Unit 2.4-2.5: Transatlantic Trade and European-Native American Interactions

Topic 2.4: Transatlantic Trade

Introduction

• Crucial Role of Partnerships: The transatlantic slave trade to the New World would have been impossible without complex business partnerships between African elites and European traders. As stated by Henry Louis Gates Jr. in "Ending the Slavery Blame-Game," New York Times, 2010.

• Learning Objective: Explain the causes and effects of transatlantic trade over time.

• European Motivation: While colonists had various reasons for settling in the Americas (e.g., religious freedom, wealth), European nations viewed colonies as a means to increase their power through transatlantic trade.

Triangular Trade

• Route Description: Merchant ships routinely followed a three-part, or triangular, route connecting North America, Africa, and Europe.

• Typical Voyage Example (New England focus):

  1. First Leg: A ship departing a New England port carried rum across the Atlantic to West Africa. There, the rum was traded for hundreds of captive Africans.

  2. Second Leg (Middle Passage): The ship then embarked on the brutal and horrendous Middle Passage. Africans who survived this voyage were traded in the West Indies for sugarcane.

  3. Third Leg: Completing the final side of the triangle, the ship returned to a New England port where the sugar was sold to be processed into rum.

• Variations: Routes sometimes included stops in England or Spain.

• Profitability: Every trade, particularly in enslaved people, provided substantial profit for the slave-trading entrepreneur.

• Monopoly Shift in English Slave Trade:

  • $17^{th}$ Century: Initially monopolized by the Royal African Company (RAC).

  • Late $17^{th}$ Century: The RAC struggled to meet the escalating demand for enslaved Africans by colonial planters.

  • Parliamentary Action: Parliament consequently ended the RAC's monopoly, opening the lucrative business to New England merchants.

Colonial Triangular Trade Routes (Map Analysis)

• Visual Representation: Illustrated the interconnectedness of North America (New Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Norfolk, Charlestown), West Indies (Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola), Africa, and Europe (England, Portugal, Spain).

• Key Exchange Flows:

  • From England to Colonies: Manufactured goods.

  • From Colonies to England: Tobacco, furs, indigo, naval stores, fish, rice, meat.

  • From New England to West Africa: Rum.

  • From West Africa to West Indies (Middle Passage): Gold, enslaved people.

  • From West Indies to New England: Sugar, molasses.

  • From Colonies to Europe (e.g., Portugal, Spain): Flour, fish, furs, meat.

• Geographic Scale: The map indicated a scale of $1,000$ Miles and $1,000$ Kilometers, showcasing the vast distances covered.

Mercantilism and the Empire

• Mercantilism Defined: The dominant economic theory among most European kingdoms in the $17^{th}$ century. It held that a country's wealth was determined by how much more it exported than it imported.

• Government Policies: Governments actively promoted the sale of goods to other countries and discouraged purchases through means like tariffs.

• Purpose of Colonies: In a mercantilist system, colonies existed solely to enrich the parent country by providing raw materials to fuel its industries.

• Implementation: Spanish and French rulers adopted mercantilist policies from the outset of colonization. England began applying them after the end of the English Civil War in $1651$.

Acts of Trade and Navigation

• English Policy: England's government implemented its mercantilist policy through a series of Navigation Acts between $1650$ and $1673$.

• Three Rules for Colonial Trade:

  1. Shipping Restrictions: Trade to and from the colonies could only be carried by English or colonial-built ships, operated exclusively by English or colonial crews.

  2. Import Routing: All goods imported into the colonies (with the exception of some perishables) had to pass through ports in England.

  3. Enumerated Goods: Specific, or “enumerated,” goods from the colonies could only be exported to England. Tobacco was the original enumerated good, and the list significantly expanded over time.

Impact on the Colonies

• Mixed Effects: The Navigation Acts had both beneficial and detrimental impacts on the colonies.

• Benefits:

  • Shipbuilding Boost: Aided New England's shipbuilding industry.

  • Tobacco Monopoly: Provided Chesapeake tobacco a guaranteed market (monopoly) in England.

  • Military Protection: Offered English military forces to protect the colonies from potential attacks by the French and Spanish.

• Unaffected Area: The triangular slave trade connecting the colonies and Africa was largely untouched by these increased regulations.

• Disadvantages:

  • Economic Stagnation: Severely limited the overall development of the colonial economy.

  • High Manufactured Goods Prices: Colonists were forced to pay high prices for manufactured goods from England, as they were prohibited from manufacturing their own.

  • Low Crop Prices: Chesapeake farmers, restricted to selling their crops only to England, had to accept low prices.

    • Example: In the $1660s$, high tobacco production led to low prices, causing hardship in Maryland and Virginia. When Virginia's House of Burgesses attempted to raise tobacco prices, London merchants retaliated by increasing the prices of goods exported to Virginia.

Continued Trade with American Indians

• Ongoing Contact: Colonists continued to trade with American Indians for furs, food, and other goods, fostering continuous interaction between settlers and the indigenous population.

• Cultural Exchanges: This contact led to cultural exchanges, especially along the western frontier of the colonies.

  • Examples: Some Indians adopted Christianity, and some colonial men married Indian women. Intermarriage was uncommon, and such couples almost always resided in the Indian community rather than the settler community. The famous marriage of Pocahontas and John Rolfe in Virginia was a rare exception of an Indian-settler couple living in Jamestown.

Enforcement of the Acts

• Theory vs. Practice: While mercantilist theory demanded strict enforcement of trade regulations, the reality was often quite different.

• Salutary Neglect: England typically adopted a lax enforcement policy known as salutary neglect.

• Factors Hindering Enforcement:

  1. Geographic Distance: The vast Atlantic Ocean separated the British government from the colonies, making it challenging to exert authority from London over distant possessions.

  2. Internal British Turmoil: From $1642$ to $1763$, England faced constant internal and external problems, including the English Civil War, a revolution replacing the monarch, and four wars with France, diverting attention from colonial trade regulation.

  3. Corruption: British colonial agents were frequently corrupt, allowing colonial merchants to easily evade regulations through well-placed bribes.

• Retrospective View: In hindsight, some argue that strict regulation might not have been necessary, as England and its colonies were natural trading partners due to close economic and cultural ties. The colonies, with abundant natural resources, would likely have sold most goods to the English regardless of regulations.

The Dominion of New England

• Crown's Interventions: Occasionally, the English crown attempted to quash resistance to its trade laws.

  • $1684$: Massachusetts Bay's charter was revoked because it was a hub of smuggling activities. Such efforts, while intended to benefit England economically, often harmed English-colonial relations, as colonists resented the imposed regulatory laws.

• King James II's Reforms ($1685$):

  • Ascension: James II succeeded to the throne in $1685$, determined to strengthen royal control over the colonies.

  • Abolition of Assemblies: He sought to achieve this by combining colonies into larger administrative units and eliminating representative assemblies.

  • Creation of Dominion: In $1686$, he established the Dominion of New England, which grouped New York, New Jersey, and the various New England colonies.

  • Governor Sir Edmund Andros: Sent from England to govern the dominion, Andros quickly became unpopular by levying new taxes, restricting town meetings, and revoking existing land titles.

• Overthrow of the King: James II's reign was short-lived.

  • Glorious Revolution ($1688$): His autocratic attempts led to an uprising, resulting in the Glorious Revolution of $1688$, which deposed James II and replaced him with William and Mary.

  • End of Dominion: James's fall brought about the dissolution of the Dominion of New England, and the colonies reverted to operating under their individual charters.

Ongoing Trade Tensions

• Persistence of Mercantilism: Despite the Glorious Revolution, mercantilist policies remained in effect.

• Continued Salutary Neglect: However, enforcement efforts were never consistent enough to be truly effective. Salutary neglect and colonial resistance to regulation persisted until $1763$.

• Fundamental Problem: While not the sole source of friction, trade regulation remained the fundamental point of contention between the colonists and England.

Key Terms by Theme (Transatlantic Trade)

• Royal Authority (WOR): triangular trade, mercantilism, Navigation Acts, Dominion of New England, Sir Edmund Andros, Glorious Revolution.

Topic 2.5: Interactions Between American Indians and Europeans

Introduction

• Historical Context: Nathaniel Philbrick's Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War (2006) notes that just $56$ years after the Mayflower's voyage, the Pilgrims' descendants had not only defeated the Pokanokets but had also taken conscious, methodical steps to purge the land of its people.

• Learning Objective: Explain how and why interactions between various European nations and American Indians changed over time.

• European Views: From the outset, Europeans viewed each other as rivals for power in the Americas. They generally regarded American Indians as inferior, suitable for forced labor or displacement from their lands, but also recognized them as potential allies in conflicts against other Europeans or rival American Indian tribes.

• Native American Responses: Surviving the devastating impact of European diseases, Native Americans defended their cultures and themselves.

  • Resistance: Some tribes unified to resist European encroachment.

  • Alliances: Others allied with specific European groups to fight against another European power or a traditional tribal rival.

    • Example: In $1626$, the Mahican Indians in southern New York persuaded Dutch settlers to join them in an attack on the Mohawk Indians.

Conflict in New England

• Threats in the $1640s$: The New England colonies faced constant threats of attack from American Indians, the Dutch, and the French.

• Lack of English Support: With England embroiled in its own civil war, the colonists anticipated minimal assistance from the mother country.

New England Confederation

• Formation ($1643$): Four New England colonies (Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, Connecticut, and New Haven) organized for mutual protection, forming a military alliance.

• Structure: The confederation was directed by a board comprising two representatives from each colony.

• Limited Powers: Its authority was limited to addressing boundary disputes, facilitating the return of runaway servants, and managing dealings with American Indians.

• Duration and Legacy: The confederation lasted until $1684$, dissolving due to colonial rivalries and renewed control exerted by the English monarch. Despite its relatively short lifespan (four decades), it set an important precedent for colonies collaborating for a common purpose.

Metacom's War (King Philip's War)

• Trigger ($1675-1676$): Occurred only a few years before the confederation's end, with the confederation playing a role in the colonists' victory. The war was ignited by English settlers encroaching on American Indian lands.

• Native American Unity: Metacom, a Wampanoag chief known to the colonists as King Philip, successfully united many tribes in southern New England.

• Divisions Among Native Americans: Some tribes, such as the Mohegans and the Pequots, supported the colonists due to their long-standing rivalries with the Wampanoag.

• Consequences: The conflict was devastating, with several villages burned, hundreds of people killed, and thousands injured.

• Outcome: Ultimately, the colonial forces, aided by their American Indian allies, prevailed, leading to Metacom's death and effectively ending most organized American Indian resistance in New England.

Conflict in Virginia

• Governor Sir William Berkeley: Served as royal governor of Virginia from $1641-1652$ and $1660-1677$. He exercised dictatorial powers, primarily governing on behalf of the powerful large planters in the region.

• Farmer Grievances: Berkeley alienated small farmers on Virginia's western frontier by failing to protect them from American Indian attacks.

Bacon's Rebellion

• Leader: Nathaniel Bacon, an impoverished gentleman farmer, capitalized on the frustrations of the western farmers to instigate a rebellion against Berkeley's government.

• Resentment: Bacon and his followers resented the concentrated control held by a small number of large planters in the Chesapeake area.

• Actions: In $1676$, Bacon raised an army of volunteers and launched a series of raids and massacres against American Indian villages on the frontier, some of whom had maintained friendly relations with the colonial government.

• Conflict with Authority: Jamestown's government, under Berkeley, accused Bacon of rebelling against royal authority.

• Rebellion's Climax: Bacon's army defeated the governor's forces and subsequently burned down the Jamestown settlement.

• Collapse: Soon after, Bacon died of dysentery, causing the rebel army to collapse. Governor Berkeley then suppressed the remaining insurrection, ordering the execution of $23$ rebels.

• Visual Representation: An $1895$ drawing for a history textbook depicts Bacon (center, left) confronting Berkeley (center, right), illustrating the dramatic confrontation.

Lasting Problems Highlighted by Bacon's Rebellion

• "Chesapeake Revolution": Though short-lived, Bacon's Rebellion (also known as the Chesapeake Revolution) starkly revealed enduring disputes within Virginia and most other colonies.

• Key Issues:

  • Class Differences: Pronounced class disparities between the wealthy elite and the landless or poor farmers.

  • Frontier Conflict: Persistent conflict on the frontiers between European settlers and American Indians.

  • Resistance to Royal Control: Growing colonial resistance to direct royal authority.

• Future Implications: These fundamental problems continued into the next century, even as conditions in the Chesapeake and other colonies generally stabilized and became more prosperous.

Spanish Rule and the Pueblo Revolt

• Spanish Economic Policy: Spain's economic strategy for its colonies was based on forcing Native Americans into labor through the encomienda system (as discussed in Topic 1.5).

• Religious Policy: Spain's Roman Catholic missionaries pursued an aggressive, often harsh, program aimed at converting Native Americans to Christianity.

• Pueblo Revolt of $1680$:

  • Cause: The immense pressure from these Spanish religious conversion efforts and forced labor led to the Pueblo Revolt.

  • Unity: Various Pueblo Indian tribes, including the Hopi and Zuni, united against the Spanish.

  • Consequences: Hundreds of people died in the fighting, and the Spanish were driven out of the area until $1692$.

  • Spanish Re-establishment: After regaining control in $1692$, the Spanish made significant accommodations to the American Indians in the region. By adopting a less harsh rule, they achieved greater stability in their colonial holdings.

Key Terms by Theme (Interactions Between American Indians and Europeans)

• Conflict (MIG): Wampanoag, Metacom, King Philip's War.

• Authority (PCE): Sir William Berkeley, Bacon's Rebellion, New England Confederation.