15th Century Europe: Trade Routes and Discovery

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During the 15th century Europe had numerous changes. The population expanded rapidly which gave rise to new classes of merchants. European nations were very wealthy when it came to spices. Therefore, they traded them on the land route from Asia. These land routes were controlled by the Turkish Empire, which lead to many problems for the countries who were trying to trade these spices and acquire other valuables. This then steered them to begin searching for other routes of trade to essentially cut out the “middle man”. A race then began to erupt between many European countries such as Portugal, Spain, France, and England. These four countries all wanted to be the first to discover new land. However, Portugal pulled ahead and sailed along …show more content…

The Chesapeake Colonies consisted of Virginia, Maryland, New Jerseys, and Pennsylvania. Virginia made their own fortunes through growing tobacco which paved the way for Maryland to do the same. Any economic growth that developed in Virginia, Maryland followed closely. Since tobacco was so popular, Chesapeake shipped their crop of tobacco to New England. The New England colonies consisted of Massachusetts Bay Colony, Plymouth, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Haven. In New England, the population was almost exclusively whites. However, most of the population consisted of the Puritans, Quakers, and Catholics. In the Chesapeake colony the population was made up primarily of black-slaves because of the demand for indentured servants for the growing tobacco industry. The two also differed when it came to religion. The New England colonies were Puritan Separatists, who wanted religious freedom. When The Church of England separated from Catholicism under Henry VIII, Protestantism thrived. While, in the Chesapeake colonies religion was not as …show more content…

These four colonies are entirely diverse from one another. They are also not like any of the other colonies. They are the middle colonies because they separate the southern colonies from New England. Each colony within the Middle Colonies had its own different religious and political ideas. The diversity that was brought about between these different groups was a change because usually those that live in surrounding colonies have similar beliefs. Here though the diversity was encouraged and it is what made this section so special but also so different. Their different beliefs shaped the political and religious landscape for the people of this region giving everyone a dose of different ideas. New York would be considered one of the most diverse because it was home to Dutch, Scandinavians, Germans, French, Jews, Africans, and Indians. New York grew rapidly because of the Dutch heritage. They started the business of trading shares of companies, which then flourished into the start of the New York Stock Exchange. They also started banks and insurance companies which led to a very successful colony. New Jersey shared great ethnic and religious diversity like New York, yet it was not as successful because of the lack of large landowners. Pennsylvania had a big amount of immigration which led to a great success for the colony. The perfect climate and good soil made Pennsylvania an ideal place to

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