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Empires and Encounters 1450-1750
AP World History Notes European Empires in the Americas
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Spanish Colonies Bellwork
What title/name was given to children of Spanish and Native peoples? Mestizos True or false: Only those people approved by the Spanish government could trade in American Colonies TRUE
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Objective WWBAT: Introduce the European incentives of colonization and discuss social and economic characteristics of North American colonies
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Interactive Notebook Setup
2/4/2016 New World Colonization This will be one page
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Incentives Spanish Colonies British North America Portuguese Sugar
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European Empires Time Period European Power(s) Destinations
15th – 16th centuries Spain Caribbean, mainland Central & South America 16th century Portugal Present-day Brazil 17th century England, France, the Netherlands Eastern coast of North America
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European Empires
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European Motivations for Colonization
Aware of their low position in the world of Eurasian commerce and wanted to change this European rulers driven by competition and rivalries with other countries Merchants wanted direct access to Asian wealth; no Muslim intermediaries
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European Motivations for Colonization
Poor European nobles and commoners thought they could gain wealth and status in the colonies Christian missionaries wanted to spread their faith Persecuted minorities wanted to start a new life with more freedoms
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European Motivations for Colonization
Belief held by all European powers Mercantilism = governments served their countries’ economic interests best by exporting more than they import and by accumulating bullion Bullion = precious metals like silver and gold Roles of the colonies: 1) Supplied resources for European factories 2) Provided closed markets = they could only buy products from their “mother country”
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European Motivations for Colonization
The main purpose of colonies were to enrich the mother countries Colonies were created to: Create raw materials Find and produce precious materials Create new trading opportunities for the mother country
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Biggest goal of the colonies is the production of Raw Materials
Statement # 1 Biggest goal of the colonies is the production of Raw Materials
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Statement # 2 Individuals are free to produce whatever they want and sell to whomever they want
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Individuals are free to buy products from any country
Statement # 3 Individuals are free to buy products from any country
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Discourages Colonies from producing manufactured goods
Statement # 4 Discourages Colonies from producing manufactured goods
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Creating a favorable balance of trade is important, but not essential
Statement # 5 Creating a favorable balance of trade is important, but not essential
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Statement # 6 Government doesn't control the economy but does regulate to make sure everyone participates Fairly
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Statement # 7 Goal is for the mother country to stockpile gold, silver, and raw materials
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The Treaty of Tordesillas was signed in 1494 Treaty split the world in half for Portugal and Spain
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Spanish Colonies Economic foundations for these colonial societies:
Commercial agriculture on large rural estates Silver and gold mining Both used native peoples as forced laborers
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Social Order of Spanish Colonies
Peninsulares = Spaniards born in Spain Creoles = Spaniards born in the Americas Spanish Settlers Spanish immigration = 1 woman for every 7 men Started from unions between native women and Spanish men Mestizo Population = mixed-race population Native Peoples (Primary labor force; slaves)
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Spanish Colonies The highest social class was the peninsulares
Peninsulares were those people born in Spain or Portugal and then traveled to the New World The peninsulares held all the important government positions
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Peninsulares
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Spanish Colonies The second highest social class was the creoles
Creoles were direct descendants of Europeans but born in the New World The creoles were the landowners and business owners of the New World There was often great tension between the peninsulares and the creoles
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Spanish Colonies Considerable amount of racial mixing also took place in the Caribbean, Mexico, and Brazil Ex: By 1790 = 93% of the population of Haiti was either partially or wholly of African descent Ex: Mulattoes = became a major group in Brazil Product of Portuguese- African unions
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Spanish Colonies Mestizos were the children of Europeans and Native peoples Largely Hispanic in culture Many looked down upon by “pure” Spaniards Worked as artisans, clerks, supervisors of workers, and lower-level officials in church and government organizations
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Spanish, British, French, and Dutch
Portuguese Sugar Location Controlled By Brazil Portugal Caribbean Spanish, British, French, and Dutch Uses for sugar in Europe: A Medicine A Spice A Sweetener A Preservative In sculptured forms as a decoration indicated high status and wealth
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Portuguese Sugar Involved growing the sugarcane AND processing it into usable sugar Very labor-intensive Most profitable if done on a large-scale Massive use of slave labor imported Africans Native population had been wiped out
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Portuguese Sugar Worked under horrendous conditions
These conditions + diseases = very high death rate for enslaved peoples About 5-10% of slave population died per year Required the continuous importation of fresh slaves from Africa
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Painting of a Tobacco Plantation
British North America Plantations existed in the southern colonies Major crops were tobacco, rice, cotton, and indigo Painting of a Tobacco Plantation in Colonial Virginia
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British North America Somewhat less harsh than in the sugar colonies
Slave population was able to sustain itself and reproduce No need to constantly import fresh slaves, like in the sugar colonies By the time of the Civil War = almost all North American slaves had been born in the Americas
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British North America Racial mixing was uncommon because European women had migrated to North America along with men, unlike in Central and South America Lead to an evolution of sharply defined racial system Offspring of mixed-race unions = viewed as illegitimate Any African ancestry made a person “black,” not some other mixed-race category
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Colonial Pilgrims on Thanksgiving
British North America Controlled mainly by the British British settlers sought to escape aspects of the old European society and didn’t blend with indigenous peoples, not to recreate it like the Portuguese and Spanish Wanted religious freedom Wanted opportunities for wealth Called settler colonialism Colonial Pilgrims on Thanksgiving
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British North America Agricultural economies run by small-scale independent farmers working their own land No slaves needed; though sometimes present occasionally in the households of the wealthy
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British North America Established traditions of local self-government
In Britain = King and parliament involved in a long power struggle So they paid little attention to the internal affairs of the colonies Colonies set up their own assemblies
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