Colonial Expansion

& Mercantilism

European Colonies: 1625

• Spain
  • Central America
  • Peru
  • Philippines
• Portugal
  • Coast of Brazil
  • Trading ports in Africa and Indian Ocean

• France
  • Quebec (Population=85)
• England
  • Jamestown and Plymouth

• European footprint=relatively small
• Spain
  • Central America
  • Peru
  • Philippines
  • some caribbean islands
• Portugal
  • The coasts of Brazil
  • Trading posts and islands in Indian Ocean and African coasts
• Dutch
  • Some trading posts in the Indian Ocean
  • New Netherlands (New York, etc.)
  • New Netherlands went to English in exchange for Suriname in 1674 after the second dutch war)
• French
  • Quebec (pop = 85)
• England
  • North Am
  • Jamestown
  • Plymouth colony

Map of European Colonies in North America (1625)

Still Seeking the East: Part I: Small Changes

Jamestown (1607)

Plymouth Colony (1620)

New France (1608)

New Netherlands (1614)

Map of the Location of Jamestown in Virginia

Map of Plymouth Colony

Map of North American French, English and Dutch Colonies in 1664

Map of North American French, English and Dutch Colonies in 1664

• Searching for access to the East
  • England - Jamestown - searching for gold or silver - also looking for river access to the Pacific Ocean
  • France
    • Searching for a North Sea route to Pacific
    • Samuel de Champlain (1609) - traveled through the St. Lawrence river and through the great lakes searching for the Orient.
    • These explorations created the basis of French colony of New France - focused on
  • England - Religion - Separatists founded Plymouth - then others followed:

First Major Change: Dutch East India Company (VOC), 1602

Dutch in Indian Ocean

Dutch East India Company (VOC)

Jakarta/Batavia (1619)

Map of Dutch East Indies

• By 1600, Dutch were trading in the Indian Ocean with large ships
  • Many previously sailed with he Portuguese but went out on their own
  • By 1600, they had depressed the market and profits
• Pooled together resources and created the joint-stock company the VOC
• Given monopoly over the trade in Indian Ocean by dutch states
• People bought stock in the entire company
  • Supporting all its efforts, not just one voyage
  • Spread out the risk
  • Company paid out profits to investors based on ownership
• Joint-stock company
  • This was the first “joint-stock company”
  • received monopoly from dutch
  • dutch initially supported it monetarily.
  • granted it political sovereignty over territories under its control
• Trading forts from Portugal
  • expanded its control in Indian Ocean by conquering trading forts from the Portuguese.
• Jakarta/Batavia (1619)
  • took over Jakarta in 1619
  • renamed it Batavia
  • Became the key trading fort to the VOC. - central command - built a shipyard there - conquered surrounding islands - in bloody battles - often enslaved those who remained - exported them to different locations to work - on sugar plantations or cutting wood/building ships. - started growing sugar plantations there (they inherited them from the Javanese - they were worked by Chinese laborers.
  • By 1680s, they created a world-wide monopoly

Motivations and Impacts

Motivation:

• Union of Spain and Portugal (1580-1668)
• Rivalry/War with Spain (1580-1609, 1621-1648)

Impact:

• From Partnerships to Dutch Dominance
• Dependence on Slave Labor

• Transformed the Indian Ocean from one of partnerships between the Portuguese and east-Asian partners that controlled the spice trade
• East-Asian traders became dependent on the Dutch in the spice trade.
• They also became major controllers of the country trade
  • Trading silver between Japan and China
  • Chinese porcelain to India and Japan
  • Indian Opium to china
• Made lots of money as a middleman as they almost monopolized trade.
• Exemplary of this dominance is the number of slaves
  • One estimate is that between 1/3 - 2/3 of the population of VOC colonies were enslaved people.
    • from South Asia, Africa, and South-East Asia
    • worked as domestic laborers, shipping, mining, agriculture, and spice/sugar plantations

The Early Carribbean

N.E. of South America

Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648)

Dutch, Brazil (1630-40), Suriname

French St Domingue (1659) & English Jamaica (1655)

Map of Carribbean Islands

• Tropical Crops
• Started settling in Northern part of South America (above Brazil).
• English, French, Dutch all created small colonies there
  • They were also a safe haven to then attack Spanish/Portuguese shipping.
• The Dutch
• tried to copy the V.O.C.
• started the West India Company (1621)
  • Due to 30 years’ war gave opportunity to taking over Spanish/Portuguese lands
  • tried to expand by taking over Brazil
  • successful from 1630 - 1640
  • when that failed they took over Suriname from the English (1674)
    • they applied the Brazilian system to Suriname (Dutch Guiana)
    • grew cotton, coffee, cacao, and sugar.
    • based on slave labor
    • mixing the VOC system with the Brazilian system
• Caribbean Islands
• Most were depopulated by the Spaniards or under supported by the Spaniards.
• The colonies in N. of South America became jumping off points for slowly colonizing those islands
  • For instance, many became refuges for colonists just trying to survive
    • in 17c, they were rather underpopulated.
    • Santo Domingo was controlled by Spanish
      • The cattle they brought became overpopulated
      • A great location for finding meat, tanning leather,
        • Many French came there to smoke the beef on wooden frames called boucans.
        • (buccaneers)
      • Slowly the french colonists came to control the western part of Saint Domingue (1625), generally by privateers
  • This was a common process of transformation in 17c Caribbean, esp. for french.
  • By 1659, Saint Domingue formally colonized by France (French half of the island).

Changes to the Economy

Economy (16th-17th c.)

• labor: Indentured Servants
• products: tobacco & cotton

Economy (17th-18th c.)

• labor: Enslaved Africans
• products: Sugar, Cacao, Coffee, Sugar

• Indentured Servants
  • Most of the time the worked under an overseer for 5-7 year contracts
  • They started raising tobacco or cotton
• Enslavement
  • As they realized they could adopt the Dutch strategy and make large plantations. - they transitioned to enslaved labor, - Something the Portuguese were doing and the - Sugar demanded much greater labor - they found it in the slave trade - talk more about that next week
• British followed a similar pattern as the French
  • Their most important became Jamaica (1655)

Mercantilism: Developed to Support War Efforts

Wealth is Finite: Silver, Gold

Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619-1683)

Monopolies: Rights and Privileges

Trade Bubbles

Image of Gold Coins

Portrait of Jean-Baptiste de Colbert

Image of the game Monopoly.

Image of Bubbles

• Governments viewed economies as a means to fund wars
  • John Brewer’s article on the house of commons indicates this premise
    • the power of parliament grew and gained increased centralized control over the country as a means to make war with France and defend its position.
  • Mercantilism was economic warfare
    • designed to support the war efforts
    • designed to undermine the war effor of other countries.
• global wealth= finite
  • wealth = metal (silver/gold)
  • Do not import goods from other countries
    • It sends money out of country.
  • If you do not have access to mines; make a colony
    • In the colony grow raw products (sugar, tobacco, rice)
    • import those products to mother country
    • monopolize colonial trade with mother country.
    • sell finished goods
      • finished goods leave country
      • gold/silver enter country
        • Same reason to monopolize trade with colonies
        • Make sure colonies gold/silver only goes to mother country.
• Stage 1 is the Joint-stock company
  • given a monopoly over trade in a region
• Jean-Baptiste Colbert
  • Centralizing the organization of these policies
    • Previously, business people got together and petitioned the crown for monopolies for their endeavors
    • Colbert starts taking the lead in organizing the economy
    • Organizing the creation of companies
      • But when needed took direct control of colonies
      • 1663 made New France a royal colony
  • protecting domestic manufacturers
• England did similar behavior
  • But it wasn’t controlled by the crown
  • It was controlled by parliament.
  • Stage 2 was - That monopoly came with responsibilities - Only trade with the mother country. - Do not trade with other countries in region. - If you need stuff, talk to mother country.
  • Trade Bubble - colonies sell raw goods to mother country - mother country processes those products - sells manufactured goods to other countries and the colonies - Export stuff - Import money, gold, silver.
• France began colonizing Canada in the sixteenth century when Jacques Cartier sailed to the Saint Lawrence in 1534
• 17th century France began colonizing other areas: Caribbean in mid 1650s, and Louisiana in 1682.
• England first started colonizing North America in 1607 with Jamestown. Plymouth colony, Maine colony, Massachusetts bay colony and the province of Carolina (later - and S. in 1700s) in the 1620s. Later colonies around New York and New Jersey in the 1660s-1680s, and the last in Georgia in 1732.
• NB
  • most colonization was a 17century process other than Spain and Portugal.