Why exploration in the
New World?
Between 1585 and 1587, John White
made two trips to Roanoke Island, the
first English settlement in America. His
primary assignment on these trips was
to sketch everything that might be of
value in obtaining an overall picture of
the country, to survey the area, and to
make a map.
What is the message White is trying to
convey about the "first Americans?"
Europe Looks West
Motivation for westward expansion
• Mercantilism
• The religious motive, but how did it come about?
Was it different for the English and Spanish?
An imaginary seaport with a
transposed Villa Medici,
painted by Claude Lorrain
around 1637
Nations clamor for the New World
• Spanish
• Portuguese
• Dutch
• English
• French
Motivation?
John Cabot
Henry the VII had recently finished the
War of the Roses by taking power
himself and killing the last direct
challenger for the throne. Feeling
somewhat secure at home, he was
ready to send someone west, across
the Atlantic in search of China and the
Spice Islands. He choose a Genoese
navigator, John Cabot (Giovanni
Caboto) and on May 2nd 1497 he set
sail from Bristol England on a ship
named the Mathew and crossed the
Atlantic.
Cabot Sights NewFound-Land
Spanish #62
Samuel de Champlain (1567?-1635) was a French explorer
and navigator who mapped much of northeastern North
America and started a settlement in Quebec. Champlain also
discovered the lake named for him (Lake Champlain, on the
border of northern New York state and Vermont, named in
1609) and was important in establishing and administering
the French colonies in the New World.
John Cabot
Samuel de Champlain
Vasco Nunez de Balboa
Jacques Cartier
Robert de la Salle
Christopher Columbus
Francisco de Coronado
Hernando Cortes
Henry Hudson
Ponce de Leon
Ferdinand Magellan
Hernando de Soto
Magellan
Background English & Spanish Colonization
1. The U.S. evolved from British settlements on the
N. Am. Mainland. Officially 1607/8
2. But . . . a century earlier Spain had founded an
empire, a much more powerful entity and was
already developed when the English arrived.
3. A striking contrast between the way the Spanish
and British empires evolved!
How were they different?
At every stage of development . . .
Spain
Britain
Spain proceeded swiftly to exploit the
people and land
A haphazard beginning
Expansion led by conquistadors
No such equivalent amongst the
British
Colonies governed by royalty and an
elaborate bureaucracy – Casa de
Contratcion (trade board)
Never an effective structure of
imperial government – control over
the American system was weak.
From the start, the Spanish crown
asserted its authority
For no less than 50 years, England did
nothing to develop its claims to N.
Am.
Catholic expansion
Protestant freedom
- A century from 1607, the
complete eastern seaboard
had been transformed.
Nathaniel Bacon
- The entire Indian population
was displaced or destroyed by
English and Dutch
- The seaboard had 250,000 European settlers, all trying to
recreate their life as it was in Europe (family, technology, etc.)
- At first life was hard and rough in the North American colonies.
However by the early 18th century people in the American
colonies lived in houses as comfortable as those in Europe.
Wealthy people had finely carved furniture, wallpaper, china,
silver and crystal and chairs were common.
Gov. William Berkeley - 1676