[Music] US History an Open Stacks textbook read along with the full text at www.ops.org you can find this audiobook anywhere you listen to podcasts including Spotify YouTube Apple podcasts and [Music] more chapter 2 early globalization the Atlantic world for 1492 to [Music] 1650 introduction the story of the Atlantic world is the story of global migration a migration driven in large part by the actions and aspirations of the ruling heads of Europe Columbus is hardly visible in this illustration of his ships making landfall on the Caribbean island of hispan instead Ferdinand II of Spain in the foreground sits on his throne and points toward Columbus's Landing as the ships arrive the Arawak people Tower over the Spanish suggesting the native population density of the islands this historic moment in 1492 sparked new rivalries among European powers as they scrambled to create new world colonies fueled by by the Quest for wealth and power as well as by religious passions almost continuous War resulted Spain achieved early preeminence creating a far-flung Empire and growing rich with treasures from the Americas Native Americans who confronted the newcomers from Europe suffered unprecedented losses of life however as previously unknown diseases sliced through their populations they also were victims of the arrogance of the Europeans who viewed themselves as uncontested masters of the new world sent by God to bring Christianity to the [Music] Indians 2.1 Portuguese exploration and Spanish Conquest learning objectives by the end of this section you will be able to describe Portuguese exploration of the Atlantic and Spanish exploration of the Americas and the importance of these voyages to the developing Atlantic World explain the importance of Spanish exploration of the Americas in the expansion of Spain's Empire and the development of Spanish Renaissance culture Portuguese colonization of Atlantic Islands in the 1400s inaugurated an era of aggressive European expansion across the Atlantic in the 1500s Spain surpassed Portugal as the dominant European power this age of exploration and the subsequent creation of an Atlantic World marked the earliest phase of globalization in which previously isolated groups Africans Native Americans and Europeans first came into contact with each other sometimes with disastrous results Portuguese exploration Portugal's Prince Henry the Navigator spearheaded his country's exploration of Africa and the Atlantic in the 1400s with his support Portuguese Mariners successfully navigated an Eastward route to Africa establishing a foothold there that became a foundation of their nation's trade Empire in the 15th and 16th centuries Portuguese Mariners built an Atlantic Empire by colonizing the canary Cape Verda and azor's Islands as well as the island of madira merchants then used these Atlantic outposts as debar points for subsequent Journeys from these strategic points Portugal spread its Empire down the western coast of Africa to the Congo along the western coast of India and eventually to Brazil on the eastern coast of South America it also established trading posts in China and Japan while the Portuguese didn't rule over an immense land mass their strategic Holdings of islands and Coastal ports gave them almost unrival control of nautical trade routes and a global Empire of trading posts during the 1400s the travels of Portuguese traders to Western Africa introduced them to the African slave trade already brisk among African States seeing the value of this source of Labor in growing the profitable crop of sugar on their Atlantic Islands the Portuguese soon began exporting enslaved Africans along with African Ivory and gold sugar fueled the Atlantic slave trade and the Portuguese Islands quickly became home to sugar plantations the Portuguese also traded these enslaved people introducing much-needed human capital to other European nations in the following years as European exploration spread slavery spread as well in time much of the Atlantic world would become a gargantuan sugar Plantation complex in which Africans labored to produce the highly profitable commodity for European consumers Americana elmina Castle in 1482 Portuguese traders built elmina Castle also called Sor deina or St George's of the mine in present day Ghana on the west coast of Africa a fortified trading post it had mounted cannons facing out to sea not Inland toward Continental Africa the Portuguese had greater fear of a naval attack from other Europeans than of a land attack from Africans Portuguese traders soon began to settle around the fort and establish the town of elmina although the portug puges originally used the fort primarily for trading Gold by the 16th century they had shifted their focus the dungeon of the fort now served as a holding pen for enslaved Africans from the interior of the continent while on the upper floors Portuguese traders ate slept and prayed in a chapel enslaved people lived in the dungeon for weeks or months until ships arrived to transport them to Europe or the Americas for them the dungeon of elmina was their last site of their home country Spanish exploration and Conquest the Spanish established the first European settlements in the Americas beginning in the Caribbean and by 1600 extending throughout Central and South America thousands of Spaniards flocked to the Americas seeking wealth and Status the most famous of these Spanish adventurers are Christopher Columbus who though Italian himself explored on behalf of the Spanish monarchs hernand Cortez and Francisco pizar the history of Spanish exploration begins with the history of Spain itself during the 15th century Spain hoped to gain advantage over its rival Portugal the marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile in 1469 unified Catholic Spain and began the process of building a nation that could compete for worldwide power since the 700s much of Spain had been under Islamic rule Rule and King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella the arch Defenders of the Catholic Church against Islam were determined to defeat the Muslims in Granada the last Islamic stronghold in Spain in 1492 they completed the Reconquista the centuries long Christian conquest of the Iberian Peninsula the Reconquista marked another step forward in the process of making Spain an imperial power and Ferdinand and Isabella were now ready to look further a field their goals were to expand Catholicism and to gain a commercial advantage over Portugal to those ends Ferdinand and Isabella sponsored extensive Atlantic exploration Spain's most famous explorer Christopher Columbus was actually from Genoa Italy he believed that using calculations based on other Mariners Journeys he could chart a Westward route to India which could be used to expand European trade and spread Christianity starting in 1485 he approached genoes Venetian Portuguese English and Spanish monarchs asking for ships and funding to explore this Westward route all those he petitioned including Ferdinand and Isabella at first rebuffed him their nautical experts all concurred that Columbus's estimates of the width of the Atlantic Ocean were far too low however after 3 years of entreaties and more important the completion of the Reconquista Ferdinand and Isabella agreed to finance Columbus's expedition in 1492 supplying him with three ships the nenina the Pinta and the Santa Maria the Spanish monarchs knew that Portuguese Mariners had reached the southern tip of Africa and sailed the Indian Ocean they understood that the Portuguese would soon reach Asia and in this competitive race to reach the Far East the Spanish rulers decided to act Columbus held erroneous views that shaped his thinking about what he would encounter as he sailed West he believed the Earth to be much smaller than its actual size and since he did not know of the existence of the Americas he fully expected to land in Asia on October 12th 1492 however he made landfall on an island in the Bahamas he then sailed to an island he named Hispaniola present day Dominican Republic in Haiti believing he had landed in the East Indies Columbus called the native tyos he found there Indios giving rise to the term indian for any native people of the new world upon Columbus's return to Spain the Spanish Crown bestowed on him the title of admiral of the ocean sea and named him governor and Viceroy of the lands he had discovered as a devoted Catholic Columbus had agreed with Ferdinand and Isabella prior to sailing west that part of the expected wealth from his voyage would be used to continue the fight against Islam Columbus's 1493 letter or probanza de merito proof of Merit describing his discovery of a new world did much to inspire excitement in Europe probond deitos were reports and letters written by Spaniards in the new world to the Spanish Crown designed to win Royal patronage today they highlight the difficult task of historical work while the letters are primary sources historians need to understand the context and the culture in which the Conquistadors as the Spanish adventurers came to be called wrote them and distinguish their bias and subjective nature while they are filled with distortions and fabrications probanza demerios are still useful in illustrating the expectation of wealth among the Explorers as well as their view that native peoples would not pose a serious obstacle to colonization in 1493 Columbus sent two copies of a probanza DE merito to the Spanish king and queen and their Minister of Finance Luis De santangel santangel had reported Columbus's Voyage helping him to obtain funding from Ferdinand and Isabella copies of the letter were soon circulating all over Europe spreading news of the wondrous new land that Columbus had discovered Columbus would make three more voyages over the next decade establishing Spain's first settlement in the New World on the island of Hispanola many other Europeans followed in Columbus's footsteps drawn by dreams of winning by sailing west another Italian amago Vespucci sailing for the Portuguese Crown explored the South American Coastline between 1499 and 1502 unlike Columbus he realized that the Americas were not part of Asia but lands unknown to Europeans Vespucci's widely published accounts of his voyages fueled speculation and intense interest in the new world among European an among those who read Vespucci's reports was the German mapmaker Martin waly Müller using the Explorer's first name as a label for the new land mass waly Muller attached America to his map of the new world in 1 157 and the name stuck the 1492 Columbus landfall accelerated the Rivalry between Spain and Portugal and the two powers vied for Domination through the acquisition of new lands in the the 1480s pope 6us IV had granted Portugal the right to all Land South of the cape verie Islands leading the Portuguese King to claim that the lands discovered by Columbus belonged to Portugal not Spain seeking to ensure that Columbus's fines would remain Spanish Spain's monarchs turned to the spanish-born pope Alexander V 6 who issued two papal decrees in 1493 that gave legitimacy to Spain's Atlantic claims at the expense of Portugal hoping to salvage Portugal's Atlantic Holdings King ju II began negotiations with Spain the resulting Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494 drew a north to south line through South America Spain gained territory west of the line while Portugal retained the lands east of the line including the east coast of Brazil Columbus's Discovery opened a Floodgate Of Spanish exploration inspired by Tales of rivers of gold and timid malleable natives later Spanish explorers were Relentless in their quest for land and gold hernand Cortez hoped to gain hereditary privilege for his family tribute payments and labor from Natives and an annual pension for his service to the crown Cortez arrived on Hispanola in 1504 and took part in the conquest of that Island in anticipation of winning his own honor and riches Cortez later explored the Yucatan Peninsula in 1519 he entered Tenochtitlan the capital of the Aztec mexic empire he and his men were astonished by the incredibly sophisticated causeways Gardens and temples in the city but they were horrified by the practice of human sacrifice that was part of the Aztec religion Above All Else the Aztec wealth and gold fascinated the Spanish adventurers hoping to gain power over the city Cortez took mzuma the Aztec ruler hostage the Spanish then murdered hundreds of high-ranking Mex during a festival to celebrate hutley the God of War this angered the people of tenlan Who Rose up against The Interlopers in their City Cortez and his people fled for their lives running down one of tanok Tan's causeways to safety on the shore smarting from their defeat at the hands of the Aztec cores slowly created alliances with native peoples who resented Aztec rule it took nearly a year for the Spanish and the tens of thousands of native allies who joined them to defeat the Mex in tanok tlan which they did by laying Siege to the city Only by playing upon the disunity among the diverse groups in the Aztec EMP empire were the Spanish able to capture the grand city of tanok dlan in August 1521 having successfully fed Civil War as well as fended off rival Spanish explorers Cortez claimed tenlan for Spain and renamed it Mexico City the traditional European Narrative of exploration presents the victory of the Spanish over the Aztec as an example of the superiority of the European an over the Savage Indians however the reality is far more complex when Cortez explored Central Mexico he encountered a region simmering with conflict far from being unified and content under Aztec rule many peoples in Mexico resented it and were ready to Rebel one group in particular the tack scolin threw their lot in with the Spanish providing as many as 200,000 Fighters in the siege of tanok tlan the Spanish also brought smallpox into the valley of Mexico the disease took a heavy toll on the people in Tenochtitlan playing a much greater role in the city's demise than did Spanish Force of Arms Cortez was also aided by a nahua woman called malinen also known as LA malan or Dona Marina her Spanish name whom the natives of Tabasco gave him as tribute molinon translated for Cortez in his his dealings with moaz Zuma and whether willingly or under pressure entered into a physical relationship with him their son Martin may have been the first meso person of mixed indigenous American and European descent melinson remains a controversial figure in the history of the Atlantic World some people view her as a traitor because she helped Corte conquer the Aztecs While others see her as a victim of European expansion in either case she demonstrates one way in which native peoples responded to the arrival of the Spanish without her CZ would not have been able to communicate and without the language Bridge he surely would have been less successful in destabilizing the Aztec empire by this and other means native people helped shape the conquest of the Americas Spain's inquisitiveness seemingly knew no bounds as groups of its explorers ser searched for the next Trove of instant riches one such Explorer Francisco pitaro made his way to the Spanish Caribbean in 1509 drawn by the promise of wealth and titles he participated in successful Expeditions in Panama before following rumors of Inca wealth to the South although his first efforts against the Inca Empire in the 1520s failed pizaro captured the Inca emperor atahala in 1532 and exec uted him one year later in 1533 pizaro founded Lima Peru like Cortez pizaro had to combat not only the natives of the new worlds he was conquering but also competitors from his own country a Spanish rival assassinated him in 1541 Spain's drive to enlarge its Empire LED other hopeful conquistadors to push further into the Americas hoping to replicate the success of Cortez and pizaro Hernando Doo had participated in pizaro's conquest of the Inca and from 1539 to 1542 he led expeditions to what is today the southeastern United States looking for gold he and his followers explored what is now Florida Georgia the Carolinas Tennessee Alabama Mississippi Arkansas Oklahoma Louisiana and Texas everywhere they travel they brought European diseases which claimed thousands of native lives as well as the lives of the explorers in 1542 doodo himself died during the Expedition the surviving Spaniards numbering a little over 300 returned to Mexico City without finding the much anticipated mountains of gold and silver Francisco Vasquez de Coronado was born into a noble family and went to Mexico then called New Spain in 1535 he presided as Governor over the province of noeva gala where he heard rumors of wealth to the north a golden city called quira between 1540 and 1542 Coronado led a large expedition of Spaniards and Native allies to the lands north of Mexico City and for the next several years they explored the area that is now the southwestern United States during the winter of 1540 to 41 the Explorers waged war against the tiwa in present day New Mexico rather than leading to the discovery of gold and silver however the Expedition simply left Coronado bankrupt defining American Columbus's probanza deito of 1493 the exploits of the most famous Spanish explorers have provided Western Civilization with a narrative of European Supremacy and Native American savagery however these stories are based on the self-aggrandizing efforts of conquistadors to secure Royal favor through the writing of probanza deitos proofs of Merit below our excerpts from Columbus's 1493 letter to Luis deangel which illustrates how fantastic reports from European explorers gave rise to many myths surrounding the Spanish conquest and the new world this island like all the others is most extensive it has many ports along the Sea Coast excelling any increas andom and many fine large flowing Rivers the Land There is elevated with many mountains and Peaks incomparably higher than in the center aisle they are most beautiful of a thousand varied forms accessible and full of trees of endless varieties so high that they seem to touch the sky and I have been told that they never lose their foliage there is honey and there are many kinds of birds and a great variety of fruits Inland there are numerous mines of metals and innumerable people Hispanola is a Marvel its hills and mountains fine Plains and open country are rich and fertile for planting and for pasturage and for building towns and Villages the sea ports there are incredibly fine as also the Magnificent Rivers most of which bear gold the trees fruits and grasses differ widely from those in hanana there are many spices and vast mines of gold and other metals in this island they have no iron nor steel nor weapons nor are they fit for them because although they are well-made men of commanding stature they appear extraordinarily timid the only arms they have are sticks of cane cut when in seed with a sharpened stick at the end and they are afraid to use these often I have sent two or three men ashore to some town to converse with them and the natives came out in great numbers and as soon as they saw our men arrive fled without a moment's delay although I protected them from all injury what does this letter show us about Spanish objectives in the new world how do you think it might have influenced Europeans reading about the new world for the first time the Spanish Golden Age the exploits of European explorers had a profound impact both in the Americas and back in Europe an exchange of ideas as fueled and financed in part by New World Commodities began to connect European nations and in turn to touch the parts of the world that Europeans conquered in Spain gold and silver from the Americas helped to fuel a golden age the siglo dioro when Spanish art and literature flourished riches poured in from the colonies and new ideas poured in from other countries and new lands the Habsburg Dynasty which ruled a collection of territories including Austria the Netherlands Naples Sicily and Spain encouraged and financed the work of painters sculptors musicians Architects and writers resulting in a blooming of Spanish Renaissance culture one of this period's most famous works is the novel The ingenious gentleman donot of lancha by Miguel de cantes this two volume book published in 16005 and 1618 told a colorful tale of an hialgo gentleman who reads so many tales of chivalry and Knighthood that he becomes unable to tell reality from fiction with his faithful sidekick Sancho Panza Don kote leaves reality behind and sets out to revive chivalry by doing battle with what he perceives as the enemies of Spain Spain attracted Innovative foreign painters such as El Greco a Greek who had studied with Italian Renaissance Masters like Tian and Michelangelo before moving to too native Spaniards created equally enduring Works Las mininas the maids of Honor painted by Diego Velasquez in 1656 is one of the best known paintings in history Velasquez painted himself into this imposingly large Royal portrait he's shown holding his brush and easel on the left and boldly placed the viewer where the king and queen would stand in the [Music] scene 2.2 religious upheavals in the developing Atlantic World learning objectives by the end of this section you will be able to explain the changes brought by the Protestant Reformation and how it influenced the development of the Atlantic World describe Spain's response to the Protestant Reformation until the the 1500s the Catholic Church provided a unifying religious structure for Christian Europe the Vatican in Rome exercised great power over the lives of Europeans it controlled not only learning and scholarship but also finances because it levied taxes on the faithful Spain with its new world wealth was the Bastion of the Catholic faith beginning with the reform efforts of Martin Luther in 1517 and John Calvin in the 1530s however Catholic dominance came under attack as the Protestant Reformation a split or Schism among European Christians began during the 16th century protestantism spread through northern Europe and Catholic countries responded by attempting to extinguish What was seen as the Protestant Menace religious turmoil between Catholics and Protestants influenced the history of the Atlantic world as well since different nation states competed not only for control of new territories but also for the preeminence of their religious beliefs there just as the history of Spain's rise to power is linked to the Reconquista so too is the history of early globalization connected to the history of competing Christian groups in the Atlantic World Martin Luther Martin Luther was a German Catholic monk who took issue with the Catholic Church's practice of selling indulgences documents that absor olved Sinners of their errant Behavior he also objected to the Catholic Church's taxation of ordinary Germans and the delivery of mass in Latin arguing that it failed to instruct German Catholics who did not understand the language many Europeans had called for reforms of the Catholic Church before Martin Luther did but his protest had the unintended consequence of splitting European Christianity Luther compiled a list of what he viewed as needed Church reform forms a document that came to be known as the 95 thesis and nailed it to the door of a church in vitberg Germany in 1517 he called for the publication of the Bible in everyday language took issue with the church's policy of imposing tithes a required payment to the church that appeared to enrich the clergy and denounced the buying and selling of indulgences although he had hoped to reform the Catholic Church while remaining a part of it Luther's action instead triggered a movement called the Protestant Reformation that divided the church in two the Catholic Church condemned him as a heretic but a Doctrine based on his reforms called Lutheranism spread through Northern Germany and Scandinavia John Calvin like Luther the French lawyer John Calvin advocated making the Bible accessible to Ordinary People only by reading scripture and reflecting daily about their spiritual condition he argued could Believers begin to understand the power of God in 1535 Calvin fled Catholic France and led the Reformation movement from Geneva Switzerland Calvinism emphasized human powerlessness before an omniscient God and stressed the idea of predestination the belief that God selected a few chosen people for salvation while everyone else was predestined to damnation Calvinists believed that reading scripture prepared Sinners if they were among the elect to receive God's grace in Geneva Calvin established a Bible Commonwealth a community of Believers whose sole source of authority was their interpretation of the Bible not the authority of any Prince or Monarch soon Calvin's ideas spread to the Netherlands in Scotland protestantism in England protest antism spread beyond the German states and Geneva to England which had been a Catholic Nation for centuries Luther's idea that scripture should be available in the everyday language of worshippers inspired English scholar William Tindale to translate the Bible into English in 1526 the seismic break with the Catholic church in England occurred in the 1530s when Henry VII established a new Protestant state State religion a devout Catholic Henry had initially stood in opposition to the Reformation Pope Leo I 10th even awarded him the title defender of the faith the tides turned however when Henry desired a male heir to the tutor monarchy when his Spanish Catholic wife Catherine the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella did not give birth to a boy the king sought an analment to their marriage when the Pope refused his request Henry created a new National Protestant church the church of England with himself at its head this left him free to anal his own marriage and marry Anne Bolan Anne Bolan also failed to produce a male Heir and when she was accused of adultery Henry had her executed his third wife Jane Seymour at long last delivered a son Edward who ruled for only a short time before dying in 1553 at the age of 15 Mary the daughter of Henry VII and his discarded first wife Catherine then came to the throne committed to restoring Catholicism she earned the nickname Bloody Mary for the many executions of Protestants Often by burning alive that she ordered during her Reign religious turbulence in England was finally quieted when Elizabeth the Protestant daughter of Henry 8 and Anne Boling ascended the throne in 1558 under Elizabeth the Church of England again became the state Church retaining the hierarchical structure and many of the rituals of the Catholic Church however by the late 1500s some English members of the church began to agitate for more reform known as Puritans they worked to erase all vestiges of Catholicism from the church of England at the time the term Puritan was a pejorative one many people saw Puritans as holier than thou frauds who used religion to Swindle their neighbors worse still many in power saw Puritans as a security threat because of their opposition to the National Church under Elizabeth whose Long Reign lasted from 1558 to 16003 Puritans grew steadily in number after James the died in 1625 and his son Charles I ascended the throne Puritans became the target of increasing State pressure to conform many crossed the Atlantic in the 1620s and 1630s instead to create a New England a Haven for reformed protestantism where Puritan was no longer a term of abuse thus the religious upheavals that affected England so much had equally momentous consequences for the Americas Rel religious War by the early 1500s the Protestant Reformation threatened the massive Spanish Catholic Empire as the preeminent Catholic power Spain would not tolerate any challenge to the Holy Catholic Church over the course of the 1500s it devoted vast amounts of treasure and labor to Leading an unsuccessful effort to eradicate protestantism in Europe Spain's main enemies at this time were the The Runaway Spanish provinces of the north Netherlands by 1581 these seven Northern provinces had declared their independence from Spain and created the Dutch Republic also called Holland where protestantism was tolerated determined to deal a death blow to protestantism in England and Holland King Philip of Spain assembled a massive force of over 30,000 men and 130 ships and in 1588 he sent this Navy the Spanish Armada North but English sea power combined with a maritime storm destroyed the fleet the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 was but one part of a larger but undeclared war between Protestant England and Catholic Spain between 1585 and 16004 the two Rivals sparred repeatedly England launched its own Armada in 1589 in an effort to disable the Spanish Fleet and capture Spanish treasure however the foray ended in disaster for the English with storms disease and the strength of the Spanish Armada combining to bring about defeat the conflict between Spain and England dragged on into the early 17th century and the newly Protestant Nations especially England and the Dutch Republic posed a significant challenge to Spain and also to Catholic France as Imperial rivalries played out in the Atlantic World Spain retained its Mighty American Empire but by the early 1600s the nation could no longer keep England and other European Rivals the French and Dutch from colonizing smaller islands in the Caribbean religious intolerance characterized the 16th and 17th centuries an age of powerful state religions with the authority to impose and enforce belief systems on the population in this climate religious violence was common one of the most striking examples is the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre of 1572 in which French Catholic troops began to kill unarmed French Protestants the murders touched off mob violence that ultimately claimed 9,000 lives a bloody episode that highlights the degree of religious turmoil that gripped Europe in the aftermath of the Protestant Reformation [Music] 2.3 challenges to Spain's Supremacy learning objectives by the end of this section you will be able to identify regions where the English French and Dutch explored and established settlements describe the differences among the early colonies explain the role of the American colonies in European nations struggles for Domination for Europeans the discovery of an Atlantic World meant Newfound wealth in the form of gold and silver as well as valuable fur the Americas also provided a new arena for intense Imperial rivalry as different European nations jockeyed for preeminence in the new world the religious motives for colonization spurred European expansion as well and as the Protestant Reformation gained ground beginning in the 1520s rivalries between Catholic and Protestant Christians spilled over into the Americas English exploration disruptions during the tutor monarchy especially the creation of the Protestant Church of England by Henry VII in the 1530s The Return of the nation to Catholicism under Queen Mary in the 1550s and the restoration of protestantism under Queen Elizabeth left England with little energy for overseas projects more important England lacked the financial resources for such Endeavors nonetheless English monarchs carefully monitored developments in the new Atlantic world and took steps to assert England's claim to the Americas as early as 1497 Henry VII of England had commissioned John cabbat an Italian mariner to explore new lands cabat sailed from England that year and made landfall somewhere along the North American Coastline for the next century English fishermen routinely crossed the Atlantic to fish the rich Waters off the North American Coast however English colonization efforts in the 1500s were closer to home as England devoted its energy to the colonization of Ireland Queen Elizabeth favored England's Advance into the Atlantic World though her main concern was blocking Spain's effort to eliminate protestantism indeed England could not commit to large-scale colonization in the Americas as long as Spain appeared ready to invade Ireland or Scotland nonetheless Elizabeth approved of English privateers sea captains to whom the home government had given permission to raid the enemy at will these skilled Mariners cruised the Caribbean plundering Spanish ships whenever they could each year the English took more than 100,000 from Spain in this way English Privateer Francis Drake first made a name for himself when in 1573 he looted silver gold and pearls worth £40,000 Elizabeth did sanction an early attempt at colonization in 1584 when Sir Walter Raleigh a favorite of the Queens attempted to establish a colony at Rowan o an island off the coast of present-day North Carolina the colony was small consisting of only 117 people who suffered a poor relationship with the local Cowans and struggled to survive in their new land their governor John White returned to England in late 1587 to secure more people and supplies but events conspired to keep him away from Rowan Oak for 3 years by the time he returned in 1590 the entire colony had vanished the only trace the colonists Left Behind was the word croa toan carved into a fence surrounding the village Governor white never knew whether the colonists had decamped for nearby Cowan Island now hatus or whether some disaster had befallen them all Rowan o is still called The Lost Colony English promoters of colonization pushed its commercial advantages and the religious justification that English colonies would allow the establishment of protestantism in the Americas both arguments struck a chord in the early 1600s wealthy English merchants and the landed Elite began to pull their resources to form joint stock companies in this novel business Arrangement which was in many ways the precursor to the modern Corporation investors provided the capital 4 and assumed the risk of a venture in order to reap significant Returns the company compies gained the approval of the English crown to establish colonies and their investors dreamed of reaping great profits from the money they put into overseas colonization the first permanent English settlement was established by a joint stock company the Virginia Company named for Elizabeth the Virgin Queen the company gained Royal approval to establish a colony on the east coast of North America and in 16006 it sent 144 men and boys to the new world in early 16007 this group sailed up Chesapeake Bay finding a river they called the James in honor of their new King James I they established a ramshackle settlement and named it Jamestown despite serious struggles The Colony survived many of jamestown's settlers were desperate men although they came from Elite families they were young younger sons who would not inherit their father's Estates the Jamestown adventurers believed they would find instant wealth in the new world and did not actually expect to have to perform work George Percy born in England to the e8th Earl of North umberland was among them his account excerpted below illustrates the hardships the English confronted in Virginia in 1607 by any measure England came late to the race to colonize as James town limped along in the 1610s the Spanish Empire extended around the globe and grew Rich from its Global Colonial project yet the English persisted and for this reason the Jamestown Settlement has a special place in history as the first permanent English colony in what later became the United States after jamestown's founding English colonization of the new world accelerated in 1609 a ship Bound for James town foundered in a storm and landed on Bermuda some believe this incident helped Inspire Shakespeare's 1611 play The Tempest the admiral of the ship George Summers claimed the island for the English crown the English also began to colonize small islands in the Caribbean an incursion into the Spanish American Empire they established themselves on small Islands such as St Christopher in 1624 Barbados in 1627 nevas in 16280 monserat and Antigua both in in 1632 from the start the English West Indies had a commercial orientation for these islands produced cash crops first tobacco and then sugar very quickly by the mid 1600s Barbados had become one of the most important English colonies because of the sugar produced there Barbados was the first English colony dependent on enslaved people and it became a model for other English slave societies on the American Mainland these differed radically from England itself where slavery was not practiced English Puritans also began to colonize the Americas in the 1620s and 1630s these intensely religious migrants dreamed of creating communities of reformed protestantism where the corruption of England would be eliminated one of the first groups of Puritans to move to North America known as pilgrims and led by William Bradford had originally left England to live in the Netherlands fearing their children were losing their English identity among the Dutch however they sailed for North America in 1620 to settle at Plymouth the first English settlement in New England the pilgrims differed from other Puritans in their insistence on separating from what they saw as the corrupt Church of England for this reason pilgrims are known as separatists like Jamestown Plymouth occupies an iconic place in American national memory the tale of the 102 migrants who crossed the Atlantic aboard the Mayflower and their struggle for survival is a well-known Narrative of the founding of the country their story includes the signing of the Mayflower Compact a written agreement whereby the English volunte arily agreed to help each other some interpret this 1620 document as an expression of democratic spirit because of the cooperative and inclusive nature of the agreement to live and work together in 1630 a much larger contingent of Puritans left England to escape Conformity to the Church of England and founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the following years thousands more arrived to create a new life in the Rocky soils and cold climates of New England in comparison to Catholic Spain however Protestant England remained a very weak Imperial player in the early 17th century with only a few infant colonies in the Americas in the early 1600s the English never found treasure equal to that of the Aztec city of tenlan and England did not quickly Grow Rich from its small American outposts the English colonies also differed from each other Barbados and Virginia had a decidedly commercial orientation from the start while the Puritan colonies of New England were intensely religious at their Inception all English settlements in America however marked the increasingly important role of England in the Atlantic world my story George Percy and the first months at Jamestown the 144 men and boys who started the Jamestown Colony faced many hardships by the end of the first winter only 38 had survived disease hunger and poor relationships with Local Natives all contributed to the colony's High death toll George Percy who served twice as governor of Jamestown kept records of the colonists first months in the colony these records were later published in London in 1608 this excerpt is from his account of August and September of 1607 the fourth day of September died Thomas Jacob Sergeant the fifth day there died Benjamin Beast our men were destroyed with cruel diseases as swellings fluxes burning fevers and by Wars and some departed suddenly but for the most part they died of mere famine there were never Englishmen left in a foreign country in such misery as we were in this new discovered Virginia our food was but a small can of barley soaked in water to five men a day our drink cold water taken out of the river which was at a flood very salty at a low tide full of slime and filth which was the destruction of many of our men thus we lived for the space of 5 months in this miserable distress not having five able men to man our bullworks upon any occasion if it had not pleased God to have put a terror in the Savages Hearts we had all perished by those wild and cruel pagans being in that weakest State as we were our men night and day groaning in every corner of the fort most pitiful to hear if there were any conscience in men it would make their Hearts to bleed to hear the pitiful murmurings and outcries of Our Sick men without relief every night and day for the space of 6 weeks some departing out of the world many times 3 or 4 in a night in the morning their bodies trailed out of their cabins like dogs to be buried in this sort did I see the mortality of diverse of our people according to George Percy's account what were the major problems the Jamestown settlers encountered what kept the colony from complete destruction French exploration Spanish exploits in the new world wetted the appetite of other would be Imperial Powers including France like Spain France was a Catholic nation and committed to expanding Catholicism around the globe in the early 16th century It joined the race to explore the new world and exploit the resources of the Western Hemisphere Navigator Jac Cartier claimed Northern North America for France naming the area New France from 1534 to 1541 he made three Voyages of Discovery on the Gulf of St Lawrence and the St Lawrence River like other explorers cardier made exaggerated claims of mineral wealth in America but he was unable to send great riches back to France due to resistance from the native peoples as well as his own lack of planning he could not establish a permanent settlement in North America Explorer Samuel the Champlain occupies a special place in the history of the Atlantic world for his role in establishing the French presence in the new world Champlain explored the Caribbean in 16001 and then the coast of New England in 16003 before traveling farther north in 168 he founded Quebec and he made numerous Atlantic Crossings as he worked tireless ly to promote New France unlike other Imperial Powers France through Champlain's efforts fostered especially good relationships with native peoples Paving the way for French exploration further into the continent around the great lakes around Hudson Bay and eventually to the Mississippi Champlain made an alliance with the Huron Confederacy and the Algonquins and agreed to fight with them against their enemy the iroy the French were primarily interested in establishing commercially viable Colonial outposts and to that end they created extensive trading networks in New France these networks relied on Native Hunters to harvest Furs especially beaver pelts and to exchange these items for french glass beads and other trade goods French fashion at the time favored broad brimmed hats trimmed in beaver fur so French Traders had a ready market for their North American Goods the French also dreamed of replicating the wealth of Spain by colonizing the tropical zones after Spanish control of the Caribbean began to weaken the French turned their attention to small islands in the West Indies and by 1635 they had colonized two guadaloop and Martinique though it lagged far behind Spain France now boasted its own West Indian colonies but both Islands became lucrative sugar Plantation sites that turned a profit for French Planters by relying on African slave labor Dutch colonization Dutch entrance into the Atlantic world is part of the larger story of religious and Imperial conflict in the early modern era in the 1500s Calvinism one of the major Protestant Reform movements had found adherence in the northern provinces of the Spanish Netherlands during the 16th century these provinces began a long struggle to achieve independence from Catholic Spain established in 1581 but not recognized as independent by Spain until 1648 the Dutch Republic or Holland quickly made itself a powerful force in the race for Atlantic colonies and wealth the Dutch distinguished themselves as commercial leaders in the 17th century and their mode of col ization relied on powerful corporations the Dutch East India Company chartered in 16002 to trade in Asia and the Dutch West India company established in 1621 to colonize and trade in the Americas while employed by the Dutch East India Company in 16009 the English Sea Captain Henry Hudson explored New York Harbor and the river that now Bears his name like many explorers of the time Hudson was actually seeking a Northwest Passage to Asia and its wealth but the ample Furs harvested from the region he explored especially the coveted beaver pelts provided a reason to claim it for the Netherlands the Dutch named their colony New Netherlands and it served as a fur trading Outpost for the expanding and Powerful Dutch West India Company with headquarters in New Amsterdam on the island of Manhattan the Dutch set up several Regional trading posts including one at Fort Orange named for the Royal Dutch House of orange Nissa in present day Albany the color orange remains significant to the Dutch having become particularly associated with William of Orange protestantism and the Glorious Revolution of 1688 a Brisk trade in furs with local Algonquian and iroy peoples brought the Dutch and native peoples together in a commercial Network that extended throughout the Hudson River Valley and Beyond The Dutch West India Company in turn established colonies on Aruba Bonaire cirasa St Martin St ustus and Saba with their outposts in New Netherlands and the Caribbean the Dutch had established themselves in the 17th century as a commercially powerful rival to Spain Amsterdam became a trade hub for all the Atlantic world [Music] 2.4 new worlds in the Americas labor Commerce and the Colombian Exchange learning objectives by the end of this section you will be able to describe how Europeans solved their labor problems describe the theory of mercantilism and the process of commodification analyze the effects of the Colombian Exchange European promoters of colonization claimed the Americas overflowed with a wealth of treasures burnishing National Glory and Honor became entwined with carving out colonies and no Nation wanted to be left behind however the realities of life in the Americas violence exploitation and particularly the need for workers were soon driving the practice of slavery and forced labor everywhere in America a stark contrast existed between freedom and slavery the Colombian Exchange in Which Europeans transported plants animals and diseases across the Atlantic in both directions also left a lasting impression on the Americas labor systems physical power to work the fields build Villages process raw materials is a necessity for maintaining a society during the 16th and 17th centuries humans could direct dve power only from the wind water animals or other humans everywhere in the Americas a crushing demand for labor bedeviled Europeans because there were not enough colonists to perform the work necessary to keep the colonies going Spain granted encomendas legal rights to Native labor to conquistadors who could prove their service to the crown this system reflected the Spanish view of colonization the king rewarded success ful conquistadors who expanded the Empire some native peoples who had sided with the Conquistadors like the tack scalon also gained encomendas malinen the nahua woman who helped Cortez defeat the Mex was granted one the Spanish believed native peoples would work for them by right of conquest and in return the Spanish would bring them Catholicism in theory the relationship consisted of reciprocal obligations but in practice the Spaniards ruthlessly exploited it seeing native people as little more than beasts of Burden convinced of their right to the land and its peoples they sought both to control native labor and to impose what they viewed as correct religious beliefs upon the land's inhabitants native peoples everywhere resisted both the labor obligations and the effort to change their ancient belief systems indeed many retained their religion or Incorporated only the parts of Catholicism that made sense to them the system of enomas was accompanied by a great deal of violence one Spaniard bolom de Lascassas denounced the brutality of Spanish rule a Dominican frier Lascassas had been one of the earliest Spanish settlers in the Spanish West Indies in his early life in the Americas he enslaved native people and was the recipient of an encomenda however after witnessing the savagery with which encomenderos recipients of encomendas treated the native people he reversed his views in 1515 Lascassas released his enslaved natives gave up his encomenda and began to advocate for Humane treatment of native peoples he lobbied for new legislation eventually known as the new laws which would eliminate slavery and the encomenda system locus's writing about the spaniard's horrific treatment of native people helped Inspire the so-called black Legend the idea that the Spanish were bloodthirsty conquerors with no regard for human life perhaps not surprisingly those who held this view of the Spanish were Spain's Imperial rivals English writers and others seized on the idea of Spain's ruthlessness to support their own colonization projects by demonizing the Spanish they Justified their own efforts as more Humane All European colonizers however shared a disregard for native peoples native peoples were not the only source of cheap labor in the Americas by the middle of the 16th century Africans formed an important element of the labor landscape producing the cash crops of sugar and tobacco for European markets Europeans viewed Africans as as non-christians which they used as a justification for enslavement denied control over their lives enslaved people endured horrendous conditions at every opportunity they resisted enslavement and their resistance was met with violence indeed physical mental and sexual violence formed a key strategy among European slaveholders in their effort to assert Mastery and impose their will the Portuguese led the way in the evolving transport of captive enslaved people across the Atlantic slave factories on the west coast of Africa like elmina Castle in Ghana served as holding pens for enslaved people brought from Africa's interior in time other European Imperial Powers would follow in the footsteps of the Portuguese by constructing similar outposts on the coast of West Africa the Portuguese traded or sold in ens slaved people to Spanish Dutch and English colonists in the Americas particularly in South America and the Caribbean where sugar was a primary export thousands of enslaved Africans found themselves growing harvesting and processing sugar cane in an arduous routine of physical labor enslaved people had to cut the long cane stalks by hand and then bring them to a mill where the cane juice was extracted they boiled the extracted cane juice down to a brown Crystal cine sugar which then had to be cured in special curing houses to have the Molasses drained from it the result was refined sugar while the leftover molasses could be distilled into rum every step was labor intensive and often dangerous Lascassas estimated that by 1550 there were 50,000 enslaved people on Hispanola however it is a mistake to assume that during the very early years of European exploration all Africans came to America as captives some were freemen who took part in Expeditions for example serving as conquistadors alongside Cortez in his assault on tenlan nonetheless African slavery was one of the most tragic outcomes in the emerging Atlantic world my story bolom de laskasas on the mistreatment of native peoples bolom de laskasas is a short account of the destruction of the Indies written in 1542 and published 10 years later detailed for Prince Philip II of Spain how Spanish colonists had been mistreating natives into and among these gentle sheep endowed by their maker and creator with all the qualities a fores said did creep the Spaniards who no sooner had knowledge of these people than they became like Fierce wolves and tigers and lions who have gone many days without food or nourishment and no other thing have they done for 40 years until this day and still today see fit to do but dismember slay perturb afflict torment and destroy the Native Americans by all manner of Cruelty new and diverse and most singular manners such as never before seen or read or heard of some few of which shall be recounted below and they do this to such a degree that on the island of Hispanola of the above 3 million Souls that we once saw today there be no more than 200 of those native people remaining two principal and general Customs have been employed by those calling themselves Christians who have passed this way in exura and striking from the face of the Earth those suffering Nations the first being unjust cruel bloody and tyrannical Warfare the other after having slain all those who might yearn toward or suspire after or think of Freedom or consider escaping from the torments that they are made to suffer by which I mean all the native born Lords and adult males for it is the spaniard's custom in their Wars to allow only Young boys and females to live being to oppress them with the hardest harshest and most heinous bondage to which men or beasts might ever be bound into how might these writings have been used to promote the black Legend against Spain as well as subsequent English exploration and colonization Commerce in the new world the economic philosophy of mercantilism shaped European perceptions of wealth from the 1500s to the late 1700s merant ISM held that only a limited amount of wealth as measured in gold and silver bullion existed in the world in order to gain Power Nations had to amass wealth by mining these precious raw materials from their colonial possessions during the age of European exploration Nations employed Conquest colonization and trade as ways to increase their share of the bounty of the new world mercantilists did not believe in free trade arguing instead that the nation should control trade to create wealth in this view colonies existed to strengthen the colonizing Nation mercantilists argued against allowing their Nations to trade freely with other nations Spain's mercantilist ideas guided its Economic Policy every year enslaved laborers or native workers loaded shipments of gold and silver aboard Spanish treasure fleets that sailed from Cuba for Spain these ships groaned under the sheer weight of bullion for the Spanish had found huge caches of silver and gold in the New World in South America for example Spaniards discovered Rich veins of silver ore in the mountain called poto and founded a settlement of the same name there throughout the 16th century poto was a Boom Town attracting settlers from many nations as as well as native people from many different cultures Colonial mercantilism which was basically a set of protectionist policies designed to benefit the nation relied on several factors colonies rich in raw materials cheap labor Colonial loyalty to the home government and control of the shipping trade under this system the colonies sent their raw materials harvested by enslaved laborers or native workers backed to their mother country the mother country sent back finished materials of All Sorts textiles tools clothing the colonists could purchase these Goods only from their mother country trade with other countries was forbidden the 1500s and early 1600s also introduced the process of commodification to the new world American silver tobacco and other items which were used by native peoples for ritual purposes became European Commodities with a monetary value that could be bought and sold before the arrival of the Spanish for example the Inca people of the Andes consumed chicha a corn beer for ritual purposes only when the Spanish discovered chicha they bought and traded for it turning it into a commodity instead of a ritual substance commodification thus recast native economies and spurred the process of early commercial capitalism New World Resources from Plants to animal pelts held the promise of wealth for European Imperial Powers the Colombian Exchange as Europeans traversed the Atlantic they brought with them plants animals and diseases that changed lives and Landscapes on both sides of the ocean these two-way exchanges between the Americas and Europe Africa are known collectively as the Colombian Exchange of all the Commodities in the Atlantic World sugar proved to be the most important indeed sugar carried the same economic importance as oil does today European Rivals raced to create sugar plantations in the Americas and fought Wars for control of some of the best sugar production areas although refined sugar was available in the old world Europe's harsher climate made sugar cane difficult to grow and it was not plentiful Columbus brought sugar to Hispanola in 1493 and the new crop was growing there by the end of the 1490s by the first Decades of the 1500s the Spanish were building sugar Mills on the island over the next Century of colonization Caribbean islands and most other tropical areas became centers of sugar production though of secondary importance to Sugar tobacco achieved AED great value for Europeans as a cash crop as well native peoples had been growing it for medicinal and ritual purposes for centuries before European contact smoking it in pipes or powdering it to use as snuff they believed tobacco could improve concentration and enhance wisdom to some its use meant achieving an entranced altered or Divine State entering a spiritual Place tobacco was known in Europe before 1492 and it carried a negative stigma at first the early Spanish explorers considered natives use of tobacco to be proof of their savagery and because of the fire and smoke produced in the consumption of tobacco evidence of the devil's Sway in the new world gradually however European colonists became accustomed to and even took up the habit of smoking and they brought it across the Atlantic as did the Native Americans Europeans ascribed medicinal properties to Tobacco claiming that it could cure headaches and skin irritations even so Europeans did not import tobacco in great quantities until the 1590s at that time it became the first truly global commodity English French Dutch Spanish and Portuguese colonists all grew it for the World Market native peoples also introduced European an to chocolate made from cacao seeds and used by the Aztec in meso America as currency meso ameran natives consumed unsweetened chocolate in a drink with chili peppers vanilla and a spice called aiot this chocolate drink zoccal was part of ritual ceremonies like marriage and an everyday item for those who could afford it chocolate contains theob bromine a stimulant which may be why native people believed it brought them close closer to the sacred World Spaniards in the new world considered drinking chocolate a vile practice one called chocolate the devil's vomit in time however they introduced the beverage to Spain at first chocolate was available only in the Spanish Court where the elite mixed it with sugar and other spices later as its availability spread chocolate gained a reputation as a love potion the crossing of the Atlantic by plants like cacao and tobacco illustrates the ways in which the discovery of the new world changed the habits and behaviors of Europeans Europeans changed the new world in turn not least by bringing oldw World animals to the Americas on his second voyage Christopher Columbus brought pigs horses cows and chickens to the islands of the Caribbean later explorers followed suit introducing new animals or reintroducing ones that had died out like horses with less vulnerability to disease these animals often fared better than humans in their new home thriving both in the wild and in domestication Europeans encountered New World animals as well because European Christians understood the world as a place of warfare between God and Satan many believed the Americas which lacked Christianity were home to the devil and his minions the Exotic sometimes bizarre appearances and habits of animals in the Americas that were previously unknown to Europeans such as manatees sloths and poisonous snakes confirmed this Association Over time however they began to rely more on observation of the natural world than solely on scripture this shift from seeing the Bible as the source of all received wisdom to trusting observation or empiricism is one of the major outcomes of the era of early globalization Travelers between the Americas Africa and Europe also included microbes silent invisible life forms that had profound and devastating consequences native peoples had no immunity to diseases from across the Atlantic to which they had never been exposed European explorers unwittingly brought with them chickenpox measles mumps and smallpox which which ravaged native peoples despite their attempts to treat the diseases decimating some populations and wholly destroying others in eastern North America some native peoples interpreted death from disease as a hostile act some groups including the iroy engaged in raids or Mourning Wars taking enemy prisoners in order to assuage their grief and replace the Departed in a special ritual the prisoners were re quickened a assigned the identity of a dead person and adopted by the bereaved family to take the place of their dead as the toll from disease Rose morning Wars intensified and expanded this has been US history from Open Stacks Open Stacks textbooks and this free audio book are covered under a Creative Commons license the full text is available at www.ops.org this project was made possible by CC Echo the California Consortium for Equitable change in Hispanic serving institutions open education resources you can learn more about cceo by visiting the link in this episode show notes you can find this Audi book anywhere you listen to podcasts including Spotify YouTube Apple podcasts and more instructors can even download a course shell to embed these recordings in canvas courses learn more by visiting www.open audio. us did you find this audiobook helpful if so let us know by leaving a comment and sharing this recording with a colleague or a [Music] friend