A Race for Empires The Dutch, Spanish, French and English all looked to establish colonies on American soil

The Spanish Empire The Spanish ruled their empire with royal officials. At the top was the Council of the Indies Two Viceroys ruled the Spanish Empire in both North and South America This system was very corrupt because of the distance from Spain it was hard to keep the Viceroys accountable

Spanish Settlements Pueblos- Spanish towns usually had a central plaza, homes, church and a trading post Missions-established by priest to convert local Indians to Catholicism Presidos- Spanish military base built in remote areas to protect settlements

Church and State The Catholic Church played an important role in the settlements of the Americas The Royal Orders commanded priest to offer religious instruction and to teach American Indians

The Encomienda System The Crown set up this system that allowed settlers to tax local Indians or demand labor from them. In exchange settlers were supposed to convert the Indians and protect them Really this turned in Slavery for the American Indians

Spanish America

Religious and Political Changes in Europe The Protestant Reformation Martin Luther began a religious movement to reform the Catholic Church This group became known as the Protestants Protestants objected to the power of the Catholic Church and the Pope

Conflict between Spain and England King Phillip II of Spain wanted to drive the Protestants out of England To fight Spain w/o officially declaring war Queen Elizabeth relied on “Sea Dogs” to raid Spanish treasure ship

The Spanish Armada Spain in the 1500’s had the greatest navy the world had ever known But in 1588 the smaller, faster British defeated the Greatest navy in the world This defeat allowed the English to establish colonies in the Americas

French settlements Much of French exploration took place in present-day Canada The Great Lakes provided a valuable asset to France’s fur trade In 1650 French missionaries heard of a beautiful river, the Mississippi, and established the Louisiana Territory-called new France

The Dutch Hearing of this wealth of trade the Dutch was interested Henry Hudson established New Netherlands-CT, DE, NJ, and NY also islands in the Caribbean Like the French they too had trouble recruiting settlers

English Settlements In 1578 Sir Humphrey Gilbert obtained a charter to establish a colony Sir Walter Raleigh funded the expedition that landed in Virginia Life was difficult they fought with Indians and had trouble growing food

The Mystery of the lost colony of Roanoke John White resettled the colony in the Spring of 1587 and then left to England for supplies When he returned in 1590 the colony was deserted and the only evidence of life was the word CROTOAN carved into a tree, England’s first attempt to colonize America had failed