A. Indians Crossed the Bering Straits - Successive Waves Forced Settlement South - 14,000-28,000
EXPLORATION
I.Who discovered America?
A. Indians crossed the Bering Straits - successive waves forced settlement south - 14,000-28,000 BC
B.Vikings explored around 1000 AD
1.Leif Ericson - Greenland and Vinland
2.fake finds - Kenningston Rune Stone - Newport buildings
C.Samuel Eliot Morison - “If the Viking had never set foot on North America it wouldn’t have changed U.S. history one bit.”
1.what was its effect on change over time?
2.discovery was not publizied
II.European preconditions necessary for exploration and discovery - The Age of Discovery (15th and 16th Centuries)
A. Crusades - 10th-14th centuries
1.rediscovery of Eastern products needed to meet demands of an increasing population
2. weakening of the spirit of feudal isolation
B.Marco Polo
1. tales of fabulous wealth of Eastern civilizations
2.accessibility - no swamp surrounded the continent
3.tales of adventure popularized and spread throughout Europe
C.economic motives
1. Italian city states monopolized trade with Moslems which led to high prices
2.thus the need for an all-water route to Asia to circumvent this middle man
D.the rise of nation states
1. centralization of power
2.strong rulers could survive by glory and conquest
3.consolidated taxing power of the nation-state greatly expanded the resources available
to leaders - costs of exploration could be borne by the state
4.the rising spirit of nationalism led to an increasingly competitive environment - competition among nations spurred discovery
E.the rise of the middle class
1. as the merchant class emerged taxing potential increased
2.the economic outlook of those involved in commerce was more expansive and outward looking than feudal society
3.continued expansion required the discovery of new markets and raw materials
4.investment capital became available from the merchant class who sought to maximize earnings - rise of joint stock companies
F.technological advances
1.compass, astrolobe, caraval, lateen sail - all made sailing more predictable
2.the printing press -1454 - John Gutenberg
a.greater accessibility to maps and knowledge
b. thus fewer things had to be rediscovered
G.Renaissance spirit
1. intellectual unrest - challenge existing notions
2.spirit of adventure and self-fulfillment
H.missionary zeal
1.Reformation 1517 led to religious competition
2. this combines with nationalism to foster discovery
III.Portuguese were the first great explorers for several reasons
A.geographic location
B.Prince Henry the Navigator 1394-1460)
1.established school of navigation
2.explored the coast of Africa - encountered advanced civilizations
3. trade for gold, slaves
D. Diaz(s) - 1488 - explored the coast of Africa
1. rounded Cape of Good Hope
2. sailors threaten mutiny
E.Vasco da Gama - 1498
1. first all-water voyage to India
2.profits encouraged further exploration
IV.Columbus (Morison) - “America was discovered accidentally by a great seaman who was looking for
something else: when it was discovered it was not wanted; and most of the exploration for the next fifty years was done in hope of getting through or around it. America was named after a man who discovered no part of the New World. History is like that, very chancy.”
A.Italian background
B.shipwrecked in Portugal (why important?)
C. hit upon the idea of sailing West to get East - why did he have trouble selling this idea to the heads of state in Europe - most of whom believed the earth was round?
1.underestimated the size of the earth - Europe to China was 2400 miles instead of 10600 - significant because of food and water if America had not been here Columbus would have died
2.he made excessive demands
a.admiral of the ocean seas
b. viceroy and governor general
c. one tenth of all value extracted, tax free
d. one eighth percentage of all shipping value
3. waited seven years for final approval
D.August 3, 1492 -departure
1. drops to the Canary Islands to pick up the latitude of Chipango
2.picks up Easterlies
3. false log entries to make sailors think they were closer to home
a.kept separate set of actual calculations
b.due to errors the phony set was closer to the truth
E.landfall October 12, 1492 - Watlings Island, San Salvador - probably Samana Cay
F.found very little - but believed he was just off the coast of Asia - named natives Indians -described them as friendly, naked, and timid
1. found small amounts of gold - built up and passed on through generations so that it more impressive than it was
2.explores other islands - crashes the Santa Maria on Christmas Day
3.thus he establishes a trading post with volunteers - Navidad
4.returns to Spain
G.his finding encourage a larger expedition in 1493 - 17 ships - 1200 men
H.returns to Navidad to find it wiped out - Indian women/Indian men problems - had also demanded tribute in gold that Indians couldn’t pay, even with good intentions
1. divided up Indian lands and Indians
2.since gold couldn’t be found Indian slaves were brought back
3.within the first fifty years of discovery 300,000 Indians wiped out (disease)
4.Columbus returns to Spain in 1496
***relate the account of the jawbone of a rat and the tooth of a pig found at Navidad
I.1498 - Columbus makes a third voyage - more southerly route -explored the coast of South America
1.became convinced of an “otro mundo” concept - a new continent off the coast of Asia
2.describes S.A. coast as a terrestrial paradise - the true Eden
3.mutiny on Hispaneola - 1500 Columbus is returned to Spain in chains
J.1502 - fourth voyage - explores Central America
1.explores Panama but doesn’t cross the isthmus
2.Morison - “At Sea In A Sieve” - marooned on Jamaica for nearly a year - nearly starves to death
K.returns to Spain in 1504 - Isabel’s death dooms further ventures - dies in 1506 - Admiral of the
Mosquitoes
L.Columbus’ importance lies in the fact that his discoveries were publicized
V.Bull of Demarcation 1493 - Treaty of Toresilles 1494
A. papal input
B.divides spheres of influence
VI.Types of colonies
A. trading post
B.fringe
C.settlement
VII.Later Spanish exploration
A.Balboa -1513
1.first European to cross isthmus
2.named the Pacific the “South Sea” - why?
B.Magellan - 1519-1522
1. first European to circumnavigate the world
2.38-day passage through the straits
3.names Pacific
4.99-day voyage misses every island
a.men reduced to eating rats and roaches
b.chewing on leather strapping for nourishment
5.killed in the Philippines
6.1 of 5 ships and 18 of 266 men make it back to Spain three years later
7.why is the voyage significant?
a.proves that the world is round
b.shows the extent of the Pacific and the true location of the Western Hemisphere
C.Cortes - 1519-1522
1.conquers the Aztecs with only 600 men
2. burned ships to prevent desertion
3.Montezuma attempted buyout - didn’t work
4. three factors in easy conquest
a.myth - white Gods with horses
b.technology
c.discontent among subject tribes
d. important because of wealth of Aztec civilization
D. Pizarro - 1531-1535
1.conquers Incas of Peru with only 180 men
2.17 x 12 room 7’ high filled with ransom - removal of it
3.executed leader - strangled rather than burned at the stake
These Spanish conquests were easy because all that had to be done was to replace the leadership at the
top.
VIII.Spanish attempts in the North
A.Ponce de Leon - 1513 - Fountain of Youth - typical of Indian stories
B.Navarez - Cabeza de Vaca - 1527 - ship wrecked - crew eats horses and builds rafts
1. ship wrecked again on the Texas coast
2.lives among Indians for six years
3.stories of seven cities of Cibola and hunchback cows
C.Hernando de Soto - 1539 - 1543
1. 600 men explore the American South
2.led on by stories of golden cities
3.discovers Mississippi River - dies and is thrown in
D. Coronado - 1540 - 1541
1.explores the American Southwest
2. led on by stories but unproductive results
E.why do we discuss these unsuccessful Spanish explorations
1.the effect of these failures coupled with the successes in Mexico and Peru caused Spain to lose interest in North America and direct their attention South opening up the possibility of English exploration (since Spain was the dominant sea power
2. quickly review Spanish administration and immigration policy
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ENGLISH COLONIZATION
I.Cabot voyage in 1497 - claimed Newfoundland - discovered only cod (Grand Banks) - so great multitudes of certain big fish that they sometimes stayed my ships."
A. why were the English slow to follow up?
1. internal conflict - Tudors attempting to consolidate their hold
2.Spanish sea power was a threat (Fort Caroline)
3.slow development of commercial interest due to Italian monopoly - capital lacking
4.early diplomatic and religious ties with Spain
- failure of Cabot to find gold
- limited population – until 1641 major attempt to colonize Ireland
B.mid-century changes in the status quo which encouraged exploration
1. Elizabeth’s refusal to marry Philip strained relations
2.Spanish threat to the European balance of power
3.Protestant reformation and the break with the Pope
4.increased sense of English nationalism
5.strengthening of royal power under Elizabeth
6. rise of a commercial middle class and available venture capital
7.evolution of mercantilistic theory
a.a nation’s power is measured by its wealth
b.there is a finite amount of wealth in the world
c.establishment of a favorable balance of trade - the importance of colonies
d.colonies exist for the good of the mother country
1.source of raw materials
2.markets for manufactured goods
3.depository for over population
II.Anti-Spanish acts
A.Netherlands - English support for uprising against Spain in 1566
B.royal encouragement of “sea dog” raids against Spanish shipping (Hawkins and Drake)
1. Drake first Englishman to circumnavigate the world
2. captured a Spanish treasure ship off the coast of Peru
3.explored the west coast of the U.S. as far as San Francisco
4.returned a profit of $9 million -263,000 pounds Elizabeth’s share - 4600% profit
5.effect on exploration
a. positive - encouraged exploration simply by discovery of new territory
b.negative - discouraged settlement colonies when profits like this could be had
C.defeat of the Spanish Armada - 1588
1.Spain attempting to invade England
2.130 ships - 7000 sailors - 17,000 man invasion army
3.week long engagement
a.one half the Spanish fleet was destroyed (part by Britain - part by hurricane)
b.English had better ships and better guns
c.maneuverability - sinking rather than boarding
d. significance
1.marks the end of Spanish and beginning of English naval domination
2.marks a changing power structure in Europe
3.elimination of Spanish threat encourages the establishment of colonies
III.Early British attempts at exploration
A.Muscovy Company - 1553 - look for a Northeast Passage and open Russian trade
B.Hawkins - 1562 - bring s slaves to the West Indies
A.Martin Frobisher - 1576 - Baffin Land - search for Northwest Passage
IV.French attempts
A.Cartier - 1533-1535 - tale of Sagueanay - “White men mined gold, silver, rubies - were one-
legged - flew like bats and never eat.
1. took chief with him back to France
2.1541 - 10 ships - take back iron pyrite - and quartz (Canadian diamonds)
B.Both the English and the French were initially interested in establishing trading post colonies
C.French settlement of Fort Caroline off the U.S. coast was destroyed by the Spanish 1562
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MOTIVES FOR ENGLISH COLONIZATION
1.Motives
A.outlet for overpopulation - inflation and low wages - enclosure movement - "sheep ate men"
B.market for woolens - Indians - cold climate
C.gold
D.raw materials - tie in with mercantilism
E.Northwest Passage - why search after Magellan
F.Missionaries - Protestant v Catholic
1.individual motives
2.adventure - free land
II.Initial attempts
A.Sir Humphrey Gilbert - 1583
1.established trading post on the Penobscot River - raiding station
2.St. Johns, Newfoundland - ordered all fishermen under the Queen’s control
3.abandons attempt after losing a ship - Gilbert on the Squirrel lost at sea
B.Sir Walter Raleigh inherits charter
1.1585 - 108 women and men settled on Roanoke Island
2.1586 - Drake sent to check on them - takes them home - actually 15 remain
3.1587 - 89 men - 7 women - 11 children settle on Roanoke Island
a.lacked support because of Spanish Armada
b.1590 - lost colony
III.Jamestown - first permanent English settlement - 1607
A.joint-stock company - discuss concept and reasons for development
1. Parliamentary control of money
2. personal financing risky - Raleigh lost more than $100,000
B.London Company formed - divided into Plymouth and Virginia Companies
1. whichever settled its claim first got 100 miles into the other’s grant
2.12 pounds investment - $62 in gold per share
3.December 1606 - Godspeed, Susan Constant, and Discovery leave England
4. May 14, 1607 - 120 land - 104 settle - Indian attack on 5-26
5.only 38 left alive after the first six months - death rates of 1/2 to 1/3 were not uncommon
in colonizing - settled in a low swampy area
C.John Smith provide the early leadership and discipline necessary to make the colony successful
1. basic problem was the expectation of easy gold
2.no work no eat policy
3.skillful Indian relations
4.periodically resupplied but continued to have problems
a.no private property
b.harsh military discipline - employees of the company marched to and from the fields twice a day to the beat of a drum
c. lack of a cash crop
5.1-1-08 - two women and five Poles among resupply - why is that important?
D.“starving time” 1609-1610
1.Smith had left the colony
2.reduced to eating dogs, cats, rats, mice, snakes, toadstools, horsehide, and the corpses of dead men(powdered women)
3.1610 - relief expedition under Gates finds the men so pitiful they load up to go back to England
4.Baron De La Warre (Robert West) intercepts them and forces them back to work - has ample supplies and 300 men
5. continued hard times, but optimistic leadership - “Be not dismayed at all -for scandal cannot do us wrong - God will not let us fail - let England know our willingness - for that our work is good - wee hope to plant a nation - where none before hath stood”
E.what brought the turnaround necessary to make it a permanent settlement?
1.cash crop - John Rolfe successfully cross breeds native and West Indian tobacco
a.Jamestown goes tobacco mad
b.grown on sidewalk and between grave markers
c.stories of fantastic fortunes spur its development
d. used as a medium of exchange
e.James I disapproved of smoking - "loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs"
2.introduction of private property (1617-1618) - effect - “When our people were fed out of a commonstorehouse and labored jointly together, glad was he who could slip off from his labor, or slumber over his task, he cared not how; Nay,the most honest among them would hardly take so much true pains in a week as now for themselves they will do in a day.”
a. introduction of the headright system
b.for each person brought to America one got 50 acres of land free
c. led to abuses - sea captains kidnapping children, drunks, etc.
d.primary purpose was not land distribution but an adequate supply of labor - U.S.
colonial history is rift with accounts of chronic labor shortages
3.political freedom
a.charters granted English citizens all the rights of Englishmen - English common
law applied in the colonies as well (1624 or earlier)
b.House of Burgesses - 1619 - first representative assembly in U.S.
4.sex - 1619 - the company sought to recruit “fair and uncorrupt maidens”
a.its purpose was to provide a stable environment
b.150 pounds of tobacco purchased a wife - gave the right to build a house and no
longer live in barracks
F.continued problems
1. labor continues to be in short supply - led to the indentured servant system-sell yourself for a term of labor for passage to America - freedom dues and a headright grant - three quarters of the English migrants to the Chesapeake colonies were indentured servants
2.introduction of slaves (possibly as indentured servants) in 1619 was an indication that
the headright system was ineffective
a.quickly (1640-1660) black Africans became slaves for life
b.still a labor shortage persisted
1.two of five indentured servant died before their term
2.slaves were more expensive then indentured servants
3.by 1680 only 7% of the population was slave
3.continued high death rate - 1619-1621 population decreased from 1000 to 866 -
1051 more arrive in 1621 but by the end of the year only 843 remain
4.1622 a major Indian attack
5.1624 - corruption within the company led the King to revoke the charter and Jamestown
becomes a royal colony - directly controlled by the king
G.review types of colonies
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THE FOUNDING OF NEW ENGLAND
I.Initial Northern attempts
A.Gorges in 1607
B.attempted settlement on the Kennebec River
1.sent back a shipload of goods
2.abandoned after a bad winter
C.English religious setting
1.Protestant/catholic flipflops with monarchs
2.Anglican Church was firmly established under Elizabeth I
3.structure was nationalistic and hierarchical (stress the concept of state religion and the
structure of the church reinforcing the monarchy
4.radical divisions
a.Puritans wanted to purify the Anglican church by moving it farther from
Catholicism - believed in a state church but not this state church
b.Separatists (Pilgrims) - wanted elimination of state religion - congregational
control of individual churches
1.thus opposed hierarchical structure
2.James I felt threatened
3.also call non-conformistists
James - “I will make them conform themselves, or else I will harry them out of the land, or else do worse.”
“a rat to be trapped and tossed away”
D.Pilgrim migration to the Netherlands - enjoyed complete religious freedom
1.economic, religious, and nationalistic motives for a desire to move
2.hard work - low wages - exclusion from the Dutch guild system
3.little chance for the congregation to grow
4.worried about children becoming “dutchified”
E.deal cut with London merchant - transportation for seven years labor
1.outfitted the Mayflower - 101 passengers - over one half not Separatists
2.hard voyage, provisions give out
a.landed November 9 (problem?) 1620
b.scout countryside and settle at Plymouth December 16 (named by John Smith)
c.helped by Indians - Squanto story - captured 1614 returned 1620
d. native American resistence to New England settlement was reduced by bubonic plague 1616-1618 - reduced numbers from 120,000 to 70,000
F.Mayflower Compact - it is not a constitution but an agreement to abide by majority rule
G.they invoked (proclaim) the rights of Englishmen
H.tough times - 4-7-21 Mayflower returns to England - 50 of 101 alive - none go back