American Colonial Societies The Columbian Exchange Exchange of

American Colonial Societies

The Columbian Exchange • Exchange of products, people, and diseases between Europe and the “New World” • Small pox, measles, horse and other animals to the Americas • Potato, corn and other crops to Europe • Did Europeans get any diseases in the Americas? • Slave trade, European immigration also part • New foods benefit Africa, Asia, and Europe • Europe’s population increases, Americas’ decreases- why?

Ecological Imperialism • Dislocation of native plants and animals, and devastation of populations, by European plants and diseases – largest decline in percentage of population anywhere in history

Spain • Ferdinand Isabella • • • Unify Spain Expel Muslims (Moors)- Inquisition Columbus (1492) Cortez (1519)- Aztecs Pizarro (1533)- Inca Control Philippines (Manila)- 1571 • Establish encomienda system in Americas • Natives enslaved. Mined for silver and gold and worked on plantations- continued till 1800 s in parts of S. America (Potosi silver mine, Peru)

Spain cont. �Founded cities as administrative centers headed by bureaucrats- contrast w/England, France �Spain’s treasury fills with silver and gold- inflation, bankruptcy, pirates �Money goes to pay for Chinese luxury goods (esp. silver), and to fight religious wars (Spain is Catholic) �Charles V and Phillip II conduct religious wars throughout Europe- bankrupts Spain �Spain’s power fades by the 17 th century

Treaty of Tordesillas • Meant to resolve conflict between Spain and Portugal • Draws line that gives lands to the east to Portugal and lands to the west to Spain

Netherlands (Dutch) • 1609 - wins independence from Spain • Has a lucrative shipping industry • Economically efficient • Amsterdam becomes a center of banking (has a stock exchange also) • Dutch East India Company (Joint Stock Company) • Focus on trade in Indonesia, capture ports from Portugal

Netherlands Cont. • 1641 - Only Europeans allowed to trade in Japan because they were not missionaries • 1652 - Capture Cape of Good Hope- establish first Dutch settlement there (Afrikaners) • Establish New Amsterdam in Manhattan- English take in 1664 • Brief colony in South America near Brazil • 1700 s- too small, power wanes

France • Civil war between Catholics and Protestants divides France • 1589 - Henry IV • 1598 - Issues Edict of Nantes- gives Protestants same rights as Catholics • 1610 – Louis XIII • Encourages trade and improves economy • Defeats Hapsburg empire (Austria) and strengthens French power

France Cont. • 1643 - Louis XIV (The “Sun King”) • France becomes most powerful country in Europe • Colonizes widely overseas (Canada, Mississippi territory, India, Madagascar, Indies) • 1685 - revokes Edict of Nantes • Follows policy of mercantilism – what is that? • Wars (such as the French and Indian) weaken French power

England • Henry VIII- fights with Pope • 1558 -1603 - Queen Elizabeth I- makes England a Protestant nation • Helps Netherlands rebel against Spain • 1588 - Spanish Armada wiped out by a storm

England cont. � 1607 - Establishes Jamestown colony, Virginia �Late 1600 s- Stable currency, supports commercial enterprises �End of 17 th century- English Bill of Rights � 1756 -1763 - Seven Years War (aka French and Indian War) Britain gains French possessions in N. America British sea power continues to grow �Early 1800 s- gain control of India

• France, England, and Netherlands begin expeditions later and with limited territories; more emphasis on private commercial ventures in colonies – Joint Stock Companies • How is this different than Portugal/Spain?

Misc. • Spanish govt. does not intervene to stop encomienda system- sympathizes though • Social structure in the Americas was a hierarchical mix of cultures (Europeans, Creoles, Mestizos, Mulattoes, Native Americans and Africans) • Lots of cultural/racial blending • North America? • Conflicts with other European cultures and their Indian allies leads to French colonial failure

North American Colonies • Settled by English, Dutch, and French • At first, not as lucrative as those in east and west indies • Btw, where are the west indies?

• Used indentured servants- worked for seven yrs. in colonies in exchange for passage across Atlantic • Eventually replaced by slaves (higher up-front cost; better long-term investment)

The Path of Sugar • Most impt. commodity in early modern period was sugar • Started in Asia, then to Middle East • Spread to Mediterranean • First sugar plantations were in Madeira and the Canary Islands off the coast of N. W. Africa • Then to Americas

The Slave Trade • Equal relationship between Europeans and Africans at beginning of early modern era • Europeans wanted Africans to work sugar plantations in Americas (less susceptible to disease and west-Africans were experienced farmers)

Slave trade cont. • Europeans arrive on African west coast • Couldn’t navigate through the jungle • Made deals with local leaders for slaves (exchanged guns for) • Leaders went inland to obtain slaves (criminals, kidnapped, POWs, drought refugees) • These leaders controlled the slave trade (had been for hundreds of yrs. ) • Europe does not colonize Africa until 1800 s

Some results • Increased dependence on European nations (guns) • Increased violence and disruption within African societies

The trans-Atlantic trade • Slaves were boarded on a ship headed for the Americas (Middle Passage) • Terrible conditions- most brutal of all slave trades and biggest #s • High mortality rates (20%) and low birth rate • Results in higher #s of slaves taken in order to compensate • Most slaves went to Brazil (sugar and mining), then Caribbean, not to N. America • Triangular Trade

What led to an increase in slavery? • High cost of land in west indies • Indians dying due to disease • Mercantilist policies (designed to maximize profits) and rivalry • Short life-expectancy of slaves

Slavery and the Portuguese • At first interested in only gold and spices, and, to a lesser extent, Christianizing Africa, but eventually tapped into existing trans-Saharan trade routes for slaves • These first slaves went to Europe to work in households

Slavery in the U. S. /compared to rest of Americas • Big products are cotton and tobacco, not sugar • Slave pop. grows in U. S. due to 2 nd generation slaves and internal trade • Slave trade continues until 1808 when it is outlawed • Slavery is not outlawed until 1865 • Death rate due to brutality similar to rest of Americas

Trans-Saharan trade • Like the Atlantic trade, families were broken up • Fewer #s and less brutal • Higher #s of women for domestic work and as concubines

East African trade • Both coastal and inland • Involved India and Arabia as well as Europe • Involved the Plantation system