History 101: Week 1 (Professor Messer-Kruse)

Lecture 2: Europe in the Age of Exploration and Colonization

Why colonization in 1492? Why Europeans? Clearly, tech. was not the factor as Leif Erikson made the voyage in 1001 a.d. and other Norse followed over the next century. Long voyages not unusual before Marco Polo (1271-1295) and Columbus. Indeed, the ocean currents of the Atlantic are very reliable and simple compared to those of the other oceans. A. Voyages of Admiral Cheng-Ho of the Ming Dynasty, 1404- 1433. B. Ibn Battrutch (Morocco - Iran, Anatolia, Crimea, Central Asia, India, Southern China, Sumatra) 1335-1349. C. Arab pilots routinely crossed the Indian Ocean as Vasco de Gama learned when he employed an arab captain to lead his fleet from Melinda to Calicut.

The answer lies in the relative poverty of Europe. Both the Chinese and Islamic empires, both at their peak during the European middle ages, had access to all the resources their societies coveted in their regions. The Indian Ocean was the arab highway to the east and to Africa. (Nothing on west coast of Africa was needed by them as the slave markets of the Levant provided their human chattel). The seas around China and its vast inland empire also provided a sufficient area of exploitation for their needs. Europeans were the first to venture across the Atlantic in any organized way because theirs were the first empires that needed to.

In 800 AD Europe was a backward backwater of the world. In spite of its tripling of population between 1000 and 1300, it remained relatively undeveloped, impoverished, and isolated. The center of gravity in the world moved east after Rome sacked in 800 AD. 1. Christian empire moved to Byzantium. 2. Islamic Caliphanate moved from Damascus to Baghdad. 3. Largest cities in western world not in Christian Europe but Islamic Constantinopole (200,000), Bagdhad (400,000), and Cordoba (90,000). [Even in 15c. the largest city in Germany, Cologne, had 20,000 and London had onlly 50,000] Europe but a patchwork of fragmented and warring fiefdoms.

Two worldwide processes led to the expansion of Europe: 1. Rise of hegomonic political systems. 2. Growth of long-distance trade.

I. 15c. the era of Centralization of West European States: - 1453 Louis XI emerged from 100 years war king of unified France. - 1485 Henry VII emerged victorious king of England at end of War of Roses. - 1469 Ferdinand (Aragon) and Isabella (Castille) marry.

A. Why did it occur? 1. Crusades (1095-1270) and Black Death (1350's) thinned ranks of fuedal lords. Enriched a few lords at the expense of many. 2. Development of standing armies, new weaponry (musket, cannon) raised the cost of lordship and gave a decided advantage to those who could afford them.

II. The Expansion of World-wide Trade:

The economic concentration of wealth occurred most rapidly in those areas of greatest contact and proximity to the Islamic and Eastern world. This is evident in that the areas of Europe to first rise politically, economically, and artistically (the Italian port city-states of Venice, Genoa) were those most involved in the Levant.

A. outfitting the crusades enriched Italian city-states. B. Italian peninsular trade to silk-route and east.

1. two pillars of Levant trade were sugar and slaves a. Cypruss plantations est. in 14c. b. plantation system spread to Portugal and its madeira, canaries, in 1450's.

C. Portugal, in search of slave labor and trade routes, begins its systematic development of ocean-going technologies:

1. Prince Henry est. navigation and exploration college in 1418 and in 1422 sent expedition to west coast of Africa. 2. 1444 Portugal opened its own slave market. After Turkey captured Constantinople in 1453, the primary slave market to Europe was closed and the search for slaves intensified. The Pope Nicholas V justified the new scramble for slaves with a bull that granted Portugals king the right to enslave and seize the lands of "all savages and pagens whatsoever, and all other enemies of Christ wheresoever placed." Next to the Portugese plantations, the largest consumers of slaves were the Spanish.

It is not at all suprising then, that the New World was first explored by an Italian, trained by the Portugese, in the pay of the Spanish. The second, and the hemisphere's namesake, was a Florence Merchant in the pay of the Italian Medici banking syndicate.

III. Factors behind the English Colonization of the New World

A. Riddles of England' colonization: 1. England was the last empire to get in on the colonization/conquest game. But it was the most successful at colonizing than any other nation. Between 1600 - 1700 England carved out 17 jurisidictional colonies in the New World with a total population of 400,000. (275,000 europeans). 2. England's period of colonization coincided with its century of greatest internal strife. (Revolutions, unemployment, civil war). B. Why England was last:

1. The Creation of the Economic Conditions for Empire late in arriving relative to the Mediteranean states:

a. England's capital base expanded with the land rush precipitated by Henry VIII's firesale of Catholic monastaries (1530's). b. 16c. enclosure movement made for more international trade, concentration of capital, and for the rise of English merchant traders and trading houses, first in woolens, then in other commodities.

2. The Ideological Reasons for Empire also late in coming: a. No interest in courtly circles in conquest of western lands. (Just five years after Columbus John Cabot, also a Portuguese, sailed as far as the Chesapeake) Granted, there was a fear of Spanish naval power until 1588, but the Tudor Kings and Queens were not a cowardly lot. In mid-1500's, Elizabeth dispatched pirates to prey on Spanish shipping: (1) Queen Elizabeth sponsors British pirates, Sir John Hawkins' voyages (1562-1569); Sir Francis Drake and Martin Frobisher (1570's). b. Not until the two Richard Hakluyts and Humprhy Gilbert popularized colonization, and English merchant houses arouse with an interest in them, nothing was done. Their arguments reveal much about the timing and purpose of colonization.

C. 2 Chief Arguments for Empire:

1. Merchant interest is not hard to understand - MONEY - but the ends to which they were prepared to go by the end of the 16c. were, as illustrated in Ireland. 2. The Crown's interest is far more complex, and fundamentally has to do with the concern for ORDER. a. Queen Elizabeth permits plantations to go forward in Ireland, because, as its champion Sir Humphrey Gilbert points out, this will quell the dissatisfaction of the disinherited younger sons of the nobility and empty England of her vagrants. (1) The English Poor: (a) Statute of Artificers 1563, one attempt to solve the problem of "rootless men", but a failure at quelling disorder. (b) 1611, a Spanish ambassador in England reported to his King, "The principle reason for colonizing these parts is to give an outlet to so many idle, wretched people, and thus to prevent the dangers that might be feared of them."

IV. Irish resistance proved too resolute and Gilbert suggested America as an alternative. In 1578, after knighting Gilbert for his repression of the Irish rebellions, Elizabeth issued to him a patent to conquer and occupy all "overseas lands." 1. Gilbert died off Newfoundland five years later, but his half brother, Sir Walter Raleigh, continued where Gilbert left off. 1585 English soldier splashed ashore at Roanoke.

Lecture #3: America Before Columbus

Intro: The story of North American history begins, not with Columbus, Sir Walter Raleigh, or the Pilgrims, but with the people who inhabited this vast land long before any of these conquerors and colonists were born.

5. The Great Migration (15,000 BP) a. About the same time as Japan and Scand. migrations.

6. By 15c. W. Hemisphere pop. of 40 million equal to Europe; 12 major linguistic stocks; 2000 languages and distinct cultural types; a. N.Am. - estimates of pop range from 2 to 12 million pop.; 350 linguistic/culture complexes.

7. Four great culture types in North America prior to Columbus: a. SW Hopi-Zuni b. Mississipian c. Woodland i. Mound Builders of Ohio Valley (dead by 1400 BP) ii. NW Woodland iii. E. Woodland iv. Plains Nomadic

8. Ancient Nomadic Cultures began to change with the introduction of new technologies (3000 - 1500 BP (from time of Pharoahs to Fall of Rome): a. cultivation, pottery, bow and arrow; trade expanded.

9. Adena-Hopewell Mound Builders 2800-1400 BP: a. trade networks reached from Gulf Coast to Lake Superior; Atlantic to Rocky Mountains.

10. Hopi-Zuni a. Prehistory: i. 1500-1300 BP Hohokam culture coalesced. (new tech: pottery, cotton weaving, amaranth, irrigation) ii. 1050 BP two settlement styles emerged: (1) high country Pueblos (2) Hohokam of Gila-Salt R. flowage. (a) extensive irrigation canals - some 15-18 miles long; rock terracing. (b) 75,000-100,000 pop. (c) adobe house construction. iii. both settlement areas abandoned between 13c. and mid-15c. (due to lag between tech. and pop. growth/soil depletion).

b. Relocation to existing Pueblo settlements. (the "7 cities" - each actually a cluster of 6-7 villages). (a) dramatic pop. rise: Zuni alone had 130,000 pop. in 1582 according to Coranado.

11. In Miss. Valley, Mississippian culture flourished 1300-500 BP (enjoyed its golden age about the time that the "Black Death" and Dark Ages swept Europe.) i. urbanization: 12 + villages and cities in Miss. floodplain (duration 75-600 years). ii. Cahokia (30,000 pop. in 1250 AD (no white settlement would reach that level until 1800). (1) ceremonial centers. (2) centers of riverine trade networks. (3) ag base: hoe/dig stick extensive cultivation of maize, beans, squash, goard, sunflowers and wild foodstuffs. a. Mississippian culture still existing among Natchez into 1500's.

12. Woodland: a. In NW Woodland societies raised food, hunted fish and whaled. b. In east and upper midwest this coalesced by 1000-900 BP in the Woodland culture complex. (N. and E. of Kennebunk R. nomadic - S. semi-nomadic). (1) i.e. - 700 BP Iroquois shift from nomadic to Longhouse settlements (up to 24 units ea.) i. Semi-nomadic intensive cultivation and forest management allowed for food storage and pop. densities 7x that of nomadic woodland peoples (1) burning (twice annually). "In those places where the Indians inhabit there is scarce a bush or bramble or any cumbersome underwood to be seen..." - N.Eng. colonist William Wood. Effects: (a) created park-like forests (b) increased grasses and succulents and therefore increased pop. of herbivores (c) incidentally led to growth of large stands of white pine that later supplied british fleet. (2) intensive agriculture - multicropping, semi- nomadic field rotation, .

13. The Columbian Exchange (emphasis on exchange). Two major exchanges:

a. Cultural: i. TRADE: (1) bred dependency relationships with Europeans (2) shifted sex roles and sex power (3) stimulated inter-tribal rivalries (a) confederacy movement

14. North American Contact predates actual settlement by nearly

a century: a. In the SW and SE Famous Explorers were the first: i. Ponce De Leon - St. Augustine 1513 ii. De Soto - Georgia, Arkansas, Louisiana 1539-1542 iii. Coronado - Colorado, Kansas 1540-1542 iv. By mid 1500's, Spanish had a string of forts from Florida to N. Carolina and Tennessee.

b. But in New England and Middle Atlantic, Indians were quite familiar with Europeans long before the famous explorers arrived. When Cartier "explored" the St. Lawrance area in 1534 to his surprise he was invited ashore by Micmac Indians holding aloft furs on long poles. These native peoples already had 50 years of experience in trading with Europeans.

c. Probably for a decade before Columbus "discovered" the New World in 1492, English fisherman were accustomed to making an annual voyage to Newfoundland's Grand Banks in search of cod. i. By 1517 over a hundred sail could be counted in Newfoundland harbors. ii. By the 1580s, fishing Europe's second largest industry and twice as many men and ship tonnage employed in Newfoundlad than in all the Spanish empire.

d. Fisherman - Indian trade: i. Sailors traded with Indians to supplement catch. So frequently did they trade with native peoples that in 1542 a Basque whaler reported in his diary that he had dinner with some natives who spoke four European languages.

15. Biological: a. Resources: i. sweet potatoe to China ii. corn to Africa iii. potatoe, tobbacco to Europe iv. pigs, horses to America

b. Microbial exchange: i. Depopulation preceded colonization. 2/3 of natives of Western Hemisphere succombed to European diseases. ii. why were European diseases more virulent? (1) crowd theory (measles needs 250,000) (a) Indian pop concentration small, dispersed (b) nomadism is hygenic (c) few animal domesticates (d) hunt/gath diets very balanced (e) Bering cold screen (2) zoonotic origins of disease c. By time Pilgrims landed, 90% of New England natives dead. (John Winthrop: "God hath thereby cleared out title to this place.")

Lecture 4: Mercantilism and the Founding of Virginia

Vir significant as starting point for American history. At time of Rev. it was the largest, most populous, and richest of all the colonies. A Virginian drafted the Dec. of Independence, the Const. and the Bill of Rights. A Virginian commanded the victorious Continental Army. For 32 of its first 36 years as a nation, a Virginian was President.

Unlike America's Thanksgiving mythology, the process of planting America's first English colonies, the seed of the future state of Virginia and the U.S. nation, was not very unlike that of Columbus and the Conquistadors. Indeed, the Spanish example of conquest and plunder was the model for the first English settlements in America.

16. Roanoke Colony landed June 1585 led by Richard Grenville and Ralph Lane. 107 colonists - 50% soldiers. First activity to build a fort.

a. The lack of any significant numbers of farmers tells us much about the tactics of the expedition - trading post model:

i. not planning to feed itself, it planned on trading with Indians for it. (large supply of copper and iron items in stock for trading).

ii. This worked fine in the summer and fall when the Indians had surpluses, but because Indians did not farm for great surpluses and tended to stock only what they needed to survive, they eventually refused to trade with Englishmen. commanding from the Indians the food it required.

iii. When food ran out, Ralph Lane led a sneak attack on the capital of the Roanoke Indians, Dasemunkepeue. Under pretense of peace council, the soldiers entered the village and at the signal "Christ our Victory" opened fire. Lane personally decapitated King Wingina.

iv. A week later, the whole colony hitched a ride with Drake to England.

b. Second Roanoke Colony sent out in 1587, but as luck would have it no supply ship arrived for three years (due to the Spanish Armada) and when the relief fleet arrived found the stockade abandoned.

17. Jamestown colony:

a. Like its predecessor, Jamestown originally based on a trading post model.

b. 144 colonists. Fewer soldiers, but more musket and cannon.

c. Site selected for defensive capabilities and sea access.

i. But while site excellent for defense it was a disaster for health.

Initial contacts with Indians:

18. The Powhattan Confederacy:

a. In the decades prior to 1607, Powhattan had welded together dozens of tribes into a powerful confederacy.

i. 14,000 subjects; 3,200 warriors

ii. His personal court:

(1) forty bodyguards

(2) 100 wives

(3) scores of councilors, priests, advisors

(4) 35 subjordinate kings and queens

(5) tribute stored in 50 yard long treasure house

19. The Plan:

a. Cooperation with Indians preferred:

i. This made for the best trade.

ii. Numbers of natives (upwards of 40,000 in the area) were enough to overwhelm their fort in a concerted attack.

iii. Potential labor source.

b. But the nature of colonization itself contradicted the cooperative ideal:

i. (Capt. Smith's claiming ceremony interrupted by natives is a good example of the contradiction)

ii. When trade not forthcoming, expedition was prepared to take what they could not bargain for.

20. First Winter: Of 144 colonists, only 38 still alive come spring.

a. To save the colony, Smith made president. Smith's reforms:

i. colony placed under strict marshal law.

ii. Smith demanded food from the Indians and when it was not quickly given he razed entire villages. This policy sparked the FIRST POWHATTAN WAR of 1609.

21. Effects of First Powhattan War of 1609:

a. Nearly wiped out the colony. Disease already placed the colony on the edge of survival and warfare nearly completed the job. After one year of war the population fell from 500 to 60. a) Nearly bankrupted the Vir. Co. and prompted a shareholders revolt that replaced the management. Sir Edwin Sandys (a man close to Parliament) made CEO.

b. Demonstrated once and for all that Indians would not be subjugated into a workforce for the colony.

22. Sandys Plan:

a. Unleash private acquistitiveness:

i. abandoned communal land system for private titles.

ii. officials sustained on granted lands.

b. Give settlers a stake in system: (1618)

i. military law scrapped - common law and Burgesses.

c. Diversify economy: various artisans shipped over.

d. Import as many laborers as possible.

i. Indentured sharecropping (1/2 produce for 7 years for 50 acres; Grants for those who brought servants.

ii. contracted with London to ship off orphan boys.

23. In the end Sandy was too successful - for when another war broke out in 1622 a Royal investigation into the Vir. Co. books was begun and the shocking details were out:

a. Of 4,270 persons shipped to Vir. under Sandys, only 1,240 were alive at the time of the massacre.

b. Ships often left English ports poorly provisioned.

In 1624, Charles I dissolved the Vir. Co. and assumed control of Vir. But Charles did not alter any of their recruitment proceedures.

24. The Second Powhattan War sparked as a result of Sandy's policy of mass immigration. As the colony swelled to over a dozen outposts and over a thousand individuals, the Indians were pushed into the back country and decided to rid themselves of the white men once and for all.

a. suprise attack killed 350 settlers (1/4) the first day.

b. Total war - settlers bent on genocide.

i. in one ambush, white fake a peace talk and poison the cask of freindship wine killing over 200 Indians in one stroke and finishing off the other 50 immediately after.

c. War ends in 1832 with fewer than 5000 Indians left alive between James and Chesapeake rivers (from 40,000 there 25 years before).

25. The Tobacco Boom:

a. From 1613-1615 Vir. colonists shipped some to England as a novelty and for some reason it caught on. Price skyrocketed and soon every colonist was feverishly farming every available acres of smokey weed. So far did the mania for tobbacco go that the gov. had to pass a law demanding that every colonist plant 2 acres of corn lest everyone starve in their greed. By 1620, Vir. exported 40,000 pounds of the stuff. By 1630, they exported 1.5 million pounds of it.

b. During that first boom decade, the price of tobacco was so high that anyone could get rich growing it. Land was rich and freely available. The only limiting factor was labor.

26. When labor is scarce and very valuable, a great incentive exists for those in power to force others to labor and to harshly control their labors so as to gain maximum profit. Servitude in Vir. far more harsh than in England:

a. English identure by the year and paid in wages (Vir 7yrs and only freedom dues).

b. Physical punishments given in Vir. that were illegal in England. (No incentive to treat them well because given the profit to be made once freed, no servant would renew their indentures.)

c. English servants hired themselves out - Vir. servants bought and sold, even wagered.

27. The Boom-Towm Society:

a. James river crammed with floating taverns.

b. Life expectancy under five years (1/2 of all families had only one surviving parent).

c. Extremely uneven sex ratios (1625 - 350 men:100 women)

d. Great fluidity of wealth and social mobility.

28. All this made for a very disorderly place - the usual glues of community in England - church, family, social hierarchy - lacking in Vir. In compensation, the Gov. ruled with an iron fist:

a. In May 1624, Richard Barnes was overheard having uttered "base and detracting" speeches against the governor. He was seized, arms broken, tongue bored through with an awl, and forced to run through gauntlet of 40 men and exiled to probable death in wilderness.

29. Stabilization:

a. Tobbacco prices collapse in 1630.

b. Food supply grows after building of palisade in 1634.

c. Between 1630-1640 counties divided into parishes and a church headed each one.

d. After 1640's longevity of colonists began to slowly rise as did the sex ratio.

But all of this meant that servants were now living long enough to expect their freedom dues and to then become competitors to their old masters. In the struggle that ensued between the growing mass of freemen and the entrenching oligarchy of Virginia lay the roots of not only the democractic impulse that would eventually flower into the American Republic, but also the unique regime of American slavery.

Dr. Timothy Messer-Kruse tmesserk@students.wisc.edu 10 South 4th. Street Madison, WI 53704 (campus mail: 4100 Humanities, University of Wisconsin - Madison).

ID: NOTES-101.1.

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