American ColonialSocieties

American Colonial SocietiesSpain: The “Model” Colonizer

Spain was the “model” colonizer Not in the sense that other

European nations slavishly followed their example in terms of how they colonized the New World

Instead, the Spanish experience in Central and South America helped shape the expectations of other European colonizers in the New World

Government of Spanish America Because of the vast wealth it

generated, Spanish monarchs tried to keep their American colonies under tight control

Colonies organized into “viceroyalties” under a “viceroyal” directly appointed by the king

Viceroyal advised by an Audencia, but his word was law

Most Spanish Kings tried to keep the viceroyals on a tight leash

However, distance made this goal difficult to achieve in practice, since oversight limited to visiting inspectors

Spain was once thedominant colonial power

in the Americas

American Colonial SocietiesImportant Institutions of Spanish America

The Catholic Church Bartolome de Las Casas: success-

fully promoted the idea that the Indians had souls and should not be killed or enslaved

Missions had the dual purpose of converting the Indians to Christianity and “civilizing” them (i.e., turning them into good Spanish peasants)

Encomienda A grant of land and Indian laborers to

a Spaniard The Spaniard could make use of the

Indian labor, but in return was expected to work to convert the Indians to Christianity and civilize them

Early encomiendas involved the ruthless exploitation of natives

American Colonial SocietiesSocial Groups of Spanish America

Peninsulares Spanish-born persons They were at the top of the economic

and political order in Spanish America

Creoles People born in America, but of pure

Spanish ancestry A midling group in Spanish America

Mestizos/Mulattoes Mestizos: persons of mixed Spanish

and Indian ancestry—eventually the largest single group

Mulattoes: persons of mixed Spanish and African ancestry

Indians/Africans Persons of pure Indian or African

ancestry—at the bottom of society

American Colonial SocietiesPortugal in Brazil

Portugal’s claim to Brazil based on the Treaty of Tordesillas and the 1500 visit of Pedro Alvares Cabral

However from 1500 to 1530, Portugal paid little attention to Brazil because its attention was directed at exploiting its new sea trade routes to Asia

Captaincies Between 1534 and 1536, King John

III granted fifteen captaincies to Portuguese noblemen to settle, administer, and profit from in Brazil

The successful captaincies developed as sugar colonies

In 1549, John III reasserted royal control and Brazil developed a colonial government similar to Spanish America

American Colonial SocietiesFrance

The French moved gradually into North America in the 16th century

Like the Spanish, they initially came looking for treasure, but found none in what is today Quebec

They stayed, however, because they found it profitable to trade European goods with the Indians for animal furs

Like the Spanish they tried to convert the Indians to Christianity, but initially did not seek conquest

The fur trade worked best with a limited French presence, mostly traders

coureurs de bois

Eventually the French established larger settlements, but they were small compared to the English

American Colonial SocietiesEngland (1)

The first successful English colony in North America was established at Jamestown in Virginia in 1607

Established by the Virginia Company of London, a joint-stock company charted by James I

The intent of the company was to emulate the Spanish model Live initially by exploiting the Indians Find and seize Indian treasure This model did not work because the

Indians in the Chesapeake region were poor hunter-farmers

Most early colonists soon died from disease and starvation

Tobacco The salvation of the colony was

tobacco, brought in from the Caribbean

After the introduction of tobacco, Virginia prospered, although life remained rough and life spans short until the late 1600s

Artist’s conceptionof early Jamestown

That“noxious weed”

American Colonial SocietiesEngland (2)

The other main early center of English settlement in North America was in New England

Separatist Puritans settled in 1620 near Cape Cod, establishing Plymouth

Congregationalist Puritans established the much larger Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1629

Hence, unlike the colonization of the Chesapeake Bay region, whose basis was economic, the motive of the Puritans who settled in New England was religious

They were escaping persecution by religious authorities of the Church of England and in the case of Mass. Bay wished to prove the feasibility of a Puritan-based society

Although the religious experiment failed they and their descendants prospered in America and enjoyed some of the longest average life- spans in the 1600s