Americas Connection 1450 - 1750

The European impact also was intensely economic. What impact did European colonization of the Americas have on the environment and peoples of the Americas? Through the Columbian Exchange there were new varieties of plants, animals, and diseases that the Europeans transferred to the Americas. The new plants and animals had an enormous impact on the natural environment of the Americas. The new plants such as wheat, olives, grapes, rice, bananas, and sugar created a variety of dietary options. European livestock multiplied prolifically and destroyed land by trampling the land with their hooves. The introduction of cattle and horses specifically provided transportation and mobility in warfare in addition to hides and meat. In addition to the environment, European settlement transformed the economies and societies of the Americas profoundly. The introduction of Christian institutions and European government authority disrupted the traditional Amerindian cultural and political processes, destroying them, or at best suppressing them. The European impact also was intensely economic. By focusing efforts on either the extraction of mineral wealth or the production of cash crops, the Amerindian economic system was completely changed to suit the needs and demands of the European settlers. Traditional forms of hunting and gathering and agriculture were disrupted and Amerindians became dependent of European manufactured goods.

How was the “exchange” an “exchange” as it affected both affected both Amerindians and Europeans? The transfer of diseases, plants, and animals was not simply one-sided. Diseases greatly reduced Amerindian populations (thereby assisting European conquest and accelerating cultural change), while Europeans brought home Amerindian diseases such as syphilis. Europeans brought foods such as bananas and wheat that diversified Amerindian diets, while other crops like sugar cane were intended for cultivation with exploited labor. On the other hand, the Amerindian crops of maize, potatoes, and manioc had a great impact on Old World agriculture. European horses, cattle, and pigs also affected Amerindian lives, while beaver and other fur-bearing animals significantly influenced the exchange between Amerindians and Europeans.

How do the different colonial regions established in BRITISH North America compare in their development? The British colonies can be grouped into three basic geographic categories: New England the Middle Atlantic the South. The colonies constituting these regions differed in their inception. Some were private ventures whose purpose was escape from religious persecution, and others were private ventures designed to gather wealth. Some colonies were established by the monarchy, while others were given only a royal blessing. Their mode of settlement and types of societies varied as widely as their means of supporting themselves. The English added a new system of compulsory labor to the Americas as well. The introduction of indentured servants eventually accounted for approximately 80 percent of all English immigrants to Virginia and Maryland. However, as life expectancy in the colonies improved, planters purchased more slaves. As a result, the slave population of Virginia grew rapidly. In the northern part of the Carolinas, the colony’s economy of tobacco and forest products encouraged a slow expansion of slavery. However, in Charleston and the interior of South Carolina, settlers began to develop plantations and imitate the slave plantation systems of Brazil and the Caribbean. The introduction of rice and indigo crops attracted an increasing flow of African slaves. The New England colonies differed from the southern economies in dramatic fashion. New England climate and resources did not favor cash crop agriculture. Instead, New Englanders traded timber, fur, and other forest products as well as fish to provide their economic foundation. New England also provided commercial and shipping services to the American colonies. Slaves and indentured servants were present in New England, but in very small numbers because of the lack of cash crop agriculture. Therefore, environmental factors and geography played a role in the experience of slaves and the demand for slave labor.

Religion was an important force in the English North American lands. What role does religion play in European settlement of the Americas? How was Christianity used as a tool of colonization? The Catholic Church played a significant role in assimilating Amerindian peoples as well as the suppression of Amerindian traditional religious practice. Religion was an important force in the English North American lands. In the Protestant colonies of the British, the Americas became a refuge for the Protestants to escape what they believed were the less-than-devout European practices. Several Protestant groups such as the Pilgrims, Puritans, and Quakers settled American lands. The Puritan and Protestant traditions were adapted from European models and used as stabilizing and social control in the colonization process Among the Catholic colonies of the French, Spanish, and Portuguese, conversion was a strong motivation for colonization. The Catholic Church became the main agent for the transmission of European language and culture to the Spanish and Portuguese colonies. The French Jesuit missionaries established hospitals, schools, and churches in an effort to convert the indigenous population.

The English and French did not colonize the Americas until almost a century after the Spanish and Portuguese. Why? How were the French and English colonies both similar to and different from those of Spain and Portugal? There may be a universal desire to find easily extracted wealth and great indigenous empires. Colonizers met native peoples with a mixture of violence and diplomacy. African slaves were important in much of the Americas and much of this trade was promoted by the Portuguese from their African conquests while the Spanish had the initial financial resources to explore. The French and the English, however, were initially distracted by civil and foreign wars and so lacked the will and resources to seek colonies any sooner. When they did begin to colonize, neither country found easily extracted wealth or vast empires – the Spanish and Portuguese had already gotten to the “easy pickins.” Rather than controlling American expansion through their central governments, both nations acted through private corporations and individual proprietors as in the joint stock exchange corporations. Both colonized with larger percentages of Europeans than did their Iberian counterparts. While the English favored removal of Native Americans rather than assimilation, the French preferred a policy of conversion of native peoples to Christianity. French Catholic missionaries mastered native languages, created schools, and set up model agricultural communities for the converted

As wealth became harder to extract, labor demands multiplied. What were the different types of forced (coercive) labor practices each practice and explain why each one was preferred in different locations. In addition to African slavery, Europeans used indentured servants in North America, as well as the encomienda and mit’a systems in South America. Encomienda was the system of land grants that included the human resources that were on the land Mita was the scheduled labor owed and performed. The initial demand for labor was low because Europeans simply gathered the riches already produced by Amerindians. As wealth became harder to extract, labor demands multiplied. One response was forced labor such as the mita system in Peru. As disease and overwork led to massive Amerindian population loss, labor shortages spread. At the same time, increasingly complicated technologies, such as those for removing silver from ore and producing sugar from cane, called for even more workers. The chief supply to fill that demand was African slaves. Indentured servitude was rejected in the Caribbean because the limited amount of land left them without property when their tenure was complete.