1. Ch. 14 Empires and encounters, 1450-1750

2. What made the Western European empires distinctive?
Explain the formation of each of the Western European empires.

3. W European empires
Features that made them unique/special 1) W European empires were marked by the maritime expansion. 2) The empires were an ocean away from the mother country. There were 3 kind of colonies a) Spanish in: Central & S America( based on silver mining & commercial agric.) + Caribbean (sugar) b) Sugar plantations colonies in Brazil & Caribbeans (Portug.) c) N America: British, French & Dutch (based on subsistence agric.)

4. What enabled Europeans to carve out large empires an ocean away from their homelands?

5. Reasons for expansion Europ. were closer to Americas than Asians
Atlantic’s fixed winds helped the seafaring navigation, once they were understood.
Rivalry among competing countries that determined rulers to compete
Europ. were strongly motivated after 1200 to gain access to the world of Asian commerce.
Who were strongly motivated?

6. Reasons for expansion
a )growing merchant class that wanted direct access to the Asian goods (to avoid reliance on Muslim intermediaries)
b) Impoverished nobles
c) missionaries-crusading zeal
Europ. were aware of their marginal position & wanted to changed it.

7. What played a major role in transforming the conquered terit
What played a major role in transforming the conquered terit. Into colonies?
Why did some Native Americans help the Spanish in their initial invasion of the New World?

8. Europ. Companies ( joint-stock companies)
Europ. states and trading companies-had effective mobilization of human & material resources.
Europ. had: seafaring & ironworking technology, gunpowder & weapons.
Native Americans helped Europ. to conquer their land b/c they wanted to get help against their own enemies, no matter the price to be paid for it.

9. What was the Columbian exchange?

10. The Columbian exchange
C.E. =network of communication, migration, trade,
transfer of plants, animals & diseases between the New and the Old Worlds( 4 continents linked together for the 1st time)
American crops( corn, potatoes, squash, beans, cassava) spread in E Hemisphere.
Native mortality high =labor shortage
New populations made of:
1 )African peoples ( forced to go to Americas as slaves)
2) Europ.( migrated in high no. )
They created new societ. & brought their own plants and animals to Americas.

11. Colombian exchange
African slave trade

12. Columbian exchange Colum.exchange was made of 3 dif. trade circuits
The Atlantic Circuit: clockwise networks of trade routes between Europe-Africa-Americas ( called Middle Passage)-Europe.
The Atlantic Circuit was supplemented by
b) The “ triangular trade”: New England-Africa-W Indies.
c) The Indian Ocean trade

13. Middle Passage’s journey
The 2 main destinations for slaves were: Brazil & Caribbean.
The peak of the slavery was the during the 18th century
How did the Atlantic circuit affect Europe, Africa & Americas?
What were the conditions of life on the ships?
Why did the demand for slaves increase?
Who benefited the most from the Columbian exchange?
What was the Great dying?

14. Great dying Demographic collapse of Native American soc.
Pre-Columbian soc. : million people, no immunity to the Old World diseases b/c of continent’s isolation.
After Europ. ‘s arrival: up to 90% mortality rate
Central Mexico: popul. dropped from 20 mil. to 1 mil (by 1650)

15. Europ. Econ. policy concerning their colonies: Mercantilism
Europ. created new societ.from scratch
All colonies were shaped by mercantilism: econ. theory according to which govern. should encourage exports & accumulate precious metals (silver& gold) as bullion in order to serve their countries.
Colonies were allowed to trade only with the mother country/metropolis.

16. What made the colonies to be so different?

17. 1 )Spanish colonies They were conquered by Spanish
a ) Aztec Empire in 1521 by Cortez.
b) Inca Empires in 1536 by Pizarro.
Within a century Spanish established major cities, univ. , a relig. and replicated the Spanish bureaucratic infrastructure.
Polit.organization:
Spain –had direct control through the Council of Indies( 1524);
Spanish territory was organized as viceroyalties:
Viceroyalty of New Spain
Viceroyalty of New Granada
Viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata
4) Viceroyalty of Peru

18. What type of problems did Spain face in administering its colonies?

19. Spanish clonies b) Economy
Based on commercial agric. & mining( silver & gold) from the mines of Bolivia & Peru (before 1680) and Mexico ( after 1680)
Conseq.: deforestation, mercury poisoning.
The labor system:
encomienda: force labor, tribute
Hacienda: large estate of land belonging to Spanish nobles on which native popul. had to work.
Mit’a –inherited from Inca E.(Peru)

20. Spanish colonies c )Society
Peninsulares( asked for self-govern. from the Spanish Crown); divided b/c priests fought for better treatment of the native people.
Creoles: descendent of Spanish parents but born in colonies and looked down on. ( Peninsulares & Creoles were Spanish)
Mestizos: (mixtures of Europ.( Spanish) & native population)& Mullatos: ( mixtures of Europ. With Africans)
(Were Hispanic in culture, but looked down on)
4) Indians& Africans-abused, exploited, forced relocation
Adopted Spanish practices, but native traditions survived.

21. Sp.colonies: religion & literacy
d) Religion: blend of religion between Catholicism & native beliefs.( after the Spanish got to America)
Spanish colonies had more racial mixing and that’s why mixed children were recognized & manumission was easier More racial fluidity than in N America).
Literacy levels were lower than in the British colonies because the Sp.didn’t have to read the Bible.

22. Why did Brazil & the Caribbean societies develop differently from the Spanish colonies?

23. Colonies of sugar
Brazil & British, French, Spanish & Dutch colonies in the Caribbean developed differently b/c
1 )not home of great civiliz.
2 )no mineral wealth until 1690s
3) They produced only for export
4 )sugar was in great demand in Europe
5) Port. Colonies in Brazil dominated the world sugar market during

24. How did they start the colonies of sugar & the sugar industry?

25. Colonies of sugar
Arabs introduced large-scale sugar prod. to the Medit.
Europeans transferred it to the Americas and the Atlantic islands.

26. Features of sugar industry
Labor intensive prod.
worked best on large scale
1st modern industry, massive use of slave labor
(Africans); horrid condit. of work; short life of male slaves: 23 yrs.
80 % of Africans sent to Americas worked in Brazil & Caribbeans
Brazil & Caribbean soc. were of African descent
1790, Haiti-93 % of popul. was of African descent
Supervisors on the sugar plant. Were Mullatos( who also lived in cities)

27. Features of sugar industry
Mixed –race popul. was
Urban skilled popul.
Supervisors in sugar industry.
Plant.-system based on African slavery spread to N America

28. Spanish America/N America
No women-racial mixing
More opportunities for manumission
Spanish: less numerous.
Women came earlier
Less racial mixing
Less tolerance toward mixed blood
Less opportunities for manumission.
British were more numerous: in 1776,
90% of N American popul. was from Europe.

29. Spanish/ N America
Impose an elaborate bureaucracy ( replicated the Spanish bureaucracy)
Practiced small-scale farming( didn’t need slaves)
Polit. : were given the right of self-governance( the civil war in England in 17th C distracted the govern. From involvement in the colonies)

30. Spanish/N America Catholics only Proselytize Lower levels of literacy
Protestant/Catholics
Didn’t proselytize like the Catholics
Higher levels of literacy

31. Where were the British colonies located
Where were the British colonies located? What factors contributed to the rapid change of the British society?

32. North American colonies

33. N American colonies Location: E coast of today’ s U.S.A.
Factors of rapid change:
Polit. changes- British colonies: more freedom due to breakdown of feudalism, develop. of Parliament (modern polit. instit.)
Econ.: subsistence agric., & rise of a merchant capitalist class, major cloth industry
Relig. : most were Protestants (conflict with Catholics)
Social : tried to escape from the infl. of the Europ. soc. . enjoyed more freedom.