exchange” • Some inter-marriage, mostly with Spanish • Lots of Silver and Gold ruins the Spanish economy

16. III. Spanish Pattern of Exploration and Settlement • First ranking world power in the 1400’s and 1500’s • The Reconquista of Spain—produces conquistadors • The voyages of Columbus • The Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) • Cortes’ conquest of the Aztecs • Administration of New Spain -- “encomienda”

17. III. Spanish pattern (cont.) • Brought Catholicism to the New World • More fluid racial categories than with other European settlement • No real settlement in New Mexico and California until later • Importation of precious metals leads to rampant inflation in Spain and the rest of Europe—also leads to piracy

18. IV. French Pattern of Exploration and Settlement • Interest in New World developed more slowly • Motivation for exploration = northwest passage • No real success at first --Jacques Cartier • Developed fur trade with Hurons and other Native American enemies of the Iroquois --Samuel Champlain

19. IV. French Pattern (cont) • Marquette and Joliet traveled down the Mississippi River in 1670’s • Indifference of French monarchy to colonization • Individualistic trappers carve out isolated existence

20. V. Dutch Pattern of Exploration and Settlement • Some Dutch settlement along the Hudson River Valley in 1624 --Henry Hudson • Nurtured a fur trade with the Iroquois confederacy • Peter Minuet bought Manhattan Island from the natives in 1626 creating New Amsterdam

21. V. Dutch Pattern (cont) • Beyond New Netherlands, no real Dutch presence in the New World --No religious turmoil --Booming commerce = plenty of jobs --No surplus agricultural population

22. VI. English Pattern of Exploration and Settlement • English fishermen explored the Grand Banks in the 1480’s • First official visit = John Cabot in 1497 • English interest wanes for 75 years • Elizabeth I merges English nationalism with Protestantism as she increasingly challenges the Spanish in Europe and in America • Ireland = “Dress Rehearsal” for treatment of Native Americans

23. VI. English Pattern (cont.) • The glorious failures of Sir Humphrey Gilbert • The colonial vision of Sir Walter Raleigh • The Lost Colony of Roanoke (1587-1590) -- “Croatan” • Propagandist Richard Hakluyt keeps English fascination with the New World alive through his writings --Voyages, 1589

24. VII. Settlement Patterns and Success Depended upon . . . • Support of Mother Country • Characteristics and density of Native American population where settlement was attempted • Geography and climate of the land itself • The abundance of game, timber, and/or precious metals • All of these ingredients were, to a great extent, beyond the control of the actual explorers and colonists