Topic 5 - The wider world Flashcards
Who was John Dee?
- John Dee was an adviser to the Queen on science and astrology.
- In 1577, he presented a plan to shift the balance of power from Spain to England, which appealed to Elizabeth.
- Spain build up a huge empire in central and South America. Dee proposed that English sailors should search for new routes to the rich markets of China and the East Indies.
- He advised the Queen to establish colonies in North America and claim her right to rule there.
- he called his vision the ‘British Empire’ and produced a map and books to help with navigation.
Who was Francis Drake and what did he do?
Drake and his crew were the first Englishman to sail around the world.
November 1577: they left Plymouth with five ships and 170 men. They began plundering, small Spanish and Portuguese ships off the coast of west Africa.
Spring/Summer 1578: They entered the Strait of Magellan, claimed several islands for the Queen, then sailed into the Pacific know. No English sailor had been there before.
Winter 1578-79: They raided native settlements along the coast of Chile and Peru, and attacked Spanish treasure ships.
June 1579: they landed in California, claimed the territory for Elizabeth, and called it ‘new Albion’.
Summer 1579: headed west across the Pacific towards the cape of good hope. In the Moluccas he traded linen cloth for cloves, ginger and pimento.
September 1580: returned to England, with vast amounts of pillaged treasure for investors, the Queen and himself.
April 1581: was knighted by the Queen on-board his flagship, the Golden Hind.
Who was Humphrey Gilbert and what did he do?
- Humphrey Gilbert was a Protestant Englishman, who was driven by his hatred of the Spanish.
- He searched for a sea route around the top of North America to provide England with a trade route to China.
- His first attempt in 1579 was a disaster and the only ship, captained by his young half brother Walter Raleigh, made it across the Atlantic.
- The next voyage, in June 1583, was more successful.
- He claimed land in Newfoundland for the Queen by digging a piece of turf and erecting a post with the arms of England engraved in lead.
- He didn’t establish a colony as the land was barren, cold and food was scarce.
- One of his ships was wrecked killing 80 men, and the others returned home.
- He drowned on the return voyage.
Who was Walter Raleigh and what did he do?
- He thought America could be the gateway to the riches of Asia.
- He hoped to find silver and gold for Queen Elizabeth and fame for himself.
- A survey in April 1584, convinced Raleigh that Roenoke would be a good place to found England’s first colony.
- The territory was known Virginia in honour of the ‘Virgin Queen’.
- Richard Hackluyt wrote a pamphlet on the benefits: goods that could be bought and sold; potential for missionary work and opportunities to attack Spanish treasure ships.
- The Queen didn’t want to part with Walter, so Richard Greenfield and Ralph lane led the expedition.
- They took a scientist, Thomas Harriot, and an artist, John White, to study and record the people, landscapes and wildlife.
Why did Raleighs colony fail?
- 600 colonists set out from Plymouth in April 1585.
- The journey to Roanoke was treacherous and Greenville got split from the group.
- They arrived in July 1585, but the fleet got stuck on sandbanks in a storm, and they lost many of their supplies.
- Greenville returned England for more supplies and Lane stayed and built a fort.
- The colonist/ knew they would have to rely on the Algonquian people if they were to survive the first winter.
- Wingina, the Algonquian chief initially supplied corn but later became wary of the colonists.
- Lane learned Wingina was planning to attack the colonies, so he attacked first, and Wingina was killed.
- The Algonquians became hostile and Drake came to rescue the colonists in June 1586.
What was learned from the earlier failures?
- Harriet and White turned their careful records into a book, a brief and true report of the Newfoundland of Virginia. This helped the next colonisation attempt to succeed.
- Raleigh’s next expedition was to the city of Monoa in Guiana, South America. This also failed but his record of it, Discovery of the large, Rich and Beautiful empire of Guiana, encouraged later attempts at empire building.
What luxury goods did wealthy Elizabethans want from India and China?
- They wanted silk, cotton, jewels and perfumes which were
fashionable the clothing and furnishings. - They wanted spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger and pepper, which were used for preserving and flavouring food.
How were luxury goods brought to England?
- In past centuries, goods came over land by the Mediterranean, but Portuguese traders started to use the sea route around southern Africa.
- Spain invaded Portugal in 1580 leading to fears that the spice trade would be disrupted.
- As a result, London merchants formed the turkey company in 1581 and they were granted a monopoly - the sole right to trade in the eastern Mediterranean.
What did Ralph Fitch do?
1 - Turkey company sent Ralph to research trade opportunities in India, south-east Asia and China.
2 - he carried letters of introduction from the Queen to the Mughal and Chinese emperors.
3 - He set off from Falmouth with four other men in March 1583.
4 - They reached Basra in May, and John Eldred stayed behind to trade.
5 - In Hormuz, a Portuguese trading station, they were arrested as spies and taken to Goa, a Portuguese colony in India.
6 - They were released, but James story joined the Jesuit college there.
7 - They carried on to Fatepur Sikri, the court of the Mughal emperor at Agra. William Leeds was so impressed he stayed to work as a jeweller and John Newbury returned to England Overland.
8 - Fitch carried on alone, and at the Portuguese fort of Malacca, he was not allowed to continue into the South China Sea, so he headed home.
9 - He arrived back in England in April 1591.
What was Fitch’s records of his travels?
- He learned a lot about the wealth and trade of India, China, and the spice Islands.
- he saw the gems, spices, cloth, dyes, and drugs, so easily available in India.
- He wrote about the people, customs and goods he had seen.
- Merchants in England were very interested in the trade opportunities he described, and also worried about losing out to competitors in exploiting them.
What was the East India Company?
- In April 1601 John Lancaster was given command of the east India company’s first fleet.
- His expedition established, England’s first trading post in the east in Java in 1602.
- English ships began to bring home spices just as Portuguese and Dutch merchants were doing.
- Lancaster’s voyage of 1601-3 was an important moment in British history, and Dr Dee’s dream of the British empire had begun to be realised.
- 200 years later, the East India company was the biggest trading company in the world, ruthlessly exploiting Indian resources in order to make money.
