2.1.1 Piracy & Plunder

Question 1

In _____, Henry VII (the first Tudor king) asked John _____ to explore further into the ‘unknown world’. Later, Tudor and ______ monarchs encouraged more trade and exploration into new lands, laying the foundations for an overseas empire

Answer 1

1496, Cabot, Stuart

Question 2

In the late 1400s, what improvements meant longer journeys were possible, and more ships returned from these journeys?

Answer 2

Improvements in technology for ships and navigation

Question 3

When did the European navigator Christopher Columbus sail to the Caribbean?

Answer 3

1492

Question 4

What are the 2 key features of Christopher Columbus’ adventure?

Answer 4

• Hoped to find new routes to India and China by sea
• Sailed west which meant he landed in the West Indies

Question 5

What happened soon after Christopher sailed to the Caribbean?

Answer 5

Spain and Portugal began to claim land in the Caribbean as their own

Question 6

Spain and Portugal had a monopoly on trade in the Caribbean. What does this mean?

Answer 6

This means that they controlled the trade in the Caribbean and other countries could not benefit from trading there

Question 7

What were pirates?

Answer 7

Spain and Portugal’s monopoly meant that Englishmen who wanted to trade in the Caribbean would have to pay hefty taxes…unless they trades illegally and secretly. These men were known as pirates, and many English traders became pirates and smugglers at this time

Question 8

What were privateers?

Answer 8

Some traders and navigators were even given a licence by their monarch/government to attack foreign ships, in order to protect their country’s overseas possessions or trade. These men were little more than pirates, except they were acting legally in the eyes of their government. They became known as privateers (as opposed to pirates, who were acting illegally and without permission). Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh were some of the most famous privateers

Question 9

In the 1400s, developments for technology for ships and navigation meant that longer journeys were possible. What did this lead Christopher Columbus to do?

Answer 9

In 1492, this lead to Christopher Columbus sailing across the Atlantic to find new routes to India and China. However, instead of finding China, he finds the lands that he calls the ‘West Indies’, the continents we now know as America. Therefore, this shows that Spain was the first major nation to colonise the Americas - Spanish became powerful

Question 10

What happened in 1496?

Answer 10

Henry VII gives John Cabot the mission of finding new lands

Question 11

Under Elizabeth II, technology developed. What are two examples and their definitions?

Answer 11

• Lateen: a triangular sail, helping you move
• Astrolabe: compass helping navigation

Question 12

Describe John Cabot’s expedition

Answer 12

In 1496, he sailed from Bristol on behalf of King Henry VII. He landed on modern-day Canada however found no riches so returned home. This marked the start of the British Empire

Question 13

Why did Britain begin to want to explore the ‘New World’?

Answer 13

Tudors were successful in uniting England, Wales and some parts of Ireland. Stuarts were then successful in inviting Scotland too, with the help of James I of England and Scotland. Britain started becoming more prosperous and farming and industry expanded, this created a surge of greater overseas trade and people started looking towards the ‘New World’

Question 14

Describe the early attempts by the British to find gold and create colonies

Answer 14

Early attempts by the British to find gold and create colonies were unsuccessful, but they did establish bases on the North American east coast. From these bases they could explore further and plunder riches from SPanish ships and colonies, often using privateers

Question 15

Describe Sir Walter Raleigh’s expedition (3)

Answer 15

• He was encouraged by Francis Drake
• Persuaded by Elizabeth to explore the lands in North America. America had already been colonised by Spain from 1565 (mainland Florida) so Raleigh wanted to find an area that was yet unconquered. The first colony he established was in Roanoke 1584
• Roanoke is a mystery/controversy. Colonists living in Roanoke experienced problems. They arrived to late to plant he seeds and they had to rely on the natives. The leader of the colony was blocked by the Spanish armada on his way home so he waits years and when he came back, everything was gone..

Question 16

When did Walter Raleigh establish Roanoke?

Answer 16

1584

Question 17

What was Francis Drake the first person to do?

Answer 17

First person to circumnavigate the globe (go all around it)

Question 18

Why did Francis Drake circumnavigate the globe? (2)

Answer 18

• To find new sources of trade
• To challenge spanish domination

Question 19

Why were trade and exploration very integral to Britain at this time period?

Answer 19

Trade and exploration were very integral to english foreign policy at setting the stage to this entrance of Britain as a global superpower who was involved in international affairs

Question 20

Describe how plantations started replacing piracy

Answer 20

By the 1600s, English people started to cultivate plantations on the 13 colonies. Plantations thrived in the Southern colonies like Georgia, South Carolina etc. British monarchs stoped granting privateers permissions. Plantations provided huge profits. However, settlers from Britain had many problems with working on plantations. There were hard conditions such as new diseases, hot weather, crop failures and food shortages. Eventually, no one wanted to work on them so indentured servants were used. 1616: slaves

Question 21

Who was Sir John Hawkins?

Answer 21

John Hawkins was a respected English naval commander, merchant, privateer, pirate and was responsible for building up the Elizabethan Royal Navy. He was the cousin of Francis Drake, another well-known explorer and slave trade

Question 22

Who was John Hawkins financed by in order to complete his first mission?

Answer 22

Group of London merchanst

Question 23

Describe John Hawkins first expedition in 1562

Answer 23

In 1562, John Hawkins stole a Portuguese slave ship off the West Coast of Africa and he sold the enslaved Africans in the Caribbean. The trip was very profitable

Question 24

Why did John Hawkins go on his first expedition in 1562?

Answer 24

In the 16th and 17th centuries, England was a minor player in comparison to Spain and Portugal. Spanish made vast profits from gold and silver mines in South America while the Portuguese focused on cultivating sugar in Brazil and the Caribbean. To do this, they needed cheap labour (that they would sometimes work to death) to get valuable sugar to Europe to be sold at a huge profit.

Question 25

What was the failed colony at Roanoke called?

Answer 25

‘The Lost Colony’

Question 26

In what year did the English and Spanish get together and make peace?

Answer 26

1604

Question 27

When is the Virginia Company founded?

Answer 27

1606

Question 28

What was the Virginia Company?

Answer 28

A joint stock company founded to create profitable settlements in North America

Question 29

What are the three types of colonies?

Answer 29

Crown, Joint Stock, Proprietary

Question 30

What is a crown colony?

Answer 30

Where the crown governs the colony directly though a royally-appointed governor

Question 31

What is a Joint Stock/Corporate/Charter colony?

Answer 31

Charter granted to a corporation that seeks to make a profit

Question 32

What is a proprietary colony?

Answer 32

A proprietary basically owns the colony. The proprietor has the authority to draw up a plan of governement

Question 33

Where was the Virginia Colony located?

Answer 33

On the Chesapeake bay

Question 34

What was the first English settlement?

Answer 34

Jamestown - 1607

Question 35

What group of people did John Smith have a problem with in Jamestown?

Answer 35

Powhatan Indians

Question 36

What were the Jamestown colonists originally very heavily reliant on the Indians for?

Answer 36

Food and supplies

Question 37

What did Walter Raleigh make the potential investors in the Virginia Company believe?

Answer 37

That colonies in North America would bring large profits

Question 38

Who’s tobacco turned Virginia into a profitable colony?

Answer 38

John Rolfe

Question 39

What 5 impacts did piracy and plunder have on Britain? (people)

Answer 39

• Ship owners: take 50% of profit
• Ports: London processed 75% sugar, Liverpool processed 50% of slave ships
• Factory owners: 50% textiles created in Manchester. Ambrose Crowley was an iron merchant. He managed to profit hugely from making iron chains to be used on slave ships
• Bankers: gave merchants loans then charged high interest prices
• Ordinary people: They got jobs; 4000 people in Birmingham were employed to make guns which were traded in Africa for slaves

Question 40

Why did people go to America for religious reasons?

Answer 40

Some groups (puritans and catholics) wanted to escape religious conflict in Britain, so left to find religious freedom

Question 41

Why did people go to America for economic reasons? (2)

Answer 41

• More Britons were willing to go to the Americas after the first successful colony was established in 1607 - Jamestown and homes were built there with cash crops planted like cotton, tobacco, sugar and potatoes. These crops could be exported to Britain for great profit. ‘Cash crops’ were grown on farms known as plantations
• There were many second sons of gentry men and nobility who didn’t stand to inherit anything if they stayed at home so they were pushed to go abroad to find their fortune “you could live like a king if you set up a plantation”

Question 42

Why did people go to America for imperialistic reasons?

Answer 42

British investors were keen to develop trade in the Americas because it would pay for the growth of the British Empire elsewhere