Spain and Portugal were the first countries to make a push for exploration. The Treaty of Tordesillas divided the world between Spain and Portugal to keep the peace; everything west of the line belonged to Spain, while everything east of the line belonged to Portugal.

Quote from Spanish Conquistador: “to serve God and his Majesty, to give light to those who were in darkness, and to grow rich, as all men desire to do.” Colony: a settlement of a group of people who leave their native country to live in a new land that is subject to or connected with the parent nation. Mercantilism: a political and economic system that seeks to secure a nation’s dominance over other nations by accumulating wealth through trade (exporting more than importing)

 Begins with the Conquistadors in the late 15 th century in the Caribbean (West Indies), then Mexico, and South America  Focus is on extracting resources from the colonies.  Silver & Gold from mainland (Mexico): process was difficult & dangerous so the Spanish use the natives to work  Sugar from the islands (West Indies): use the natives as their forced labor (slaves)  St. Augustine, Florida: founded in 1565 by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés  Oldest continuously occupied European-established city and port in the continental U.S.  Served as a base for further explorations.  Cabral landed in Brazil in 1500; the first permanent settlement established in 1532 at São Vicente  Portuguese establish the sugar cane industry which required intensive labor

 16 th century – 240,000 Spaniards emigrated to the American Colonies; 17 th century – 500,000 Spaniard emigrated  Before Columbus, it is estimated by there were several hundred thousand indigenous people in Hispaniola; by 1509 that population declined to 60,000.  The population of Mexico declined by an estimated 90% by the early 17 th century.  In Peru, the indigenous population went from 6.5 million to one million by the early 17 th century.  Population declines due to disease and over-work  Cultural Impact:  many indigenous people were converted to Christianity.  Spanish is the language of many countries in central America

Impact  Indigenous population is forced to work plantations  Many die from over-work or disease  Atlantic Slave Trade established  As the indigenous population declines, Portuguese needed more laborers  By the mid 1500s, they find a solution: import slaves from the continent of Africa  Population of Brazil speaks Portuguese, not Spanish

 After the initial explorations of the “new world”, the English settled along the Atlantic coast of North America  The first settlement: Roanoke Colony established in 1586, but abandoned a year later  2 nd Colony was established in the same area but disappeared : “The Lost Colony”  Government of England gave land grants to stockholder companies in 1606  Plymouth Company: given land north of the 41 st parallel  Virginia Company: given land south of the 38 th parallel

 Jamestown Colony was established by the Virginia Company in 1607  Plymouth Colony established in 1620 by the Pilgrims.  Massachusetts Bay Colony is established in 1628  The Puritans established settlements in the eastern part of the Mass. Bay Colony. Those who disagreed with the Puritans established new colonies.  By 1732, thirteen English colonies stretched along the east coast of present-day U.S. from New Hampshire to Georgia

Roanoke Colony & Jamestown Plymouth & Massachusetts Bay

 Jacques Cartier explored the St. Lawrence River and claimed the region for France in  Samuel de Champlain extended French claims in North America.  1608 Champlain founded the city of Quebec. Helped the Algonquin and Huron Indians defeat the Iroquois  French explored the interior of Canada and North America from the Appalachian Mountains west to the Mississippi  French settlements are mostly trading posts  Little control over the region because there was a lack of settlers

St. Lawrence River French Colonies

 Indigenous populations are devastated through military force or disease  Indigenous populations are forced to move as colonists settle more land  English & French are the predominant languages of North America  English Common Law becomes basis for colonial law