Transformation in the Atlantic World, 1400-1625

1. Chapter 2 The Rise of the Atlantic World, 1400-1625

2. Introduction • Oct. 12, 1492 • Columbus and crew landed on the island of San Salvador • Ended isolation of the Western Hemisphere from Europe and Asia

3. 4 important questions • What forces were transforming West Africa before the advent of the Atlantic slave trade? • How did European monarchs use commerce and religion to advance their nations’ fortunes?

4. 4 important questions (cont.) • What role did the Columbian exchange play in the formation of an Atlantic world? • How did relations with Native Americans affect the success of early European colonizing efforts?

5. African and European Peoples • West Africa: Tradition and Change • Grasslands of the Sahara Dessert and east of the West African coast, kingdoms arose that rivaled those in Europe in size and wealth • 14th Century • Mali • Dominated entire region • Lucrative trade with Europe and the Middle East • Timbuktu=leading city (center of Islamic learning)

6. West Africa: Tradition and Change (cont.)

7. West Africa: Tradition and Change (cont.) • By 16th century Mali was conquered by Morocco • 15th century=small states on Guinea and Senegambian coast grew in population and importance • Gold was mined and traded • mid-1400’s=Portuguese arrived on the coast looking for gold and slaves

8. West Africa: Tradition and Change (cont.) • West African leaders ranged from powerful emperors (who claimed demigod status) to heads of small states (who ruled by persuasion) • Kinship groups formed the most important unit holding people together

9. West Africa: Tradition and Change (cont.) • Men could marry more than one woman • Allowed high-status men to establish kinship networks with other important families through their several wives • High mortality rate in West Africa=led to many marriages • Frequent famines and tropical disease epidemics • Shortage of people placed a high premium on the production of children

10. West Africa: Tradition and Change (cont.) • Children helped with food production • Most food was obtained by farming • Children, men, and women all farmed • Yams, rice, other grains • 15th century=market economy had developed • Farmers trading surplus crops for artisan-made goods

11. West Africa: Tradition and Change (cont.) • Religion and spirituality permeated African culture and inspired artistic endeavors • Sophisticated art and music (much of 20th century jazz is based on) • 1500’s=Islam was starting to spread beyond the kings and upper class to the common people of the grasslands • Christianity (intro. by Portuguese in 1400’s and 1500’s) made limited headway until the 19th century

12. European Culture and Society • Europe was at height of the Renaissance (a great cultural revival) in the late 1400’s • Trying to map the world and understand natural science and astronomy • Society was hierarchical (kings at the top and peasants-75% of the people at the bottom) • Population increases in the 16th and 17th centuries made land in Europe scarce and valuable

13. European Culture and Society (cont.) • Upper classes enclosed more of the fields and made them private property • Displaced country people drifted to the small towns (dirty, crowded, diseases) • Nuclear families were replacing kinship networks • Father ruled over wife and children as the king ruled over his subjects

14. European Culture and Society (cont.) • New business enterprises and organizations (joint stock companies) broke the bonds of social reciprocity • Emerging entrepreneurs favored “unimpeded acquisition of wealth” and unregulated competition • They “insisted that individuals owed one another nothing but the money necessary to settle each market transaction.”

15. Religious Upheavals • Most Europeans in 1492 were Christians • Roman Catholic Church • Headed by a pope • Administered by a hierarchy of clergy who did not marry • By 15th century, selling indulgences (blessings that would shorten the repentant sinner’s time in purgatory) for donations to the church

16. Religious Upheavals (cont.) • Protestant Reformation • 1517 • Martin Luther • Denounced indulgences and other corrupt practices • Broke from the Catholic Church • Preached that one could not buy or earn salvation good works (or donations to the church)

17. Religious Upheavals (cont.) • God alone decided who was saved and who was damned • Christians must have faith in his love and justice

18. Religious Upheavals (cont.) • John Calvin • French Protestant leader • Emphasizing the doctrine of predestination (God’s foreknowledge of who was saved and who was damned)

19. Religious Upheavals (cont.) • Counter-Reformation • Modern Roman Catholic Church was born • Aimed to clean out corruption and stimulate religious zeal • Attempting to suppress Protestantism • European countries divided into rival Protestant and Catholic camps

20. The Reformation in England, 1533-1625 • King Henry VIII • Ruled 1509-1547 • Reformation began in England under Henry VIII • Asked the pope to annul his marriage • Pope refused

21. The Reformation in England, 1533-1625 (cont.) • Henry VIII then pushed through Parliament the laws of 1533-1534, which dissolved his marriage • Also, the laws declared the king head of the Church of England (Anglican)

22. The Reformation in England, 1533-1625 (cont.) • Religious strife continued in England for more than 100 years • Henry’s son and successor (Edward VI) leaned toward Protestantism • 1547-1553

23. The Reformation in England, 1533-1625 (cont.) • Mary I • “Bloody Mary” • tried to restore Catholicism • Often burned Protestants at the stake • 1553-1558 • Turned majority of English against Catholicism

24. The Reformation in England, 1533-1625 (cont.) • Elizabeth I • 1558-1603 • 1/2 sister of Mary I • Anti-Catholicism

25. The Reformation in England, 1533-1625 (cont.) • The English differed on how Protestant the Church of England should be • Puritans (Calvinistic Puritans) • Wanted to remove all vestiges of Catholicism • Believed in predestination • Felt that only the saved should belong to the church • Each congregation to be self-governing and free from interference from bishops and church hierarchy

26. The Reformation in England, 1533-1625 (cont.) • “Nonseparating” Puritans • Remained with the Church of England • Hoping to reform the Church of England • Separatists • Withdrew • A “pure” church had to be entirely free of Anglican “pollution”

27. The Reformation in England, 1533-1625 (cont.) • Puritanism with its message of righteousness and self-discipline appealed to landowning gentry, small farmers, university-educated clergy, intellectuals, merchants, shopkeepers, and artisans

28. The Reformation in England, 1533-1625 (cont.) • Elizabeth managed to satisfy most of English Protestants (both Puritan and Anglican) • Her successor (James I) did not • James I (1603-1625) was completely against Puritans

29. Europe and the Atlantic World, 1400-1600 • Portugal led the way in Europe’s ocean expansion (1400-1500) • Advances in maritime technology • Caravel • Magnetic compass • Prince Henry the Navigator • Sent Portuguese sailors farther down the coast of Africa

30. Europe and the Atlantic World, 1400-1600 (cont.) • Fought Muslims • Seek opportunities for profitable trade • Established a gold-processing factory at Arguin • Rounded Africa’s Cape of Good Hope • Developed valuable commercial links with India

31. Europe and the Atlantic World, 1400-1600 (cont.) • These Portuguese voyages brought Europeans face to face with black-skinned Africans and an entrance into the already flourishing slave trade

32. The “New Slavery” and Racism • Slavery existed in West Africa before the arrival of Europeans • Not based on racial differences between masters and slaves • Slaves were often eventually absorbed into the owners’ families • First Muslims from North Africa, then Europeans turned African slavery into an “intercontinental business”

33. The “New Slavery” and Racism (cont.) • European slavers bought war captives from African slave-trading kings • This encouraged those rulers to engaged in warfare with their neighbors, using the guns they had obtained from earlier slave sales

34. The “New Slavery” and Racism (cont.) • Nearly 12 million Africans were shipped across the Atlantic under horrific conditions to labor in the Western Hemisphere • The new slavery was based on race • Dehumanized black Africans in the eyes of white Europeans • Regarded slaves as property (not as persons)

35. To American and Beyond, 1492-1522 • Christopher Columbus insisted that Europeans could reach Asia by sailing westward across the Atlantic • King and Queen of Spain were anxious to break Portugal’s monopoly of trade around Africa • They financed Columbus’ voyages

36. To American and Beyond, 1492-1522 (cont.) • 1492 trip=Columbus landed on the island of Guanahani in the West Indies (he called it San Salvador) • On a subsequent voyage, he claimed and colonized for Spain the island of Hispaniola • Even after his last expedition (1498-1502), he did not realize he had discovered a new world

38. To American and Beyond, 1492-1522 (cont.) • John Cabot • 1497 • Explored and claimed the north Atlantic coast for England

39. To American and Beyond, 1492-1522 (cont.) • Later explorers eventually realized that a big landmass (America) blocked the way to Asia • They focused discovering a water route through or around the Americas to reach Asia

40. To American and Beyond, 1492-1522 (cont.) • Balboa • Crossed the Isthmus of Panama • Reached the Pacific • 1513 • Magellan • 1519 • sailed around the tip of South American and reached the Philippines before being killed

41. To American and Beyond, 1492-1522 (cont.) • Verrazano • Explored the coast of North America • 1524 • Cartier • Sailed up the St. Lawrence • Looking for supposed Northwest passage to Asia • 1534

42. Spain’s Conquistadores, 1492-1536 • Early Spanish explorers soon became conquerors • Columbus • Exported Indian slaves from Hispaniola • Gave grants to Spaniards to extract labor from native population

43. Spain’s Conquistadores, 1492-1536 (cont.) • Hernan Cortes • 1519 • Landed in Mexico • Subjugated the mighty Aztec Empire • Francisco Pizarro • 1532-1536 • Conquered the Incas

44. Spain’s Conquistadores, 1492-1536 (cont.) • Spanish conquerors were awestruck by the civilizations they encountered (size, govt., wealth, etc.) • Spanish conquerors fanned out over the Caribbean and the Americans from Mexico to Chile • Subduing and enslaving the native peoples and enriching themselves and Spain

45. Spain’s Conquistadores, 1492-1536 (cont.) • The Indian population was nearly decimated • Forced labor • Warfare • Starvation • Alien diseases (small pox & measles) • When shortages of Indian slaves developed, the Portuguese delivered African substitutes • In 1519=Central Mexico’s population was between 13 and 25 million • By 1600=it was 700,000

46. The Columbian Exchange • “Columbian Exchange” or the “biological encounter” of Europe, Africa, and America had tremendous impact on the peoples, animals, and plants of all 3 areas

47. The Columbian Exchange (cont.) • Diseases • Disease-causing microbes • Europeans and Africans brought with them • Wiped out whole tribes of Indians who lacked natural immunity • Made it easier for Europeans to conquer and colonize • Animals • Horses, cattle, sheep

48. The Columbian Exchange (cont.) • Plants • Wheat, coffee, sugar • Food • Rice and yams from Enslaved Africans • Corn, potatoes, tobacco, turkeys • Transplanted crops and animals enriched human diets but also caused environmental change and damage to the new habitants

49. The Columbian Exchange (cont.) • Peoples mingled • 300,000 Spanish colonists who arrived in the Americas in the 16th century were 90% male • Many took Indian wives and produced mestizo populations of Mexico and Latin America • European planters begot mulatto children with enslaved African women • Children of mixed Indian-African ancestry were also common

50. The Columbian Exchange (cont.) • The Americas produced fabulous wealth for Spain and her colonists in the 16th century • Gold and silver from Mexican mines • sugar cane from West Indians plantations • sheep and cattle from Mexican ranches • Span’s kings became wealthy • Failed to use the wealth wisely limited the long-term benefit for their nation