Download 16 The First Global Age: Europe, the Americas, and Africa 1492–1750

Chapter
The
First
Global
Age:
Europe,
16
the Americas, and Africa
1492–1750
Chapter Preview
1 Conquest in the Americas
2 Spanish and Portuguese Colonies in the Americas
3 Struggle for North America
4 Turbulent Centuries in Africa
5 Changes in Europe
Chapter Review and Assessment
Land Claims in the Americas and Africa, 1675
By 1675, Spain, France, Britain, and Portugal possessed sizable overseas empires. Oceangoing trade
ships carried tons of goods between Europe and the Americas and Africa.
CHAPTER EVENTS
GLOBAL EVENTS
SECTION
1
Conquest in the Americas
Reading Focus
Vocabulary
What were the results
of the first encounters
between the Spanish
and Native Americans?
How did Spanish
conquistadors conquer
the Aztec and Incan
empires?
Why were the Spanish
victorious?
conquistador
immunity
alliance
civil war
Taking Notes
this diagram. As you read, add other
factors that help to explain why the Spanish
were able to conquer Native American
empires. Add as many boxes as you need.
Print out
Various factors enabled the Spanish to conquer the Aztec and Incan
empires.
Setting the Scene
Spanish soldiers who reached the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán in 1519
were amazed by its size and splendor. From the emperor's palace, reported
one soldier, “We had a clear view of the … [majestic temples] of the
nearby cities, built in the form of towers and fortresses, … and others … all
whitewashed, and wonderfully brilliant.”
Within a few years, the Spanish had captured and destroyed the Aztec
capital. In its place, they built a new capital, Mexico City, that became the
heart of the Spanish empire in the Americas.
First Encounters
In 1492, Christopher Columbus landed in the islands that are now called the West
Indies, in the Caribbean. There, he encountered the Taíno people. The Taínos lived
in villages and grew corn, yams, and cotton, which they wove into cloth. They were
friendly and generous toward the Spanish.
Friendly relations soon evaporated, however. Spanish conquistadors (kahn kees tuh
dohrz), or conquerors, followed in the wake of Columbus. They settled on the
islands of Hispaniola (now the Dominican Republic and Haiti), Cuba, and Puerto
Rico. They seized the gold ornaments worn by the Taínos, then made them pan for
more gold. At the same time, the newcomers forced the Taínos to convert to
Christianity.
Meanwhile, a deadly but invisible invader was at work—disease. Europeans
unknowingly carried diseases such as smallpox, measles, and influenza to which
Native Americans had no immunity, or resistance. These diseases spread rapidly
and wiped out village after village. As a result, the Native American population of
the Caribbean islands declined by as much as 90 percent in the 1500s. This cycle of
disease and death was repeated in many other places across the Western
Hemisphere.
The Conquistadors
From Cuba, Spanish explorers probed the coasts of the
Americas. They spread stories of empires rich in gold.
Attracted by the promise of riches as well as by religious
zeal, a flood of adventurers soon followed.
Cortés in Mexico Among the earliest conquistadors was
Hernan Cortés. Cortés landed on the coast of Mexico in
1519 with about 600 men, 16 horses, and a few cannons.
As he headed inland toward Tenochtitlán, he was helped
by Malinche (mah lihn chay), a young Indian woman who
served as his translator and adviser. The Spanish called her
For images and
information about the
Aztecs and the
Doña Marina. Malinche knew both the Mayan and Aztec
languages, and she learned Spanish quickly.
Spanish conquest, visit
www.phschool.com.
From Malinche, Cortés learned that many conquered
peoples hated their Aztec overlords. The Aztecs, you will
recall, sacrificed thousands of captives to their gods each
year. Malinche helped Cortés arrange alliances with these
discontented groups. They would help one another fight
the Aztecs.
Moctezuma's Dilemma Meanwhile, messengers brought
word about the newcomers to the Aztec emperor
Moctezuma. He wondered if the leader of the pale-skinned,
bearded strangers might be Quetzalcoatl, the god-king who
had long ago vowed to return from the east. Moctezuma
sent gifts of gold and silver, but urged the strangers not to
continue to Tenochtitlán.
Cortés had no intention of turning back. Fighting and
negotiating by turns, he led his forces inland toward the
capital. At last, they arrived in Tenochtitlán, where they
were dazzled by the grandeur of the city.
Fall of Tenochtitlán Moctezuma welcomed Cortés to his
capital. However, relations between the Aztecs and
Spaniards soon grew strained, and the Aztecs drove the
Spanish from the city. Moctezuma was killed in the
fighting.
Cortés retreated to plan an assault. In 1521, in a brutal
struggle, Cortés and his Indian allies captured and
demolished Tenochtitlán. An unknown Aztec lamented,
“Broken spears lie in the road; / We have torn our hair with
grief. / The houses are roofless now, and their walls are red
with blood.” On the ruins of Tenochtitlán, the Spanish later
built Mexico City.
Pizarro in Peru Cortés's success inspired other adventurers.
Among them was Francisco Pizarro. He arrived in Peru in
1532, just after the Incan ruler Atahualpa (ah tah wahl pah)
won the throne from his brother in a bloody civil war. A
civil war is fought between groups of people in the same
nation.
Helped by Indian allies, Pizarro captured Atahualpa after
slaughtering thousands of his followers. The Spanish
demanded a huge ransom for the ruler. The Incas paid it,
but the Spanish killed Atahualpa anyway.
Despite continuing resistance, the invaders overran the
Incan heartland. From Peru, Spanish forces surged across
Ecuador and Chile. Before long, Spain added much of
South America to its growing empire.
Reasons for Victory
How could a few hundred European soldiers conquer huge Native
American empires with populations in the millions? Several reasons
explain the amazing Spanish success.
1. Superior military technology was a key factor.
The Spaniards' horses frightened some Indians,
who had never seen such animals. Spanish
muskets and cannons killed Indian soldiers, while
metal helmets and armor protected the Spanish
from the Indians' arrows and spears.
2. Division and discontent among the Indians aided
the Spanish. The Spanish won allies by playing on
old hatreds among rival Indian groups. In fact,
Indians provided Cortés and Pizarro with much of
their fighting power.
3. Disease brought by the Europeans weakened the
Aztecs and Incas. As tens of thousands of Indians
died, some of the bewildered and demoralized
survivors felt that their gods were less powerful
than the god of their conquerors.
4. Many Indians believed that the disasters they
suffered marked the world's end. To Aztecs, the
destruction of Tenochtitlán signaled the end of the
reign of the sun god.
Native Americans continued to resist the
invaders, however. For years, Mayas fought Spanish rule. Long after
the death of Atahualpa, revolts erupted among the Incas. Throughout
the Americas, Indians resisted Europeans by preserving aspects of
their own culture, such as language, religious traditions, and clothing.
Ongoing Resistance
Looking Ahead
The Spanish seized gold and silver statues and ornaments from the Aztecs
and Incas. After depleting these sources, they forced Native Americans to
mine silver in Peru and Mexico. In the 1500s and early 1600s, treasure
fleets sailed each year to Spain or the Spanish Philippines loaded with gold
and silver. This flood of wealth created both benefits and problems for the
economy of Europe.
An Aztec ornament
SECTION
2
Spanish and Portuguese Colonies in the
Americas
Reading Focus
Vocabulary
How did Spain rule its
empire in the
Americas?
What were the chief
features of colonial
society and culture?
How did Portugal and
other European nations
challenge Spanish
power?
viceroy
plantation
encomienda
peon
peninsular
creole
mestizo
mulatto
privateer
Taking Notes
this partially completed concept web. As
you read, write key facts and ideas about the
Spanish empire in the Americas in the
appropriate circles. Add as many circles as you
need.
Print out
Native American, African, and European traditions blended to form new
cultures in the Americas.
Setting the Scene
Spain was immensely proud of its rich silver mines in the Potosí region of
Peru. By the 1540s, tons of Potosí silver filled Spanish treasure ships. Year
after year, thousands of Native Americans were forced to extract the rich
ore from dangerous shafts deep inside the Andes Mountains. Many Indians
died in the terrible conditions, only to be replaced by thousands more.
Scenes such as this were repeated in Mexico, the Caribbean, and other
parts of Spain's empire. A flood of Spanish settlers and missionaries
followed the conquistadors. Wherever they went, they claimed the land and
its people for their king and Church. When there was resistance, the
newcomers imposed their will by force. As devout Christians, they thought
it was their duty to bring their religion and civilization to the Indians.
From the first, though, Christian Europeans had much to learn from the
peoples that they conquered. In the end, a new culture emerged that
reflected European, Native American, and African traditions.
Ruling the Spanish Empire
In the 1500s, Spain claimed a vast empire stretching from California to
South America. In time, it divided these lands into five provinces. The
most important were New Spain (Mexico) and Peru.
Spain was determined to maintain strict control over its empire. To achieve
this goal, the king set up the Council of the Indies to pass laws for the
colonies. He also appointed viceroys, or representatives who ruled in his
name, in each province. Lesser officials and audiencias, or advisory
councils of Spanish settlers, helped the viceroy rule. The Council of the
Indies in Spain closely monitored these colonial officials to make sure they
did not assume too much authority.
The Catholic Church To Spain, winning souls for Christianity was as
important as gaining land. The Catholic Church played a key role in the
colonies, working with the government to convert Native Americans to
Christianity. Church leaders often served as royal officials and helped to
regulate the activities of Spanish settlers. As Spain's American empire
expanded, Church authority expanded along with it.
Franciscan, Jesuit, and other missionaries baptized thousands of Native
Americans. In frontier regions, they built mission churches and worked to
turn new converts into loyal subjects of the Catholic king of Spain. They
forcibly imposed European culture over Native American culture. They
also introduced European clothing, the Spanish language, and new crafts
such as carpentry and locksmithing.
To make the empire profitable, Spain closely controlled its
economic activities, especially trade. Colonists could export raw materials
only to Spain and could buy only Spanish manufactured goods. Laws
forbade colonists from trading with other European nations or even with
other Spanish colonies. The most valuable resources shipped from Spanish
America to Spain were silver and gold.
The Economy
Sugar cane was introduced into the West Indies and elsewhere and quickly
became a profitable resource. The cane was refined into sugar, molasses,
and rum. Sugar cane, however, had to be grown on plantations, large
estates run by an owner or the owner's overseer. Finding the large numbers
of workers needed to make the plantations profitable was a major problem.
At first, Spanish monarchs granted the conquistadors encomiendas, the
right to demand labor or tribute from Native Americans in a particular
area. The conquistadors used this system to force Native Americans to
work under the most brutal conditions. Those who resisted were hunted
down and killed. Disease, starvation, and cruel treatment caused
catastrophic declines in the population.
A few bold priests, like Bartolomé de las Casas,
condemned the evils of the encomienda system. In vivid reports to Spain,
Las Casas detailed the horrors that Spanish rule had brought to Native
Americans and pleaded with the king to end the abuse.
Bartolomé de las Casas
Prodded by Las Casas, Spain passed the New Laws of the Indies in 1542,
forbidding enslavement of Native Americans. The laws were meant to end
abuses against Native Americans, but Spain was too far away to enforce
them. Many Native Americans were forced to become peons, workers
forced to labor for a landlord in order to pay off a debt. Landlords
advanced them food, tools, or seeds, creating debts that workers could
never pay off in their lifetime.
A Brutal System
Bartolomé de las Casas, a
conquistador turned priest,
spoke out against the
encomienda system and the
treatment of Native
Americans:
“It is impossible to recount
the burdens with which their
owners loaded them, more
Bringing Workers From Africa To fill the labor shortage, Las Casas urged
than [75 to 100 pounds],
colonists to import workers from Africa. Africans were immune to tropical making them walk [hundreds
diseases, he said, and had skills in farming, mining, and metalworking. Las of miles]…. They had
wounds on their shoulders
Casas later regretted that advice because it furthered the brutal African
and backs, like animals…. To
slave trade. Colonists had begun bringing Africans to the Americas as
tell likewise of the whipearly as 1502.
lashings, the beatings, the
cuffs, the blows, the curses,
As demand for sugar products skyrocketed, the settlers imported millions
and a thousand other kinds
of Africans as slaves. They were forced to work as field hands, miners, or of torments to which their
masters treated them, while
in truth they were working
hard, would take much time
servants in the houses of wealthy landowners. Others became peddlers,
skilled artisans, artists, and mechanics.
and much paper; and would
be something to amaze
mankind.”
In time, Africans and their American-born descendants greatly
—Bartolomé de las
outnumbered European settlers in the West Indies and parts of South
Casas, Short Description of
America. Often, they resisted slavery by rebelling or running away. In the the Destruction of the Indies
cities, some enslaved Africans earned enough money to buy their freedom.
Primary Source How were
the conditions Las Casas
describes linked to the
encomienda system?
Colonial Society and Culture
In Spanish America, the mix of diverse peoples gave rise to a new social
structure. The blending of Native American, African, and European
peoples and traditions resulted in a new American culture.
At the top of colonial society were peninsulares, people
born in Spain. (The term peninsular referred to the Iberian Peninsula, on
which Spain is located.) Peninsulares filled the highest positions in both
colonial governments and the Catholic Church. Next came creoles,
American-born descendants of Spanish settlers. Creoles owned most of the
plantations, ranches, and mines.
Social Structure
Other social groups reflected the mixing of populations. They included
mestizos, people of Native American and European descent, and mulattoes,
people of African and European descent. Native Americans and people of
African descent formed the lowest social classes.
Cities Spanish settlers preferred to live in towns and cities. The population
of Mexico City grew so quickly that by 1550 it was the largest Spanishspeaking city in the world.
Colonial cities were centers of government, commerce, and European
culture. Around the central plaza, or square, stood government buildings
and a Spanish-style church. Broad avenues and public monuments
symbolized European power and wealth. Cities were also centers of
intellectual and cultural life. Architecture and painting, as well as poetry
and the exchange of ideas, flourished.
To meet the Church's need for educated priests, the colonies
built universities. The University of Mexico was established as early as
1551. A dozen Spanish American universities were busy educating young
men long before Harvard, the first university in the 13 English colonies,
was founded in 1636.
Education
Women wishing an education might enter a convent. One such woman was
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz. Refused admission to the University of Mexico
because she was a girl, Juana entered a convent at the age of 16. There, she
devoted herself to study and the writing of poetry. She earned a reputation
as one of the greatest poets ever to write in the Spanish language.
Cultural Blending Although Spanish culture was dominant in the cities, the
blending of diverse traditions changed people's lives throughout the
Americas. Settlers learned Native American styles of building, ate foods
native to the Americas, and traveled in Indian-style canoes. Indian artistic
styles influenced the newcomers. At the same time, settlers taught their
religion to Native Americans. They also introduced animals, especially the
horse, that transformed the lives of many Native Americans.
Africans added to this cultural mix with their farming methods, cooking
styles, and crops, including okra and palm oil. African drama, dance, and
song heightened Christian services. In Cuba, Haiti, and elsewhere, Africans
forged new religions that blended African and Christian beliefs.
The Portuguese Colony in Brazil
A large area of South America remained outside the Spanish empire. By
the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494, Portugal claimed Brazil. Portugal issued
grants of land to Portuguese nobles, who agreed to develop the land and
share profits with the crown. Landowners sent settlers to build towns,
plantations, and churches.
Unlike Spain's American lands, Brazil offered no instant
wealth from silver or gold. Early settlers clung to the coast, where they cut
and exported brazilwood, used to produce a precious dye. Before long, they
turned to plantation agriculture and cattle raising. They forced Indians and
Africans to clear land for sugar plantations. As many as five million
Africans were sent to Brazil.
The Economy
The thickly forested Amazon basin remained largely unexplored by
settlers. However, ruthless adventurers slowly pushed inland. They
attacked and enslaved Native American peoples and claimed for
themselves land for immense cattle ranches. Some even discovered gold.
As in Spanish America, a new culture emerged in Brazil that
blended European, Native American, and African patterns. European
culture dominated the upper and middle classes, but Native American and
African influences left their mark. Portuguese settlers, for example, eagerly
adopted Indian hammocks. A settler expressed his enthusiasm:
A New Culture
“Would you believe that a man could sleep suspended in a net
in the air like a bunch of hanging grapes? Here this is the
common thing…. I tried it, and will never again be able to sleep
in a bed, so comfortable is the rest one gets in the net.”
—quoted in Latin America: A Concise Interpretive History (Burns)
Challenging Spanish Power
In the 1500s, the wealth of the Americas helped make Spain the most
powerful country in Europe. Its lofty position fueled envy among its
European rivals. Many English and Dutch shared the resentment that
French king Francis I felt when he declared, “I should like to see Adam's
will, wherein he divided the Earth between Spain and Portugal.”
European nations challenged Spain's power in various ways. To get around
Spain's strict control over colonial trade, smugglers traded illegally with
Spanish colonists. In the Caribbean and elsewhere, Dutch, English, and
French pirates preyed on Spanish treasure ships. Some pirates, called
privateers, even operated with the approval of European governments.
England's Queen Elizabeth, for example, knighted Francis Drake for his
daring raids on Spanish ships and towns.
Like the Spanish, the Dutch, English, and French hunted for gold empires
and for a northwest passage to Asia. As you will read, these nations
explored the coasts and planted settlements in North America.
Piracy on the Seas
Of all the privateers who
plundered Spanish colonies,
none was bolder than the
Englishman whom the
Spanish called El Draque
(the Dragon). But Sir Francis
Drake was more than just a
pirate. He was also a skilled
and daring explorer.
Drake led the second
expedition ever to sail around
the world. After a violent
storm, he rounded the tip of
South America in 1578 with
only his flagship, the Golden
Hind. But that one ship was
enough. Spain's settlements
along the Pacific coast were
unguarded. After all, no
hostile ship had ever made it
into these waters before!
Drake plundered one
Spanish town and captured
two treasure ships before
continuing on his mission.
Thanks to these raids and
others, El Draque enriched
his queen—and won the
lasting hatred of the Spanish.
Theme: Geography and
History Why was Drake
able to surprise the
Spanish?
SECTION
3
Struggle for North America
Reading Focus
Vocabulary
What problems did
settlers in New France
face?
What traditions of
government evolved in
the 13 English
colonies?
How did competition for
power affect Europeans
and Native Americans?
missionary
revenue
compact
Taking Notes
this partially completed table. As you
read, fill in key information on the French and
English colonies in North America.
Print out
France and England set up colonies and competed for dominance in
North America.
Setting the Scene
In the 1600s, other European powers moved into the Americas and began
building settlements. France, the Netherlands, England, and Sweden joined
Spain in claiming parts of North America.
At first, the Europeans were disappointed. North America did not yield
vast treasure or offer a water passage to Asia, as they had hoped. Before
long, though, the English and French were turning large profits by growing
tobacco in Virginia, fishing off the North Atlantic coast, and trading fur
from New England to Canada.
By 1700, France and England controlled large parts of North America. As
their colonies grew, they developed their own governments, different from
each other and from that of Spanish America.
Building New France
By the early 1500s, French fishing ships were crossing the Atlantic each
year to harvest rich catches of cod off Newfoundland, Canada. Distracted
by wars at home, however, French rulers at first paid little attention to
Canada—New France, as they called it. Not until 1608 did Samuel de
Champlain build the first permanent French settlement in Quebec. Jesuits
and other missionaries, hoping to spread Christianity to Native Americans,
soon followed. They advanced into the wilderness, trying to convert
Native Americans they met.
Slow Growth Helped by Native American allies, French explorers and fur
traders traveled inland, claiming vast territory. Soon, France's American
empire reached from Quebec to the Great Lakes and down the Mississippi
to Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico.
The population of New France grew slowly. Wealthy landlords owned
huge tracts, or areas of land, along the St. Lawrence River. They sought
Samuel de
Champlain
1567(?)–1635
Samuel de Champlain was an
explorer, geographer, and
mapmaker. As founder and
first governor of the French
colony of Quebec, he is
known as the Father of New
France, the French colonial
empire in North America.
Champlain explored many of
the waterways of New
settlers to farm the land, but the harsh Canadian climate attracted few
French peasants.
Many who went to New France soon abandoned farming in favor of fur
trapping and trading. They faced a hard life in the wilderness, but the
soaring European demand for fur ensured good prices. Fishing, too,
supported settlers who lived in coastal villages and exported cod and other
fish to Europe.
In the late 1600s, the French king Louis XIV set out to
strengthen royal power and boost revenues, or income from taxes, from his
overseas empire. He appointed officials to oversee justice and economic
activities in New France. He also sent more settlers and soldiers to North
America. The Catholic Louis, however, prohibited Protestants from
settling in New France.
Government Policy
By the early 1700s, French forts, missions, and trading posts stretched
from Quebec to Louisiana. Yet the population of New France remained
small compared to that of the 13 English colonies expanding along the
Atlantic coast.
The 13 English Colonies
The English built their first permanent colony at Jamestown, Virginia, in
1607. Its early years were filled with disaster. Many settlers died of
starvation and disease. The rest survived with the help of friendly Native
Americans. The colony finally made headway when the settlers started to
grow and export tobacco, a crop they learned about from the Indians.
In 1620, other English settlers, the Pilgrims,* landed at Plymouth,
Massachusetts. They were seeking religious freedom, rather than
commercial profit. Before coming ashore, they signed the Mayflower
Compact, in which they set out guidelines for governing their North
American colony. A compact is an agreement among people. Today, we
see this document as an important early step toward self-government. It
read:
“We, whose names are underwritten … having undertaken for
the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith … a
voyage to plant [a] colony in the [Americas] … do enact,
constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws … as shall be
thought most [fitting] and convenient for the general Good of
the Colony.”
—Mayflower Compact
Many Pilgrims died in the early years of the Plymouth colony. Local
Indians, however, taught them to grow corn and helped them survive in the
new land. Soon, a new wave of Puritan immigrants arrived to establish the
Massachusetts Bay Colony.
In the 1600s and 1700s, the English established 13 colonies. Some,
like Virginia and New York, were commercial ventures, organized for
profit. Others, like Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, were set
up as havens for persecuted religious groups.
Growth
Geographic conditions helped shape different ways of life in the New
England, middle, and southern colonies. In New England, many settlers
were farmers who transferred to North America the village life they had
France. He especially loved
the St. Lawrence River, which
he said was “beautiful as the
Seine, rapid as the Rhône,
and deep as the sea.” He
helped to make it the main
highway for trade through
New France and to make
himself the force behind the
colony's settlement.
Theme: Impact of the
IndividualWhy is Champlain
considered the Father of
New France?
enjoyed in England. In parts of the South, there emerged a plantation
economy based on tobacco, rice, and other crops.
Like New Spain, the English colonies needed workers to clear land and
raise crops. A growing number of Africans were brought to the colonies
and sold as slaves. In several mainland colonies, enslaved Africans and
their descendants outnumbered people of European descent.
Government Like the rulers of Spain and France, English monarchs
asserted control over their American colonies. They appointed royal
governors to oversee colonial affairs and had Parliament pass laws to
regulate colonial trade. Yet, compared with settlers in the Spanish and
French colonies, English colonists enjoyed a large degree of selfgovernment. Each colony had its own representative assembly elected by
propertied men. The assemblies advised the royal governor and made
decisions on local issues.
The tradition of consulting representative assemblies grew out of the
English experience. Beginning in the 1200s, Parliament had played an
increasingly important role in English affairs. Slowly, too, English citizens
had gained certain legal and political rights. England's American colonists
expected to enjoy the same rights. When colonists later protested British
policies in North America, they viewed themselves as “freeborn
Englishmen” who were defending their traditional rights.
*Pilgrims were a band of English Puritans, a Protestant group, who rejected the practices of the official Church of England.
Competing for Power
By the 1600s, Spain, France, England, and the Netherlands were
competing for colonies and trade around the world. All four of these
nations had colonies in North America, where they often fought over
territory. After several naval wars with the Netherlands, the English seized
the Dutch colony of New Netherland in 1664 and renamed it New York.
English settlers in Georgia clashed with the Spanish in nearby Florida.
Competition was also fierce in the Caribbean region. Dutch planters
developed sugar production in the Caribbean into a big business. The
French acquired Haiti, the richest of the sugar colonies, as well as
Guadeloupe and Martinique. The English took Barbados and Jamaica. By
the 1700s, the French and English Caribbean islands, worked by enslaved
Africans, had surpassed the whole of North America in exports to Europe.
During the 1700s, Britain and France emerged as
bitter rivals for power around the globe. They clashed in Europe, North
America, Africa, and Asia. In North America, the French and Indian War
raged from 1754 to 1763. A worldwide struggle, known as the Seven
Years' War, erupted in Europe in 1756 and spread to India and Africa.
British-French Rivalry
Although France held more territory in North America, the British colonies
had more people. Trappers, traders, and farmers from the English colonies
were pushing west into the Ohio Valley, a region claimed by France. The
French, who had forged alliances with local Indians, fought to oust the
intruders.
During the war, British soldiers and colonial troops launched a series of
campaigns against the French in Canada and on the Ohio frontier. At first,
France won several victories. Then, in 1759, the tide turned in Britain's
favor. From ships anchored in the St. Lawrence River, British troops
launched an attack on Quebec, the capital of New France. The British
scaled steep cliffs along the river and captured the city. Though the war
dragged on until 1763, the British had won control of Canada.
The 1763 Treaty of Paris officially ended the worldwide
war. The treaty ensured British dominance in North America. France ceded
Canada and its lands east of the Mississippi River to Britain. As you have
read, the British also forced the French out of India. France, however,
regained the rich sugar-producing islands in the Caribbean and the slavetrading outposts in Africa that the British had seized during the war.
The Peace Treaty
Impact on Native Americans
As in Spanish America, the arrival of European settlers in North America
had a profound impact on Native Americans. Some Native Americans
traded or formed alliances with the newcomers. On the Great Plains, as we
will see, the arrival of the horse transformed the lifestyle of buffalo-hunting
Indians.
War and Disease Frequently, however, clashes erupted. As settlers claimed
more land, Native Americans resisted their advance. Bitter fighting
resulted. In the end, superior weapons helped the English to victory. Year
by year, the flood of new settlers pushed the frontier—and the Indians—
slowly westward.
As elsewhere, the Native American population of North America
plummeted. Disease weakened or killed large numbers. For example, in
1608, an estimated 30,000 Algonquins lived in Virginia. By 1670, there
were only about 2,000 Algonquins remaining.
Native American Legacy While encounters with Europeans often brought
disaster to Native American societies, the Indian way of life helped shape
the emerging new culture of North America. Settlers adopted Native
American technologies. From Indians, they learned to grow corn, beans,
squash, and tomatoes and to hunt and trap forest animals. Today's
Thanksgiving menu of turkey and pumpkin pie reflects Indian foods.
Trails blazed by Indians became highways for settlers moving west. Across
the continent, rivers like the Mississippi, lakes like Okeechobee, and
mountains like the Appalachians bear Indian names. Some Europeans came
to respect Native American medical knowledge. Today, many people are
taking a new look at Indian religious traditions that stress respect for the
natural environment.
SECTION
4
Turbulent Centuries in Africa
Reading Focus
Vocabulary
How did the arrival of
Europeans in Africa
lead to the Atlantic
slave trade?
How did the slave trade
contribute to the rise of
new African states?
What groups battled for
power in southern
Africa?
triangular trade
repeal
monopoly
Taking Notes
this partially completed flowchart.
As you read, fill in key events in the
development of the Atlantic slave trade.
Add as many boxes to the chart as you
need.
Print out
The Atlantic slave trade, the rise of new states, and power struggles
created turbulence in Africa.
Setting the Scene
“The first object which saluted my eyes when I arrived on the coast was the
sea, and a slave ship which was then riding at anchor and waiting for its
cargo. These filled me with astonishment, which was soon converted into
terror when I was carried on board.” So wrote Olaudah Equiano. In the
1750s, when he was 11 years old, Equiano was seized from his Nigerian
village by slave traders. He was then transported as human cargo from
West Africa to the Americas.
Enslaved Africans like Equiano formed part of an international trade
network that arose during the first global age. Encounters between
Europeans and Africans had been taking place since the 1400s. By then,
Africa was home to diverse societies, and Islam had become an important
force in some parts of the continent. As Europeans arrived, they would
bring their own influences to Africa.
European Outposts in Africa
In the 1400s, Portuguese ships explored the coast of West Africa, looking
for a sea route to India. They built small forts along the West African coast
to trade for gold, collect food and water, and repair their ships.
The Portuguese lacked the power to push into the African interior. They
did, however, attack the coastal cities of East Africa, such as Mombasa
and Malindi, which were hubs of international trade. With cannons
blazing, they expelled the Arabs who controlled the East African trade
network and took over this thriving commerce for themselves.
The Portuguese, however, gained little profit from their victories. Trade
between the interior and the coast soon dwindled. By 1600, the onceprosperous East African coastal cities had sunk into poverty.
Other Europeans soon followed the Portuguese into Africa. The Dutch, the
English, and the French established forts along the western coast of Africa.
Like the Portuguese, they exchanged muskets, tools, and cloth for gold,
ivory, hides, and slaves.
The Atlantic Slave Trade
In the 1500s, Europeans began to view slaves as the most important item of
African trade. Slavery had existed in Africa, as elsewhere around the world,
since ancient times. Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Persians, Indians, and
Aztecs often enslaved defeated foes. Our word slave comes from the large
number of Slavs taken from southern Russia to work as unpaid laborers in
Roman times.
The Arab empire also used slave labor, often captives taken from Africa. In
the Middle East, many enslaved Africans worked on farming estates or
large-scale irrigation projects. Others became artisans, soldiers, or
merchants. Some rose to prominence in the Muslim world even though they
were officially slaves.
The Atlantic slave trade began in the
1500s, to fill the need for labor in Spain's American empire. In the next 300
years, it grew into a huge and profitable business. Each year, traders
shipped tens of thousands of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic to work
on tobacco and sugar plantations in the Americas.
European and African Slave Traders
Europeans seldom went into the interior to take part in slave raids. Instead,
they relied on African rulers and traders to seize captives in the interior and
bring them to coastal trading posts and fortresses. There, the captives were
exchanged for textiles, metalwork, rum, tobacco, weapons, and gunpowder.
The slave trade intensified as the demand for slaves increased in the
Americas and as the demand for luxury goods increased in Africa.
Merchants from many lands engaged in the slave trade. Arabs brought
human cargoes out of East Africa. Portuguese traders carried slaves to
the Americas from West Africa. A Portuguese soldier is depicted in the
delicate ivory carving.
The Atlantic slave trade formed one part of a three-legged
trade network known as the triangular trade. On the first leg, merchant
ships brought goods to Africa to be traded for slaves. On the second leg,
known as the Middle Passage, the slaves were transported to the West
Indies. There, the enslaved Africans were exchanged for sugar, molasses,
and other products. On the final leg, these products were shipped to Europe
or European colonies in the Americas. The prosperity of port cities such as
Nantes in France, Bristol in England, and Salem in Massachusetts thus
depended in large part on the slave trade.
Triangular Trade
For enslaved Africans, the Middle Passage
was a horror. Once purchased, Africans were packed below the decks of
slave ships. Hundreds of men, women, and children were crammed into a
single vessel. Slave ships became “floating coffins” on which up to half the
Africans on board died from disease or brutal mistreatment.
Horrors of the Middle Passage
Some enslaved Africans resisted. A few tried to seize control of the ship
and return to Africa. Others committed suicide by leaping overboard. One
African recalled such an incident during the Middle Passage:
“One day … two of my wearied countrymen who were chained
together … jumped into the sea; immediately another …
followed their example…. two of the wretches were drowned,
but [the ship's crew] got the other, and afterwards flogged him
unmercifully for thus attempting to prefer death to slavery.”
King
Affonso
1456–1543
“Most powerful and excellent
King of the Kongo, We
convey you greetings in that
We much love and esteem
you.” So wrote the king of
Portugal to King Affonso in
1512. Affonso (born Nzinga
—Olaudah Equiano, The Life of Gustavus Vassa Mbemba) had a long and
warm relationship with the
Portuguese. However, some
African Leaders Resist Some African leaders tried to slow down the
years later, in 1526, Affonso
transatlantic slave trade or even to stop it altogether. They used different
wrote in dismay to the king of
forms of resistance. But in the end, the system that supported the trade was Portugal: ”Merchants are
simply too strong for them.
taking every day our natives,
sons of the land and sons of
An early voice raised against the slave trade was that of Affonso I, ruler of
Kongo in west-central Africa. As a young man, Affonso was tutored by
Portuguese missionaries. After becoming king in 1505, he called on the
Portuguese to help him develop Kongo as a modern Christian state.
Before long, however, Affonso grew alarmed. Each year, more and more
Portuguese came to Kongo to buy slaves. They offered high prices, and
government officials and local chiefs eagerly entered the trade. Even
Christian missionaries began to buy and sell Africans.
Affonso insisted that “it is our will that in these Kingdoms there should not
be any trade of slaves nor outlet for them.” Kongo, he stated, could benefit
from contacts with Europe, but the trade in human lives was evil. His
appeal failed, and the slave trade continued.
In the late 1700s, another African ruler, the almamy of Futa Toro in
northern Senegal, tried to halt the slave trade in his lands. Since the 1500s,
French sea captains had bought slaves from African traders in Futa Toro.
The almamy decided to put a stop to this practice. In 1788, he forbade
anyone to transport slaves through Futa Toro for sale abroad. The sea
captains and local chiefs protested, and called on the almamy to repeal, or
cancel, the law. The almamy refused. He returned the presents the captains
had sent him in hopes of winning him over to their cause. “All the riches in
the world would not make me change my mind,” he said.
The almamy's victory was short-lived, however. The inland slave traders
simply worked out a new route to the coast. Sailing to this new market, the
French captains easily purchased the slaves that the almamy had prevented
them from buying in Senegal. There was nothing the almamy could do to
stop them.
Historians are still debating the number of
Africans who were affected by the Atlantic slave trade. In the 1500s, they
estimate, about 2,000 enslaved Africans were sent to the Americas each
year. In the 1780s, when the slave trade was at its peak, that number topped
80,000 a year. By the 1800s, when the overseas slave trade was finally
stopped, an estimated 11 million enslaved Africans had reached the
Americas. Another 2 million probably died under the brutal conditions of
the voyage between Africa and the Americas.
Impact of the Atlantic Slave Trade
The slave trade caused the decline of some African states and the rise of
others. In West Africa, the loss of countless numbers of young women and
men resulted in some small states disappearing forever. At the same time,
there arose new African states whose way of life depended on the slave
trade. The rulers of these powerful new states waged war against other
Africans so they could gain control of the slave trade in their region and
reap the profits.
Rise of New African States
Among the large states that rose in West Africa in the 1600s and 1700s
were Oyo, Bornu, and Dahomey. Another state, the Asante kingdom,
emerged in the area occupied by modern Ghana.
The Asante Kingdom In the late 1600s, an able military leader, Osei Tutu,
won control of the trading city of Kumasi. From there, he conquered
neighboring peoples and organized the Asante kingdom. Osei Tutu claimed
that his right to rule came from heaven. Leading chiefs served as a council
of advisers but were subject to the royal will.
Officials chosen by merit rather than by birth supervised an efficient
bureaucracy. They managed the royal monopolies over gold mining and the
our nobles and vassals and
our relatives, because the
thieves and men of bad
conscience … grab them and
get them to be sold…. Our
country is being completely
depopulated.”
In the end, Affonso's ties to
Portugal were not strong
enough. He sought help to
build modern ships, but no
Portuguese shipbuilders ever
arrived. And his attempts to
end the slave trade had no
effect.
Theme: Impact of the
IndividualWhy do you think
Affonso is admired today,
even though his efforts
failed?
slave trade. A monopoly is the exclusive control of a business or industry.
The Asante traded with Europeans on the coast, exchanging gold and
slaves for firearms. But they shrewdly played off rival Europeans against
one another to protect their own interests.
In the 1700s and early 1800s, an Islamic revival spread
across West Africa. It began among the Fulani people in northern Nigeria.
The scholar and preacher Usman dan Fodio denounced the corruption of
the local Hausa rulers. He called for social and religious reforms based on
the Sharia, or Islamic law. In the early 1800s, Usman inspired Fulani
herders and Hausa townspeople to rise up against their rulers.
Islamic Crusades
Usman and his successors set up a powerful Islamic state. Under their rule,
literacy increased, local wars quieted, and trade improved. Their success
inspired other Muslim reform movements in West Africa. Between about
1780 and 1880, more than a dozen Islamic leaders rose to power, replacing
old rulers or founding new states in the western Sudan.
Battles for Power in Southern Africa
Over many centuries, Bantu-speaking peoples had migrated into southern
Africa. In 1652, Dutch immigrants also arrived in the region. They built
Cape Town to supply ships sailing to or from the East Indies. Dutch
farmers, called Boers, settled around Cape Town. Over time, they ousted or
enslaved the Khoisan herders who lived there. The Boers held to a
Calvinist belief that they were the elect, or chosen, of God. They looked on
Africans as inferiors.
In the 1700s, Boer herders and ivory hunters began to push north from the
Cape Colony. As they did, they had to battle several powerful African
groups.
Shaka and the Zulus The Zulus had migrated into southern Africa in the
1500s. In the early 1800s, they emerged as a major force under a ruthless
and brilliant leader, Shaka. He built on the successes of earlier leaders who
had begun to organize young fighters into permanent regiments.
Between 1818 and 1828, Shaka waged relentless war and conquered many
nearby peoples. He absorbed their young men and women into Zulu
regiments. By encouraging rival groups to forget their differences, he
cemented a growing pride in the Zulu kingdom.
Shaka's wars disrupted life across southern Africa. Groups driven from
their homelands by the Zulus adopted Shaka's tactics. They then migrated
north, conquering still other peoples and creating their own powerful states.
Later Shaka's half brother took over the Zulu kingdom. About this time, the
Zulus faced a new threat, the arrival of well-armed, mounted Boers
migrating north from the Cape Colony.
In 1815, the Cape Colony passed from the Dutch to the
British. Many Boers resented British laws that abolished slavery and
otherwise interfered in their way of life. To escape British rule, they loaded
their goods into covered wagons and started north. In the late 1830s,
several thousand Boer families joined this “Great Trek.”
Boers Versus Zulus
As the migrating Boers came into contact with Zulus, fighting quickly
broke out. At first, Zulu regiments held their own. But in the end, Zulu
spears could not defeat Boer guns. The struggle for control of the land
would rage until the end of the century.
SECTION
5
Changes in Europe
Reading Focus
Vocabulary
How did European
explorations lead to a
global exchange?
What impact did the
commercial revolution
and mercantilism have
on European
economies?
How did these changes
affect ordinary people?
inflation
capitalism
entrepreneur
joint stock company
mercantilism
tariff
Taking Notes
this diagram. As you read, fill in ways in
which exploration and increased trade affected life
in Europe. To help you get started, part of the
diagram has been filled in.
Print out
European exploration and increased trade stimulated a global exchange,
a commercial revolution, and other changes in Europe.
Setting the Scene
In 1570, Joseph de Acosta visited the Americas. He wrote in amazement
about the many strange forms of life that he saw there. “[There are] a
thousand different kinds of birds and beasts of the forest, which have never
been known, neither in shape nor name….” To Europeans like Acosta, the
Americas seemed like a “new world.”
European explorations between 1500 and 1700 brought major changes to
Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Here, we will look at the impact that these
explorations had on Europe itself.
A Global Exchange
When Columbus returned to Spain in March 1493, he brought with him
“new” plants and animals that he had found in the Americas. Later that
year, Columbus returned to the Americas. With him were some 1,200
settlers and a collection of European animals and plants. In this way,
Columbus began a vast global exchange that would have a profound effect
on the world. In addition to people, plants, and animals, it included
technology and even disease. Because this global exchange began with
Columbus, we call it the Columbian Exchange.
New Foods From the Americas, Europeans brought home a variety of
foods, including tomatoes, pumpkins, and peppers. Perhaps the most
important foods from the Americas, however, were corn and the potato.
Easy to grow, the potato helped feed Europe's rapidly growing population.
Corn spread all across Europe and to Africa and Asia, as well.
Europe's Sweet Tooth
At the same time, Europeans carried a wide variety of plants and animals
to the Americas. Foods included wheat and grapes from Europe itself, and
bananas and sugar cane from Africa and Asia. Cattle, pigs, goats, and
chickens, unknown before the European encounter, added protein to the
Today, we take sugar for
granted. But at one time, it
was strictly a luxury item that
few European households
Native American diet. Horses and donkeys also changed the lives of Native could afford. Then, in 1493,
Columbus brought sugar
Americans. The horse, for example, gave the nomadic peoples of western
cane plants to the Caribbean.
North America a new, more effective way to hunt buffalo.
Impact on Population The transfer of food crops from continent to
continent took time. By the 1700s, however, corn, potatoes, manioc, beans,
and tomatoes were contributing to population growth around the world.
While other factors help account for the population explosion that began at
this time, new food crops from the Americas were probably a key cause.
The Columbian Exchange sparked the migration of millions of people.
Each year, shiploads of European settlers sailed to the Americas.
Europeans also settled on the fringes of Africa and Asia. The Atlantic slave
trade forcibly brought millions of Africans to the Americas. The Native
American population declined drastically.
The new crop thrived. As
sugar supplies increased,
sugar prices fell, and the
former luxury item appeared
on more and more European
tables. It was also used to
sweeten a popular new treat
from the Americas—
chocolate.
Still, Europe's new “sweet
tooth” had a tragic side
effect. In just 150 years,
close to 4 million Africans
were shipped as slaves to
The vast movement of peoples led to the transfer of ideas and technologies. the Caribbean and Brazil to
work the sugar plantations
Language also traveled. Words such as pajama (from India) or hammock
there.
and canoe (from the Americas) entered European languages.
Theme: Global
InteractionWho was
originally responsible for
bringing sugar cane to the
Americas?
A Commercial Revolution
The opening of direct links with Asia, Africa, and the Americas had farreaching economic consequences for Europeans. Among these
consequences were an upsurge in prices, known as the price revolution,
and the rise of modern capitalism.
The Price Revolution In the early modern age, prices began to rise in parts
of Europe. The economic cycle that involves a rise in prices linked to a
sharp increase in the amount of money available is today called inflation.
European inflation had several causes. As the population grew, the demand
for goods and services rose. Because goods were scarce, sellers could raise
their prices. Inflation was also fueled by an increased flow of silver and
gold. By the mid-1500s, tons of these precious metals were flowing into
Europe from the Americas. Rulers used much of the silver and gold to
make coins. The increased money in circulation, combined with the
scarcity of goods, caused prices to rise.
Expanded trade and the push for overseas empires
spurred the growth of European capitalism, the investment of money to
make a profit. Entrepreneurs, or enterprising merchants, organized,
managed, and assumed the risks of doing business. They hired workers and
paid for raw materials, transport, and other costs of production.
Growth of Capitalism
As trade increased, entrepreneurs sought to expand into overseas ventures.
Such ventures were risky. Capitalist investors were more willing to take the
risks when demand and prices were high. Thus, the price revolution of the
early modern age gave a boost to capitalism.
Entrepreneurs and capitalists made up a new business class devoted to the
goal of making profits. Together, they helped change the local European
economy into an international trading system.
New Business Methods Early capitalists discovered new ways to create
wealth. From the Arabs, they adapted methods of bookkeeping to show
profits and losses from their ventures. During the late Middle Ages, as you
have read, banks sprang up, allowing wealthy merchants to lend money at
interest. The joint stock company, also developed in late medieval times,
grew in importance. It allowed people to pool large amounts of capital
needed for overseas ventures.
The growing demand for goods led merchants to find
ways to increase production. Traditionally, guilds controlled the
manufacture of goods. But guild masters often ran small-scale businesses
without the capital to produce for large markets. They also had strict rules
regulating quality, prices, and working conditions.
Bypassing the Guilds
Enterprising capitalists devised a way to bypass the guilds. The “puttingout” system, as it was called, was first used to produce textiles but later
spread to other industries. Under the “putting-out” system, a merchant
capitalist distributed raw wool to peasant cottages. Cottagers spun the wool
into thread and then wove the thread into cloth. Merchants bought the wool
cloth from the peasants and sent it to the city for finishing and dyeing.
Finally, the merchants sold the finished product for a profit.
The “putting-out” system separated capital and labor for the first time.
From this system controlled by merchants, the next step would be the
capitalist-owned factories of the Industrial Revolution of the 1700s, as you
will read.
Mercantilism
European monarchs enjoyed the benefits of the commercial revolution. In
the fierce competition for trade and empire, they adopted a new economic
policy, known as mercantilism, aimed at strengthening their national
economies.
The Banana Wars
Mercantilists supported several basic ideas. They believed that a nation's
real wealth was measured in its gold and silver treasure. To build its supply Governments have been
using tariffs to protect their
of gold and silver, they said, a nation must export more goods than it
own industries for years. This
imported.
Overseas empires were central to the mercantile
system. Colonies, said mercantilists, existed for the benefit of the parent
country. They provided resources and raw materials not available in
Europe. In turn, they enriched a parent country by serving as a market for
its manufactured goods.
The Role of Colonies
To achieve these goals, European powers passed strict laws regulating
trade with their colonies. Colonists could not set up their own industries to
manufacture goods. They were also forbidden to buy goods from a foreign
country. In addition, only ships from the parent country or the colonies
themselves could be used to send goods in or out of the colonies.
Increasing National Wealth Mercantilists urged rulers to adopt policies to
increase national wealth and government revenues. To boost production,
governments exploited mineral and timber resources, built roads, and
backed new industries. They imposed a single national currency and
established standard weights and measures.
Governments also sold monopolies to large producers in certain industries
as well as to big overseas trading companies. Finally, governments
imposed tariffs, or taxes on imported goods. Tariffs were designed to
protect local industries from foreign competition by increasing the price of
imported goods.
practice continues today, as
the “Banana Wars” between
the United States and
Europe demonstrate.
American multinational
companies produce bananas
in countries like Honduras
and Ecuador. Former
European colonies in the
Caribbean also produce
bananas. European
governments decided to let
Caribbean bananas come
into their countries more
cheaply than the bananas
produced by American firms,
thus taking market share
from the American firms. To
retaliate, the United States
government placed a 100
percent tariff on certain
goods from Europe, making
them much more expensive.
Some 500 years after they
began, tariff wars go on.
Theme: Continuity and
ChangeWhy do tariff wars
develop?
The Lives of Ordinary People
How did these economic changes affect Europeans? In general, their
impact depended on a person's social class. Merchants who invested in
overseas ventures acquired wealth. But the price revolution hurt nobles.
Their wealth was in land, and they had trouble raising money to pay higher
costs for stylish clothing and other luxuries. Some sold off land, which in
turn reduced their income. In towns and cities, the wages of hired workers
did not keep up with inflation, creating poverty and discontent.
Most Europeans were still peasants. Europe's growing involvement in the
world had little immediate effect on their lives. Changes took generations,
even centuries, to be felt. For example, tradition-bound peasants were often
reluctant to grow foods brought from the Americas. Only in the later 1700s
did German peasants begin to raise potatoes. Even then, many complained
that these strange-looking tubers tasted terrible.
Within Europe's growing cities, there were great differences in wealth and
power. Successful merchants dominated city life. Guilds, too, remained
powerful. And as trade grew, another group—lawyers—gained importance
for their skills in writing contracts. Middle-class families enjoyed a
comfortable life. Servants cooked, cleaned, and waited on them. Other city
residents, such as journeymen and other laborers, were not so lucky. They
often lived in crowded quarters on the edge of poverty.
Regardless of social class, European families were patriarchal. As husband
and father, a man was responsible for the behavior of his wife and children.
Women had almost no property or legal rights. A woman's chief roles were
as wife and mother. Society stressed such womanly virtues as modesty,
household economy, obedience, and caring for the family. Middle-class
women might help their husbands in a family business. Peasant women
worked alongside their husbands in the fields.
Looking Ahead
In the 1500s and 1600s, Europe emerged as a powerful new force on the
world scene. The voyages of exploration marked the beginning of what
would become European domination of the globe. In the centuries ahead,
competition for empire would spark wars in Europe and on other
continents.
European expansion would spread goods and other changes throughout the
world. It would also revolutionize the European economy and transform its
society. The concept of “the West” itself emerged as European settlers
transplanted their culture to the Americas and, later, to Australia and New
Zealand.
For centuries, most Europeans knew little or nothing about other lands.
Exposure to different cultures was both unsettling and stimulating. As their
horizons broadened, they had to reexamine old beliefs and customs.