The Brave New World How the Americas influenced Europea

1
The Brave New World

• How the Americas influenced European Culture and
  How Europeans Changed America

2
Europe Prior to the Renaissance
Europe in 1300 was fragmented, made up of
numerous small kingdoms, but relatively unified
by faith. The Church in Rome tried to control
doctrine.
3
Recovery of Ancient Knowledge
One gain from the Crusades in the late Middle
Ages was the recovery of copies of the writings
of Aristotle, Plutarch, and other ancient
writers. The dissemination of these encouraged
new forms of learning.
4
Marco Polo
In the 1300s, a manuscript account of a journey
to China, written by Marco Polo (left) was read
by many scholars and merchants in Europe. While
some are still uncertain that Polo ever actually
traveled to China, many were excited by his
descriptions of the great wealth of the Chinese
cities and the cities of the Middle East. Ships
from the Italian port cities now began to engage
in trade with ports on the eastern Mediterranean,
purchasing goods and information from Asia and
the silk road trade.
5
New Trade and Trade Routes
Polos account of his journey to China stimulated
new east-west trade. The Italian cities
benefited from this trade because it used the old
eastern Mediterranean route of ancient times.
6
New Technology Boosts Learning
In the 1400s, a group of enterprising businessmen
perfected moveable type in a new printing press,
which further revolutionized the spread of
information in Europe.
7
Rise of Humanism
In the 1300s and 1400s, new ideas began to
flourish, partly because many of the old ideas
of the ancient Greeks and Romans were being more
widely distributed with the growth of the
printing press. Petrarch (left), an Italian
scholar, wrote numerous poems and essays in
imitation of the works of ancient Roman poets and
philosophers. Petrarchs focus on human affairs
as opposed to theology and faith helped spur
a rebirth of creative work centered on humanity.
8
Additional Factors in Changing the European
Mindset.

• New methods of measurement and record keeping
• Increases in the processing of wool led to
  factories of two-three dozen workers in France
  and Italy. Work schedules were created to
  organize workers and time-keeping was established
  new clocks are created.
• Double-digit bookkeeping created to keep
  accounts and inventories.
• More precise tools for measuring distance,
  weight, and volume developed, which also
  influences map-making and navigation,
• New navigation instruments are developed to
  better determine latitude and astronomical tables
  printed for ship use.

9
Portolanos for Sailing.
Portolanos were special maps that contained
navigation lines set routes for reaching
specific ports or harbors. These were useful
only in known waters.
10
The Unknown Hemisphere.
Since there was no specific record of the
migration of Asians to North America about
60,000-100,000 years earlier, even educated
Europeans were unaware of its existence.
11
Native American Cultures
10-20,000 natives lived at the mound city of
Cahokia in the 1200-1300s. The city and its
corn-culture was abandoned for unknown reasons.
Over thousands of years, numerous Native American
cultures developed, ranging from small nomadic
groups cities in South and Central American, and
in the Mississippian mound communities near the
rivers in mid-North America.
12
Pre-Columbus Ties Across the Oceans
There is little doubt that there were many
contacts between the inhabitants of the
American continents and the inhabitants of the
Euro-African land mass prior to the 15th century.
In addition to scattered references in ancient
writings, experiments by various anthropologists
have suggested possible ways in which this
occurred.
In the early 1970s, Thor Heyerdahl, a
Scandinavian explorer, used a reed boat
constructed in ancient Egyptian fashion to cross
the Atlantic (boats of similar design have long
existed in South America).
13
Evidence of European Exploration
Scandinavian records show that several voyages
were made from northern Europe across the
Atlantic between the 10th and 13th centuries.
14
Evidence of European Habitation
Archaeologists have found remains of Norse
settlements in Greenland and Newfoundland.
15
Seeking Asia by the Atlantic
Since the Italian ports controlled the trade from
the Middle East, merchants from western Europe
began to speculate on the prospects of reaching
Asia by sailing around Africa toward India. Henry
(left), a prince of Portugal, opened a special
school for oceanic navigation on Lisbon, and paid
for a number of expeditions along the coast of
Africa, trying to find the southern extent of the
continent.
In order to interest others in investing in his
expeditions, Henry, the navigator, encouraged
the explorers to return with profitable items
from Africa. Among these profitable items was
unfortunately groups of slaves.
16
Columbus
By the 1480s, several ship captains speculated on
the possibility of reaching Asia by sailing west
and across the Atlantic. Cristobal Colon,
(Columbus) was an Italian seaman who tried to
interest England and France in such a venture.
Columbuss idea was feasible only if the Earth
was about 15,000 to 18,000 miles in
circumference, an estimate reached by one group
of Greek scholars. Fifteenth century ships could
not be provisioned for more than about 3-4 months
at sea.
17
1492 The First Voyage
In 1492, Columbus persuaded the King and Queen of
newly united Spain to pay for a three-ship
expedition across the Atlantic. In October,
after weeks at sea, Columbuss sailors sighted
land to the west. Columbus assumed he had
reached Asia.
While exploring these islands of India,
Columbus found large numbers of natives, little
gold or conventional riches, and few of the trade
goods that Europeans wanted. But he returned to
Spain convinced he had opened a new route to Asia.
18
Four Voyages and Claims to New Lands
After four explorations of the the islands (i.e.
the Caribbean), Columbus still did not realize
that he was on the doorstep of a continent
unknown to Europe. Others eventually realized
it, and one of them took the credit.
19
Americus and America
In a 1507 publication briefly describing
Vespuccis voyages, the German geographer
Waldseemuller wrote I see no reason why anyone
should justly object to calling this part ...
America, after Amerigo Vespucci, its
discoverer, a man of great ability. Rendered
in Latin as Americus
Americus Vespucci, another Italian sailor,
claimed to have explored the coast of a new
continent in the south in 1500-1501. Although no
evidence of his voyages have ever been found,
mapmakers called the new lands America. Spain
claimed the rights to these new lands based on
Columbuss voyages and the explorations after him.
20
Conquistadors
Most of exploration of the New World for Spain
was carried out by conquistadors literally
conquerors -- men who had helped conquer much of
Spain from the rule of Islamic caliphs in the
1400s and now sought to gain land, wealth and
fame in the new lands across the ocean.
21
Encomiendas
In order to encourage expeditions to the New
World, the government of Spin granted
encomiendas to explorers grants of land, and
the inhabitants on the land. This encouraged
abuses and led to slavery. Cortez destroyed the
Aztecs through this system.
22
Las Casas Argues Against Slavery
In 1515, Bartolome de Las Casas, a Spanish
missionary, began arguing against the policy of
ecomiendas. He argued that Native Americans had
souls and thus it was immoral to enslave them.
He devoted the remainder of his life to a
campaign for the better treatment of the
Indians. His writings were translated into
English in the 1600s, but had only limited
influence on how English explorers and settlers
treated the native inhabitants of North America.
23
John Cabot
Yet another Italian seaman, Johan Cabotus, was
paid by England to duplicate Columbuss
exploration. Sailing across the Atlantic from
further north in 1498-99, Cabot explored the
shores of what would become eastern Canada and
New England, giving England its own claim.
24
New World as Unspoiled Utopia
Some early explorers, like Walter Raleigh (right)
and his half brother Humphrey Gilbert thought the
New World offered a chance to create a new
society free of the Old Worlds vices.
25
Promoting Colonies
Early attempts by England to establish colonies
failed. A colony at Roanoke on the Carolina
coast failed when most of the settlers returned
to England after a difficult winter. The group
left behind simply disappeared. Plans for other
attempts collapsed for want of funds. Richard
Hakluyt, an English promoter of colonies,
collected accounts of English explorations and
published these in the 1580s in an attempt to
maintain momentum for a colony supported by the
government.
26
How Colonies Began

• A successful colony required funding, ships and
  supplies, trained soldiers for protection and a
  willing group of settlers.
• The English economy was growing in the late
  1500s was growing so few wanted to colonize for
  economic reasons. War with Spain also slowed the
  colonization plans.
• The Crown did not wish to pay for colonies, so
  instead offered charters (legal and economic
  privileges) to private investors who would
  establish a colony.
• The most likely groups for finding colonists
  were religious dissenters Protestants who felt
  the Church of England (Anglican Church) was not
  sufficiently reformed from Catholicism.
  Dissenters found a new world to be a chance for
  creating a new religious community.

27
British Society

• British society in 1600 was highly structured,
  with very distinct social classes.
• The earliest settlers (at Jamestown in 1607) were
  gentlemen, members of the British gentry class.
  A few brought servants with them, and the rest
  of the group were primarily soldiers, hired to
  provide protection.
• At Jamestown, may of the gentlemen hired Native
  Americans to do their heavy labor.
• Later Jamestown settlers were made up of a wider
  range of social types laborers, farmers,
  artisans, merchants, and more gentry. Most
  others treated the gentry with deference (respect
  and politeness).

28
Pilgrims-Puritans
Two groups of potential colonists were the
Pilgrims and the Puritans. The Pilgrims were a
Protestant group who had emigrated to Holland,
but were considering a further move to American
because they found the Dutch culture too
liberal.
The Puritans were a much larger group. Their
leaders were largely gentlemen with some wealth
and influence in English society. They believed
the Church of England was too Popish. Neither
the Puritans nor the Pilgrims believed in the
tolerance of other faiths (or each other).
29
Jamestown
The first successful English colony was
Jamestown, a purely economic venture by young
English gentlemen who hoped to find land and
wealth in Virginia. With charter from King
James I, they landed in 1607 and built a fort
along the James River. Few had any experience in
exploration or living off the land.
30
Remnants of Jamestown
Archaeologists have found much evidence at
Jamestown to indicate the importance of defense
remains of pikes (left) and a bullet mold (right)
that suggest that John Smith, one of the military
leaders was right when he wrote that fear of the
Natives was a prime concern.
31
Starvation
Smith also described the first winter, when
hunger led to disease and death among the first
colonists. Remains of Indian pottery at the site
substantiate Smiths accounts of seizing food
from local Indians. A turtle shell also shows
that the English adopted native diets to
supplement their food.
32
New Agriculture
Attempts to grow foods and other crops from
English seed largely failed at Jamestown. The
colony had many lead and hard years before a
Native American plant tobacco provided the
cash crop that the settlers needed to sell for
a profit in Europe. Unfortunately, slavery grew
along with tobacco.
33
Colonizing New England
In 1620, the Pilgrims, having returned to England
from Holland, obtained a charter to establish a
colony near Virginia. Their leaders deliberately
sailed to New England instead to create a
separate community in what is now southern
Massachusetts.
34
Mayflower Compact First Civil Government.
covenant and combine ourselves together into a
civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and
Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends
aforesaid And by Virtue hereof to enact,
constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws,
Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions and Offices, from
time to time, as shall be thought most meet and
convenient for the General good of the Colony
Because the Separatists had violated the Kings
charter by settling further north, it was
necessary to create an agreement for the group to
live and work together.
35
Intolerance
William Bradford (left) wrote the most detailed
account of the first years of Plymouth colony.
He recorded numerous examples of the Pilgrims
intolerance towards others. When Thomas Morton
sailed to New England in 1624, he used liquor to
entice the Algonquin Indians to trade for
fursThey ... set up a May-pole, Bradford
wrote drinking and dancing about it many days
together, inviting the Indian women to be their
consorts, dancing and frisking together, (like so
many fairies, or furies rather,) and worse
practices.
Miles Standish, the Pilgrim military commander,
led an armed party to seize Morton and send him
back to England. They destroyed Mortons
makeshift camp and his Maypole.
36
Cultural Baggage
Cultural Baggage is s term used for the
cultural habits and values that a group of
immigrants brought with them from their old home
to their new home in the case of early American
colonists, the cultural baggage was primarily
English culture from the 1500s and 1600s. These
early colonists discovered that they would have
to adapt their European cultural heritage to the
environment of North America.
37
Cultural Exchange
The Pilgrims would not have survived in the New
World without the aid of the local Native
Americans aided them. Because English seed did
not at first thrive in the soil of New England,
the Pilgrims had to obtain food from the natives,
and also learn to cultivate local food.
The Pilgrim-native relationship was an example of
cultural exchange. The Pilgrims learned to
grow maize (corn), squash, pumpkins, and beans
from the Algonquians and also were allowed to
hunt game on their lands. In return the Pilgrims
exchanged trade goods (cloth, tools, etc.) for
furs trapped by the natives.
38
The Dark Side of Exchange

• Because they feared the natives might try to
  destroy them if they knew the extent of their
  death rate, the Pilgrims hid the graves of many
  who died in the first year.
• The microbes (germs) from Europe devastated
  native populations in New England with small
  pox, diphtheria and other European illnesses
  killing thousands.
• Early colonial villages were built in the open
  fields left by tribes wiped out by disease
  (Springfield, Deerfield, etc.)

39
The City Upon a Hill
The Puritans, another Protestant group, carried
out a well- organized colonization of what is now
Massachusetts, between 1630 and 1645. Entire
communities that were supplied and supported,
established Boston and several nearby
villages. Once again, the object was to create a
separate, Godly community of Saints.
40
Again, Intolerance
Puritans were no more willing to practice
tolerance than the Pilgrims. In the latter
1600s, Puritan communities banned Quakers from
living anywhere nearby. Quakers who refused to
accept this law were hanged. Puritans were very
strict within their own families.
In the 1680s, Connecticut, a Puritan-dominated
colony created as the need for land grew, passed
a series of blue laws, or restrictions on
personal behavior. On of the laws permitted
parents to ask the courts to execute any of their
children who failed to obey the parents.
41
Walking a Fine Line
John Winthrop, the principal leader of the early
Puritans in America, wanted to carefully adhere
to British law so as to keep the King from
interfering with the growth of the Massachusetts
Bay Colony. When several of the early settlers
wanted to haul down the British flag at the port
(because it had a Church of England cross on the
design) Winthrop refused, saying that would draw
the attention of the British navy.
42
No Democracy
None of the early colonies was in any sense a
democratic society. The Puritans banned Roger
Williams from the Massachusetts Bay Colony when
his interpretations of the Bible disagreed with
the prevailing view. Going south, Williams
established the colony of Rhoda Island, which
allowed a greater measure of religious toleration
than other colonies and worked to establish
friendlier relations with the Indians. But
government remained in the hands of a few
gentlemen.
43
Witchcraft
In this rough woodcut image, Satan presents his
book to a witch. Puritans believed that the devil
required individuals to renounce their covenant
with God and sign a new contract with Satan.
44
White-Red Tensions
In the middle 1630s, Puritan soldiers virtually
exterminated the Pequot Indians after an argument
over furs and trade goods led to warfare. The
Puritan leaders argued that they had Gods
blessing to wipe out the heathen Pequots.
Like many other wars to come, other Native
American bands helped the Puritans destroy the
Pequots this eliminated a rival in the fur
trade and enabled other bands to take Pequot
land. Disunity plagued the Native Americans as
they faced European expansion.
45
Non-British Colonies
By the late 1600s, other Europeans were coming to
North America in larger numbers. The Dutch
Colony of New Amsterdam was seized by the British
in 1664 to eliminate a fur trade rival. In 1682,
William Penn (right) obtained permission to
create the Pennsylvania Colony as a haven for
Quakers. But within 50 years large numbers of
German families came to Pennsylvania to establish
farms
46
Middle Colonies

• New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and
  Maryland were the middle colonies.
• Their population was mixed Dutch, Swedish,
  German, Scots, British
• Religion was also mixed Puritan, Church of
  England, Presbyterian, Mennonite, Catholic.
• Economies were a mix of trade, farming, and early
  industry.

47
Representative Government
In 1619, Virginia governor George Yardley agreed
to allow 2 men from each Virginia borough
(township) to come to Jamestown and advise him on
how to enforce the law. This was the beginning
of the House of Burgesses the first legislative
body in America. But it represented PROPERTY
holdings more than individuals.
48
The Pennsylvania Constitution
THAT the freemen of the said Province shall on
the Twentieth day of the Twelfth Month which
shall be in this present year One Thousand Six
hundred Eighty and two Meet and Assemble in some
fit place of which timely notice shall be
beforehand given by the Governour or his deputies
and then and there shall chuse of themselves
Seventy-Two persons of most note for their Wisdom
Virtue and Ability who shall meet on the Tenth
day of the first month next ensuing and always be
called and act as the Provincial Councill of the
said province. From the Pennsylvania Charter of
Liberty, 1682 the first grant of full religious
freedom was also given in this charter.
49
Indentured Servitude
Before the late 1680s, American population grew
from immigration the death rate was greater
than the birth rate.
50
The Skills Trades
Necessary skills were acquired through
apprenticeships young workers or indentured
servants were trained by working with a skilled
craftsman (such as a shoemaker, left) and
eventually acquired a certificate or license to
practice the trade as a craftsman. Shoemakers,
cabinet makers, home builders, cigar makers,
brewers, soap-makers and the like were all
skilled craftsmen.
51
Trade Restrictions
Luxury goods, like fine silver, clothes, wines,
books, even glass, was acquired from Europe.
Over the years, English trade laws grew to
restrict what American colonist could buy from
any other country but England. These laws,
enforced by the Board of Trade, caused growing
resentment, especially from wealthier Americans.
52
Limited Manufacturing
In order to protect English manufacturers, the
English crown restricted American manufacturing
iron ore discovered in western Massachusetts
could be used to make tools but not fine goods or
steel implements.
53
Trade Routes
Colonial traders made fine profits from the
complex trade routes between the Americas and the
Old World, but resented trade laws.
54
Mercantilism

• The colonies would be regulated by imperial
  government to control trade
• Certain companies in Britain were granted
  monopolies to trade in certain goods (eg. Hudson
  Bay Company controlled interior fur trade).
• Colonies not allowed to create industries that
  would compete with those at home.

55
Shipbuilding
Colonial ports could build ships, but the
government regulated which parts of the world
those ships could trade with eg. Sugar could
only be bought from British sugar colonies.
56
Indentures Decline
As the British economy improved back home, the
number of indentures to America declined. BYt
the 1690s, the birth rate had begun to outpace
the death rate now American population began to
grow rapidly.
57
From Indentured Labor to Slavery
Slavery increased as the number of indentures
from Britain declined
58
Slavery and the Law
As slavery grew in numbers, laws were passed to
make it a permanent feature in several colonies
59
Black Codes

• Colonies (South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia)
  passed laws that forbade owners to free slaves.
• Laws that made slavery permanent by decreeing
  that the children of slave mothers were also
  slaves.
• Laws that did not allow free Africans to own
  property.
• Laws that would not allow free Africans to become
  apprentices or be taught skilled trades.

60
Fugitive Slaves
Colonies enacted laws that enjoined other
colonies to help apprehend and return runaways
these fugitive slave laws became the basis for
the U.S. Federal governments laws for the same
purpose which became a divisive element in the
union soon after the American Revolution.
61
Slavery and Freedom
The increase in slavery sparked protests
62
Anti-slavery Movements
In the 1700s, John Woolman became one of the
first colonists to protest the existence of
slavery, and argue that it should be forbidden
under British law.
63
Anti-slavery in the Middle Colonies
Now, though they are black, we cannot conceive
there is more liberty to have them slaves, as it
is to have other white ones. There is a saying,
that we should do to all men like as we will be
done ourselves making no difference of what
generation, descent, or colour they are. And
those who steal or rob men, and those who buy or
purchase them, are they not all
alike? Resolutions against slavery, from the
Mennonite community of Germantown Pennsylvania,
1688.
64
Praying Towns
John Eliot, a puritan divine, created special
communities for Indians who accepted
Christianity. These Praying Indians were never
really accepted by most colonists, who eventually
wanted their land. In the southern colonies,
laws were passed to prevent Black slaves from
having close contact with Indians fearing that
the two would united in revolt.
65
British Administration of Colonies

• Early colonies were administered purely by ad hoc
  arrangements of the Crown (charters, etc.)
• As trade grew, the Board of Trade became a more
  powerful force in colonial government.
• Navigation Acts, to regulate what could be
  exported, and how it would be taxed, grew as the
  colonies became more complex.
• Rivalry with Spain and France also influenced how
  colonies were governed.

66
Resistance to Royal Rule
In the 1670s and 1680s, Edmund Andros governed
New York by issuing orders and threatening those
who questioned him with charges of treason. But
when Andros successor needed to rasie money, he
had to call an assembly to create tax legislation.
67
Rebellion
In the 1670s, Virginia governor William refused
to make war against the Indians, which many
struggling tobacco farmers wanted. Nathaniel
Bacon, an ambitious landowner, led a rebellion
that temporarily overthrew Berkeley.
68
Legacy of Revolt in Britain
In 1649, the Puritan-dominated Parliament of
Britain executed King Charles I for treason
against the British people. Many were horrified
by this, including philosopher Thomas Hobbes
(right) who argued that people be basically
corrupt and required a strong hand to rule over
them.
69
The Social Contract
When the Parliament in Britain drove King James
II from the thrown in 1688, John Locke, another
philosopher, argued that government was the
result of a social contract made by enlightened
people, who could therefore depose a bad ruler
and form a new government (new contract). Some
in the colonies used this idea to oppose bad
governors.
70
Smuggling
Colonists who were caught smuggling were tried in
special Admiralty Courts by the British Navy,
so ones neighbors could not help the culprint
with a light sentence.
71
Local Press
Local newspapers carried a good deal of
information about the activities of the British
navy, schedules for ship arrivals and departures
which helped the potential smuggler make his
plans.
72
Newspaper Censorship

• The British government seldom interfered with the
  local newspapers.
• There was, however, no legal freedom of the
  press.
• Newspapers were not permitted to criticize
  government figures who were appointed by the King
  that would be treason.

73
Georgia
The layout of Savannah in Georgia Colony
resembled a Roman military garrison, reflecting
its strategic importance as a frontier outpost
protecting the American colonies from Spanish
America.
74
The Zenger Trial
The question before the Court and you, Gentlemen
of the Jury, is not of small nor private concern
nor is it the cause of a poor printer, nor of New
York alone. No, it may affect every Freeman to
deny the liberty of both exposing and opposing
arbitrary power by speaking and writing
truth. A. Hamilton, lawyer for John Peter
Zenger, 1735.
75
A New Society?
By the 1720s the thirteen colonies had become
more closely tied to one another by trade and the
common experiences of creating little Englands
in North America. But as the colonies became
more like England in form and manners, colonists
also realized that the American experience also
made them quite different from those back in
Europe.
76
Benjamin Franklin
Franklin (1706-1790) was the son a of a soap
maker, began his career as a newspaper publisher
after fleeing from his brothers tyranny in 1723.
He was also an inventor, philosopher, and
politician.
77
The First American
As a founder of the American Philosophical
Society, Philadelphia Library, and the
Pennsylvania Hospital, Franklin pushed for the
recognition of a developing new society. In
Poor Richards Almanac he argued that colonists
were becoming a new people Americans.