Introduction to US History/Foreign Exploration

INTRODUCTION TO US HISTORY LECTURER:GEOFFREY D. PLOURDE FOREIGN EXPLORATION

Previous Lecture / Course Page / Next Lecture Welcome back to the spectacular field of US History! Last week, we learned about the cultures present in America before the Europeans arrived. This week's lecture moves along in history and is on the exploration of America by Europe.

As was previously mentioned, Columbus was not the first explorer to visit the Americas. The honor goes to the Vikings. The Vikings are most commonly known for pillaging. They were excellent sailors and put these skills to use in seeking out villages to attack. In the process, they explored much of the world around them. Sometime around the year 1000 AD, a Viking named Leif Ericson left Greenland and sailed west with a crew. He discovered a green fruitful land that he named Vinland. Today this is known as Newfoundland in Canada. Due to internal conflict, the Vikings did not leave a lasting presence in America. In addition to the Vikings, the Chinese, Egyptians, Phoenicians and Romans are also claimed to have reached America. There is no proof of any of these groups reaching America at this time. This does not necessarily mean that they didn't reach America, just that no evidence has been discovered. Therefore the Vikings can safely be considered the first explorers to America for whom we have proof of their visits.

America became unknown until 1492. Europe needed resources to fund its wars, forcing it to look outside of its borders. Spain was desperate for a new route to the Indies and Christopher Columbus brought forth the ambitious and logical plan of sailing west to India. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella financed three ships, the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. When he landed on Cuba, he was able to acquire gold, reinforcing his belief that he had arrived in India. Needless to say, the Spanish sent more expeditions to America. In 1519, Hernan Cortes arrived in Mexico. Through superior firepower, he was able to conquer the Aztecs, giving the Spanish most of Mexico. From 1522 to 1532, Francisco Pizarro fought the inhabitants of South America. His territorial gains dramatically expanded the Spanish empire. From these Spanish possessions, the Spaniards extracted much gold. which assisted them with their plethora of wars in Europe.

While the Spanish were invading South America, the English were focusing on North America. They heard about the discovery of a new route to "India" and promptly attempted to send ships themselves. Operating under the English flag, John Cabot landed in Canada during 1497. Needless to say, the English and other European colonies sent more explorers. Unfortunately, there was not much gold in the areas that the English landed in. Instead they came across a variety of climates, some suitable for farming, others suitable for grazing. They were able to make this up by raiding Spanish galleons and disrupting the flow of gold and silver to Spain.

The lighter and more agile English ships allowed England to wrest naval dominance from Spain, an action that would have many important effects down the line. This concludes Lecture 2. Please work on the section from the US History Wikibook

When the Europeans and Indians met
Although horses benefitted the Indians and their livelihoods, it wasn't enough to stop conflict. The Europeans' biggest weapon was the diseases they brought, including smallpox, syphillis, and measles. The Tainos were wiped out because of diseases. Columbus paved the way for European expansion (including Hernan Cortez and Francisco Coronado) and significantly altered the livelihood of the Native Americans due to the epidemics that were taking place. As for the New World, motivation, glory and gold all were reasons to continue expansion. Gold was taken out of South America and shipped back to Spain, Catholicism was mingled with the natives, and "mestizos", byproduct of the Spanish settles and Mexican natives, were created.

Commerce
Mercantilism is an old philosophy which argued that there are only so many minerals in this world, so it is up to a nation to mine and attain those minerals to accumulate wealth. Nations do not trade freely with other nations and nations controlled trade in order to attain wealth.

Commodification turned every-day items for the Natives (chica (corn beer) and tobacco) into trading items.

Columbian Exchange
The Columbian Exchange are the exchanges that took place between the Old and New World. Cattle, diseases and wheat were sent to the Old World from the New World - and vice versa: tobacco, corn, potatoes and beans. Sugar was the most valuable item of the Columbian Exchange with tobacco coming second. Illnesses and ideas were spread. Shifts from a religious to a secular point of view were becoming normalized. "Mourning wars", where the natives kidnapped a European and "rebirthed" them into the identity of the dead native [due to illness], was practiced by the Iroquois.

First Settlements
The first settlements in the US were:


 * St. Augustine, Florida [1565]
 * Roanoke Island, North Carolina [1585]
 * Jamestown, VA [1607]
 * Plymouth, MA [1620]

The first major explorations were:


 * 1492 - Columbus claims West Indies for Spain
 * 1497 - John Cabot claims North America for England
 * 1513 - Vasco Balboa claimed everything that touched the Pacific Ocean for Spain
 * 1520 - The "Marching God" Hernan Cortez invades the Aztecs.
 * 1585 - Roanake Colony by the British disappears. John White, leader of the colony, had a granddaughter: Virginia Dare - the first white settler to be born on US soil. The colony disappeared when White returned to it in 1590.
 * 1607 - Successful British settlement named after King James I, becoming Jamestown.

England vs. Natives

 * England - Saw colonies as "business oppertunities", believed in land ownership, and wanted to make investors back home filthy rich. They also wanted to use North America as a platform to spy on the Spanish.
 * Natives - Semi-normadic, hunter and gatherers; took care of land for next gen., lost most wars

Impact of Elizabeth I

 * Gave Sir Walter Raleigh the go to establish a colony (NC) in the 1500s.
 * Wanted England to come out supreme in terms of wealth and reputation and hated the Spanish

Why come to America?
Many reasons were out there for Europeans to come to America. There was a massive population boom in the colonies that attracted viewers. The law of primogeniture, where a person passes their property to their first legitimate son once they die, was active in the colonies as land was abundant. Fame, fortune, religious freedom, lack of social classes and economic improvement were other reasons for Europeans to travel to the New World. Various people from all backgrounds came to the New World.

Other oppertunities for children to gain wealth were to become a soldier, become a religious figure or learn a trade in an apprenticeship.

Tasks

 * Joint-Stock Company - investors, not the royal family, bankroll the colony.
 * Looking for Gold, not God.
 * Needed to find a route to the West Indies/China, find the missing Roanake Colony and spy on the Spanish.

Not Easy!

 * May 1607: 107 colonists go down to 34 after their first winter.
 * 1609: Starving time, 400 colonists --> 60 colonists.
 * 1625: 8k colonists arrived, but only half survived.

Chaos

 * The Indians were friendly at first, but Captain John Smith was a poor leader. In 1610, the colony was abandoned - but Lord Del La Ware convinced the colonists to come back to Jamestown and declared war on the Indians.
 * Pocahontas married John Rolfe in 1614 in order to solidify peace between the Indians and the English. She eventually converted to Christianity and moved to London, where she eventually died of disease. Rolfe came back to Jamestown with only words and no proof, leading to massive, violent clashes. The Indian massacre of 1622 was proof of these deteriorating relationships.

1619
In Jamestown, the House of Burgesses was created as a form of local government, tobacco became the crop of trade, indentured servants and slaves were presented as a means of labor and women were sold for 125lb of tobacco. After many years of no set regulation, a local government was set in place for many reasons. The distance to get to and from England was about 2 months, four months of total traveling time - thereby failing to give fair, speedy decisions. Witnesses weren't of much value if traveling distances was this long. Finally, life in Jamestown was different from life in England. The penalty for stealing a horse is severely different due to each land's circumstances.

Tobacco, with major cultivations taking place by Rolfe from 1612-1618, was a good and bad thing. It was a great tool for trade and gave the colony a financial standing, but it required great labor which promoted the New World's slavery culture. Thanks to a Dutch ship that came by Jamestown in 1619 selling slaves, people, some reluctantly, accepted the need of permanent human labor - soon becoming a port for slavery. Indentured servants were people who worked on whatever task for a master for about 7 years in repayment for bringing them to the colonies and sheltering/feeding them.

James I wasn't happy with this and eventually declared Virginia a royal colony after revoking their Company's charter. This was because the government stood by principles that he went against, such as slavery, tobacco and "abuse" of his royal power.