Unit 2 Flashcards
What were the primary sources of Spanish wealth from the Americas?
Agriculture and the mining of silver and gold
Why did the French explore?
To find a water route through the Americas which would give them access to trade in Asia, which they weren’t able to find
Who founded Quebec?
Samuel de Champlain
How did French colonial policies differ from the Spanish?
-The French had a greater interest in trade than in conquest, especially in the fish and fur trade
-Few French colonizers should up in the Americas
What is one example of French-Native American relations?
The French made alliances with the Ojibwe;
The natives benefitted the French because they were skilled in the process of preparing beaver pelts for market;
The French benefitted the natives by introducing iron cookware, farming tools, and manufactured cloth
How did the Dutch begin their exploration of the Americas?
With Henry Hudson attempting to find a water passage through the Americas and instead discovering a river which would be named the Hudson River;
The Dutch later got the territory around the river as a colony they named New Amsterdam
What was the Dutch’s goal with their settlements?
Economic-based;
New Amsterdam became a trading hub that attracted other traders
How were the Dutch different in their colonial practices?
They had no interest in coverting natives to their beliefs
Why were the British interested in colonizing the Americas?
Mainly because of economics;
The English economy changed as a result of the Columbian Exchange; the wars with France; the costly conquest of Ireland
– these all meant that the wealth of the nobility was decreasing
Why were the peasantry of England also suffering financial hardship?
The Enclosure Movement took their land and sold it to private parties
In general, what were British motivations for colonizing the Americas?
-Economic opportunities
-Land (Think back to the Enclosure Movement)
-Religious freedom
How did British colonial practices differ from the French, Dutch, and the Spanish?
-Came to America in family groups
-Landed in places where there were no large empires to coerce into working for them
-Instead of subjugating the native population, they expelled them
What was the first English colony established in the Americas?
Jamestown in 1607
What was the joint-stock company model of funding?
In order to pay for exploration, a group of investors pulled their money together and shared the financial risk;
A private venture as opposed to a public one
How was the Jamestown colony kept afloat after it struggled with famine and disease?
The cultivation of tobacco, as prompted by John Rofle
Who conducted most of the labor in the English colonies?
Indentured servants, people who signed a 7-year contract in which they work to pay off their settlement fees and then went free
What was an effect of the success of tabacco?
Farmers needed more land to farm their tobacco, which meant enroachment on land owned by the natives;
This, in turn, got the natives to raid and destroy settlements, which prompted the settlers to consult their governor regarding the matter (William Berkeley)
What was Bacon’s Rebellion?
Resentful of native violenece and Berkeley’s neglect, Nathanial Bacon led other poor farmers and indentured servants in an attack against Native Americans and plantations owned by Berkeley
What was the effect of Bacon’s Rebellion?
Out of fear for uprisings, elite farmers started turning to a more reliable source of labor: African slaves
Who settled the New England colonies?
Pilgrims
Who were the Puritans?
Protestants unhappy with the theology and structures of the Church of England
Why did the Pilgrims go to America?
Economic reasons;
They needed to find a way to make a living in a rural area
What is a difference between Jamestown colonies and New England colonies?
New England colonists came not for profit but to create societies and family economies as farmers
Why did the British establish colonies in the West Indies and South Atlantic Coast?
For growing cash crops;
The main cash crop grown in these regions was sugarcane
