RK

Elizabethan England: Joint Stock, Religion, and Early Colonization (APUSH NOTS 8/28)

Joint Stock Companies

  • Joint stock companies are created because these measures are really expensive.
  • They pull funds from a group of financial backers to finance ventures.
  • Purpose: diversify the risk so not everyone loses all of their money; you might lose a lot, but not all.
  • Mechanics: investors pool their funds; once you obtain land from the government, you gain exclusive trade rights over that land.
  • Outcome: investors can make money through these exclusive rights and ventures.
  • Core idea: pooling capital to fund large-scale projects that individual investors could not finance alone.

The Elizabethan Era: Rise to Power and National Identity

  • Turning point: Elizabeth I comes to power; she is described as the first queen, and Virginia is named after her.
  • National identity: Elizabeth’s reign fosters a more defined national identity, partly through religious policy.
  • Religious policy: Elizabeth approves a mixed approach to religion in England:
    • Predestination is adopted as part of Protestant confessions of faith.
    • Protestant confessions of faith are incorporated into the church.
    • Predestination is explained as the idea that before birth, it is decided whether one goes to heaven or hell (the transcript notes this as a popular idea in the 15th–16th centuries).
    • Catholic rituals of communion and the hierarchical structure of the church are retained within a new framework.
    • The result is a new Church that attempts to appease both Protestants and Catholics by giving each side something.
  • Strategy significance: This hybrid church reduces direct crown-perpetrated religious strife and creates a more reconciled religious landscape, while Elizabeth remains Protestant.

Domestic Policy and Foreign Rivalry

  • Domestic policy: Elizabeth stops arresting Catholics; she is Protestant herself and seeks to end discrimination on religious grounds, while attempting to reconcile Protestant and Catholic ideas in the Church of England.
  • Foreign policy and rivalry with Spain:
    • Spain is focused on expelling Muslims and Jews from the Iberian Peninsula (the transcript notes Bavarian Peninsula, which appears to be a transcription error; historically this refers to the Iberian Peninsula).
    • Spain also persecutes Protestants, aggravating English hostility toward Spain.
    • England supports privateering against Spanish interests: sailors seize Spanish ships and loot goods coming from the Americas, bringing spoils back to England.
  • Notable privateering success: Sir Francis Drake (the transcript mentions a figure and a sensational profit).
    • Profit example given: 4600% profit from plundering Spanish ships (expressed as 4600\% in LaTeX).

The Spanish Armada and its Defeat, 1588

  • Spain’s naval power: The Spanish Armada is the largest and most powerful navy in the world at the time, funded by wealth from American colonization.
  • Objective: The Armada’s goal is to restore Catholic dominance in England and overthrow the Elizabethan crown.
  • English advantage and failure of Spain: England lacks the technology and resources to fully defeat the Armada on the sea, but a severe storm damages much of the Spanish fleet.
  • Outcome: England defeats the Armada in 1588, marking a turning point that signals the decline of Spanish influence in the Americas and the rise of English naval power.
  • Date reference: 1588.

Early English Colonization Efforts

  • Early attempts: Roanoke, North Carolina, represents early English colonization attempts but ends in disaster with everyone disappearing; the exact cause remains unknown.
  • Raleigh’s charter and Virginia: Queen Elizabeth charters Sir Walter Raleigh to explore and establish a colony in what will become Virginia; Raleigh lands there and names the land Virginia after the Virgin Queen Elizabeth.
  • Transitional note: The transcript signals a shift from Spanish dominance to English colonization efforts as the next topic of study.

Key People and Terms

  • Elizabeth I: Queen who reshaped religion and policy, fostered national identity, and challenged Spanish power.
  • Sir Francis Drake: English privateer who attacked Spanish ships, achieving substantial profits (noted as 4600% in the transcript).
  • Sir Walter Raleigh: Explorer and charter recipient who established the Virginia venture and named the region after Elizabeth.
  • The Spanish Armada: Spanish naval force intended to invade England and restore Catholic rule.
  • Joint stock company: Investment model used to pool capital for expensive ventures and share risk and profits.
  • Predestination: The doctrine that salvation is predetermined before birth; integrated into the Protestant confessions of faith in Elizabethan policy.
  • Confession of faith: Protestant doctrinal statements incorporated into the Church of England to create a unified yet flexible church.
  • Church of England: The hybrid church blending Protestant doctrine with Catholic rituals and hierarchy to reduce religious conflict.
  • Virginia: Named after Queen Elizabeth; site of early English colonization efforts.

Connections, Implications, and Real-World Relevance

  • Economic strategy: Joint stock companies enabled large-scale colonization and trade ventures, laying groundwork for later English commercial expansion and the eventual formation of long-term settlements.
  • Religious policy as political strategy: Elizabeth’s hybrid church demonstrates how religious policy can be used to stabilize a realm with diverse beliefs, balancing power between Protestants and Catholics.
  • National identity through policy: The combination of religious compromise, colonial ambition, and anti-Spanish actions helped forge a cohesive English national identity in the late 16th century.
  • Imperial competition: The shift from Spanish to English dominance in exploration and colonization illustrates the broader shift in Atlantic power dynamics during the period.
  • Ethical, philosophical implications: The era illustrates the tension between religious uniformity, tolerance, and persecution, as well as the use of privateering as state-backed economic and political leverage.

Timeline Highlights

  • 1588: Defeat of the Spanish Armada, signaling the decline of Spain’s influence and the rise of English power in the Atlantic.
  • Late 16th century: Privateering gains become a notable tactic against Spanish power.
  • Late 1500s: Roanoke fails; Raleigh’s Virginia venture marks the start of formal English colonization efforts in North America.

Important Formulas and Numerical References

  • Profit reference: 4600\% (profit from privateering as described in the transcript).
  • Armada defeat year: 1588.
  • Armada defeat and policy shifts set the stage for subsequent English colonization and exploration efforts.

Recap and Next Steps

  • The era sets up the transition from Spanish to English dominance in the Atlantic, with religious policy serving as a key domestic tool and privateering acting as an engine of economic and geopolitical leverage.
  • Next topic to cover: the details of James I and the subsequent evolution of English colonization and governance in the Atlantic world.