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Europeans Compete in North America. Chapter 2 Section 3. Section Focus Question. How did conflicts in Europe spur explorations in North America? Conflicts in North America Religious Conflicts Economic Conflicts
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Europeans Compete in North America Chapter 2 Section 3
Section Focus Question • How did conflicts in Europe spur explorations in North America? • Conflicts in North America • Religious Conflicts • Economic Conflicts As the appeal of the Reformation increased, the split between the Catholics and the Protestants increased religious and economic tensions between countries in Europe.
Religious Conflicts • By 1530s, the rulers of Sweden, Denmark, and several European states had split with the Roman Catholic Church and set up Protestant churches in their countries. • In other areas of Europe, the teachings and writings of a Swiss thinker, John Calvin, had a great influence on the development of Protestant churches in France, Switzerland, Scotland, and the Netherlands.
King Henry VIII • Henry married Catherine of Aragon, the daughter of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain. • Catherine did not produce a son or male heir to the English throne. Henry sought a divorce and wanted to remarry. • Catholic law does not permit divorce, so Henry asked the pope to annul (cancel) his marriage. • The pope refused and caused Henry to break with the Catholic Church. • Henry set up a Protestant Church and named it the Church of England.
Economic Conflicts • Religious tensions inflamed rivalries that already existed among the nations of Europe. • Wars were common and alliances often shifted. • This uncertainty made European rulers believe they could not depend on one another to protect their country’s security.
Spain • Spain was not willing to depend on Italian and Portuguese traders. • As a result, the Spanish monarchs supported Columbus’s search for a new route to Asia. • The Spanish thought that if they could start colonies there, goods from those colonies would make Spain wealthy and powerful. • Most importantly, Spain hoped Asian colonies would provide them with gold.
Mercantilism • Nearly every European nation sought gold to pay for its wars and help strengthen its armies. • Spain required one fifth of all gold that Spaniards found be sent to the king. • This requirement was part of a system widely followed at this time, called mercantilism. • Mercantilism is a system where the colonies existed to make the home country wealthy and powerful.
The Spanish Armada • King Henry VIII of England died in 1547. • The throne was ruled by his son Edward who died shortly after. • Mary I took the throne and she planned to restore the Roman Catholic Church in England. • Mary died in 1558 and Elizabeth I, a Protestant, took the throne. • The rule of the Protestant Queen renewed the rivalry with the Roman Catholic Spain.
Spain’s Defeat • Spain’s ruler, King Phillip II hoped to make England a Catholic nation again. • In 1588, Phillip assembled a fleet of 130 warships known as the Spanish Armada. • Phillip hoped to force Elizabeth from the throne. • England’s smaller and faster ships sank many of the Spanish ships. • The Spanish Armada returned to Spain with barely half of their ships.
Changing the Balance of Power in Europe • The defeat of the Spanish Armada changed the balance of power in Europe. • Spain was weakened and so was its control of the seas. • This enabled countries like England and France to found colonies in the Americas. • Europe’s religious and economic conflicts were not settled by the defeat of the Armada. • As England France founded colonies, these conflicts spread to the Americas.
John Cabot • Columbus’ returned from his first voyage interested another Italian explorer, John Cabot. • Cabot decided that a more northern route to Asia would be shorter and easier. • Spain and Portugal had no interest in Cabot’s ideas but England did. • England financed Cabot’s voyage.
Cabot’s Voyage • Cabot left England in May 1497 with one ship. • He crossed the North Atlantic and explored the region around Newfoundland. • On a second voyage in 1498, Cabot may have explored the North American coast as far south as Chesapeake Bay. • We cannot be sure because his ships disappeared without a trace.
Northwest Passage • Europeans soon realized that the lands Cabot had reached were not Asia, but a land that they had never seen. • England, France, and Holland all financed voyages of exploration to North America. • These voyages focused on finding a northwest passage, or a sea route from the Atlantic to the Pacific that passed through or around North America.
Giovanni da Verrazano • In 1524, another Italian explorer, Giavanni da Verrazano searched for such a passage for King Francis I of France. • Verrazano explored the Atlantic coastal region from North Carolina to Newfoundland. • In doing this, he discovered the mouth of the Hudson River and New York Bay.
Jaques Cartier • French explorer, Jacques Cartier, made three trips to North America for France. • In searching for the Northwest Passage, he discovered the St. Lawrence River and explored it as far as present-day Montreal.
Henry Hudson • English explorer Henry Hudson made four voyages in search of a Northwest Passage. • Two voyages in the Arctic Ocean, during 1607 and 1608, were unsuccessful. • Hudson’s English backers gave up on him but the Dutch grew interested in his activities and financed a third expedition in 1609. • Crossing the Atlantic, Hudson reached what is now New York and explored up the river that today bears his name.
Hudson Bay • Hudson’s discoveries convinced the English to sponsor a fourth voyage in 1610. • Hudson sailed into the Arctic again looking for the passage to the Pacific. • He reached as far a Hudson Bay, which is also named for him.
