American Colonies(1 of 2)

Two Cultural Forces: Gold versus God

Sik-Lam Wong 01/2013

Sik-Lam Wong 黄锡林

NOT FOR PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

Two Different Kinds of Immigrants to America With Two Sets of Values

• Most of the early arrivals in America were interested in getting rich quick: looking for gold and silver– Later, others came to America to escape poverty– Making money was highest priority

• Human suffering through slavery and indentured servitude

• Some came to America to escape religious persecution and left a strong tradition of Christian values including equality and justice for all

Great Voyages in 15th Century: Zheng He (1405-1433), Columbus (1492) and Da Gama (1498)

A display at the Ibn Battuta Mall in Dubai, UAE, compares the size of ships used by Zheng He and by Christopher Columbus. (Wikipedia)

Ottoman Empire Blocking Land Route Between Europe and Far East

• Ottoman Empire (Turks) situated between Asia and Europe (1400’s)

• Controlled the Silk Route and monopolized the trade with the Far East, gaining wealth and power

• Europeans tried to find a way by sea to Far East

Portuguese (Da Gama) Found and Monopolized

Sea Route to India Via Cape of Good Hope 1498

Background: Europe Wanting to Make Money by Trading Directly with Far East

• Portugal and Spain were closest to Africa and had advantage in exploration by sea: across Atlantic and around Africa – Portuguese and Spanish discovered islands in

Atlantic Ocean: Azores, Madeiras and Canary Islands• Started plantations in the Madeiras and Canary

Islands to grow sugar canes on a large scale for Europe, importing slaves from Africa to work the fields

– Spanish business model later used by the English in America

• Islands served as stepping stones for further exploration across the Atlantic

Columbus Made a Mistake and Discovered America

• Portuguese built forts along West Africa and monopolized exploration via Africa, eventually Vasco da Gamma went around Cape of Good Hope and reached India in 1489

• Columbus reached the Bahamas and West Indies in 1492 and mistook them to be the East Indies– Legend of 7 cities of gold beyond the ocean– Generated a lot of excitement in Spain– Later sending gold and slaves back to Spain

Columbus Thought Asia Was Within Sailing Distance from Europe and Africa

Spanish Franchised Colonization in Americas: Adelantado

• Spain had business model for colonizing North and Central America: conquistadores– Privately funded expeditions led by independent

military contractors (conquistadores) in pursuit of profit: with license (adelantado) from Spanish crown

– Spain to get 20% of plunder and to have sovereignty over the conquered land

– Cruelty was commonly used to extort gold from natives

– English tried to use similar business model (without a license system) in the colonization of America

Spanish Colonization in Americas

• Spanish conquered Mexico and Peru and started sending gold and resources back to Spain– New food crops such as maize and potatoes were

more productive than the traditional European crops of wheat, barley and oats, leading to increased food supply and population growth

• Spanish explorations in what is now US in mid-1500’s– Florida, Georgia, Carolinas, Tennessee, Mississippi,

Arkansas and Texas from Cuba– New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas from

Mexico

Spanish: First to Establish Colonies in What is Now US

• San Augustine, Florida ~1565– First continuously surviving colony in North America– Established as a fort to protect Spanish ships

shipping treasures back to Europe through the narrow channel between Florida and the Bahamas

• Santa Fe, New Mexico ~1609– Established as a fort to protect Mexico from possible

attacks from the north

Spanish: First to Establish Colonies in What is Now US

• Neither San Augustine nor Santa Fe were located in “good” areas to become flourishing towns – Frequent hurricanes in Florida making it hard

to sustain farming– Dry, hot weather and poor soil in Santa Fe,

again difficult to sustain a large community– Continuous support from Spanish government

to maintain the two military outposts in North America

English Coming to America in Late 1500’s

• English first came to North Carolina and Virginia, and kept a healthy distance from the Spanish in Florida– Established first colony at Roanoke, an island

off the North Carolina coast, but the colony did not survive: lack of food

• English established first surviving colony in May 24,1607 at Jamestown in the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia

Jamestown, Virginia

English Took to the Spanish Models

• Extorting gold and silver from native Indians at first but that did not work– The Chesapeake Bay area did not produce

minerals, unlike Mexico or Peru– First colonists were interested in getting rich

quick and not interested in working or farming and many did not last through the winter because of lack of food: a lesson leading to the Mayflower Compact

English Took to the Spanish Models

• Plantations to grow cash crops, especially tobacco– Large farms owned by the rich, employing a lot of

labor– Tobacco was novel and addictive and the increasing

demand resulted in rapid expansion of tobacco farming• Still quite a bit of tobacco grown in the South even

these days• Ironic that Europe exported germs to America and

in return, America exported tobacco/lung cancer to Europe

Life Was Hard for Early Colonists in Virginia

• Hot, humid summers and the marshy coastal area in Virginia bred Malaria, which killed many colonists

• Early colonists were mostly men, very few women and families, resulting in lack of continuous supply of manpower

Life Was Hard for Early Colonists in Virginia

• Plantation owners relied initially in indentured servants– Would sell their labor to the plantation owner for 4-7 years – Owner would pay for their passage to America from England

• Provide basic food, shelter and clothing during the contract, as well as new clothes and tools at the completion of contract

• Also would get 50 acres of land from the government to start new life

– Most indentured servants would die before the end of their contract

– If they survived their contracts, they would start their own farms and not work for their former owners

Plantation Business Encouraged Slavery

• Tobacco trade resulted in stable trade between England and American colonies– Tobacco trade provided colonists with income and in turn they

bought manufactured goods from England– Prosperity for both sides of the Atlantic

• Prosperity in England meant fewer people wanting to become indentured servants in America– Plantations did not have enough families to provide next

generation of workers and had been relying on emigrants• Plantation owners started to import slaves from Africa to deal with

labor shortage, especially in the 1700’s– Planted the seeds for cultural conflict with the North, leading to

the Civil War in 1860

Rare Photo of Slave Boy Found in North Carolina April 2010

The photo was found at a moving sale in Charlotte, accompanied by a document detailing the sale of John for $1,150, not a small sum in 1854.

Pilgrims Came to America to Escape Religious Persecution

• Pilgrims from England came to America to escape religious persecution

• First arrived in Plymouth in Massachusetts and later spread around the New England area

• Christian values resulted in healthier lifestyle and social structure

• (Continue in next Part 2)

This presentation is based on information from open sources on the Internet and from American Colonies by Alan Taylor