New Worlds: The Americas and Oceania

Colliding Worlds1492 is significant in world history because from that

point forward there is permanent and sustained contact between the people of the eastern and western hemispheres which brings profound and violent change to each world.

Neither realm will remain the same.Europeans bring new technology and devastating

disease to the Americas and ultimately destroy the existing American empires.

Eventually settler colonies would further displace and discard indigenous people in both South and North America.

Colliding WorldsThe Spanish Caribbean

Mining When Columbus’s following settlers realized the land was not part

of Asia, they turned to mining for gold to create profits Encomienda System – System of forced labor used by Spanish to

enslave the Tainos (Caribbean Natives) to work in mines. Harsh labor conditions and small pox epidemics wiped out the Tainos

Agriculture When gold was not found, Spain focused on Mexico and Peru and

left open the door for English, Dutch, and French settlers in the Caribbean

1640s – Began producing valuable cash crops like sugar and tobacco to turn profits.

Used enslaved Africans 1700 – Caribbean populated by small class of European settlers and

large numbers of enslaved Africans.

Colliding WorldsThe Conquest of Mexico and Peru

When it became apparent that mineral wealth in the Caribbean was sparse, the Spanish turned to Mexico and Peru

Hernan Cortes – Conquered the Aztec in Mexico

Francisco Pizzaro – Conquered the Inca in Peru Both were outnumbered, but disease, superior

weaponry, and alliances with Aztec and Incan enemies allowed them to overtake the great empires of Central and South America.

Colliding WorldsIberian Empires in the Americas

Between 1500 and 1800 500,000 Spanish immigrants and 100,000 Portuguese immigrants settled permanently in the Americas

Spain By 1570 the Spanish Crown had set up a formal policy of control

and administration of justice for Peru and Mexico Mexico – Capital in Mexico City Peru – Capital in Lima

Both were ran by viceroys who answered directly to the King of Spain and were evaluated by audiencias on a regular basis.

Portugal Established an imperial realm in Brazil as a result of the 1494

Treaty of Tordesillas Divided the world into a Spanish sphere in the West and a

Portuguese sphere in the East (Brazil included in this)

Colliding WorldsSettler Colonies in North America

By the mid 1600s the French had set up many permanent settlements in Canada, while the British had done the same in what is presently the U.S. Jamestown, Virginia, Massachusetts Bay, Quebec, etc

North American settlement life was difficult and often deadly Focused on exports instead of food production which meant

widespread starvation and disease Only 60 of the original 500 Jamestown settlers survived the first

winterDifferent for French and British than for SpanishIndigenous peoples of North America were much different

than those of South America Superior weaponry and disease led to demise of Native

Americans

Colonial Society in the AmericasThe history of colonial societies in America is

one of interactions of cultures: European, American, African

Mining, fur trapping, and cultivation of cash crops formed the economic basis of these societies and Christianity emerged as the dominant religion in the western hemisphere.

Mestizos (a mixture of European and Euro-American offspring) came to dominate political, economic, and cultural affairs.

Colonial Society in the AmericasThe Formation of Multicultural Societies

Often, male European settlers and explorers formed relationships with native peoples or African slaves due to a lack of access to European women.

Common in Mexico (Mestizos), Peru, Brazil, and with French trappers in the North American wilderness.

Very uncommon in the English colonies of North America where more European women also came and settled. Frowned up interracial relationships and eventually

developed strong racist sentiments against Africans and Native Americans.

Colonial Society in the AmericasMining and Agriculture in the Spanish

EmpireMining

Most profitable mineral in the Americas proved to be silver

Concentrated in northern Mexico and the Bolivian Andes, silver provided great wealth for the Spanish Crown and settlers

Agriculture Spanish agricultural production based on systems of

forced labor of the indigenous people Hacienda and Encomienda systems Led to several major uprisings of indigenous people

Colonial Society in the AmericasSugar and Slavery in Portuguese Brazil

Portuguese did not have the conquistadores like the Spanish did, so they did not have a large indigenous work population to choose from.

Portuguese used African slaves to produce their most profitable crop: SUGAR. Slave life

Imports first came in 1530 Tropical heat, disease, overwork, dangerous working

conditions, inadequate food, and housing, and horrific mistreatment

High death rates – Five to ten percent per year One ton of sugar produced at the cost of one human

life.

Colonial Society in the AmericasFur Traders and Settlers in North America

Fur Fish first brought Europeans to North American

shores, but soon fur became the more lucrative commodity.

Quest for furs lead to major conflicts between trappers, Native Americans, and European countries as territorial disputes arose

Agriculture Eventually settlers became more interested in cash

crop production – tobacco, rice, indigo, and cotton. First used indentured servants for labor, then by 1619

the first group of African slaves arrived in Virginia.

Colonial Society in the AmericasChristianity and Native Religions in the

AmericasIn addition to economic motivations, the desire

to spread Christianity traveled to the New World with the European explorers, conquistadores, merchants, and settlers.

Missionaries soon followed. Spanish Missionaries – Quite successful in Mexico

and Peru in spreading Roman Catholicism English Missionaries – Rarely active or successful in

converting Native Americans in North America French Missionaries – Fairly successful in spreading

Christianity in St. Lawrence, Ohio, and Mississippi River valleys.

Europeans in the PacificAustralia and the Larger World

First recorded sighting of Australia was by the Dutch in 1606 Reported the land as arid and barren, containing no

mineral wealth.1788

English Captain James Cook exploration of the eastern coastline discovered it was suitable for settlement

England began to set up permanent settlements Aborigines did not fair well in contact with

European settlers and the British government.

Europeans in the PacificThe Pacific Islands and the Larger World

Europeans began taking greater interest in the Pacific by the eighteenth century.

Most interactions between Europeans and indigenous people were peaceful at first, but eventually turned violent as disagreements over trade and cultural practices lead to escalating tension and armed conflict.

Rapid and unsettling change would begin for islanders during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries as interest in the Pacific continued to grow.