Race for Empires

 Events in Europe  Protestant Reformation  German Priest Martin Luther criticized the Roman Catholic Church and said it abused its power  His protests spread quickly from Germany throughout Europe  The Printing press helped spread the ideas  Wanted people to read bible for themselves instead of relying on others to tell them  Led to Civil Wars: Example French Catholics vs the Huguenots  King Henry VIII founded the Church of England (Anglican Church) and made himself head of it

Race for Empires  Spain and England Go to War  King Phillip II took Spain against England and Elizabeth I.  The Spanish Armada went to destroy England,  The smaller, faster ships of England defeated the Huge Spanish Fleet  This defeat along with other economic troubles led to many countries start to challenge Spain and their overseas endeavors

Race for Empires  Search for the Northwest Passage  Every wanted to find a route to enable ships to sail from the Atlantic Oceans to the Pacific Oceans  John Cabot  Went looking for the King of England  Paid for own expedition, but wanted a royal charter to any lands he found  Couldn’t find it but gave England claims to North America

Race for Empires  Jacques Cartier  French  Sailed down what became the St. Lawrence River and to Montreal claiming land for France  Henry Hudson  Englishman sailing for the Dutch  Found present day New York  Found Hudson Bay

Race for Empires  European Presence in North America  Spanish and Portuguese focused on Central and South America while others focused on North America  English  Late 1500’s wanted a permanent settlement in the New World  Sir Walter Raleigh received a charter from the king  Landed in present day Virginia  John White  Settled Roanoke Island in 1587  His granddaughter Virginia Dare was the first colonist born in the North America  Colony disappeared and no one knows what happened to it

Race for Empires  French  First settled in Florida area by Huguenots  These were destroyed by the Spanish  Then focused on Canada area  Samuel de Champlain sailed up the Saint Lawrence River and found Quebec  Trading post for furs and such goods  Louis Jolliet looked for and found the Mississippi River  Mississippi River Valley claimed in the name of France and named Louisiana  Traded heavy with the Native peoples and adopted some of the Native culture

Race for Empires  Dutch  Claimed areas of New York, New Jersey  Formed the Dutch West India Company  bought Manhattan Island from Natives and found New Amsterdam (New York City)  Other groups also followed