American Colonial Societies

American Colonial Societies Spain: The “Model” Colonizer Spain was the “model” colonizer Not in the sense that other European nations slavishly followed their example in terms of how they colonized the New World Instead, the Spanish experience in Central and South America helped shape the expectations of other European colonizers in the New World Government of Spanish America Because of the vast wealth it generated, Spanish monarchs tried to keep their American colonies under tight control Colonies organized into “viceroyalties” under a “viceroyal” directly appointed by the king Viceroyal advised by an Audencia, but his word was law Most Spanish Kings tried to keep the viceroyals on a tight leash However, distance made this goal difficult to achieve in practice, since oversight limited to visiting inspectors Spain was once the dominant colonial power in the Americas

American Colonial Societies Important Institutions of Spanish America The Catholic Church Bartolome de Las Casas: success- fully promoted the idea that the Indians had souls and should not be killed or enslaved Missions had the dual purpose of converting the Indians to Christianity and “civilizing” them (i.e., turning them into good Spanish peasants) Encomienda A grant of land and Indian laborers to a Spaniard The Spaniard could make use of the Indian labor, but in return was expected to work to convert the Indians to Christianity and civilize them Early encomiendas involved the ruthless exploitation of natives

American Colonial Societies Social Groups of Spanish America Peninsulares Spanish-born persons They were at the top of the economic and political order in Spanish America Creoles People born in America, but of pure Spanish ancestry A midling group in Spanish America Mestizos/Mulattoes Mestizos: persons of mixed Spanish and Indian ancestry—eventually the largest single group Mulattoes: persons of mixed Spanish and African ancestry Indians/Africans Persons of pure Indian or African ancestry—at the bottom of society

American Colonial Societies Portugal in Brazil Portugal’s claim to Brazil based on the Treaty of Tordesillas and the 1500 visit of Pedro Alvares Cabral However from 1500 to 1530, Portugal paid little attention to Brazil because its attention was directed at exploiting its new sea trade routes to Asia Captaincies Between 1534 and 1536, King John III granted fifteen captaincies to Portuguese noblemen to settle, administer, and profit from in Brazil The successful captaincies developed as sugar colonies In 1549, John III reasserted royal control and Brazil developed a colonial government similar to Spanish America

American Colonial Societies France The French moved gradually into North America in the 16 th century Like the Spanish, they initially came looking for treasure, but found none in what is today Quebec They stayed, however, because they found it profitable to trade European goods with the Indians for animal furs Like the Spanish they tried to convert the Indians to Christianity, but initially did not seek conquest The fur trade worked best with a limited French presence, mostly traders coureurs de bois Eventually the French established larger settlements, but they were small compared to the English

American Colonial Societies England (1) The first successful English colony in North America was established at Jamestown in Virginia in 1607 Established by the Virginia Company of London, a joint-stock company charted by James I The intent of the company was to emulate the Spanish model Live initially by exploiting the Indians Find and seize Indian treasure This model did not work because the Indians in the Chesapeake region were poor hunter-farmers Most early colonists soon died from disease and starvation Tobacco The salvation of the colony was tobacco, brought in from the Caribbean After the introduction of tobacco, Virginia prospered, although life remained rough and life spans short until the late 1600s Artist’s conception of early Jamestown That “noxious weed”

American Colonial Societies England (2) The other main early center of English settlement in North America was in New England Separatist Puritans settled in 1620 near Cape Cod, establishing Plymouth Congregationalist Puritans established the much larger Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1629 Hence, unlike the colonization of the Chesapeake Bay region, whose basis was economic, the motive of the Puritans who settled in New England was religious They were escaping persecution by religious authorities of the Church of England and in the case of Mass. Bay wished to prove the feasibility of a Puritan-based society Although the religious experiment failed they and their descendants prospered in America and enjoyed some of the longest average life- spans in the 1600s