The Northern European Phase Challenge to Spanish Hegemony –most powers avoided Spain & Portugal’s eastern & western empires, choosing instead to explore the North Atlantic –1496: John Cabot investigated Newfoundland (Canada)--vast fishing resource –Northwest Passage = northern Europeans looked for a Northwest route to the East (for the lucrative spice trade)

–The Privateers new route to India & Asia not found, so direct confrontation with Spain & Portugal necessary French privateers & Dutch “Sea Beggars”plundered Spanish treasure ships & conducted illegal trade with Spanish colonies English Sea Dogs (John Hawkins, Francis Drake, etc.) engaged in smuggling & piracy

The English as Colonizers –Incentives for American colonization & 1st attempts incentives: gold (found little), extend Protestantism, expand trade, increase tax revenues, employment, timber, military bases, enhance search for Northwest Passage first attempts: disastrous! Lost ships, abandoned settlements, lost settlers (ex. Roanoke) –English Colonies Differences from Spain: –no civilizations to conquer –colonies established by joint-stock companies organized by private entrepreneurs (instead of the king) who were given charters by the crown

Virginia: 1st Successful Colony New England: religious motivations to settle here –Massachusetts Bay Colony (English Puritans) –Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine (Puritan dissenters) –“triangular trade”: Manufactured goods from New England Molasses from Caribbean Rum from New England (made from molasses) Slaves from Africa –Later colonies: Maryland, Carolinas, Georgia, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania (Quakers), Delaware

The Dutch Empire in the 17th Century –The Carrying Trade: carried commodities for northern European powers: fish, tar, pitch, timber, hemp, flax, etc. ships were larger, slower, more spacious (no cannons), so they could carry more cargo than others monopoly on Arctic whaling industry –Challenging the Portuguese: Dutch fleets in the East Indies (southern Asia) beginning in 1595 advantages over Portuguese: superior seamanship; better & less expensive trade goods = PROFIT!!! East India Company –1602: all private Dutch trading companies brought into one large organization –unity + organization = drove Portuguese from East Indies by 1629 –huge inter-Asian trade in China, Japan, & India with posts & protectorates (became part of their empire in the 1700s) –biggest commodity = coffee

–Colonies New Amsterdam: fur trading post on Long Island (New York) found by Henry Hudson turned into a permanent settlement under the direction of governor Peter Minuit –1664: fell to an English fleet South Africa: most permanent Dutch settlement est –purpose: provisioning port for ships bound for the Orient (fresh fruit, meat, water, etc.) –settlers established farms in the area –Decline England & France (both with larger populations, more natural resources, etc.) drove the Dutch out of business with their strong mercantilist systems with their vast colonies

French Expansionism –New France claim to North America established by Jacque Cartier in Quebec & the Great Lakes only French-speaking Catholics could settle there –Louisiana Robert Cavalier traveled down the Mississippi River from the Great Lakes in 1682 –Relations with the English intense rivalry, but no hostilities at first French got along better with the Native Americans (except the Iroquois) English had more people (1.5 m to France’s 80,000)

French-English Rivalry Outside N. America –The West Indies (Caribbean): traded with Spanish & Portuguese (against Spain’s mercantilist system, but all sides benefited, so Spain was OK with it) –India English possessed Calcutta & Madras on the east coast and Surat & Bombay on the west coast French held Chandarnagar & Pondichéry in the east footholds to become dominant political forces in India in the 1700s

English, French, & Spanish Empires: Comparisons –Government: English = high degree of self-government; property owners elected lower house of legislature; could pass laws & levy taxes French & Spanish = rule by the crown –Native Americans: English = found them to be “in the way”; removal treaties; series of Indian wars French = saw them as trading partners (except for Iroquois) Spanish = exploited them &/or intermarried with them