Unit 2.2 / How Europeans Colonized the Americas

The Four Major European Countries

Spanish, French / Dutch, British

The Big Ideas

• Power

• Partnership

• Partition

What did the Spanish Seek?

1. Sought Colonial Wealth through power and control over the indigenous people

What did the French And The Dutch Seek?

Sought colonial wealth through partnerships with indigenous people.

What did the British Seek?

Sought wealth by partitioning or separating themselves from the indigenous people.

The Spanish (Overall)

• Main Goal

• Tactics

• Systems

Main Goal: To Extract Wealth

• To Obtain minerals like gold and silver

• To also use enslaved labor to increase the production of cash crops

Tactic #1: Native Subjugation / Taking their freedom and land

• To do this, they used the Encomienda System

  • Spanish granted an ecomendero a tract of land

    • Indigenous people living on that land had to move or farm. Encomeidero were responsible for protecting the indigenous people and trying to convert them to Christianity.

    • However, the Spanish crown enacted the New Laws in 1542 to curb the encomendero’s power and mitigate the harsh treatment.

Tactic #2: Christian Conversion

• Don Juan De Onate subdued Pueblo’s people.

  • They Established the capital of Sante Fe and set up the mission system.

• They attempted to erase and redefine the entire indigenous culture.

  • This led to the Pueblo revolt of 1680.

    • However the Spanish eventually returned to assert dominance.

Tactic #3: New Social Order

• The Caste System

  • Created a social hierarchy

  • Status determined by amount of white blood

    • [ Pure Blood ]

    • [ Casts / Mixed ]

    • [ Africans ]

The French / Dutch (Overall)

• Main Goal

• Tactics

• Systems

Main Goal: Partnerships

• Introduction: Samuel De Champlain founded the first French settlement at Quebec.

  • They were late to the Americas compared to everyone else.

    • This was due to:

      • Many Wars

      • Oppressing Protestants known as Huguenot.

The French Emphasis on the Americas was not on establishing permanent settlements but rather on growing wealthy through trade partnerships with the various indigenous people groups, especially trade in fur.

1. Negotiated Partnerships

• Samuel Champlain negotiated alliances with the Huron people of the St. Lawrence river valley against the Haudenosaunee.

• Beaver Fur Trade (Very Important)

  • By allying with the american indian groups, french fur trappers were able to satisfy the growing demand in France.

2. Missionaires

• Not Many Conversions

• They didn’t use brute force for this.

3. Wealth was the goal

• They were not interesting in reshaping indigenous societities.

  • For the Dutch, New Amsterdam became a significant trading port.

    • This port was very important and attracted merchants from all over the world.