Unit 2

2.2

Spain: Power & Control

  • Goal: Extract wealth (gold, silver, cash crops) through authoritarian control.

  • Tactics:

    • Subjugation of Natives:

      • Encomienda System: Spanish crown granted land, compelling indigenous labor for wealth extraction in return for "protection" and "Christianization" (amounted to slavery).

      • New Laws (1542): Attempted to curb encomendero power and harsh treatment due to reformers like Bartolomé de las Casas, leading to its decline.

      • Hacienda System: Replaced encomienda as main labor system; encomenderos owned large land tracts, and indigenous laborers were tied to the land through debt.

    • Religious Conversion: Attempted to convert natives to Christianity, often forcefully, leading to cultural erasure.

      • Pueblo Revolt (1680): Indigenous resistance against Spanish religious coercion, destroying churches and re-establishing cultural customs.

    • Caste System: Created a social hierarchy based on "white blood," with pure-blooded Spanish at the top and indigenous/African peoples at the bottom, creating new racial categories in between.

French & Dutch: Partnership & Trade

  • Goal: Grow wealthy through trade partnerships.

  • French Tactics:

    • Focused on fur trade with indigenous groups (e.g., Huron people).

    • Established alliances and intermarried with Native Americans.

    • Few religious conversions, minimal use of force.

  • Dutch Tactics:

    • Explored by Henry Hudson, establishing New Amsterdam.

    • Formed alliances (e.g., with Iroquois) for trade, not for remaking indigenous societies.

    • New Amsterdam became a diverse, busy trading port.

British: Partition & Separation

  • Goal: Profit, but with a focus on separating from indigenous populations.

  • Motivations for Migration:

    • Economic Prosperity: Early colonies like Jamestown sought gold, later focused on cash crops like tobacco, with a strong emphasis on separation from natives.

    • Social Mobility: Younger sons, denied land inheritance in Britain, sought land and better social standing in the New World.

    • Religious Freedom: Puritans and Separatists (Pilgrims) fled religious persecution in England.

      • Pilgrims established Plymouth Bay (1620) to create a God-centered society, initially accepting native help but later seeking separation.

    • Improved Living Conditions: England's growing population and "enclosure laws" displaced poor, landless citizens, prompting migration for better opportunities.

  • Outcome: British colonies actively sought to create a "thick wall of separation" between themselves and indigenous peoples, often leading to violent conflict over land.

2.3

New England Colonies (North to South: Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island)

  • Settlers: Primarily Puritan/Separatist families seeking religious freedom and to establish a "city upon a hill".

  • Government: Mayflower Compact (Plymouth), town hall meetings, limited democracy for male property owners with strict Puritan ideology. Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson founded Rhode Island due to religious intolerance.

  • Geography: Rocky soil, harsh winters, limited agriculture.

  • Economy: Modest export of lumber, beaver pelts, fish; commercial links to transatlantic trade.

  • Society: Deeply religious, tight-knit towns centered around the church.

Middle Colonies (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware)

  • Settlers: Diverse European immigrants, including Dutch in New York and Quakers in Pennsylvania.

  • Government: Less participatory than New England, but Pennsylvania featured an elected representative assembly and guaranteed religious freedom (except for Jews/Catholics in office due to British pressure).

  • Geography: River valleys with rich soil, earning the name "Bread Basket".

  • Economy: Thriving commercial seaports; major export of grain and other crops.

  • Society: Highly diverse due to religious tolerance and economic opportunities.

Chesapeake & North Carolina (Virginia, North Carolina)

  • Settlers: Primarily single men (Jamestown) focused on profit.

  • Government: House of Burgesses (Virginia) offered representative government, but participation was limited to property-owning white men.

  • Geography: Warm weather, ideal for large tobacco plantations.

  • Economy: Dominated by tobacco cultivation and export; initially relied on indentured servants, gradually replaced by enslaved African labor.

  • Society: Agricultural, westward expansion led to conflict with Indigenous peoples; politics controlled by elite planters.

Southern Colonies (British West Indies, South Carolina, Georgia)

  • Settlers: Planters from the West Indies and those seeking economic opportunity; Georgia was a prison colony and buffer against Spanish Florida.

  • Government: Politics dominated by a small group of elite planters.

  • Geography: Long, warm growing seasons suitable for sugar cane, rice, and indigo.

  • Economy: Massive plantations for sugar (BWI), rice, and indigo (South Carolina); significant reliance on enslaved African labor.

  • Society: Highest concentration of enslaved labor; rigid social hierarchy enforced by Barbados slave codes; African slaves maintained cultural autonomy through practices like Vodun.