New Worlds: The Americas and Oceania

1. New Worlds: The Americas and Oceania

2. Colliding Worlds • 1492 is significant in world history because from that point forward there is permanent and sustained contact between the people of the eastern and western hemispheres which brings profound and violent change to each world. • Neither realm will remain the same. • Europeans bring new technology and devastating disease to the Americas and ultimately destroy the existing American empires. • Eventually settler colonies would further displace and discard indigenous people in both South and North America.

3. Colliding Worlds • The Spanish Caribbean • Mining • When Columbus’s following settlers realized the land was not part of Asia, they turned to mining for gold to create profits • Encomienda System – System of forced labor used by Spanish to enslave the Tainos (Caribbean Natives) to work in mines. • Harsh labor conditions and small pox epidemics wiped out the Tainos • Agriculture • When gold was not found, Spain focused on Mexico and Peru and left open the door for English, Dutch, and French settlers in the Caribbean • 1640s – Began producing valuable cash crops like sugar and tobacco to turn profits. • Used enslaved Africans • 1700 – Caribbean populated by small class of European settlers and large numbers of enslaved Africans.

4. Colliding Worlds • The Conquest of Mexico and Peru • When it became apparent that mineral wealth in the Caribbean was sparse, the Spanish turned to Mexico and Peru • Hernan Cortes – Conquered the Aztec in Mexico • Francisco Pizzaro – Conquered the Inca in Peru • Both were outnumbered, but disease, superior weaponry, and alliances with Aztec and Incan enemies allowed them to overtake the great empires of Central and South America.

5. Colliding Worlds • Iberian Empires in the Americas • Between 1500 and 1800 500,000 Spanish immigrants and 100,000 Portuguese immigrants settled permanently in the Americas • Spain • By 1570 the Spanish Crown had set up a formal policy of control and administration of justice for Peru and Mexico • Mexico – Capital in Mexico City • Peru – Capital in Lima • Both were ran by viceroys who answered directly to the King of Spain and were evaluated by audiencias on a regular basis. • Portugal • Established an imperial realm in Brazil as a result of the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas • Divided the world into a Spanish sphere in the West and a Portuguese sphere in the East (Brazil included in this)

6. Colliding Worlds • Settler Colonies in North America • By the mid 1600s the French had set up many permanent settlements in Canada, while the British had done the same in what is presently the U.S. • Jamestown, Virginia, Massachusetts Bay, Quebec, etc • North American settlement life was difficult and often deadly • Focused on exports instead of food production which meant widespread starvation and disease • Only 60 of the original 500 Jamestown settlers survived the first winter • Different for French and British than for Spanish • Indigenous peoples of North America were much different than those of South America • Superior weaponry and disease led to demise of Native Americans

7. Colonial Society in the Americas • The history of colonial societies in America is one of interactions of cultures: European, American, African • Mining, fur trapping, and cultivation of cash crops formed the economic basis of these societies and Christianity emerged as the dominant religion in the western hemisphere. • Mestizos (a mixture of European and Euro-American offspring) came to dominate political, economic, and cultural affairs.

8. Colonial Society in the Americas • The Formation of Multicultural Societies • Often, male European settlers and explorers formed relationships with native peoples or African slaves due to a lack of access to European women. • Common in Mexico (Mestizos), Peru, Brazil, and with French trappers in the North American wilderness. • Very uncommon in the English colonies of North America where more European women also came and settled. • Frowned up interracial relationships and eventually developed strong racist sentiments against Africans and Native Americans.

9. Colonial Society in the Americas • Mining and Agriculture in the Spanish Empire • Mining • Most profitable mineral in the Americas proved to be silver • Concentrated in northern Mexico and the Bolivian Andes, silver provided great wealth for the Spanish Crown and settlers • Agriculture • Spanish agricultural production based on systems of forced labor of the indigenous people • Hacienda and Encomienda systems • Led to several major uprisings of indigenous people

10. Colonial Society in the Americas • Sugar and Slavery in Portuguese Brazil • Portuguese did not have the conquistadores like the Spanish did, so they did not have a large indigenous work population to choose from. • Portuguese used African slaves to produce their most profitable crop: SUGAR. • Slave life • Imports first came in 1530 • Tropical heat, disease, overwork, dangerous working conditions, inadequate food, and housing, and horrific mistreatment • High death rates – Five to ten percent per year • One ton of sugar produced at the cost of one human life.

11. Colonial Society in the Americas • Fur Traders and Settlers in North America • Fur • Fish first brought Europeans to North American shores, but soon fur became the more lucrative commodity. • Quest for furs lead to major conflicts between trappers, Native Americans, and European countries as territorial disputes arose • Agriculture • Eventually settlers became more interested in cash crop production – tobacco, rice, indigo, and cotton. • First used indentured servants for labor, then by 1619 the first group of African slaves arrived in Virginia.

12. Colonial Society in the Americas • Christianity and Native Religions in the Americas • In addition to economic motivations, the desire to spread Christianity traveled to the New World with the European explorers, conquistadores, merchants, and settlers. • Missionaries soon followed. • Spanish Missionaries – Quite successful in Mexico and Peru in spreading Roman Catholicism • English Missionaries – Rarely active or successful in converting Native Americans in North America • French Missionaries – Fairly successful in spreading Christianity in St. Lawrence, Ohio, and Mississippi River valleys.

13. Europeans in the Pacific • Australia and the Larger World • First recorded sighting of Australia was by the Dutch in 1606 • Reported the land as arid and barren, containing no mineral wealth. • 1788 • English Captain James Cook exploration of the eastern coastline discovered it was suitable for settlement • England began to set up permanent settlements • Aborigines did not fair well in contact with European settlers and the British government.

14. Europeans in the Pacific • The Pacific Islands and the Larger World • Europeans began taking greater interest in the Pacific by the eighteenth century. • Most interactions between Europeans and indigenous people were peaceful at first, but eventually turned violent as disagreements over trade and cultural practices lead to escalating tension and armed conflict. • Rapid and unsettling change would begin for islanders during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries as interest in the Pacific continued to grow.