Europeans in New Worlds: The Americas and Oceania - PowerPoint Presentation

Europeans in New Worlds: The Americas and Oceania By Tracy Rosselle, M.A.T.Newsome High School, Lithia, FL

The Spanish Caribbean Columbus and those who came in his wake made the island of Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic) the base of their Caribbean operations. In their search for gold, they employed a labor system known as the encomienda . Spanish settlers were given the right to force the Taino people to work in their mines or fields, but were also supposed to look after them, perhaps convert them to Christianity. The reality: The Taino were treated brutally, even as they were exposed to new diseases. Amerindian population in the Caribbean: 4 million 1540 a few thousand The culprit? Epidemic diseases such as smallpox.

The Spanish Caribbean (cont.) The search for gold proved elusive, but the Spanish by the mid-1500s would find a mother lode of silver in Mexico and especially Peru. The Spanish Caribbean thus became less of a focus – except for English pirates who were out to steal American silver shipments bound for Spain.But by the mid-1600s, the English, French and Dutch were all vying to colonize Caribbean islands for one reason: to establish plantations for sugar , tobacco, cotton and other cash crops.

Do you recall? What was the Amerindian population of the Caribbean estimated to be in 1492?What was it about 50 years later? What was the encomienda?Who else besides the Spanish were active in the Caribbean by the mid-1600s?What was the primary economic focus of the region by that time?

Cortes conquers the Aztecs Hernan Cortes between 1519 and 1521 took down the mighty Aztec Empire, with its stunning capital city of Tenochtitlan, with the following: guns (in the form of muskets and cannons), horses, steel swords and germsrelatively few men – between 500 and 1,500 the resentment of surrounding indigenous peoples who despised their Mexica overlords alliances with said indigenous peoples, forged with the help of a young woman named Malinche, who the Spanish called Dona Marina , and who was talented linguistically and diplomatically.

Pizarro conquers the Inca Beginning in 1530, with initially just 180 men, Francisco Pizarro conquered the Inca Empire in Peru. As with the Aztecs in Mexico, the Spanish benefitted from a) the fact that many subjects of the Inca hated their rule, and b) the ravages of epidemic disease translated to weakened resistance to the Spanish invasion.

Spanish colonial administration Cortes and Pizarro initially granted labor rights and lands to their troops on their own authority, but by the 1570s the Spanish crown put a stop to the conquistadors’ semi-private regime and initiated a highly centralized colonial administration. Two main centers of authority Mexico (called New Spain , with headquarters in Mexico City, which was built on the ruins of Tenochtitlan) Peru (called New Castile, with headquarters in newly established Lima)

Spanish colonial administration New Spain and New Castile both ruled by viceroys, or representatives of the king To prevent the building of independent power bases on the other side of the Atlantic, the Spanish crown monitored viceroys with audiencias – university-trained lawyers who heard appeals against the viceroys’ decisions and conducted performance appraisals at the end of the their terms.

Do you recall? Which conquistador conquered the Aztecs in Mexico?Which conquistador conquered the Inca in Peru? Who was Dona Marina?What were the names of the two main centers of Spanish authority in their American empire? What were viceroys … and how were they related to audiencias?

Spain wasn’t alone By the 17th century, other European nations were well on their way to building a colonial presence in the Americas. Britain and France would contest much of North America, while in South America, another Iberian country – Portugal – built an empire in a land known for its many brazilwood trees.

Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)

The Portuguese in Brazil A Portuguese mariner, tacking west to then slingshot around the southern tip of Africa, first discovered the coast of Brazil in 1500. With their focus squarely on the Indian Ocean, the Portuguese showed little interest in Brazil … until French and Dutch mariners began visiting there too. Vast land grants were given to nobles in the hope they would colonize their holdings … but interest didn’t begin to really pick up until profitable sugar plantations were established after mid-century. By then, a governor was in place to implement royal policy.

Latin American societyThere for the taking Spain and Portugal viewed the Americas mostly as a land to exploit rather to settle and colonize. The Iberian empires brought their culture – their languages, their Catholicism – to emergent European-style cities … but vast swaths of the Americas lacked mineral deposits or the ability to produce agricultural surplus. Indigenous culture therefore continued to flourish in many parts of Latin America where contact with Iberians was limited. Between 1500 and 1800, only about 500,000 Spanish and 100,000 Portuguese migrated across the Atlantic Ocean .

Do you recall? What European country colonized Brazil … and why did it get that region instead of Spain?About how many Spanish migrated to the Americas between 1500 and 1800? About how many of that other European colonizer of South America also came during that time?

Latin American societyIt’s a man’s world More than 85 percent of Iberian migrants were men … so, naturally, they took indigenous women as their wives, giving rise to an increasingly mestizo, or “mixed,” society.

Latin American societyMulticultural and hierarchical Most Spanish migrants went to Mexico, but far more of the women migrants went to Peru (so the society there became more distinctively European). The social hierarchy, from top down:peninsulares – those born on the Iberian peninsula creoles – those born in the Americas of Iberian parents mestizos – those of Iberian and native parentagemulattoes – those of Iberian and African parentage zambos – those of native and African parentage

Do you recall? What’s the Spanish word for “mixed?”Identify and define Latin America’s social hierarchy, from top to bottom.

Spain’s No. 1 industry Much of Spain’s American enterprise focused on the extraction of silver, which stimulated world trade in early modern times. Two main production areas:Northern Mexico Potosi (in modern Bolivia) Potosi was by far the bigger of the two, a boomtown with a population of 150,000 by 1600.

Adapting from the Inca In Mexico, many indigenous peoples voluntarily left their villages to escape the ravages of conquest and disease to become laborers in silver mines, learning Spanish and losing touch with their birth communities. In South America, volunteer labor was also used … but also an adaptation of the Inca mita system: native villages required annually to send one-seventh of its male population to work for four months in the mines at Potosi conditions were harsh, death rates were high: many native men fled to evade their obligations

A global currency Silver profits accrued to private investors and the Spanish crown, which reserved one-fifth (the quinto) of silver production for itself, financing Spain’s large army and bureaucracy. Silver was shipped to Spain, where it was spread across European markets to pay for Asian silks, spices and porcelain … and to the Philippines in Manila galleons, where it then provided much of the Chinese demand for silver in payment for its goods. This global flow of silver led to inflation in many parts of the world where silver was in high demand.

Do you recall? What was Spain’s most lucrative economic activity in the Americas?What were the two primary production areas for this industry? Explain the mita system.What was the quinto?How did Spain’s American economic enterprise affect the economies of Europe and Asia?

Spanish American estates Agricultural and craft production was centered on estates called haciendas, which supplied mining districts, towns and cities. Thanks to the Columbian Exchange: wheat, grapes, cattle and pigs … produced with the help of horses.

Back-breaking work The encomienda system was widespread only from about the 1520s to the 1540s, by which time abuses with it were being called out by Catholic missionaries and subject populations increasingly were being required to provide tribute rather than labor. Spanish landowners transitioned to a new labor system known as debt peonage: landowners advanced loans to native peoples to buy seed, tools and supplies debtors then repaid the loans with labor The catch: Wages were so low debts couldn’t be paid off … and legally the debtors weren’t allowed to flee, so landowners benefited by having a captive labor force.

Do you recall? What were haciendas?What was debt peonage?

Resistance to Spanish rule Indigenous peoples fought back over the centuries of Spanish rule by working half-heartedly, sabotaging equipment and sometimes resorting to outright rebellion: led by a shaman, the Pueblo revolt (in modern-day New Mexico) in 1680 attacked missions, killed priests and colonists, and successfully drove out Spanish settlers for 12 years.the Tupac Amaru rebellion in 1780, consisting of 60,000 native peoples, raged for two years in Peru before Spanish authorities could suppress it, executing thousands of its participants.

Christianity in Latin America Franciscan, Dominican and Jesuit missionaries founded schools to educate the sons of noble families and Christianize indigenous peoples. They learned native languages and studied native culture, compiling a vast amount of information so they could explain Christianity in terms understandable to their audiences. The Virgin of Guadalupe

Resistance, and conversion Many indigenous peoples in Mexico and Peru continued to observe their inherited faiths well into the 17th century, honoring pagan deities, worshiping idols and perhaps even continuing to practice human sacrifice. Some, however, interpreted the Spanish conquest and epidemic disease as evidence their gods had abandoned them … so they looked to Spanish missionaries for spiritual guidance. As they adopted Christianity, they often tried to blend it with their own interests and traditions (e.g., the darker complexion of the Virgin of Guadalupe, the most famous icon of Mexican Catholicism).

Do you recall? Describe the activities of Spanish missionaries.How did indigenous peoples respond to these missionary activities? How did indigenous peoples respond to Spanish rule more generally?

Portuguese BrazilSugar and slavery A different pattern of labor recruitment characterized Portuguese Brazil. Instead of recruiting subjugated sedentary peoples, imported African slaves and their descendants became the majority of the population because: The economy was centered around the production and exportation of sugar. Sugar plantations were located in regions that lacked the administrative machinery to effectively recruit local workers.

Portuguese BrazilThe engenho = sugar mill Among the most complex business enterprises in the Americas was the engenho, or sugar mill. Unlike other crops, sugarcane required extensive processing to yield molasses or refined sugar for profitable export … so large numbers of slaves were required not just for the heavy labor of planting and harvesting the cane, but also for the specialized, technical skill of refining it. Portuguese planters and owners of sugar mills enjoyed an exalted social status and acted like landed nobles, but because they operated on very thin profit margins they often experienced difficult financial predicaments.

Portuguese BrazilThe road to 4.5 million slaves The first of a total of 4.5 million slaves arrived in Brazil in the 1530s and were in wide use by the 1580s. Because of arduous working conditions, mistreatment, poor nutrition and tropical heat, engenhos typically lost 5-10 % of their slaves annually. If a slave lived 5-6 years, the average owner’s investment doubled and allowed him to purchase a new and healthy slave. In plantation societies, deaths almost always exceeded births. The business of producing Brazilian sugar was so brutal it is said that every ton of it that helped to satisfy the world’s sweet cravings cost one human life.

Do you recall? What do you know about engenhos?What do you know about the practice of slavery in Portuguese Brazil?

The colonies of North America Spanish explorers established towns, forts and missions in Florida and on the west coast of North America. But by the mid-1500s, French, English and Dutch mariners were sailing the North Atlantic for fish (they harvested tons of cod off the coasts of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and New England) and a northwest passage to Asia (which proved futile).

The colonies of North AmericaA hard life in early settlements By the early 17 th century, permanent colonies were being established:The French built on early colonies in Nova Scotia and Quebec to settle the St. Lawrence, Ohio and Mississippi river valleys. The Dutch built a settlement at New Amsterdam in 1623 that was seized by an English fleet in 1664 and rechristened New York. The English founded Jamestown in 1607 and the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630. Settlers relied heavily on provisions sent from Europe, often struggling on the brink of starvation.

The colonies of North America The French and English differ Whereas Iberian explorations had royal backing and their colonies were controlled centrally, private investors played larger roles in French and English colonial efforts, where there was no royal intervention comparable to viceroys or audiencias . The French and English also did not find large, centralized states like the Aztec and Inca empires … nor did they find agricultural peoples living in densely settled societies. Many indigenous peoples of the North practiced agriculture, but most also relied on hunting and consequently moved their villages frequently in pursuit of game … so they did not claim ownership of precisely bounded territories, instead migrating between well-defined regions.

Do you recall? Name three European powers besides Spain that colonized portions of North America, and describe briefly where these colonies were.What were two differences in these colonization patterns as compared to Spain?

The colonies of North AmericaRelations with indigenous peoples As large numbers of European migrants moved to North America to take advantage of its fertile farmland, conflicts emerged with indigenous peoples.Europeans did not recognize hunting as a way of life and justified their occupation of these grounds by pointing to their productive use of the land (i.e., farming it). The English especially also sought legal cover for their land grab, negotiating treaties with indigenous peoples who didn’t really understand the concept of private property. Conflicts between Europeans and indigenous peoples is illustrated by King Philip’s War (1675), in which the Native American ruler Metacom (aka King Philip) led a bloody uprising against colonial villages across Massachusetts. Both sides massacred hundreds of victims.

The colonies of North AmericaFreaking over the fur trade Although the French had better relations with indigenous peoples (the English, for example, were more likely to move entire families to more densely settled colonies along the Eastern Seaboard, whereas French fur traders associated with native women, generating metis [“mixed” offspring] in regions around forts and trading posts) they were more active in the fur trade , which generated tremendous conflict among indigenous peoples, such as the Iroquois vs. the Hurons .American beaver populations declined so fast that trappers constantly had to push farther inland in search of untapped beaver grounds, which led to native peoples poaching or invading others’ territories. Natives trapped animals for Europeans and exchanged the pelts for wool blankets, iron pots, firearms and distilled spirits.

The colonies of North AmericaTobacco and indentured labor In the English colonies of Virginia and Carolina, settlers turned to the cultivation of a profitable cash-crop: tobacco.Columbus had observed Tainos smoking leaves of a local plant through a pipe called a tobago .Aztec priests smoked tobacco and took it in the form of snuff during religious sacrifices.Tobacco exports, in pounds: 1616 1624 1638 2,300 200,000 3 million In the 17 th and 18 th centuries, planters met the demand for cheap labor through the use of indentured servants . Europeans with little future in their home countries were willing to sell their labor for a period of years (usually between four and seven years) in exchange for passage across the Atlantic.

The colonies of North AmericaFrom indentured servitude to slavery Between 1630 and 1776, between one-half and two-thirds of all white immigrants to the English colonies came initially as indentured servants before earning their freedom! African slaves were first brought to Virginia in 1619, and in 1661, Virginia law recognized all blacks as slaves. By 1750, 120,000 slaves tilled tobacco around the Chesapeake Bay and 180,000 more cultivated rice in Carolina. Slave labor was not prominent in northern colonies, but their economies benefited: New England had numerous rum distilleries (which needed molasses, a byproduct of sugar plantations in the West Indies) and the port cities of New York and Philadelphia built and outfitted slave vessels.

The colonies of North AmericaA different kind of hunting ground French and English missionaries in North America found far fewer converts to Christianity than their Spanish counterparts. They did not rule over conquered populations of sedentary cultivators, so conducting missions was difficult. The French Catholic missionaries found some success, but the English had no interest in converting indigenous peoples to Protestantism.

Do you recall? What were two sources of conflict between Europeans and indigenous peoples of North America?Who was King Philip? What was the primary economic focus of the French … and how did that lead to metis?What was the main cash-crop of English settlers, and how did they find cheap labor to farm it? How were French and English missionary efforts different from those of the Spanish?

Europeans in the Pacific European mariners thoroughly explored the Pacific basin between the 16th and 18 th centuries, but only in Guam and the Mariana Islands did they establish permanent settlements before the 18th century. The Dutch – from their base of operations exploiting the spice trade from Indonesia – were the first Europeans to record sighting Australia in 1606. Scouting the continent’s western, northern and southern coasts, they found dry, barren landscapes that held little promise for metals, woods, fruit-bearing trees or spices. The British mariner James Cook was the first to visit Australia’s eastern coast and declare the region suitable for settlement. With no tempting opportunities for trade, Europeans had made no effort to establish permanent settlements in Australia …

Europeans in the Pacific (cont.) … until the British, in 1788, deposited a fleet of about 1,000 passengers at Sydney harbor. About 800 of these people were convicts meant to alleviate England’s crowded prisons, and so was begun Australia’s initial settlement as a penal colony. Free settlers did not outnumber convicted criminal migrants until the 1830s. Spanish voyages in the Pacific were focused on linking New Spain with Asian markets via Manila, so they did not encounter much of interest in most of the Pacific island chains. The journey from Acapulco to Manila took them south of Hawaii and north of other Polynesian islands, and the westerlies on the return voyage took them well north of all Pacific islands.

Europeans in the Pacific (cont.) Guam was the one exception to Spanish colonial efforts. Guam dominated the Mariana Islands, and the Spanish took on fresh provisions there and traded peacefully with the native Chamorro people through the 16th and early 17 th centuries. In the late 17 th century, they brought these islands under the control of the viceroy of New Spain in Mexico, fighting with and trying to Christianize the natives, most of whom had died of epidemic diseases. Gradually, by the early 19 th century, Europeans had become prominent figures in all major Pacific islands. Whalers were first to come in large numbers, followed by missionaries, merchants and planters.

Do you recall? Why was European interest in Australia slow to develop?Which European power colonized Australia, and why? Which Pacific islands did Spain colonize, and why didn’t it colonize more between Mexico and the Philippines?What eventually drew larger numbers of Europeans to the islands of Oceania?