Download The Race to Colonize the New World

Lecture 2: The Race to Colonize the New World
I.
The New Europe and the Atlantic World
A.
Spanish Expansion in America
1.
The papacy averted potential conflict between Spain and Portugal
over which country had the right to explore and settle the Western
Hemisphere.
a.
As a result of the line drawn by the pope and the Treaty of
Tordesillas, most of the Western Hemisphere fell to Spain,
with the exception of Brazil (to Portugal). This would be
the beginning of Spain’s downfall as it forfeited all rights to
Africa.
2.
Spain’s policy for its possessions in the Western Hemisphere
included Christianization of the Native American Indians,
expansion of Spain’s holdings, trade, and the discovery of gold and
silver.
a.
Columbus was unable to accomplish much in the way of
advancing Spain’s policy.
b.
Hernan Cortés in 1521 expanded Spain’s dominion with
the conquest of the Aztecs in Mexico.
c.
Juan Ponce de Léon expanded Spanish control to Florida
in search of the Fountain of Youth.
d.
In 1528 Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca under Pánfilo de
Narváez was part of an ill-fated expedition that began near
present day Tampa Bay and ended up in Mexico City eight
years later in 1536 after sailing along the coast Gulf of
Mexico on a barge and walking across Texas with
Estevanico (first African slave in Texas).
e.
Between 1539 and 1542 Hernando de Soto explored from
Florida to the Mississippi River looking for gold and glory
in the name of God. De Soto and his men raped, pillaged,
and murdered the Trans-Mississippi Indian population. He
died of fever in 1542.
f.
In 1540 Francisco Vasquez de Coronado and Fray
Marcos explored large sections of the south and southcentral portions of the later United States in search of the
Seven Cities of Cibloa. The golden city of Cibloa was
Zuñi Indian city of adobe in Hawikúh.
3.
Gold and silver became the main goal of Spain’s conquistadors
and royal officials.
a.
In South America Francisco Pizarro conquered the Inca
Empire in Peru for its gold.
b.
Soon the Spanish turned to slavery in order to mine the
silver and gold making Spain the richest nation in Europe.
B.
Philip II, Elizabeth I , and the race for World Domination.
1.
Spain’s new wealth and the conflict between Catholics and
Protestants led to conflict with other nations, especially England,
beginning in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. “The Virgin Queen”
a.
Philip II yearned to marry Elisabeth I in order to unify
Spain and England making their union the most powerful in
the world.
b.
Elizabeth I did not entertain the idea of marrying, not just
Philip II, but any man.
c.
Elizabeth in turn supported the rebellious Protestants in the
Netherlands against Spain.
d.
She authorized attacks by privateers “Sea Dogs” like
Englishman Francis Drake, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, and
Dutchman Peit Hyen on Spanish possessions and shipping.
Hyen sized a tremendous amount of Spanish silver being
carried on the slow and cumbersome Spanish galleons.
2.
Spain’s King Philip II supported plots by Catholics inside England
to overthrow Elizabeth.
a.
Mary Queen of Scots plotted to seize the English throne,
for which she was executed and which led to greater
tension between the two countries.
3.
Elizabeth then embarked on a policy of establishing English
colonies in the New World.
a.
In part, her intention was to deal with a shortage of
farmland and to meet the needs of English merchants
for greater opportunities.
b.
English expansion there was also another way to oppose
Spain.
4.
Sir Walter Raleigh established in 1584 the colony of Roanoke off
the coast of Virginia.
a.
It followed an unsuccessful attempt by Sir Humphrey
Gilbert to establish a colony off the coast of
Newfoundland.
b.
Sir Walter chose a more southern location because it
would block the Spanish in Florida.
5.
Gold and silver from the Western Hemisphere led to wealth but
also to trouble.
a.
The influx of money caused severe inflation throughout
Europe.
b.
Increasing prices created social unrest, which in turn
contributed to greater interest in colonization in the
Western Hemisphere.
6.
As a result of this Philip II decided to invade England.
a.
The Spanish monarch decided on war with England as part
of the battle against Protestantism and to block English
colonization in the New World.
2
b.
c.
d.
II.
In 1588, Philip attempted to invade England with the
Armada, but met with disaster. At the hands of a nasty
storm and a speedy English fleet.
Though Spanish power would remain great, the Armada
disaster effectively brought an end to Spain’s near
monopoly over New World colonization.
This paved the way for France and England to colonize the
New World.
European Empires in the Americas
A. The Troubled Spanish Colonial Empire
1.
Spain’s New World Empire was in decline during the eighteenth
century.
a.
It was too large to govern efficiently, and its officials were
often corrupt.
B.
Bureaucratic and Church interference in the labor system and taxes were
continual problems. The Indian Frontier in New Spain
1.
Indian assistance had been crucial to Spain’s victories against the
Aztecs and Incas. Now the Indian population was wary of the
Europeans.
C.
New Spain’s Northern Frontiers
1.
In 1598 Juan de Oñate led an expedition that executed and
enslaved Indians who resisted the Spanish incursion in present day
New Mexico.
a.
Oñate’s excesses led to his removal and some of his
company founded Santa Fe in 1609.
b.
The 1680 Pueblo Revolt overthrew the Spanish, but the
Spanish returned with a vengeance in 1693 re-taking Santa
Fe.
c.
In Texas the pacification of the Indians was done primarily
by the Jesuits and not the Conquistadores.
d.
The most attractive economic enterprise was still ranching.
e.
New Mexicans looked northward for trading opportunities,
since they were largely removed from the imperial
economy centered around Mexico City.
3
D.
The Indian World in the Southeast
1.
Since access to gold and easy enslavement of Indians was not
possible here, the conquistadors did not settle in the Southeastern
United States.
2.
Although Spanish presence in the region was minor, the impact of
Spanish diseases on the Indians was enormous.
E.
The French Presence in America
1.
In 1603 Samuel de Champlain settled the first successful French
colony in the New World. It later became Québec
2.
By ignoring their possessions in the New World, France may have
erred in the opposite extreme.
a.
The French population in the New World remained small.
3.
Only after 1663 did the French crown begin to intervene, and New
France became a royal colony in 1674.
4.
In 1678 Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle, recognized the
strategic and economic promise in Joliet’s and Marquette’s
discovery of the Mississippi River. He sailed the Mississippi.
Later in 1687 he was shot by one of his own men near Navasota,
Texas.
a.
Despite his perils La Salle aided in the acquisition of
Louisiana which became a major accomplishment for him
and for France. And a thorn in the Spanish Empire’s side.
5.
Despite the territory’s strategic location, its fertile soils, and
large populations of fur-bearing animals, few Frenchmen
showed any interest in settlement.
a.
In spite of the Choctaw alliance, which guaranteed ample
food supplies and made territorial acquisition possible,
Louisiana remained unattractive to French farmers.
This problem, however, was not restricted to the French.
Spanish settlers were also reluctant to settle in the New
World particularly Texas. Why were the English so
willing to come to the New World?
F.
The Dutch Enterprise
1.
By the 1630s, the Dutch dominated the African slave trade and had
conquered a number of Caribbean islands.
2.
Henry Hudson’s search for the Northwest Passage gave Holland
its first serious claim to American territory.
3.
New Netherland attracted a diverse population and offered
patroonships to any company stockholder willing and able to bring
fifty colonists at his own expense.
4
4.
III.
As an alternative to patroonships, the West India Company offered
to grant a tract of land to any free man who agreed to farm it.
Indians and the European Challenge
A. The Indian World in the Northeast
1.
The Huron’s and their allies aligned themselves with the French;
the Iroquois League sided with the English.
2.
Enthusiastic about trade with the Dutch, the Iroquois soon wiped
out fur supplies in their own territory and began an even more
serious push to acquire new lands.
a.
Non-Iroquois Indians resented the Dutch presence.
B.
The New Indian World of the Plains
1.
The same forces of climate change, the pressure of shifting
populations, and novel European goods created a new culture and
economy among the Plains Indians.
a.
Introduced by the Spanish, horses became a mainstay of the
southern plains buffalo hunting culture.
b.
Before 1400, Plains Indians rarely strayed from river
ways that form the Missouri River drainage.
c.
The Ice Age greatly increased the number of buffalo on the
Plains.
d.
Some Caddo abandoned their agricultural villages in
exchange for a mobile hunting lifestyle.
e.
The increase in buffalo also served as a magnet to draw
new groups into the area.
2.
The continual demand for horses, accompanied by the pressure for
hunting ranges created a new dynamic on the Plains and set a new
economy into motion.
5