Chapter 2 Notes: The Contest for North America, 1500-1664

Focus Questions

• How did France enter the competition for North America in the seventeenth century, and why did its vast empire of New France attract few French settlers?
  • Why was England slow to establish colonies in North America, and what factors finally propelled English expansion in the 1600s?
• How did England's Jamestown colony survive its disastrous early beginnings, and what were the sources and nature of conflict between Virginia colonists and the Powhatan Confederacy?
• What prompted the Dutch to establish a prosperous colony in New Netherland, and what features of New Netherland's economy and culture endured after its conquest by England?
• How was Native American society in North America transformed by the deepening encounter with European colonists on the continent?

2-1 France Finds a Foothold in Canada

• France’s late start in colonization
  • French monarchs preoccupied by foreign wars and domestic strife in the 1500s; major religious conflicts between Catholics and Huguenots (St. Bartholomew’s Day 1572).
  • Cartier’s initial forays up the St. Lawrence in the 1540s; attempted settlement there failed, but claimed Canada for France.
  • French fisheries and interior fur trade emerged early as economic footholds.
• Edict of Nantes (1598)
  • Granted limited toleration to French Protestants; end of Catholic-Protestant civil wars helps France focus outward in the new century.
• Louis XIV and the royal empire
  • Louis XIV’s long reign (1643–1715) underpinned ambitious overseas expansion; strong centralized authority and ministers shaped New France.
• Québec and Champlain (1608)
  • 1608: French seedling empire planted at Québec; Champlain (Samuel de Champlain) as leader and “Father of New France.”
  • Champlain’s diplomacy: allied with many Indigenous groups in the St. Lawrence valley; however, alliance with Hurons against Iroquois led to Iroquois–French enmity.
  • 1609 battle: Iroquois defeated by Champlain’s forces using “lightning sticks” (firearms) and allied Indigenous forces; long-term Iroquois hostility shaped colonial dynamics.
• Government and population of New France
  • French governance: royal regime after commercial companies faltered; autocratic, no representative assemblies, no trial by jury.
  • Population growth: slow; ~60,000 white settlers by 1750; landowning peasants in France limited emigration; religion and policy favored Caribbean colonies over Canada.
• The fur trade and Indigenous relations
  • Beavers as the prized resource; fur-trappers (coureurs de bois) and voyageurs linked to Indigenous peoples.
  • Indigenous involvement: many tribes recruited into fur trade; some communities suffered from disease, alcohol, and ecological disruption.
  • Routes and reach: beaver forests extended across the Great Lakes, into present-day Saskatchewan; French ambitions fed by fur trade profits.
• French exploration and empire-building efforts
  • Detroit (1701) founded to block British encroachment and guard the interior; La Salle’s 1682 expedition down the Mississippi to the Gulf, naming Louisiana after Louis XIV; murdered in 1687 by mutinous men (La Salle’s expedition).
  • French forts and trading posts: Kaskaskia, Cahokia, Vincennes in the Illinois country; New Orleans (1718) at the mouth of the Mississippi to control riverine trade.
  • Louisiana’s strategic purpose: to curb Spanish penetration and secure the interior trade routes.
• Ecological and cultural costs
  • Beaver depletion and ecological damage from fur trade expansion; Jesuit missionaries’ role: evangelization, exploration, and chronicling New France; some missionaries endured severe hardships.
  • French reliance on Indigenous allies contrasted with English patterns of settlement; Indigenous peoples leveraged European rivals to their advantage.

2-2 New France Fans Out

• Fur trade as the backbone of the New France economy
  • Coureurs de bois and voyageurs; rapid geographic expansion into the interior, including the Great Lakes and central plains.
  • Indigenous participants: Native American partners played crucial roles in hunting and trade; cultural exchanges and conflicts accompanied expansion.
• Impacts on Indigenous societies
  • Epidemics and alcohol introduced through contact; disruption of traditional religious and social systems.
  • Beavers’ ecological impact: heavy hunting altered landscapes and Indigenous subsistence patterns.
• Jesuit missions and cultural exchange
  • Jesuits labored to convert Indigenous peoples; some conversions occurred, but lasting religious changes were limited; Jesuits also served as explorers and geographers.
• French imperial ambitions in interior regions
  • Antoine Cadillac founded Detroit (1701) to block English expansion and to control interior fur routes.
  • Robert de La Salle’s Mississippi venture and the Louisiana claim; interplay with other European powers in Gulf and interior.
• New France’s strategic forts and the Illinois country
  • Forts and trading posts at Kaskaskia, Cahokia, Vincennes; role as an agricultural and logistical base for French control of interior waterways.
  • Grain from the Illinois country shipped down the Mississippi to feed enslaved labor on Caribbean sugar plantations and to Europe.
• Limits of the New France empire
  • Small population compared with English colonies; Louis XIV favored European continental goals over expansive New World settlement; reliance on Native alliances for defense and military action.

2-3 The Spanish in North America

• Early Spanish dominance and imperial wealth
  • The Spanish empire dominated much of the Americas; wealth from Mexico, Peru, and other colonies fueled inflation in Spain.
  • St. Augustine (1565): first permanent European settlement in North America; Gulf and Florida footholds.
• New Mexico and the Southwest
  • Santa Fe (1610) established as the capital of New Mexico; gateway into the North American interior; missionary focus in these regions.
  • New Mexico and California as missionary outposts rather than economic powerhouses; revenue drained from Spanish treasury but solidified sovereignty and religious influence.
• Florida and military strategy
  • Florida served to fortify Spanish claims against rival powers; military presence and missionary activity shaped regional dynamics.
• Interactions with Indigenous peoples
  • Pueblo peoples and other groups negotiated and sometimes resisted Spanish rule; missions altered social and economic structures but did not replicate the conquest pattern of the Caribbean.
• Overall impact
  • Spanish approach contrasted with French and English: missionary focus and imperial defense over aggressive colonization; limited economic exploitation in many northern regions compared to the Caribbean.

2-4 England's Imperial Stirrings

• The long road to colonization after the English–Spanish wars
  • England’s initial hesitation to colonize; internal rebellion and religious conflict (Protestant Reformation) shaped priorities.
  • Elizabeth I’s reign increased English confidence and maritime capability; public enthusiasm for exploration and profit grew after the Armada defeat.
• Elizabethan provocateurs and early expeditions
  • Sir Francis Drake and the era of English sea power; profits from loot and raiding Spanish possessions; Drake knighted by Elizabeth.
  • Newfoundland: first English colonial attempt, failed when Gilbert died (1583); Raleigh’s Roanoke venture (1585) ended mysteriously (Roanoke Colony “lost”).
• Armada and aftermath
  • 1588 Spanish Armada defeated; Protestant winds and naval resilience shift balance of power in Europe and the Atlantic.
  • Hakluyt’s advocacy for colonization; argument for English expansion following Armada victory.

2-5 Elizabeth Energizes England

• National mood and opportunities after the Armada
  • A flowering of English national spirit; Shakespeare and literature reflect a growing sense of destiny and confidence.
  • Peace with Spain in 1604 removed major barrier to colonization; interest in overseas empires grows.
• Economic and social factors driving colonization
  • Population growth in England: about 3 million in 1550 rising to about 4 million by 1600.
  • Enclosure and the surplus population: shepherding and enclosure of land pushed many small farmers off the land; unemployment and social tensions.
  • Joint-stock companies emerged as a way to fund risky ventures; Adventurers pool capital to spread risk.
• Motivations for colonization
  • Economic opportunity, search for markets, religious freedom, and national prestige.
• The stage is set for a major English colonial effort in the New World.

2-6 England on the Eve of Empire

• Demographic and economic shifts in early 1600s England
  • Rapid population growth; enclosure movement created a pool of restless men and women seeking new opportunities.
• The rise of the joint-stock company
  • Adventurers pooled resources to finance expeditions like the Virginia Company; early modern corporate governance shapes expedition funding.
• Structural factors enabling colonization
  • Political stability after peace with Spain; maritime technology and navigational advances; growing naval and merchant fleets.
• The push to North America
  • England’s experience with rebellion and survival abroad contributed to the willingness to plant colonies overseas.

2-7 England Plants the Jamestown Seedling

• The Virginia Company of London and its charter (King James I)
  • 1606: A charter granted to a joint-stock company to settle in the New World; host of prospects including gold and a route to Asia.
  • The charter guaranteed settlers the same rights as Englishmen at home, shaping colonial governance and later colonial grievances.
• Jamestown: strategic location vs. health risks
  • 1607: Three ships landed at Chesapeake Bay; established Jamestown on the James River to defend against Spanish attack.
  • Harsh conditions: malaria, disease, and famine; poor preparation and leadership—many investors sought quick wealth rather than long-term colonization.
• Early leadership and the turning point
  • Captain John Smith (1608) instituted the rule: "He who shall not work shall not eat."; essential for stabilizing the colony.
  • Pocahontas’ role: intermediary between Powhatan and settlers; her engagement with John Rolfe (marriage) provided a temporary peace.
• The Starving Time and relief
  • 1609–1610: Starving time; leaders and supplies decimated; relief arrives in 1610 under Lord De La Warr with a harsh regime and aggressive Native policy.
• Population and endurance
  • By 1625: Virginia had about 1,200 survivors from roughly 8,000 original adventurers; disease and famine shaped the colony’s development.
• Legacy of Jamestown’s founding document
  • Jamestown’s charter established fundamental English political and legal ideas in the colonies, foreshadowing later demands for rights and representation.
• Economic and social outcomes
  • Tobacco economy later sustains Virginia; early governance and relations with Native peoples lay groundwork for future colonial patterns.

2-8 Cultural Clashes in the Chesapeake

• Powhatan Confederacy and English relations
  • Powhatan’s Confederacy encompassed up to 24,000 people across ~100 villages; initial cautious diplomacy shifts to conflict as English demand increases.
  • Early peace vs. later warfare: Powhatan leaders attempted to balance relations but food raids and disease strained relations.
• Interracial marriage and diplomacy
  • Pocahontas’ marriage to John Rolfe in 1614 symbolized tentative peace; later violence undermined this union.
• The 1622 massacre and its aftermath
  • 347 settlers killed; English responses intensified; governance shifts toward punitive raids against Native groups.
• The 1644 Second Anglo-Powhatan War
  • A final push by Native Americans to dislodge the Virginians; defeated; 1646 peace treaty drew a fixed line between Native and white settlements.
• Long-term consequences for Native Americans in Virginia
  • Policy of dispossession and partitioning of lands; by 1669 census, Native population reduced to ~2,000; by 1685, Powhatans largely deemed extinct in Virginia.
• Economic and social factors driving dispossession
  • Native labor and land became central to colonial expansion; Indigenous peoples were displaced as European settlement advanced.

2-9 Old Netherlanders at New Netherland

• Dutch political and commercial strength in the seventeenth century
  • The Netherlands’ rise as a commercial and naval power; three Anglo-Dutch wars shape colonial dynamics in the Atlantic.
  • Dutch East India Company and Dutch West India Company as quasi-state actors with significant influence abroad.
• New Netherland and the fur trade
  • 1623–1624: New Netherland founded by the Dutch West India Company in the Hudson River Valley for rapid-profit fur trade.
  • Manhattan purchase: island bought from Native Americans; settlement built around a palisade; Wall Street derived from the wall.
  • New Amsterdam as a company town; religious toleration and nonconformists faced restrictions; Dutch Reformed Church dominant initially.
  • Diversity and urban culture: early arrivals included Jews (1654) and a multilingual populace; ports as cosmopolitan hubs.
• Governance and social structure
  • Directors-general governed harshly; limited local lawmaking body eventually established in response to colonist pressures.
  • Aristocratic and elite influence grew; patroonships granted to promoters for large landholdings and settlement requirements.
• Dutch–Native and Dutch–English tensions
  • Early conflicts with Indigenous groups and New England encroachment; Swedes establish New Sweden on the Delaware (1638–1655).
  • 1655 Dutch attack: Peter Stuyvesant leads a siege to topple New Sweden; Swedish rule ends; Delaware region absorbed into New Netherland.
• The Dutch exit and lasting impact
  • 1664: English seize New Netherland; New Amsterdam renamed New York; long-term Dutch cultural and architectural legacies persist (Harlem, Breuckelen, etc.).
  • The Dutch influence on place names, architecture, and cultural practices remains visible in the middle colonies.

2-10 The Native Americans’ New World

• Broad patterns of Indigenous disruption and adaptation
  • European colonization caused demographic collapse due to disease and warfare; inland tribes faced fewer immediate pressures but adapted to new realities.
  • The introduction of horses transformed some Plains tribes (e.g., Lakota Sioux) into mounted buffalo hunters.
• Disease, trade, and displacement
  • Old World pathogens devastated Native populations; epidemics disrupted social structures and knowledge transmission.
  • Firearms and European goods altered tribal power dynamics and competition for resources.
• Interactions and diplomacy with European powers
  • Indigenous groups navigated a complex web of alliances with French, English, and Dutch traders.
  • Some tribes attempted to negotiate terms and preserve autonomy by balancing European powers or forming regional coalitions.
• Examples of Native agency and resilience
  • The Algonquins in the Great Lakes area leveraged internal alliances to maintain influence against outsiders.
  • Intermarriage and cultural adaptation occurred as Europeans settled more densely in Indigenous territories.
• Direct violence and frontier justice
  • Conflicts frequently arose from misunderstandings of justice and sovereignty between Native and European legal norms (e.g., 1722 murder case leading to Treaty of Albany discussions).
• Long-term patterns
  • The era set the stage for later middle-ground diplomacy and ongoing displacement pressures that persisted into the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

2-11 Makers of America: The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois)

• Origins and political structure
  • The Haudenosaunee League (Iroquois Confederacy) united Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas in the Mohawk Valley.
  • Longhouse as a social and political unit: matrilineal kinship, with mothers’ families holding power; men dominated public roles, but status tied to matrilineal lines.
• Diplomacy and economy
  • The Iroquois served as middlemen and fur suppliers; alliance with European powers shifted between English and French depending on strategic interests.
  • External pressures reshaped internal politics, with the confederacy using diplomacy to maintain autonomy amid European colonization.
• The Confederacy’s growth and strategy
  • Mourning wars expanded Iroquois influence by adopting captives; the confederacy expanded as tribes joined through adoption or diplomacy.
• The impact of Europeans and the shifting balance of power
  • The arrival of muskets and European alliances profoundly altered Iroquois leverage; during the American Revolution, the Confederacy faced internal divisions and external pressures.
  • Post-Revolution: dispersed into Canada and western New York; reserve life and cultural revival movements emerged, including Handsome Lake’s Longhouse Religion (late 18th–early 19th centuries).
• Handsome Lake and religious renewal
  • Handsome Lake (c. 1799) delivered a moral reform movement that emphasized sobriety, education, and adaptation to life in a changing America; longhouse religion persisted into modern times.

2-12 The Native Americans’ New World (continued): Cultural Exchange and Contact Zones

• The dynamic between Native societies and European powers
  • Some Native communities engaged with multiple powers to maximize autonomy and resources.
  • Mixed marriages and cultural exchanges created a “middle ground” where European and Indigenous practices blended in limited contexts.
• Testament of Native autonomy and adaptation
  • Indigenous groups demonstrated resilience by adapting to new economic systems (fur trade, livestock introductions) while attempting to preserve core cultural identities.
• Notable cultural artifacts from contact
  • Images and portraits of Indigenous leaders by European artists reflect European attempts to understand Native polities; such depictions shaped European perceptions and policies.

2-13 Dutch Residues in New York

• Lasting Dutch influence in the middle colonies
  • Topography and settlement patterns retained Dutch character and governance in New York and neighboring areas.
• Cultural and architectural legacies
  • Gambrel roofs, place-names (Harlem, Breuckelen, Hellegat), and an enduring sense of urban cosmopolitanism in New York reflect Dutch heritage.
• Economic and political structure after conquest
  • English control introduced aristocratic landholding patterns (Livingstons, De Lanceys); rent-seeking and large estates persisted, shaping colonial politics and migration patterns.

2-14 The Native Americans’ New World (Final Reflections)

• The Atlantic world and Indigenous agency
  • Native Americans engaged with multiple European powers, seeking balance and survival through diplomacy, adaptation, and strategic alliances.
• The broader effects of contact
  • Diseases, firearms, and trade goods catalyzed profound cultural changes and redistributions of power across the continent.

2-15 Makers of America: The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) – Revisited

• The long-term legacy of the Iroquois Confederacy
  • The Five Nations (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca) shaped diplomacy and power in the region for generations.
• The Confederacy’s influence on later American history
  • The Iroquois history illustrates how Indigenous political systems could withstand and adapt to European pressures, albeit with long-term consequences.

2-16 Chapter Summary

• Spanish imperial dominance is challenged by France, England, and the Netherlands in the 1600s.
• New France grows through fur trading, missionary activity, and alliances with Indigenous peoples, but remains small in population and scope.
• The English Armada and the defeat of the Spanish Armada catalyze English colonization, culminating in Jamestown’s endurance and the tobacco economy.
• Jamestown experiences extreme hardship, but leadership (John Smith, Pocahontas, John Rolfe) stabilizes the colony and sets patterns for future English-Native American relations, including conflict and land dispossession.
• The Dutch establish New Netherland as a fur-trade hub; the English conquest of 1664 reshapes the Middle Colonies but leaves a lasting Dutch cultural imprint.
• Native American societies are dramatically transformed by disease, trade, and new technologies, while certain groups—like the Iroquois—navigate a complex diplomatic landscape to preserve autonomy.

Key Terms to Know

• Huguenots
• Edict of Nantes
• coureurs de bois
• voyageurs
• joint-stock company
• Virginia Company
• Powhatan
• Pocahontas
• Lord De La Warr
• Jamestown
• First/Second Anglo-Powhatan War
• New Netherland
• Iroquois Confederacy
• Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca
• patroonships
• Handsome Lake
• Longhouse religion

Chronology Highlights

• 1534–1542: Cartier’s explorations and early French claims
• 1558: Elizabeth I becomes queen
• 1565: St. Augustine established (Spanish)
• 1572: St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre (France)
• 1598: Edict of Nantes
• 1604: Peace between Spain and England; James I becomes king
• 1607: Jamestown founded
• 1608: Québec founded by Champlain
• 1609: Hudson River exploration by Henry Hudson (Dutch)
• 1610: Santa Fe established (New Mexico); Lord De La Warr arrives in Virginia
• 1614: Pocahontas–John Rolfe marriage; First Anglo-Powhatan War ends
• 1622: Powhatan attacks killing 347 settlers
• 1624: Virginia becomes royal colony; Dutch found New Netherland
• 1628: Dutch capture Spanish treasure ships (New World raids)
• 1644–1646: Second Anglo-Powhatan War and peace treaty
• 1664: England seizes New Netherland; New Amsterdam becomes New York
• 1682: La Salle names Louisiana; 1718: New Orleans founded
• 1710s–1799: Iroquois political and social evolution; Handsome Lake (1799) and Longhouse Religion

Connections to Earlier Principles and Real-World Relevance

• The chapter shows how European powers used trade, religion, and military leverage to establish footholds in North America, shaping the continent’s demographic and political map.
• It highlights the central role of ecology (beaver, land use, disease) in determining settlement patterns and Indigenous futurities.
• The narrative demonstrates that Native American diplomacy, warfare, and cultural exchange were not passive backdrops but active determinants of colonial strategy and outcomes.
• The era establishes enduring themes: the rights of Englishmen in colonial governance, land and labor systems, and the long-term consequences of European colonization for Indigenous peoples.

Connections to Ethical, Philosophical, and Practical Implications

• Ethical: The encounters reveal a history of violence, coercion, and dispossession of Indigenous peoples, along with episodes of diplomacy and mutual accommodation.
• Philosophical: The encounter reframes concepts of sovereignty, consent, and governance across different political cultures (matrilineal Iroquois versus European patriarchal states).
• Practical: The century-long patterns of colonization, trade, and alliance-building laid foundations for later conflict and cooperation in the North American landscape.

Notable Figures and Concepts to Remember

• Champlain – Father of New France; strategic alliances and battles with Iroquois
• Samuel de Champlain – Québec founder (1608); “Father of New France”
• Louis XIV – French monarch who shaped overseas colonial policy
• Jacques Cartier – Early French explorer claiming Canada
• Henry Hudson – Dutch exploration; Hudson River voyage (1609)
• Peter Stuyvesant – Dutch director-general who surrendered New Amsterdam (1664)
• Peter de La Warr – Virginia’s governor who imposed military discipline in 1610
• Pocahontas – Intermediary between Powhatan and English; marriage to John Rolfe
• John Rolfe – Tobacco cultivation in Virginia; marriage to Pocahontas
• Handsome Lake – Iroquois spiritual revival movement (late 18th–early 19th c.)

Map/Image References (as context for geography and culture)

• Image 2.1 Champlain Found Québec (1608) – diplomacy and Iroquois relations
• Image 2.2 Québec scenes – European trade goods influence on Native attire
• Map 2.1 France’s Empire at its Greatest Extent (1700)
• Map 2.2 French Claims and Settlements (1715)
• Map 2.4 Early Settlements in the Middle Colonies (1600–1653)
• Image 2.4 New Amsterdam 1664 view
• Image 2.3 Elizabeth I portrait – era of English naval confidence
• Image 2.11 “Indian King” portrait – European attempts to depict Indigenous rulers
• Image 2.12 The Longhouse reconstruction – Iroquois culture

Chapter Summary (Condensed)

• The Spanish Empire dominates initially; later, France, England, and the Netherlands challenge Spain’s supremacy in the 1600s.
• New France grows through the fur trade and missionary work; its governance is autocratic and its population remains relatively small.
• After the Armada’s defeat, England intensifies colonization efforts, culminating in Jamestown’s endurance and the emergence of English colonial governance.
• Jamestown experiences severe hardships but sets patterns of governance, labor, and relations with Native Americans that echo through American history.
• English and Dutch colonial ventures reshape the middle colonies and leave a lasting cultural and architectural imprint.
• Native Americans experience profound disruption but also adaptations and resilience, with the Iroquois Confederacy playing a central diplomatic and military role.

Chronology Snapshots (selected)

• 1572: St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre (France)
• 1588: Spanish Armada defeated
• 1607: Jamestown founded
• 1608: Québec founded
• 1610: Santa Fe established; New Mexico becomes a gateway
• 1622: Powhatan attacks in Virginia
• 1624: Virginia becomes royal colony; New Netherland founded
• 1664: New Netherland seized by England; renamed New York
• 1682: La Salle names Louisiana; 1718 New Orleans founded
• 1799: Handsome Lake (Iroquois spiritual revival)

People to Know (selected)

• Elizabeth I, James I, Francis Drake, Pocahontas, John Rolfe, Powhatan, Champlain, Henry Hudson, Peter Stuyvesant, Handsome Lake, Hiawatha, Huguenots, Edict of Nantes, Jamestown

Additional Learn More

• Ira Berlin, Many Thousands Gone
• Colin G. Calloway, New Worlds for All
• Pekka Hämäläinen, Indigenous Continent
• Jaap Jacobs, The Colony of New Netherland
• Carolyn Podruchny, Making the Voyageur World
• Alan Taylor, American Colonies