Colonial empires

What is a colonial empire?

A group of territories or nations ruled by a distant, foreign power, often for economic and political gain.

What were the main European colonial powers?

Spain, Portugal, Britain, France, the Netherlands.

What were the main motivations for European colonization?

Gold, God, and Glory — wealth, spreading Christianity, and national power.

What was the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)?

A treaty dividing the New World between Spain (west) and Portugal (east), authorized by the Pope.

What regions did Spain colonize?

Most of Latin America, the Caribbean, and parts of North America.

What regions did Portugal colonize?

Brazil, parts of Africa, India, and Southeast Asia.

What regions did Britain colonize?

North America, Caribbean islands, India, and later parts of Africa and Oceania.

What regions did France colonize?

Canada, parts of the Caribbean, West Africa, and Southeast Asia.

What regions did the Dutch colonize?

Parts of the East Indies (Indonesia), South Africa, and the Caribbean.

What was the encomienda system?

A Spanish labor system where colonists could demand labor from Indigenous people in exchange for “protection.”

What was mercantilism?

An economic policy where colonies existed to benefit the mother country through controlled trade and resource extraction.

What role did colonies play in mercantilism?

They supplied raw materials and bought manufactured goods from the mother country.

How did colonialism affect Indigenous peoples?

Through violence, displacement, disease, and the destruction of cultures and populations.

What was the Columbian Exchange?

The global transfer of plants, animals, people, and diseases between the Old World and New World.

What was the economic effect of colonization on Europe?

It enriched European nations, funded wars and industrialization, and shifted global trade power to the Atlantic.

What was the impact of colonialism on Africa?

European involvement in the slave trade, establishment of trading posts, and later colonization.

What was settler colonialism?

A form of colonialism where Europeans permanently settled in colonies, often displacing native populations (e.g., North America, Australia).

What were cash crops in colonial economies?

Sugar, tobacco, cotton, coffee — grown for export, often using enslaved labor.

What was the legacy of colonial empires?

Global inequality, widespread cultural blending, long-term conflicts, and colonial borders still affecting countries today.