PRIMARY SOURCE DOCUMENTS
DOCUMENTING
UNITED STATES HISTORY HIPPO 1 Columbus Journal Entry, 1492
HIPPO 2 Juan Gines De Sepulveda,
Concerning the Just Causes of the War against the Indians, 1547 HIPPO 3 Bartolome De Las Casas,
Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies, 1542 |
GREEN BOOK READINGSHIPPO 4 Indians Resist Spanish Conquest,
Testimony of Acoma Indians (1599) essays worth reading |
For educational purposes
Bedford/St. martins
I. Spain’s Tribute Colonies
A. A New American World
1. Encomiendas – Leading conquistadors received these land grants from the crown, allowing them to claim tribute in labor and goods from Indian communities; prominent Spaniards controlled vast resources and exploited Indian labor.
2. Precious metals – Mexican gold and Andes silver poured into Spain; Spaniards spent their wealth on Eastern silks, spices, and ceramics, and on Catholic churches; eventually the wealth triggered ruinous inflation in Spain.
3. Society in New Spain – Between 1500 and 1650, at least 350,000 Spaniards, two-thirds of them men, and 250,000–300,000 Africans migrated to Mesoamerica
A. A New American World
1. Encomiendas – Leading conquistadors received these land grants from the crown, allowing them to claim tribute in labor and goods from Indian communities; prominent Spaniards controlled vast resources and exploited Indian labor.
2. Precious metals – Mexican gold and Andes silver poured into Spain; Spaniards spent their wealth on Eastern silks, spices, and ceramics, and on Catholic churches; eventually the wealth triggered ruinous inflation in Spain.
3. Society in New Spain – Between 1500 and 1650, at least 350,000 Spaniards, two-thirds of them men, and 250,000–300,000 Africans migrated to Mesoamerica
I. Spain’s Tribute Colonies
B. The Columbian Exchange
1. Diseases – European and African diseases ravaged Indian communities, decimating populations in both densely and sparsely populated areas; Columbus’s sailors carried a virulent strain of syphilis back to Europe from the New World.
2. Plants and animals – Foods from the Western Hemisphere (maize, potatoes, manioc, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes) increased agricultural yields and spurred population growth on other continents; European livestock (cattle, swine, horses, oxen, chickens, and honeybees) transformed the Americas.
B. The Columbian Exchange
1. Diseases – European and African diseases ravaged Indian communities, decimating populations in both densely and sparsely populated areas; Columbus’s sailors carried a virulent strain of syphilis back to Europe from the New World.
2. Plants and animals – Foods from the Western Hemisphere (maize, potatoes, manioc, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes) increased agricultural yields and spurred population growth on other continents; European livestock (cattle, swine, horses, oxen, chickens, and honeybees) transformed the Americas.
I. Spain’s Tribute Colonies
C. The Protestant Challenge to Spain
1. Spain’s Status in Europe – Spain had vast American dominions and wealth, as well as powerful enemies that challenged it continuously; the Protestant Reformation sharpened conflicts as Spanish King Philip II sought to defend Spanish wealth and Catholicism.
2. The English Reformation – In 1534, King Henry VIII broke with Rome and founded the new Church of England; from 1558–1603, Protestant teachings spread during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Henry’s daughter and successor.
3. English Expansion – Elizabeth supported English seafarers (e.g., Sir Frances Drake) in their aggressive actions against Spanish control of American wealth; she supported military expeditions to impose English rule over Catholic Ireland and defeated the Spanish Armada. While Spain declined economically, England grew significantly through population increase, expansion of commerce and manufacturing, and mercantilism. By 1600, England had the resources needed to challenge Spain’s control of the Western Hemisphere.
C. The Protestant Challenge to Spain
1. Spain’s Status in Europe – Spain had vast American dominions and wealth, as well as powerful enemies that challenged it continuously; the Protestant Reformation sharpened conflicts as Spanish King Philip II sought to defend Spanish wealth and Catholicism.
2. The English Reformation – In 1534, King Henry VIII broke with Rome and founded the new Church of England; from 1558–1603, Protestant teachings spread during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Henry’s daughter and successor.
3. English Expansion – Elizabeth supported English seafarers (e.g., Sir Frances Drake) in their aggressive actions against Spanish control of American wealth; she supported military expeditions to impose English rule over Catholic Ireland and defeated the Spanish Armada. While Spain declined economically, England grew significantly through population increase, expansion of commerce and manufacturing, and mercantilism. By 1600, England had the resources needed to challenge Spain’s control of the Western Hemisphere.
II. Plantation Colonies
C. The Caribbean Islands
1. European colonization – In 1624, English and French colonists occupied St. Christopher (St. Kitts) in the Caribbean; by 1655, French also occupied Martinique, Guadeloupe and St. Bart’s; English occupied Nevis, Antigua, Montserrat, Anguilla, Tortola, Barbados, and Jamaica; Dutch occupied St. Eustatius.
2. Plantation economy – England, France, and Holland established plantation economies in the region and, after experimentation with tobacco, indigo, cotton, cacao and ginger, many planters shifted focus to sugar cultivation wherever possible.
C. The Caribbean Islands
1. European colonization – In 1624, English and French colonists occupied St. Christopher (St. Kitts) in the Caribbean; by 1655, French also occupied Martinique, Guadeloupe and St. Bart’s; English occupied Nevis, Antigua, Montserrat, Anguilla, Tortola, Barbados, and Jamaica; Dutch occupied St. Eustatius.
2. Plantation economy – England, France, and Holland established plantation economies in the region and, after experimentation with tobacco, indigo, cotton, cacao and ginger, many planters shifted focus to sugar cultivation wherever possible.
II. The English Arrive in the Chesapeake
B. England’s Tobacco Colonies
1. The Jamestown Settlement – In 1606, a charter was granted to the Virginia Company for land from present-day North Carolina to southern New York; primary goal was trade with native people. In 1607 traders (all men) sent for economic venture; settlement failed horribly; only 38 of 120 men were alive after nine months; many destroyed by disease, warfare, and famine. Powhatan (Algonquin) forged relations with later settlers, marrying his daughter Pocahontas to John Rolfe; Rolfe produced tobacco in the region; production of tobacco and availability of land grants encouraged migration to the region. In 1619, House of Burgesses convened to make laws and levy taxes.
2. The Indian War of 1622 – Powhatan’s brother Opechancanough [O-pee-chan-KA-no] led an unsuccessful uprising in 1607; captured John Smith; later became chief and vowed another uprising; 1622 revolt killed 347 English settlers; King James revoked the charter and made Virginia a royal colony in 1624; settlers now followed English rule: appointed governor, elected assembly, formal legal system, and the Anglican Church.
3. Lord Baltimore Settles Catholics in Maryland – A second tobacco-growing colony was created by King Charles’s granting of land to Lord Baltimore (Cecilius Calvert); became a refuge for Catholics; population grew quickly; 1649 Toleration Act granted all Christians in the colony the right to religious freedom.
B. England’s Tobacco Colonies
1. The Jamestown Settlement – In 1606, a charter was granted to the Virginia Company for land from present-day North Carolina to southern New York; primary goal was trade with native people. In 1607 traders (all men) sent for economic venture; settlement failed horribly; only 38 of 120 men were alive after nine months; many destroyed by disease, warfare, and famine. Powhatan (Algonquin) forged relations with later settlers, marrying his daughter Pocahontas to John Rolfe; Rolfe produced tobacco in the region; production of tobacco and availability of land grants encouraged migration to the region. In 1619, House of Burgesses convened to make laws and levy taxes.
2. The Indian War of 1622 – Powhatan’s brother Opechancanough [O-pee-chan-KA-no] led an unsuccessful uprising in 1607; captured John Smith; later became chief and vowed another uprising; 1622 revolt killed 347 English settlers; King James revoked the charter and made Virginia a royal colony in 1624; settlers now followed English rule: appointed governor, elected assembly, formal legal system, and the Anglican Church.
3. Lord Baltimore Settles Catholics in Maryland – A second tobacco-growing colony was created by King Charles’s granting of land to Lord Baltimore (Cecilius Calvert); became a refuge for Catholics; population grew quickly; 1649 Toleration Act granted all Christians in the colony the right to religious freedom.
1. Who are the people depicted in this image? What are they doing? (Answer: Image depicts the process of sugar refining in the French West Indies. It includes European sugar planters—white people in European dress. It also includes plantation laborers who are black and dressed in minimal clothing appropriate for a tropical setting.)
2. What does this image suggest about the process of sugar refining and the people who controlled it? (Answer: The size and complexity of the machinery suggests that it was expensive and required substantial capital. Image suggests that Europeans on sugar plantations acquired the machinery and played some role in supervising the plantation workforce, but that they did not participate in the actual processes of work.)
3. What does the image suggest about the people who actually worked on sugar plantations? (Answer: Workers here are black and probably enslaved. They are clearly working hard, driving animals, loading the mill, and overseeing the juice as it emerges from the mill. They have strength for manual labor, but also substantial skills necessary for driving animal power, tending machinery, and refining sugar.)
2. What does this image suggest about the process of sugar refining and the people who controlled it? (Answer: The size and complexity of the machinery suggests that it was expensive and required substantial capital. Image suggests that Europeans on sugar plantations acquired the machinery and played some role in supervising the plantation workforce, but that they did not participate in the actual processes of work.)
3. What does the image suggest about the people who actually worked on sugar plantations? (Answer: Workers here are black and probably enslaved. They are clearly working hard, driving animals, loading the mill, and overseeing the juice as it emerges from the mill. They have strength for manual labor, but also substantial skills necessary for driving animal power, tending machinery, and refining sugar.)
III. Neo-European Colonies
D. New England
1. The Pilgrims – Religious separatists who left the Church of England; lived briefly among Dutch Calvinists in Holland; 35 then migrated to America along with 67 who left England; led by William Bradford aboard the Mayflower; first winter extremely harsh, only half survived until spring; built a community of houses and planted crops; by 1640, Plymouth had 3,000 settlers because of worsening religious tensions in England.
2. John Winthrop and Massachusetts Bay – In 1630, Winthrop led 900 Puritans to America and became the first governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony; wanted to create an ideal “City upon a Hill”; joint-stock corporation was transformed into a representative government with council and assembly, ruled by “the godly”; Puritans limited voting rights to those who were members of the church; unlike Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts Bay established Puritanism as the state-supported religion.
3. Roger Williams and Rhode Island – Massachusetts Bay was purged of all dissenters; Williams was a Puritan minister in Salem who opposed establishing Congregationalism as official religion of the colony and advocated tolerance; he also questioned the practice of taking Indian land; was banished in 1636; established Providence on land purchased from Narragansett Indians. In 1644, a new colony was established, Rhode Island, with no legally established church and religious tolerance.
4. Anne Hutchinson – Wife and mother of seven; held weekly prayer meetings for women and made accusations against Boston ministers; believed in a “covenant of grace” not “works”; declared that God “revealed” divine truth to individuals and not only through ministers. Puritan belief that women were inferior to men hastened officials’ anger towards Hutchinson; she was banished in 1637; settled in Rhode Island.
D. New England
1. The Pilgrims – Religious separatists who left the Church of England; lived briefly among Dutch Calvinists in Holland; 35 then migrated to America along with 67 who left England; led by William Bradford aboard the Mayflower; first winter extremely harsh, only half survived until spring; built a community of houses and planted crops; by 1640, Plymouth had 3,000 settlers because of worsening religious tensions in England.
2. John Winthrop and Massachusetts Bay – In 1630, Winthrop led 900 Puritans to America and became the first governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony; wanted to create an ideal “City upon a Hill”; joint-stock corporation was transformed into a representative government with council and assembly, ruled by “the godly”; Puritans limited voting rights to those who were members of the church; unlike Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts Bay established Puritanism as the state-supported religion.
3. Roger Williams and Rhode Island – Massachusetts Bay was purged of all dissenters; Williams was a Puritan minister in Salem who opposed establishing Congregationalism as official religion of the colony and advocated tolerance; he also questioned the practice of taking Indian land; was banished in 1636; established Providence on land purchased from Narragansett Indians. In 1644, a new colony was established, Rhode Island, with no legally established church and religious tolerance.
4. Anne Hutchinson – Wife and mother of seven; held weekly prayer meetings for women and made accusations against Boston ministers; believed in a “covenant of grace” not “works”; declared that God “revealed” divine truth to individuals and not only through ministers. Puritan belief that women were inferior to men hastened officials’ anger towards Hutchinson; she was banished in 1637; settled in Rhode Island.
IV. The Eastern Indians’ New World
B. Bacon’s Rebellion
1. Frontier War – Poor freeholders and former indentured servants in the Chesapeake wanted lands occupied by Native Americans in Virginia; in 1675, fighting broke out when vigilante Virginia militiamen murdered thirty Indians; intensified when group defied Governor Berkeley’s orders and killed five Susquehannock leaders; Susquehannocks retaliated by killing three hundred whites. Settlers dismissed Berkeley’s proposed defensive strategy as a plot to impose high taxes on the poor.
2. Challenging the Government – Nathaniel Bacon, an English migrant with a position on the governor’s council, emerged as leader of Virginia rebels; disagreed with Berkeley on frontier policy; demanded a military commission but was denied; organized a militia to attack Indians on the frontier. Political struggle began between Bacon and the governor; Bacon issued “Manifesto and Declaration of the People,” calling for death or removal of Indians and an end to rule by wealthy “parasites” in Virginia. Bacon’s army burned Jamestown and plundered the plantations of wealthy. Bacon died suddenly in October 1676 of dysentery; 23 of his followers were hanged. Wealthy leaders in Virginia realized that they had to appease the poor and landless: cut taxes, expelled Indians from the frontier, increased importation of slaves while decreasing use of indentured servants. In 1705, House of Burgesses legalized chattel slavery.
B. Bacon’s Rebellion
1. Frontier War – Poor freeholders and former indentured servants in the Chesapeake wanted lands occupied by Native Americans in Virginia; in 1675, fighting broke out when vigilante Virginia militiamen murdered thirty Indians; intensified when group defied Governor Berkeley’s orders and killed five Susquehannock leaders; Susquehannocks retaliated by killing three hundred whites. Settlers dismissed Berkeley’s proposed defensive strategy as a plot to impose high taxes on the poor.
2. Challenging the Government – Nathaniel Bacon, an English migrant with a position on the governor’s council, emerged as leader of Virginia rebels; disagreed with Berkeley on frontier policy; demanded a military commission but was denied; organized a militia to attack Indians on the frontier. Political struggle began between Bacon and the governor; Bacon issued “Manifesto and Declaration of the People,” calling for death or removal of Indians and an end to rule by wealthy “parasites” in Virginia. Bacon’s army burned Jamestown and plundered the plantations of wealthy. Bacon died suddenly in October 1676 of dysentery; 23 of his followers were hanged. Wealthy leaders in Virginia realized that they had to appease the poor and landless: cut taxes, expelled Indians from the frontier, increased importation of slaves while decreasing use of indentured servants. In 1705, House of Burgesses legalized chattel slavery.