Comparing British America & the British West Indies to the Viceroyalty of New Spain Youssef Gabr - 7B. Thesis: During the age of Western colonialism, European nations explored, conquered, settled, and exploited the areas of the newly discovered Americas. During this period, there were two European superpowers who controlled the dominant colonies of The Americas; these two superpowers were British America (& the British West Indies) and the Viceroyalty of New Spain. Furthermore, these two colonies monopolized the region and went on to shape the development of Modern America. The two powers, while they might have shared some similarities such as the importance of agriculture on the economy, diverged on many ways of life in areas such as labor, governmental structures, societal hierarchy, and religious beliefs. Comparison & Contrasting Geography:. …show more content…
British America included regions such as forests, lakes, mountains, coastal areas, and fertile farmlands, while New Spain included regions such as dry deserts, dense rainforests, and plains. When examining the geographies of the two colonies, we can analyze that both New Spain & British America had fertile lands which were suitable for, and therefore exploited, plantations & animal husbandry. Both of these colonies placed great emphasis on agriculture and established mercantilism. Although there are similarities between these two colonies’ geography, they diverge such as the fact that New Spain had dense rainforests, and although British America had mild forests, it did not have areas with the same forest canopy density as the Yucatan
This paper will be exploring the book The Vanguard of the Atlantic World by James Sanders. This book focuses upon the early 1800 to the 1900 and explores the development of South American political system as well expresses some issues that some Latino counties had with Europe and North America. Thus, Sanders focus is on how Latin America political system changes throughout this certain time and how does the surrounding countries have an effect as well on Latin political system. Therefore, the previous statement leads into some insight on what the thesis of the book is. Sanders thesis is, “Latin American’s believed they represented the future because they had adopted Republicanism and democracy while Europe was in the past dealing with monarchs
Anais Nin once said that “we write to taste life twice: in the moment and in retrospection.” In his book, Seven Myths of Spanish Conquest, Matthew Restall tries to change our perception of the past in other to open our eyes to what life was really like during the colonial period. As Restall puts it, the main propose of the book is to “illustrate the degree to which the Conquest was a far more complex and protracted affair” (p.154) than what was supposed in the latters and chronicles left by the conquistadores. Each one of Restall’s chapters examines one of seven myths regarding the mystery behind the conquest. By doing so, Matthew Restall forces us to look back at the Spanish conquest and question
One question posed by the authors is “How did Columbus’s relationship with the Spanish crown change over time, and why?” In simple terms, Columbus’s relationship with the
Colonial Latin American society during the 16th and 17th was undergoing many changes. Society was beginning to form lasting institutions and a well defined culture emerged out of it. The Spanish Crown was now beginning to exert more control over their colonies and the Catholic Church was solidifying its place atop an already highly religious society. The Crown’s new found control would last until the independence of the colonies and the Church influence lasts in those societies up until this very day.
More than half of American goods produced for export went to Great Britain, and acts were in effect that gave England more control over colonial exports (Navigation Acts and White Pines Acts are two examples). However, the West Indies played a vital role in preserving American credit in Europe, illustrating that Americans had developed economic differences that distinguished them from the British. They were able to trade with other countries throughout the world, not just England. Without the source of income from the West Indies, colonists wouldn’t have been able to pay for manufactured items they purchased in the mother country. An expanding coastal and overland trade also brought colonists of different backgrounds into more frequent contact.
The scene is set; America is the great power in the western hemisphere. Post Spanish-American War, America is faced with a dilemma of annexing the Philippines. In the winter of 1899 following the annexation of the Philippines, America had a problem. Filipinos had been fighting for independence from Spain and did not want to be seceded (83). Despite the Filipino objection, the United States displayed their assertion on the land. In conflict, both the Filipinos and American had many meetings with death. There were consequences and repercussions from invoking the American power on this foreign land. The American victory in the Spanish-American War helped propel the nation. Thesis: Although met with conflict from the natives, the
This text was created to bring to light the hardship Natives went through during the Age of Exploration. The populous, who only hear rumors and short stories from all territories west of the Atlantic Ocean, cannot grasp the tough and difficult task that is at hand in the Americas. From these short blurbs of what is said about the west, they make inferences of what it is like, and how it is possible for another land mass to be unknown to many for so long. But for those who do know what is past the Atlantic, know that this Agenda of the King and Queen must be fulfilled and to do so would be to claim land for Spain for it to be settled upon. On top of that is to further collect the riches of the Americas to benefit Spain in the conquest of the Americas.
Throughout the course of history, nations have invested time and manpower into the colonizing and modernizing of more rural governments. Imperialism has spread across the globe, from the British East India Company to France’s occupation of Northern Africa. After their founding in 1776, the United States of America largely stayed out of this trend until The Spanish-American War of 1898. Following the war, the annexation and colonization of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines ultimately set a precedent for a foreign policy of U.S. imperialism.
The Treaty of London (1604) ended the war between England and Spain and secured Spain’s position as a leading power in the world. Although the war was over, there were still plenty of tensions between the two countries. There is no hiding the fact, that the rivalry between England and Spain in the 1500s and 1600s assisted in spurring the colonization of the New World in completion of new land, wealth and power. Military bases for warring against Spain could also be created in the New World and encouraged England’s colonization as well. Without doubt, the war with Spain and the rivalry created afterwards, was a major stimulus in building new colonies in America.
Bethell, Leslie. The Cambridge History of Latin America Vol. III. Cambridge University Press, London, England. 1985.
Before the American Revolution, the trends of colonial history remained rather consistent. The European superpowers continued to expand, reaping exponential benefits from the nations in which they colonized. Thomas Bender argues that the American Revolution was not just a revolution for the people of the continental United States, but was rather the starting point of a continuous global revolution that inspired social change and governmental autonomy for the colonized people. Bender examines global trends in Central and South America, as well as Europe before America’s Declaration of Independence to demonstrate that prior to the American Revolution, the great powers of Europe ruled with minimal backlash, exploiting weaker nations for increased
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Looking back into history, at around the 1500s to the 1600s, people were very much the same in the sense that many countries were looking to aggrandize their economy and appear the greatest. It was this pride and thinking that motivated many of the superpowers of the world’s past. Two such monarchies in the European continent included England and Spain, which had at the time, the best fleets the world has ever seen. Because both were often striving to be the best, they conflicted with one another. Although England and Spain had their differences, they both had a thirst to see new things and it was this hunger that led them both to discovering different parts of the “New World” and thus, colonizing the Americas.
From Spain's early arrival in the Caribbean through their establishment of the Spanish empire indigenous people were exploited through cheap, slave like labor. One of the most incredible subjects raised by the documents presented in Colonial Spanish America is the topic of Labor Systems that were imposed on the indigenous people. Spain tried to excuse this exploitation by claiming to save these indigenous people by teaching them the ways of Christ but many of the Articles in Colonial Spanish America, Struggle & Survival, and The Limits of Racial Domination prove otherwise. Through letters, personal stories, and other documents these books present accounts that tell about the labor system used in this area. They tell of the Spanish labor systems such as the encomiendos and later rapartamientos and how these operations were run.
Scholars have debated not only the nature of Iberian colonialism, but also the impact that independence had on the people of Latin America. Historian Jaime E. Rodriguez said that, “The emancipation of [Latin America] did not merely consist of separation from the mother country, as in the case of the United States. It also destroyed a vast and responsive social, political, and economic system that functioned well despite many imperfections.” I believe that when independence emerged in Latin America, it was a positive force. However, as time progressed, it indeed does cause conflict.