What’s similar and what’s different about the European empires in the Americas from 1450 to 1740?

The Spanish Empire:

• Latin America (central and south America)

• Spain conquered Aztec and Inca empires

  • “most wealthy, urbanized, and densely populated area of the Western Hemisphere”

• “New Spain” recreated Old Spain in America

  • commercial agriculture and gold/ silver mining

  • encomienda system organized society

  • social hierarchy: Peninuares, creoles, mestizos, Indians

British Colonies in North Americas:

• the leftovers of the new world

• why so different from Spain?

  • Britain had more religious and class conflict

  • British colonists wanted to escape British society

• settler colonies

  • over 90% of population of European origin

  • mostly small scale local farmers

  • no massive demand for slavery yet

What connected that of the Eastern and Western Hemispheres?

Good 1: silver

• who?

  • Spain in the Americas

  • China

  • other mixed groups

• Why?

  • Spain discovers a ton of silver in the New World

  • China starts collecting taxes in silver

  • increase in demand of silver

• Consequences:

  • America:

    • potosi becomes the biggest city in the west

    • wealthy Europeans live in luxury

    • natives work in deadly silver mines

• china:

  • economy becomes commercialized

  • massive deforestation due to cash crops

  • stays center of global trade

• Spain:

  • makes a ton of money

  • becomes most powerful European kingdom in 1600

  • later causes massive inflation across Europe

• manila in the Philippines becomes a global trade city

• Spanish piece of eight becomes first world-wide currency

  • source of the $ symbol

Good 2: fur

• who?

  • The British, French, and Russians in North America

  • Native Americas

• Why?

  • European population growth - over hunting

  • mini ice age

• how?

  • Europeans set up trading posts

  • trade with Native Americans

  • paid in guns, blankets, and alcohol

• consequences:

  • massive deforestation and loss of native animal populations

  • initially, Native Americans gain:

    • competition

    • profit

  • long term they lose:

    • massive waves of disease

    • deadly warfare

    • more dependent on European goods

    • epidemics of drinking and violence

Native Americans Resistance: the Iroquois Confederacy

• the Iroquois Confederacy- 5 Indian tribes the unite to stand together against invasions

  • one of the world’s oldest democracies

  • rose to power by trading beaver pelts to English and Dutch, and by waging war on other Native Americans

• As British and French came to power, the confederacy kept them under their control

  • established control between New York and Great Lakes

  • got the British to meet for political conferences and recognize their power

  • inspired the American political system