Chapter 2: Colliding Cultures

Spanish America

• Spain extended its reach in the Americas after reaping the benefits of its colonies in Mexico, the Caribbean, and South America
  • They wanted to establish religious and economic dominance in a new territory

Juan Ponce de León

• Juan Ponce de León arrived in the area of La Florida in 1513 and oversaw the decimation of Florida’s indigenous population (via war, slave raids, or foreign disease)
  • Spanish colonizers frequently fought with Florida’s Native peoples as well as other Europeans (namely the French)

Juan de Oñate

• In 1598, Juan de Oñate led 400 men into New Mexico, marking the bloody beginning of the Spanish Southwest
• Oñate led the sacking of the pueblo city of Acoma (the “sky city”), with the Spaniards slaughtering nearly half of its ~1500 inhabitants
  • Oñate ordered one foot cut off every surviving male over the age of 15 and enslaved the remaining women and children

Missionaries

• Missionaries became the engine of colonization in North America
  • Catholicism had justified Spanish conquest in the past, and this continued in America

Spain’s Rivals Emerge

• Reports of Spanish atrocities spread throughout Europe and provided a humanitarian justification for European colonization
• The Spanish accused their critics of fostering a “Black Legend” (a sustained trend of biased reporting and writing directed at one individual, group, or nation)
• It was argued that Spain was foiling an opportunity for the expansion of Christianity

The French

• French colonization developed through investment from private trading companies
  • The need for the fur trade built the foundations of French colonization
  • French fur traders put more of an emphasis on cooperating with indigenous people than on establishing a successful French colonial footprint (asserting dominance)
• The French preference for trade over permanent settlement fostered more mutually beneficial relations with Native Americans than was typical among the Spanish and English
  • There was intermarriage and mixed offspring

The Dutch

• The Netherlands achieved considerable colonial success, despite their size
• Ravaged by the turmoil of the Reformation, the Dutch embraced greater religious tolerance and freedom of the press than other nations
• The Netherlands built its colonial empire through the work of experienced merchants and skilled sailors
• The Dutch were careful not to repeat Spanish atrocities and sought to profit, not conquer
  • Trade with Native peoples became New Netherlands’ central economic activity
• The West India Company directors implemented the patroon system to encourage colonization
  • It granted large estates to wealthy landlords, who would pay for passages for the tenants who would work their land
• As Dutch settlements expanded, their relations with local Native Americans deteriorated
• The enslavement of African-Americans created problems relating to the morality of forced bondage

The Portuguese

• The wealth flowing from New Spain piqued the rivalry between the two Iberian countries of Spain and Portugal, creating a crisis within the Catholic World
• The pope divided the New World with the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494
  • Land east of the Tordesillas Meridian (an imaginary line dividing South America) would be given to Portugal, while west of the line was given to Spain
  • In return, Portugal and Spain were instructed to treat the natives with Christian compassion and to bring them under the protection of the Church
• By 1530 the Portuguese turned their attention to the land that would become Brazil, driving out French traders
  • Two industries powered early colonial Brazil: sugar and the slave trade
  • High mortality rates on sugar plantations required a steady influx of new enslaved laborers, perpetuating the cultural connection between Brazil and Africa while also increasing the likelihood of resistance
    • Those who escaped slavery created free settlements called quilombos
• Strong elements of African and Native spirituality mixed with orthodox Catholicism to create a unique religious culture

English Colonization

• After Elizabeth I assumed the English crown in 1558 she oversaw England’s “golden age”, which included the expansion of trade and exploration
  • English mercantilism was a state-assisted manufacturing and trading system that created and maintained markets
• However, as the English population skyrocketed, it brought social and economic hardships
  • Eventually, the public supported colonization
• English colonization looked different than Spanish or French colonization, with the English seizing land through violence and pushing out the inhabitants (leaving them to move elsewhere or die)

Jamestown

• Although Jamestown was in a good location strategically, the location itself was a disaster
  • Indigenous people had ignored the peninsula for two reasons: agriculture was hampered by terrible soil, and cracking tidal water had led to disease
• Because Jamestown was a profit-seeking venture, the colonists were mostly gentlemen looking for easy riches who were unprepared for the challenges they would face
• The Powhatans kept the English alive by welcoming them and trading with them, but as those relationships deteriorated so did the colony
• Tobacco changed everything, saving Virginia from ruin
  • It incentives further colonization and laid the groundwork for what would become the United States

New England

• Puritans dominated the politics, religion, and culture of New England
  • The Puritans believed that the Church of England did not distance itself enough from Catholicism and also believed in predestination
  • Puritans were stereotyped by their enemies as dour killjoys

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