Europeans Compete in North America

Conflicts in Europe Religious conflicts Ever since the Reformation, Catholics and Protestants did not get along. King Henry VIII His wife, Catherine of Aragon, was not producing a son to take up the throne. King Henry wanted a divorce, which was not permitted by the Catholic Church. The Pope refused to annul, or cancel, the marriage. So King Henry created a new religion, the Church of England.

Conflicts in Europe cont. Economic Conflicts: Mercantilism – Colonies of a nation have to help support the home country and make it wealthy and powerful. The Defeat of the Spanish Armada: Queen Elizabeth I renewed a rivalry with Catholic Spain. England was also interfering with Spanish trade. Spain sent 130 ships to try to force Queen Elizabeth off the throne. The English ships defeated the Spanish ships. This lead to a major shift of power in England.

Northern Voyages England financed John Cabot to a northern passage to Asia. On his second voyage, his ships disappeared in the Chesapeake Bay. England, France, and Holland still believed there was a northwest passage. Jaques Cartier sailed for France and found the St. Lawrence River and explored the area around Montreal. Henry Hudson made many voyages for both England and Holland. However, when he got stuck in the Hudson Bay, his crew mutinied. Hudson was put on a boat with his followers and the rest sailed home.

New France Samuel de Champlain mapped the areas around the St. Lawrence River. He also started a settlement called Quebec. His explorations in the north gave France much influence in the area. New France was different than New Spain. New France profited from the area by fishing and hunting for furs. The French traded with the Indians. Beaver skin was used to make hats in England and were very profitable.

New France cont. Some French worked closely with the Natives They would learn how to hunt and married some of their women. The French did not begin to farm until the late 1600s. Before then they made a healthy profit on beaver pelts. Then the market for these furs started to decline.

Exploring the Mississippi The French also started settlements around the Great Lakes. The French began to sail down the Mississippi River to explore. A man named La Salle made it to the mouth of the river. He claimed the land for France and named it Louisiana after Kind Louis XIV.

New Netherland The Dutch started to settle in the area around the Hudson River. They also began to trade with the Natives. They established a town at the mouth of the Hudson called New Amsterdam. New Netherlands was in the way of westward expansion for the British. In 1664, the British took control of New Netherland and renamed it New York, after the king’s brother, the Duke of York.

Impact of Native Americans The Dutch and the French were quite friendly and traded with the Natives. They even made alliances with some tribes. This eventually caused trouble for some tribes. The Iroquois bought guns from the Dutch to attack the Hurons. The most devastating thing that the Europeans brought over was disease. It is estimated that 8 in 10 of all Native Americans died after the arrival of the Europeans, mostly from disease.