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Causes of colonialism
Motivating factors of European expansion
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There were several fundamental factors that drew the Europeans to exploration, to conquest, and to colonize the New World. The four general factors that drew the Europeans were the much sought after natural resources, the renaissance, overpopulation, and religious reasons. Europeans heard that there was an abundance and natural resources in the new world. Much like the adventurous Christopher Columbus, who believed that finding a sailing route to China would be faster and profitable than the usage of the silk road, the Europeans saw the New World as profitable with natural resources, such as gold and furs. Thus, they figured that colonizing would allow them to acquire and use these natural resources. Some of the resources acquired from the
The small environment no longer had enough resources to sustain such a large population which motivated them to subdivide and move on. They expanded southward and eastward. They developed seasonal rounds of activity and movement. Climate change expanded the temperate forest throughout North America allowing them to become more familiar with their land. Early Americans. Soon the domestication of plants and animals established. They developed different cultures traditions diets and languages. During the late fifteenth century, Europeans developed the navigational technology and ambitions which allowed them to explore and conquer the world's seas. The Atlantic Ocean once a barrier became a bridge to vast lands and people. The Europeans traveled to the West Indies and India by traveling around Africa. The new discoveries transformed Europe into one of the most dominant continents. European Christians first felt surrounded by their Muslim neighbors. The Muslims were more a more powerful religion extended to North Africa, Southeast Asia, and Central Asia. The Europeans Christians got an opportunity to break out of the Muslim world and spread their beliefs to the newly discovered world and search for the trade riches such as gold, silks, and
Toward the end of pre-colonial times in Europe, due to the fall of Constantinople, many European nations felt the need to find an alternate route to the East Indies. The trade of rare goods such as spices, rice, exotic fruits and silk fabrics were much in demand, but came at extreme prices. In the beginning of the ‘Age of Exploration’, Portugal was in the forefront with the early explorers Henry the Navigator, Zarco and Tristao Vaz Teixeira, and Diogo Silves discovering the Madeira Islands, the Azores, and the exploration of Africa respectively, but King John the II of Portugal was unconvinced by Christopher Columbus’s pleas to fund his plan to sail West to the East Indies. Columbus made many demands for self-profit, including ten percent of any riches with which he returned, and even an ‘Admiralty’. Subsequently, Columbus took his plans to Queen Isabella of Spain. Spain acquiesced, and Columbus set off on his fateful journey. The Roman Catholic Church was very interested in expanding the Christian faith during this time and applied its influence on the monarchy. Religion also played a large personal role as Columbus truly believed that God spoke to him, and guided his hand. Additionally, at this time in Europe, land and food were at a premium. The monarchs of the era were fully aware that the acquisition of more land, slave labor and possible natural resources would greatly increase their power, prestige and subsequent wealth. After learning of Columbus’ successful return and the Treaty of Tordesillas (which divided the New World between Spain and Portugal), King Henry VII of England threw his hat into the ring and sent John Cabot sailing from Bristol on an attempt to find a shorter route to the ‘Indies’. Not to be left out in ...
This was followed, notably in the case of Spain, by a phase of conquest: The
or much of written history about Europe and its expansion process literature has seemed to always capture the beginning as hostile. There is no argument that Europe has had a plethora of malicious takeovers but the dynamics of colonialism have transitioned to a less aggressive imperialistic influence and have little need to colonialize any longer but to integrate. Starting with the colonization of countries in Africa it is a well-known fact that resistance most often lead to wars. What past literature have failed to analyze and bring forth in knowledge are those lands that not merely welcomed colonization but also had a less defiant attitude towards the movement. Powers such as Ethiopia and Liberia were able to maintain their systems and did not colonize under Europe. Some of the main reasons Europe had major success in gaining political power in most of Africa was due to misinterpreted form of treaties, aggressive militaristic strategy, and greed
Land is a precious resource; it is one of the most finite in the world. If someone has land, they can produce things like food or clothes, mine for precious metals, or raise, feed, and house an army. The uses for this resource are the keys to power. It only makes sense then, that for as long as humans have traded with each other they have also fought over this resource. The majority of wars have been fought over rights to control rights to land. The European approach to this was to take over land by force and force the native population into labor. One of the most famous examples of this is during European Expansion in Africa. During this period, Europe attempted to conquer Africa with almost complete success. They made resistance look like an inconvenience; it was a failure. This is clear when one evaluates the amount of time that Europe controlled Africa, the military of the Europeans powers, or the number of Africans killed or maimed.
Disease and Medicine along with war and religion were three ways American history has changed. When the colonists came over from Europe they unknowingly changed the world forever in ways they couldn't have imagined. These effects were present to both Native Americans and Europeans. Some of these changes made life easier for both Native Americans and Europeans but some made relations worse too. And some effects wouldn't show up until it was too late.
At the end of the 15th century marked a very large turning point in European history. It was the process of making it to and exploring the “New World” (while also encountering the natives there). The Europeans had never seen such Native people that have completely thrived in developing their own distinctive cultures whilst entirely detaching themselves from the European World. To the Europeans, the Natives customs seemed irrational and not commonly correct. They believed the natives were barbarians or savages for thinking that a broken wine barrel hoop is more valuable than gold. The Europeans thought that it was their responsibility to teach them the “right” way of living. Thus European invasion onto the lands of the natives, and how they
“Other European countries were thus galvanized to send out their own expeditions to explore and start colonies in the New World. This led, of course, to the British and the French establishing colonial outposts in the New World.” Other countries saw Spain’s quick growth and were keen on imitating the voyage, in hope’s to better themselves as well. “Europe benefited from the abundant natural resources of the new continent, and cultural thought and the European sense of cultural superiority were impacted by contact with what were considered more primitive cultures.” A new continent was a huge discovery and had new options for an unknown amount of land, new culture, and new resources to invest in and sell. While exploration is good all around, someone else might have found North America before Columbus
The European exploration and colonization resulted in commercial expansion of trade in agricultural products between Europe and America. In some time, colonization resulted in religious tolerance and representative government that have for several years encouraged similar developments in other countries. In addition, early European exploration led to redistribution of human populations as magnitude of people from Europe and Africa moved to America. Before the colonization and exploration period, the Native Americans had established a number of forms of social organization.
European Exploration discovered parts of the world that no one even dreamed about existing. It created new trade routes, improved technology, and spread religion to the new world. Explorers like Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand Magellan, and others helped further our education on the globe and its other continents. Without these explorers and their expeditions we might not have the knowledge and advancements we have today.
With the conquest of the new world, diverse consequences emerged worldwide. In the end, which were the benefits and the consequences for conquering of the new world? What was what motivated these people to explore a new continent? Many came because they thought America was filled with jewels and gold. Others came to the new world to convert Indians into Christians. Some were looking for a fertile land that could be exploded to manufacture goods, crops, and raise animals. Others were brought to the new world against their will, like black slaves, to work on plantations and do other arduous tasks. The benefits as well the consequences are keys to determine why Europeans decided to conquer and stay at the new world.
The discovery of the new world brought the Europeans resources, money, and people. Discovery of the new was such an impact on the European exploration because of land. Countries would now have more land in their name with lots of resources. Discovery the new world made the European come up with the ideal of slavery. This was a negative for the people who lived on the land because they were either killed, brought into slavery, or kicked off the island (3). Crops and resources was another reason why the discovery of the new world was important. Exploring the world gave the Europeans resources that were very convenience. Gold was the greatest convenience resources found during the European exploration (3). When the Europeans were traveling across they weren’t just looking for land and money. They also learned from the Indians and others about their culture (3). Learning about another culture made the explorers bring back some of their culture and share it with the old world. The explorers found lots of resources and crops that they didn’t have, they also found out that the Indians didn’t have things they had, and this is what lead to the Columbian
There were two key social pressures that contributed to English colonization of North America. The first was the overwhelming surge of poverty that developed in England in the early 1600s. Success in the America’s meant a healthier lifestyle for the English. With this success the population soared, multiplying itself more than five times in just a century. Due to the rise in population, the demand for necessities such as food increased causing inflation. In addition, the rise in population created an overstock of potential workers which in turn led to a fall in employee wages. With the rise of inflation and the decrease of wages for the typical English citizen poverty and homelessness created a life with little hope to get ahead (Norton,
European nations had a desire for goods such as: gold, jewels, and spices, so they could improve their economy. Their desire for spices was stimulated when Marco Polo, an Italian, traveled from Italy to China and brought back Chinese culture and goods. Spices were important because they were used to preserve food and they added flavor to various meats. European nations explored in order to find new trade routes and ultimately trade with Asian countries. In “The Ocean Adventures,” Christopher Farman writes, “The Portuguese had many motivations to explore…they were…searching for wealth through trade” (Doc.K). Christopher Farman clearly states that a motivational reason for exploration was to gain riches by trade. A letter to Admiral Santangel, written by Christopher Columbus, states, “their Highnesses may see that I shall give them all the gold they require, if they will give me…spices…and cotton” (Doc.7). The excerpt from the letter written by Christopher Columbus clearly proves that nations sent explorers to discover new land in order to increase their economy by gaining spices and other goods. By gaining wealth an empire could gain economic advantages over other countries. European nations were eager to gain wealth, which led them to explore the unknown in order to obtain goods from new parts from the
The Europeans colonized Africa without considering where different ethnic groups lived. This was very bad for the countries that were colonized. After the Europeans the left, violent conflict was unavoidable because the different ethnic groups were fighting for control of the country. In the text page 188, Sudan had two civil wars between the north and the south,and millions were killed. This shows that the violence in Africa was unavoidable.