Elizabeth I: Consolidating Power, Driving Exploration, and Defeating the Spanish Armada
Elizabeth I: Economic Strategy and Conflict with Spain
Elizabeth's Religious Settlement and New Priorities
Elizabeth's religious settlement provided stability, allowing her to focus on other national endeavors.
This stability enabled her to concentrate on exploration and colonization efforts.
Innovative Economic Strategy: Joint-Stock Companies
Elizabeth needed to raise significant funds for exploration and colonization.
She devised an ingenious method: selling stock in "adventures" or companies, a precursor to modern corporations.
This meant individuals (stockholders) invested in these colonial ventures.
Risk Sharing: If a business was successful, stockholders received a portion of the profit; if unsuccessful, the stockholder bore the loss, not the country.
Many corporations were established, and stock was sold even before literal flag-planting or settlement occurred.
Examples of Joint-Stock Companies
The Virginia Company:
A real historical entity, referenced in the Pocahontas movie.
The English knew of the New World's existence, but needed funds and ability to colonize.
Stock sales provided capital for colonization efforts.
Profitability: Tobacco cultivation in Virginia proved highly profitable, generating significant returns for shareholders.
The Plymouth Company:
The Pilgrims, associated with Thanksgiving, were intended for Virginia.
A storm blew them off course to Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
Unprofitability: Cape Cod lacked products desirable to Europeans, leading to financial losses for shareholders.
The Hudson Bay Company:
Located in Canada, it achieved great success through trading furs and lumber.
Enduring Legacy: Still exists today as a chain of department stores in Canada, known colloquially as "The Bay," a large national retailer.
The British East India Company:
Established during Elizabeth's reign to compete with Portuguese trade routes to India.
Future Significance: Played a crucial role in the era of imperialism, eventually running India as a profit-focused business rather than a governing body.
Business Model: It prioritized profit, often skimping on security, and controversially hired and armed local natives for defense, leading to future rebellions.
Profitability: Became immensely profitable, making India Great Britain's number one colony due to its large population and ability to generate revenue.
Deterioration of Anglo-Spanish Relations
With new wealth from these ventures, Elizabeth also funded national defense and expansion, primarily leading to conflict with Spain.
Elizabeth's "Virgin Queen" Status:
She never married, dedicating herself fully to her country ("married to her country").
She strategically flirted with eligible European heads of state, including her former brother-in-law Philip II of Spain, to secure political advantages, then withdrew, angering Philip.
English Piracy (Sea Dogs):
During Elizabeth's reign, Spain was the dominant global power, extensively extracting gold and silver from its colonies.
Elizabeth instructed her admirals (e.g., Sir Walter Raleigh) to act as "sea dogs" – sanctioned English pirates – to attack Spanish treasure ships, steal their wealth, and then dispose of the ships.
Successful pirates were rewarded and knighted, further infuriating Philip II.
Support for Dutch Rebels:
Spain owned the Netherlands, where a Calvinist rebellion was underway.
Elizabeth, despite being Protestant (not Calvinist), supported these Dutch rebels against Catholic Spain.
This direct intervention in Spanish territory deeply angered Philip II.
The Spanish Armada ()
Philip II's Response: Incensed by English actions, Philip ordered the construction of a massive armada (a large fleet of ships) to invade England.
Philip's Plan: His strategy was to destroy the smaller English navy, land troops on English soil, and then force Elizabeth to abdicate, marry him, or be killed.
Elizabeth's Preparation: English spies kept Elizabeth informed of the years-long construction of the Spanish Armada, allowing her to prepare her own fleet.
The Conflict:
Spanish Fleet: Consisted of new, large, and powerful ships, but they were less maneuverable. Their plan was to anchor in the English Channel and bombard English ships from a distance.
English Fleet: Fewer and smaller ships, but significantly more maneuverable.
English Strategy: The English deployed "fire ships" – vessels laden with tar and highly flammable naphtha, creating unquenchable chemical fires. These were sailed into the densely packed Spanish crescent formations.
Outcome: The Spanish panicked, cut their moorings, and broke formation. A severe storm then intervened, scattering and blowing the surviving Spanish ships into the North Sea, preventing any invasion of England.
Consequences: Most Spanish ships were destroyed in subsequent storms during their retreat around Scotland and Ireland; very few made it back to Spain. This marked the definitive decline of Spain as a world power.
Elizabeth's Triumph: She claimed credit for this victory, solidifying her status as a beloved and successful wartime leader. The defeat of the Armada heralded England's rise as a global power.
Elizabeth's Later Reign and Legacy
Unprecedented Popularity: Towards the end of her reign, Elizabeth was more popular than ever.
Renaissance Flourishing: The full blossoming of the English Renaissance, including the early plays of William Shakespeare (whom Elizabeth admired and attended to his plays), occurred during her later years.
Puritan Challenge:
A significant challenge in her later years came from the Puritans, who gained a majority in Parliament.
The Puritans wanted to "purify" the Church of England, believing it retained too many Catholic elements.
Constitutional Power: Parliament, controlling the national purse (a legacy of the Magna Carta), could grant or withhold funds, forcing the monarch to engage with its demands.
Succession and Mary, Queen of Scots:
Elizabeth ordered the execution of her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots, after intercepting correspondence between Mary and Spain that guaranteed Mary the English throne if anything happened to Elizabeth.
Despite their animosity and never having met, Elizabeth and Mary, Queen of Scots, were eventually buried side-by-side in Westminster Abbey.
Successor: James VI of Scotland (James I of England):
Mary's son, James, King of Scotland (who also never met Elizabeth), inherited the English throne upon Elizabeth's death.
He faced the monumental task of succeeding a highly popular queen, a challenge compounded by his Scottish origin and the cultural differences between the English and Scots. His reign would be marked by a lack of respect from the English.