Haudenosaunee and The English

New - Netherlands and the Haudenosaunee

  • dutch traders arrive 1614
  • trade alliance with Mohawks (part of Haudenosaunee)   * cheaper, better goods, more guns   * Haudenosaunee power grows
  • contested borderland between french/huron and dutch/haudenosaunee alliances   * escalating war between long time native enemies   * trade, disease, guns, and access to global markets transform Native conflicts

Haudenosaunee Mourning Wars, 1648-50

  • haudenosaunee mourning wars waged to take captives to replace lost kin
  • 1600s, heavy haudenosaunee losses to diseases
  • launch massive series of mourning wars against Huron and others, 1648-50
  • haudenosaunee territory expands; rival groups displaced or absorbed

The English: Fashionably Late

  • social and political turmoil in 16th century   * protestant reformation   * population boom   * “enclosure of land”     * private estates replace shared-use feudal system     * displaced peasants flood cities   * low wages, high land prices, widespread poverty
  • new merchant class eager to start colonizing   * the “west country men” leading promoters
  • mercantile capitalism emerges   * private colonial ventures backed by the crown   * joint stock companies: share risks among many investors with Crown backing
  • false-starts through late 1500s
  • peace with spain 1604 widens opportunities

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