AP Euro test chapter 8
Periods of European Overseas Empires: European contact with the rest of the world evolved significantly since the Renaissance, marked by exploration, colonization, and the establishment of overseas empires.
Mercantile Empires: European mercantile empires were characterized by the pursuit of trade dominance, the establishment of colonies, and the exploitation of resources to benefit the mother country.
The Spanish Colonial System: Spanish colonial organization was designed to reflect its imperial goals, focusing on resource extraction, conversion of indigenous populations to Christianity, and strict administrative control.
Black African Slavery, the Plantation System, and the Atlantic Economy: The origins of slavery in the Americas were tied to the demand for labor on plantations, leading to the transatlantic slave trade and the integration of African slaves into the Atlantic economy.
Mid-Eighteenth-Century Wars: Mid-eighteenth-century European wars often involved both continental and global conflicts due to the interconnected nature of European empires and their colonial interests.
The American Revolution and Europe: The causes of the American Revolution included colonial resistance to British policies, economic grievances, and the influence of Enlightenment ideas.
Contents and Focus Questions
Periods of European Overseas Empires: European contact with the rest of the world evolved significantly since the Renaissance, marked by exploration, colonization, and the establishment of overseas empires.
Mercantile Empires: European mercantile empires were characterized by the pursuit of trade dominance, the establishment of colonies, and the exploitation of resources to benefit the mother country.
The Spanish Colonial System: Spanish colonial organization was designed to reflect its imperial goals, focusing on the extraction of wealth, conversion to Christianity, and strict administrative control.
Black African Slavery, the Plantation System, and the Atlantic Economy: The origins of slavery in the Americas were tied to the demand for labor on plantations, leading to the transatlantic slave trade and the integration of African slaves into the Atlantic economy.
Mid-Eighteenth-Century Wars: Mid-eighteenth-century European wars often involved both continental and global conflicts due to the interconnected nature of European empires and their overseas territories.
The American Revolution and Europe: The causes of the American Revolution included colonial resistance to British policies, Enlightenment ideas, and the desire for independence.
The Chapter in Brief
The mid-eighteenth century saw renewed European warfare on a global scale.
Two main rivalries were present: Austria vs. Prussia for central European dominance, and Great Britain vs. France for commercial and colonial supremacy.
The wars were extensive, long, and costly, impacting both effort and finances.
Outcomes included a new balance of power in Europe and on the seas, with Prussia becoming a great power and Great Britain gaining a world empire.
Post-war expenses led to significant changes in taxation and finance policies across major European governments after the Peace of Paris of 1763.
These changes contributed to the American Revolution, state-led reforms in central Europe, a financial crisis for the French monarchy, and reforms in the Spanish Empire in South America.
8.1 Periods of European Overseas Empires
European contact with the world evolved through four distinct stages since the Renaissance.
First Stage: European discovery, exploration, initial conquest, and settlement of the New World, along with penetration of Southeast Asian markets by Portugal and the Netherlands, ending by the late seventeenth century.
Second Stage: Mercantile empires characterized by colonial trade rivalry among Spain, France, and Great Britain, leading to large navies and major naval wars. This period also saw the establishment of a slave-based plantation economy in the Americas, with extensive involvement in the slave trade with Africa.
Third Stage: Nineteenth-century European governments shifted focus from the Americas to Africa and Asia, creating new formal empires with direct administration of indigenous peoples. This era included new European settlements in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Algeria, driven by trade, national honor, Christian missionary efforts, and military strategy.
Fourth Stage: Mid-twentieth century decolonization, ending European political, military, and economic dominance over much of the world. European dominance was due to epidemiological advantages and technological supremacy, not cultural superiority.
8.2 Mercantile Empires
Navies and merchant shipping were essential to European mercantile empires, focusing on profit rather than settlement.
The Treaty of Utrecht (1713) defined the boundaries of these empires in the early 18th century.
Spain controlled most of mainland South America (except Brazil), Central America, and parts of North America, including Florida, Mexico, California, and the southwest, as well as several Caribbean islands.
Britain had colonies along the North Atlantic seaboard, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Bermuda, Jamaica, Barbados, and trading stations in India.
France controlled the Saint Lawrence River valley, the Ohio and Mississippi River valleys, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Domingue (Haiti), and had stations in India and West Africa.
The Dutch controlled Surinam, Cape Colony, trading stations in West Africa, Sri Lanka, Bengal, and Java, creating a vast trading empire.
Major rivalries in the 18th century were primarily among Spain, France, and Britain, who collectively prevented other European powers from establishing significant colonies outside Europe.
8.2.1 Mercantilist Goals
Mercantilism: An economic theory where governments heavily regulated trade to increase national wealth, primarily measured in gold and silver bullion.
Wealth Measurement: Bullion was considered the measure of a country's wealth, and nations aimed to amass more bullion than their rivals.
Economic Assumptions: Mercantilists viewed the world as having scarce resources and limited economic growth, believing wealth could only increase at another nation's expense.
Colonial Role: Colonies were seen as sources of markets, natural resources, and outlets for surplus capital for the home country, which in turn protected and administered the colonies.
Trade Regulations: Governments used navigation laws, tariffs, bounties, and trade prohibitions to ensure exclusive trade between the home country and its colonies, promoting national monopoly.
Economic Realities: By the early eighteenth century, mercantilist assumptions did not align with the economic realities of the colonies. For example, Spain couldn't supply enough goods to South America, and British North American colonies' production challenged English manufacturing.
Smuggling: Due to the desire to trade more freely and the inefficacy of government control, the eighteenth century saw a rise in smuggling, termed the "golden age of smugglers."
Conflicts: Economic and territorial clashes among colonists and between settlers and indigenous peoples led to conflicts between European governments.
8.2.2 French–British Rivalry
Major flash points between France and Britain in North America included the lower Saint Lawrence River valley, upper New England, and the Ohio River valley.
Rivalries also arose over fishing rights, the fur trade, and alliances with Native Americans, who used these rivalries to their advantage.
The heart of the eighteenth-century colonial rivalry was in the West Indies, where plantations produced tobacco, cotton, indigo, coffee, and especially sugar.
Sugar became a staple in European daily life, used in coffee, tea, cocoa, candy, fruit preservation, and brewing, leading to high consumer demand and significant profits for plantation owners.
The profitable cultivation of these products relied heavily on African slave labor.
In India, French and British rivalries were marked by the activities of the Compagnie des Indes and the East India Company, which held legal trade monopolies.
European footholds in India were trading posts called factories, established through privileges granted by Indian governments under the weakening Mughal Empire.
The mid-eighteenth century saw weakened Indian state administrations and a power vacuum, which Joseph Dupleix for the French and Robert Clive for the British exploited to increase control over their companies.
Both companies began to take over the government of some regions to maintain security and expand privileges, aiming to outmaneuver each other.
The Dutch maintained their commercial empire in Indonesia, with other European powers acknowledging Dutch predominance in the region.
8.3 The Spanish Colonial System
Spanish colonial organization had two main aspects: government and monopolistic trade regulation.
The government structure appeared rigid but was often informal in practice.
The trade monopoly was frequently breached despite its strict appearance.
The primary goal of the Spanish Empire until the mid-eighteenth century was to supply Spain with precious metals from the New World.
8.3.1 Colonial Government
Queen Isabella of Castile commissioned Columbus, establishing a legal link between the New World and Spain through the crown of Castile.
The Castilian monarch had extensive powers both in Spain and America, with few limitations.
The government of America was assigned to the Council of the Indies by the Castilian monarch.
The Council of the Indies, along with the monarch, nominated the viceroys of New Spain (Mexico) and Peru.
Viceroys served as the chief executives in the New World, implementing laws issued by the Council of the Indies.
Power flowed from the top of the political structure downward, with minimal local initiative or self-government.
8.3.2 Trade Regulation
The colonial political structures supported Spanish commercial self-interests.
The Casa de Contratación (House of Trade) in Seville regulated all trade with the New World and was the most influential institution of the Spanish Empire.
The Casa worked closely with the Consulado (Merchant Guild) of Seville and other groups involved with American commerce in Cádiz, the only port authorized for American trade.
A complicated system of trade and bullion fleets administered from Seville maintained Spain’s trade monopoly.
The flota, a fleet of commercial vessels controlled by Seville merchants and escorted by warships, carried merchandise from Spain to specified ports in America and returned with silver and gold bullion.
The flota system was imperfect, but trade outside it was illegal.
Regulations prohibited Spanish colonists within the American Empire from establishing direct trade with each other and from building their own shipping and commercial industry.
Foreign merchants were forbidden to breach the Spanish monopoly.
Spanish ships continued to transport precious metals and coins from the Americas to Spain through the early nineteenth century.
Modern-day treasure hunters still occasionally discover troves of precious metal from shipwrecked vessels of the colonial Spanish Empire.
8.3.3 Colonial Reform Under the Spanish Bourbon Monarchs
The War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) and the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) replaced the Spanish Habsburgs with the Bourbon dynasty.
Philip V (r. 1700–1746) aimed to reinvigorate Spain’s imperial trade monopoly using French administrative skills.
Spanish coastal patrols under Philip V attempted to suppress smuggling, leading to war with England in 1739.
Philip V established the viceroyalty of New Granada to strengthen royal control in Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador.
Charles III (r. 1759–1788) was a key reformer who sought to reassert Spain’s control over its empire.
Charles III diminished the roles of the Council of the Indies and the Casa de Contratación, emphasizing royal ministers.
After 1765, Charles III abolished the trade monopolies of Seville and Cádiz, allowing other Spanish cities to trade with America.
He opened more South American and Caribbean ports to trade and authorized commerce between Spanish ports in America.
In 1776, Charles III organized the viceroyalty of Río de la Plata, covering present-day Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Bolivia.
Charles III introduced the institution of the intendant to improve tax collection and reduce bureaucratic corruption, modeled after French royal administration.
The Bourbon reforms stimulated the Spanish imperial economy, expanding and diversifying trade.
These reforms increased direct Spanish control over the empire, with many peninsulares taking profitable posts in the New World.
The economy remained export-oriented, benefiting Spain, which led to resentment among the creoles.
Creole discontent due to feeling like second-class subjects contributed to the wars of independence in the early nineteenth century.
The reforms of Charles III paralleled British colonial measures post-1763, which led to the American Revolution.
8.4 Black African Slavery, the Plantation System, and the Atlantic Economy
Slavery existed in Europe since ancient times without significant moral or religious opposition.
The Ottoman Empire's conquest of Constantinople in 1453 led to a ban on exporting white slaves but continued the enslavement and conversion of young Christian boys under the devşirme system.
The Portuguese imported African slaves to the Iberian Peninsula from the Canary Islands and West Africa.
African slaves were present in the Mediterranean and occasionally in northern Europe, often serving as personal servants in royal courts or wealthy homes due to their novelty.
From the sixteenth century, slave labor became crucial in the West Indies, Spanish and Portuguese South American settlements, and British North American colonies.
The rise of plantation economies based on slave labor increased interactions between Europeans and Africans, integrating Africa and Africans into the Western experience more than ever before.
8.4.1 The African Presence in the Americas
The Spanish and Portuguese faced a severe labor shortage in the New World and initially used Native Americans as laborers, but disease decimated the indigenous population.
To address the labor shortage, the Spanish and Portuguese turned to African slaves, a practice that was later adopted by English settlers in North America, particularly in the Chesapeake Bay region and the Carolinas.
The transatlantic slave trade was influenced by internal African warfare and state-building, with major sources of slaves being markets on the West African coast from Senegambia to Angola.
European slave traders encountered dynamic African societies with their own power relationships and rivalries, leading to Africans being sold as slaves by other Africans.
Far more slaves were imported into the West Indies and Brazil than into North America, with African slaves becoming a major social presence in these regions by the late sixteenth century.
The sugar plantations in the Caribbean were deadly, with high slave mortality rates necessitating a constant influx of new African slaves, sustaining the African cultural presence.
African labor and immigrant slave communities were prominent in the West Indies and Brazil, creating multiracial societies where African languages and cultures were prevalent.
In Spanish South America, the number of slaves declined in the late seventeenth century, but slavery expanded in Brazil and the Caribbean due to the demand for sugar in the European market.
By the close of the seventeenth century, the Caribbean islands became the world center for sugar production, requiring additional slaves during the eighteenth century.
The eighteenth century saw a significant increase in the number of Africans brought as slaves to the Americas, with most arriving in the Caribbean or Brazil.
The influx of new Africans brought African languages, religion, culture, and ethnic identities, which were absorbed into existing slave communities, creating a substantial African presence throughout the Americas.
8.4.2 Slavery and the Transatlantic Economy
Different nations dominated the slave trade at different times: Portuguese and Spanish in the sixteenth century, Dutch in the seventeenth century, and English in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. French traders also participated.
The transatlantic slave trade followed a triangular route: European goods (including guns) were exchanged for slaves in Africa, slaves were taken to the West Indies and traded for sugar and other goods, which were then shipped to Europe.
Another trade pattern involved New England trading fish, rum, or lumber for sugar from the West Indies.
Cities like Amsterdam, Liverpool, and Nantes, as well as Newport, Rhode Island, profited significantly from the slave trade.
The slave trade supported various sectors of the economy, including manufacturers of finished products, shippers of cotton, tobacco, and sugar, and shipbuilders.
Political turmoil in Africa, such as civil wars in the Kingdom of Kongo and unrest in the Gold Coast, increased the supply of slaves during the eighteenth century.
Warfare in West Africa and the economic development of the American Atlantic seaboard were closely related.
8.4.3 The Experience of Slavery
Nearly 12 million Africans were transported by Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, French, and English slave traders, marking the largest forced intercontinental migration in history.
The conditions of the transatlantic journey, known as the "Middle Passage," were extremely harsh, with many Africans dying en route.
More African men than women were transported, disrupting traditional family structures, though efforts were made to recreate these structures in the Americas.
The slave population in the Americas included newly arrived Africans, seasoned Africans, and creoles (descendants of earlier slaves), with plantation owners preferring seasoned slaves.
Newly arrived Africans underwent "seasoning," a process of forced reeducation to prepare them for slavery, which included receiving new names, learning new skills, and acquiring some knowledge of the local European language.
African slaves maintained elements of their culture and social structures, including language and religion, despite the isolating conditions of plantations.
African languages were initially predominant in many regions, and over time, dialects combining African and European languages emerged.
Shared African languages and cultural ties helped organize slave communities and facilitated communication during revolts, such as the South Carolina revolt (1739) and the Haitian Revolution (1790s).
Living conditions for slaves varied by colony, with Portuguese areas offering the fewest legal protections and Spanish colonies allowing for self-purchase and manumission.
British and French colonies developed slave codes that provided limited protection to slaves while ensuring the dominance of their owners.
Slaves faced harsh daily lives, including hard labor, poor diet, inadequate housing, and the constant threat of family separation.
Most African slaves were eventually converted to Christianity, with Roman Catholicism prevalent in Spanish, French, and Portuguese domains, and Protestantism in English colonies.
Conversion to Christianity often involved the forcible replacement of African cultural values, though some African religious practices persisted in muted forms.
Slavery in the Atlantic system was racial, with black Africans as slaves and white Europeans as masters, reinforcing racial prejudices and social hierarchies.
The Atlantic slave trade transformed religious understandings of difference into racial ones, with race becoming a key element in maintaining the subservience of black slaves.
The influence of plantation slavery extended beyond the Americas, affecting West Africa, Western Europe, and New England, and its legacy continues to impact societies today.
8.5 Mid-Eighteenth-Century Wars
Mid-eighteenth-century European wars often involved both continental and global conflicts due to the lack of principled commitment to peace among statesmen.
Statesmen believed warfare could further national interests, and there were no significant forces or powers advocating for peace.
Periods of peace were seen as opportunities to regain strength and prepare for future conflicts to seize territory or disrupt trading monopolies.
The two main areas of great power rivalry were the overseas empires and central and eastern Europe, with conflicts in these regions often overlapping and influencing strategies and alliances.
Key conflicts and treaties of the mid-eighteenth century include:
1713: Treaty of Utrecht
1739: Outbreak of War of Jenkins’s Ear between England and Spain
1740: Outbreak of War of the Austrian Succession
1748: Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ends War of Austrian Succession
1756: Convention of Westminster between England and Prussia
1756: Outbreak of Seven Years’ War
1757: Battle of Plassey
1759: British forces capture Quebec
1763: Treaty of Hubertusburg
1763: Treaty of Paris ends Seven Years’ War
8.5.1 The War of Jenkins’s Ear
By the mid-eighteenth century, the West Indies was a center of trade rivalry and illegal smuggling.
The Spanish government enforced its trading monopoly with coastal patrols that boarded and searched English vessels for contraband.
In 1731, during one such search, Spanish forces cut off the ear of English captain Robert Jenkins, who later preserved it in a jar of brandy.
The incident gained significance in 1738 when Jenkins presented his severed ear to the British Parliament, highlighting Spanish atrocities against British merchants.
British merchants and West Indian planters pressured Parliament to act against Spanish interference in their trade.
British Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole eventually succumbed to these pressures, leading Britain to declare war on Spain in late 1739.
The War of Jenkins’s Ear (1739–1748) was initially a minor conflict but escalated due to European political developments, becoming the first in a series of global European wars lasting until 1815.
8.5.2 The War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748)
In December 1740, Frederick II of Prussia seized the Austrian province of Silesia, disrupting the Pragmatic Sanction and the continental balance of power.
Maria Theresa, the new Habsburg ruler, preserved the Habsburg Empire by granting new privileges to the nobility and recognizing Hungary's local autonomy, despite losing Silesia.
The Prussian seizure of Silesia led to new political allegiances and prevented revolts by Habsburg subjects.
The War of the Austrian Succession and the British-Spanish commercial conflict were united by France's support for Prussia against Austria.
France's decision to support Prussia consolidated a new powerful state in central Europe and brought Great Britain into the continental war to protect the Low Countries.
The British-French conflict expanded into the New World in 1744, with France supporting Spain against Britain, leading to divided French military and economic resources.
The war ended in a stalemate in 1748 with the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, where Prussia retained Silesia, and Spain renewed Britain's privilege to import slaves into Spanish colonies.
8.5.3 The “Diplomatic Revolution” of 1756
The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle brought peace in Europe, but France and Great Britain continued to clash unofficially in the Ohio River valley and upper New England.
These clashes were the prelude to the French and Indian War, which formally began in the summer of 1755.
A dramatic shift in alliances occurred before the war resumed in Europe, influenced by events in North America.
British King George II, also the Elector of Hanover, feared a French attack on Hanover due to the conflict in America.
Frederick II of Prussia was concerned about a potential alliance between Russia and Austria.
In January 1756, Britain and Prussia signed the Convention of Westminster, a defensive alliance to prevent foreign troops from entering the German states.
This alliance marked a significant shift as Great Britain, previously allied with Austria, now joined forces with Austria's major enemy, Prussia.
The new alliance troubled Maria Theresa of Austria but pleased her foreign minister, Prince Wenzel Anton Kaunitz.
Kaunitz believed an alliance with France was Austria's best chance to defeat Prussia.
In May 1756, France and Austria signed a defensive alliance, reversing French foreign policy since the sixteenth century.
France would now support Austria in restoring its supremacy in central Europe.
8.5.4 The Seven Years’ War (1756–1763)
Frederick the Great's Initiation of the Seven Years' War:
In August 1756, Frederick II of Prussia invaded Saxony, initiating the Seven Years' War.
Frederick's invasion was a preemptive strike against a perceived conspiracy by Saxony, Austria, and France.
The invasion led to a coalition against Prussia, including France, Austria, Sweden, Russia, and smaller German states.
Prussia was saved by British financial aid and the death of Empress Elizabeth of Russia, whose successor, Tsar Peter III, made peace with Prussia.
The Treaty of Hubertusburg in 1763 ended the continental conflict without significant border changes, but Prussia emerged as a great power.
William Pitt's Strategy for British Victory in North America:
William Pitt the Elder, as secretary of state, directed substantial resources to support Frederick the Great and divert French attention from North America.
Pitt aimed to secure all of North America east of the Mississippi for Great Britain.
He mobilized over 40,000 troops against the French in Canada, achieving unprecedented cooperation with American colonies.
The British defeated the French at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759, leading to the collapse of the French Empire in Canada.
British forces also captured major French West Indies islands and secured the French slave trade.
In India, British forces under Robert Clive defeated French allies at the Battle of Plassey, paving the way for British dominance in Bengal and later the entire subcontinent.
The Treaty of Paris of 1763:
The Treaty of Paris concluded the Seven Years' War, with Britain gaining Canada, the Ohio River valley, and the eastern Mississippi River valley.
Despite Britain's battlefield victories, the treaty returned Pondicherry, Chandernagore, and the West Indian islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique to France.
The British East India Company began imposing its authority in India, marking the start of British global dominance.
The war significantly altered the balance of power in Europe, with Prussia solidifying its status and France's colonial influence greatly reduced.
The financial burdens of the war led to domestic crises and the need for increased revenues, impacting future conflicts and colonial policies.
8.6 The American Revolution and Europe
The American Revolution was influenced by transatlantic and European history, marking the decline of European colonial control in the Americas.
The revolt stemmed from revenue collection issues faced by major powers after the Seven Years' War.
The conflict between France and Great Britain continued, with French support for the colonists exacerbating France's financial and administrative problems.
Key Events Leading to the American Revolution:
1760: George III becomes king.
1763: Treaty of Paris ends the Seven Years' War.
1764: Sugar Act is enacted.
1765: Stamp Act is enacted.
1766: Stamp Act is repealed; Declaratory Act is passed.
1767: Townshend Acts are enacted.
1770: Boston Massacre occurs.
1773: Boston Tea Party takes place.
1774: Intolerable Acts are enacted; First Continental Congress convenes.
1775: Second Continental Congress convenes.
1776: Declaration of Independence is issued.
1778: France enters the war on the side of America.
1781: British forces surrender at Yorktown.
1783: Treaty of Paris concludes the American Revolution.
8.6.1 Resistance to the Imperial Search for Revenue
After the Treaty of Paris of 1763, the British government faced two main problems: the high cost of maintaining their empire and organizing the vast new territory in North America.
The British national debt had risen, and they believed the American colonies should help bear the cost of their protection and administration.
The new territory included land from the mouth of the Saint Lawrence River to the Mississippi River, inhabited by French settlers and Native Americans.
In 1764, the British passed the Sugar Act to increase revenue from imports into the colonies, with violators tried in admiralty courts without juries.
In 1765, the Stamp Act was passed, taxing legal documents and newspapers. The British saw these taxes as legal and fair, but the Americans argued only their colonial assemblies had the right to tax them.
The Stamp Act Congress met in October 1765 to protest, and groups like the Sons of Liberty incited disorder, leading to a boycott of British goods.
Parliament repealed the Stamp Act in 1766 but passed the Declaratory Act, asserting its power to legislate for the colonies.
The Stamp Act crisis set a pattern of British legislation, American resistance, and eventual repeal, escalating tensions and solidifying colonial ideas about political liberty.
8.6.2 The Crisis and Independence
In 1767, Charles Townshend led Parliament to pass revenue acts on colonial imports, which the colonists resisted.
British customs agents were sent to enforce the laws, and troops were deployed to Boston in 1768, leading to tensions.
In March 1770, British troops killed five citizens in the Boston Massacre.
Parliament repealed all Townshend duties except the one on tea in 1770.
The 1773 Tea Act allowed direct importation of tea to the colonies, lowering its price but retaining the tax, leading to the Boston Tea Party.
In 1774, the Intolerable Acts were passed, closing Boston's port, reorganizing Massachusetts' government, allowing troops in private homes, and moving trials of customs officials to England.
The Quebec Act extended Quebec's boundaries to the Ohio River valley, seen by Americans as a threat to their self-government.
Committees of correspondence were established to unite the colonies and address common problems.
The First Continental Congress met in September 1774 to seek restoration of self-government and end direct British supervision.
Clashes between colonists and British troops occurred in April and June 1775 at Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill.
The Second Continental Congress convened in May 1775, seeking conciliation but also starting to govern the colonies.
By August 1775, George III declared the colonies in rebellion.
Thomas Paine's pamphlet "Common Sense" in winter 1775-1776 galvanized support for independence.
A colonial army and navy were organized, and American ports were opened to all nations in April 1776.
The Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776.
Benjamin Franklin secured French support in early 1778, expanding the conflict to Europe; Spain joined in 1779.
The American Revolution ended in 1781 with Washington's victory over Cornwallis at Yorktown.
The 1783 Treaty of Paris recognized the independence of the thirteen American colonies.
8.6.3 American Political Ideas
The political ideas of American colonists were influenced by the seventeenth-century English struggle against Stuart absolutism.
The English Revolution of 1688 was seen by colonists as a source of their political liberties.
Colonists believed that measures imposed by George III and the British Parliament from 1763 to 1776 were attacks on their liberties, justifying their own revolution.
Whig political ideas, largely from John Locke, were part of the English ideological heritage influencing Americans.
The Commonwealthmen, including John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon, criticized government corruption and parliamentary management in early eighteenth-century Britain.
Commonwealthmen argued that government patronage, parliamentary taxation, and standing armies undermined liberty and were instruments of tyranny.
While these republican ideas had limited impact in Britain, many American colonists accepted them as true.
British policies post-1763, especially under George III, reinforced colonists' fears that the Commonwealthmen's warnings were being realized.
8.6.4 Events in Great Britain
George III believed the king should choose his own ministers and that Parliament should function under royal management.
George III appointed the Earl of Bute as his first minister in 1761, ignoring the great Whig families.
Between 1761 and 1770, George III tried several ministers, but none gained enough support in the House of Commons.
In 1770, George III appointed Lord North, who remained his first minister until 1782.
Powerful Whig families and political spokespersons accused George III of attempting to impose tyranny and curb aristocratic power.
John Wilkes, a political radical and member of Parliament, criticized Earl Bute’s handling of peace negotiations with France in his newspaper, The North Briton.
Wilkes was arrested but released after pleading parliamentary privilege; however, he was later expelled from Parliament and fled the country.
Wilkes returned in 1768, was reelected to Parliament multiple times, but was repeatedly refused a seat by the House of Commons.
Large demonstrations supported Wilkes, and "Wilkes and Liberty" became a slogan for political radicals and opponents of the monarch.
Wilkes was finally seated in 1774 after becoming the lord mayor of London.
The American colonists closely followed the Wilkes affair, which confirmed their fears of monarchical and parliamentary tyranny.
The colonial demand for no taxation without representation influenced British subjects who were also not directly represented in the House of Commons.
Both the American colonists and John Wilkes challenged the power of the monarch and Parliament, appealing to popular opinion and demonstrations.
The American colonists demonstrated how to fight tyranny and protect political liberty by establishing revolutionary political bodies like the congress and the convention.
The Yorkshire Association Movement, organized by Christopher Wyvil in 1778, demanded moderate changes in the corrupt system of parliamentary elections.
The Association Movement led to a resolution in 1780 to lessen the power of the crown and the abolition of some patronage in 1782.
In 1783, Lord North formed a ministry with Charles James Fox, and later, William Pitt the Younger managed the House of Commons with crown support.
By the mid-1780s, George III had reasserted the influence of the monarchy in political affairs, but his mental illness eventually weakened royal power.
The issue of popular sovereignty was widely discussed on both sides of the Atlantic, and British trade with America increased after independence.
8.6.5 Broader Impact of the American Revolution
The Americans demonstrated the possibility of government without kings and hereditary nobilities through their state constitutions, the Articles of Confederation, and the federal Constitution adopted in 1788.
They established a nation where the highest political authority was based on written documents founded on popular consent and sovereignty, rather than divine law, natural law, tradition, or the will of kings.
During the 1760s and 1770s, American colonists initially saw themselves as preserving traditional English liberties against a tyrannical crown and corrupt Parliament, eventually developing a new sense of liberty.
By the mid-1770s, the colonists had rejected monarchical government and embraced republican political ideals.
After adopting a constitution, Americans insisted on a Bill of Rights to protect civil liberties.
They rejected the aristocratic social hierarchy and embraced democratic ideals, asserting the equality of white male citizens before the law and in social relations.
White men rejected social status based on birth and inheritance, demanding liberty to improve their social and economic standing through free commercial activity.
Despite not addressing the rights of slaves, women, or Native Americans, the American Revolution produced a society that would eventually expand political and social liberty.
The American Revolution was a genuinely radical movement, influencing other peoples to question traditional European government modes as Americans moved across the continent.
The Chapter in Perspective
During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, West European maritime powers established commercial empires in the Americas to extract wealth and gain commercial advantage.
Spain had the largest empire, but by the end of the seventeenth century, Britain and France also had significant American presences.
The plantation economy in these empires relied heavily on slave labor, leading to significant African cultural influences in the regions.
In the eighteenth century, European powers engaged in wars over their American empires and power in India, which were linked to dynastic wars in Europe.
Britain, France, and Spain battled for commercial dominance in the New World, while France and Britain also clashed in India.
By the third quarter of the eighteenth century, Britain had ousted France from its major holdings in North America and India, while Spain maintained its colonial empire in Latin America.
On the European continent, France, Austria, and Prussia clashed over territorial and dynastic ambitions, with Britain using these wars to divert France from the colonial arena.
The mid-century conflicts led to significant changes in European states, with monarchies seeking more money and efficient governance.
Britain's attempt to tax the North American colonies led to the American Revolution and the colonies' independence.
The French monarchy's financial crisis, exacerbated by aiding the Americans, led to a clash with the nobility and eventually the French Revolution.
Spain's efforts to administer its Latin American empire more efficiently increased revolutionary discontent in the early nineteenth century.
Prussia, Austria, and Russia adopted Enlightened Absolutism in preparation for future wars, setting the stage for major political developments in the next half-century.
The Chapter in Review
Mercantile Theory: Focused on accumulating wealth through trade balance, colonies, and control of resources. It had mixed success; Britain was most successful, while Spain was least successful due to inefficient administration and resource management.
Britain and France Conflicts: Main conflicts in North America, the West Indies, and India over territorial control and trade dominance. The triangular trade involved the exchange of goods and slaves between the Americas, Europe, and Africa.
Spanish Colonial Empire: Organized with a rigid administrative structure. The Bourbon reforms aimed to centralize control, increase efficiency, and boost economic output.
Slavery in the Americas: Integral to the economies of the Americas, Europe, and Africa. The plantation system was unprecedented in scale and contributed to the brutal treatment of slaves due to its labor demands.
Seven Years’ War Results: Led to significant territorial changes and set the stage for future conflicts, including the American Revolution.
European Influence on American Colonists: Enlightenment ideas and political developments influenced American colonists, who in turn impacted European political thought. There was a relationship between American colonial radicals and British political radicals, sharing ideas and strategies.
The West and the World: The Columbian Exchange: Disease, Animals, and Agriculture
The European encounter with the Americas led to significant ecological transformations.
Ships carried Europeans, Africans, animals, plants, and germs to the New World, and similar exchanges occurred back to Europe and Africa.
This cross-continental flow of species and diseases is known as the Columbian exchange, a term coined by historian Alfred Crosby.
The encounter resulted in many tragedies, including the impact on indigenous populations and the creation of new nations and civilizations in the Americas.
Diseases Enter the Americas
The American continents were biologically isolated from Europe, Africa, and Asia for tens of thousands of years, with limited exceptions like the Vikings.
Native Americans had no major beasts of burden except for the llama, which could only carry about 100 pounds.
Native American diets were primarily plant-based, including maize, beans, peppers, yams, and potatoes, with minimal reliance on animal protein.
Native populations in the Americas did not experience major epidemics before European contact.
Columbus's second voyage in 1493 introduced new animals, plants, and diseases to the Americas.
European diseases, more than advanced weaponry, played a significant role in the conquest of Native American populations.
There is controversy over the pre-contact population sizes of Native Americans, but they were significant, especially in Mexico.
Diseases like smallpox, bubonic plague, typhoid, typhus, influenza, measles, chicken pox, whooping cough, malaria, and diphtheria caused massive deaths among Native Americans.
Native Americans were highly susceptible to these diseases due to lack of prior exposure and immunity.
Europeans had lower mortality rates from these diseases compared to Native Americans.
Diseases continued to affect Native Americans more severely than Europeans through the end of the 19th century.
Syphilis, which became widespread in Europe in the late 15th century, is believed to have been transmitted from the Americas by Columbus's crew.
Syphilis likely originated from a mutation of the yaws bacterium in the new European climate and remained a major public health issue until the discovery of penicillin in the 1940s.
Animals and Agriculture
The introduction of European livestock, such as pigs, cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, revolutionized agriculture in the Americas and Europe.
Horses played a crucial role in the Spanish conquest of Mexico and Peru, becoming central to colonial Latin American culture and later aiding Native Americans in resisting European settlers.
The proliferation of pigs, cattle, and sheep in the Americas led to significant economic exploitation, producing large quantities of hides and wool and supporting a protein-rich diet.
European plants, including peaches, oranges, grapes, melons, bananas, rice, onions, radishes, and green vegetables, were introduced to the Americas, with sugarcane driving the demand for slavery in the transatlantic plantation economy.
European wheat allowed the Americas to feed themselves and export grain, contrasting with the challenges Europeans faced in grain production.
The Americas introduced plants like maize, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peppers, beans, manioc, peanuts, squash, pumpkin, pineapple, cocoa, and tomatoes to Europe, significantly altering the European diet.
Maize and potatoes had the most transformative impact on Europe, becoming major staples due to their rapid growth and high yield.
Maize was quickly adopted in Spain and spread to Italy and France, primarily used as animal fodder and in dishes like polenta.
The potato, initially slow to be adopted, became a major food source in Scotland, Ireland, and parts of Germany by the eighteenth century, contributing to population growth in Europe.
The Irish potato famine in the mid-1840s, caused by an American parasite, led to mass starvation and migration, highlighting the potato's critical role in the diet of the poor.