HY 103 Exam 1
New world food
(Average yield in calories per 2.5 acres) -cassava= 9.9 million -maize= 7.3 -potatoes= 7.5
European food
(Average yield in calories per 2.5 acres) -wheat= 4.2 million -barley= 5.1 -oats= 5.5 -by introducing New World crops to the Old World, colonizers dramatically expanded their food supply and population; maize and potatoes gave farmers higher yields on smaller plots
Powhatan vs. the English setters
***captain John Smith was taken prisoner in DECEMBER 1607. in a native ritual, Powhatan's daughter Pocahontas 'saved' the him from a feigned 'execution' and thereby adopting Smith into Powhatan's tribe as a werowance (local chieftain) whose people were now subordinate to Powhatan -all colonial leaders, including smith, believed that the ENGLISH MUST ALWAYS DOMINATE THE RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE INDIANS; the alternative-- Indian domination of the settlers, was unthinkable to the Englishmen -despite the colony's weakness, Smith pursued TACTICS OF INTIMIDATION AND BULLYING in dealing with Native Americans. He refused to countenance 'insolence' from the indigenous population and freely dispensing threats himself -Smith thought that only an experienced military man could gain the respect of Powhatan and approach him on terms of equality. a policy of intimidation, he argued, increased Powhatan's respect for him. but he NEVER ENGAGED IN WANTON VIOLENCE AS DID SOME OF HIS CONTEMPORARIES AND MANY OF SUCCESSORS
First Anglo-Powhatan War
**August 1609-April 1614 -Opechancanough's Pamunkeys intimidated the English that they negotiated a peace rather than attacking the Pamunkeys' well-defended capital -after the battle, Opechancanough became paramount chief after Powhatan abdicated in 1617 and revitalized the Powhatan tribes both culturally and militarily, rejecting Christianity but adopting English firearms
white indentured servants
**English men and women who sold their labor for (typically) 7 years in return for passage to VA and a 'grub stake' at the end of their contract--continued to emigrate despite high mortality rates -increasingly restive and rebellious as mortality rate declines and more servants fulfill their contracts and become 'freedmen'
Great Massacre
**March 22, 1622 -carried out by Opechancanough and his men -he did it b/c he was attempting to preserve the traditional beliefs and territories of his people -killed 25% of Virginia colonists within a single day
Nathaniel Bacon
**arrived in VA in 1674; elected to council on March 3, 1675 -died October 26, 1676 -related to Berkeley's wife **leading planters affected by Indians attacking/raiding challenged his ability to lead the colony thru its gravest crisis of the century -Bacon questioned Berkeley;s passivity of Native threats and agreed to lead frontiersmen against them, but Berkeley refused his request -in April 1676, Bacon took command anyway and attacked Natives without regard who was friend or foe -Berkely countered by declaring Bacon a "rebel" and removed him from council
Africans in VA
**first Africans were likely slaves, sold into Virginia by Dutch pirates in 1619 -as mortality falls, African slaves become a better form of 'investment' **replacement of white indentured servants by slaves as VA's principal labor force is a 'collective' decision based on 'economic' factors, not directly attributable to any single individual
sir walter ralegh
**his initiative was to colonize North America, beginning in September 1583; secured patent in 1584 -privateering, not colonization, was central element -practical advice from mathematician and astronomer Thomas Harriot and the two Rich Hakluyts (cousins) **in April 1585, sent 6 ships and 600 men to create privateering base on ROANOKE ISLAND, inside Outer Banks of North Carolina; led by Ralph Lane (soldier who had served in Ireland)
Tobacco and Virginia
**in 1614, John Rolfe shipped to London 4 barrels of tobacco on the Elizabeth, a transaction that marked the beginning of the GREAT TOBACCO TRADE -tobacco becomes Virginia's 'stable crop' -growing tobacco is labor intensive -particular demands of tobacco transformed Virginia society -created a boom economy in circumstances where land was relatively abundant and labor was scarce **CONTROL OF LABOR was the key to making money -labor: white indentured servants who emigrated from England was ruthlessly exploited by tobacco barons
Roanoke
**the flagship carrying most of the food supplies rag aground; 107 colonists had to DEPEND ON THE LOCAL ALGONQUIANS FOR FOOD over the winter **Ralph Lane sent party overland to Chesapeake Bay, and it gathered info on which the LOCATION OF JAMESTOWN was selected in 1607 -in July 1586 the colonists, short of food, TOOK PASSAGE HOME when Sir Francis Drake put in at Roanoke on his return from the Caribbean -in 1587 Ralegh sent out another expedition, under JOHN WHITE, intended as a farming settlement. after various catastrophes, White went home to organize relief, but England was involved with the Armada crisis. by the time a ship reached the colony in 1590, it was deserted and the settlers were gone
Second Anglo-Powhatan War
*1622-1623 -Opechancanough's Pamunkeys were formidable foes; wearing armor and firing muskets in open field combat -Pamunkeys are increasingly isolated when former native allies and old enemies supported the colonists **after several failed attempts to assassinate Opechancanough, the English AGREED TO SIGN ANOTHER TREATY IN 1632
Third "Indian Uprising"
*April 18, 1644 -led by Opechancanough -due to growing English population taking over native land; English killing and evicting Indians -Opechancanough possibly believed the colonists were divided by the civil war than raging in England *Natives killed 500 colonists, only 6% of their population of 8,000 -Native American resistance to onslaught of English newcomers is doomed from the start b/c THE NATIVES CAN'T STOP THE ENGLISH FROM CROSSING THE ATLANTIC
Sandys' attempts at Virginia
*efforts to diversify colony's economy failed, but his relentless transportation of settlers over the next 5 years was the most important reason tat England's foothold at Jamestown survived *despite him transporting over 4,000 people across Atlantic, mortality was so high that the colony only had a few hundred people larger in 1624 that it had been in 1618 -without emigration, the native American attack of 1622 might well have destroyed the young settlement
Sir William Berkeley
*landed at Jamestown in 1642 -deep devotion to colony, became chief promoter but later realized he was on his own *he saw its future prosperity as lying hand-in-hand with freedom from London's direction -deferential, closely knit community w/ a diversified economy that was linked to free markets around Atlantic rim -believed VA would benefit England and also profit him **his survival depended on his ability to navigate b/t rival factions of Virginians while carrying out king's commands **willingness to share power enabled them to grow into a mini parliament, where he abetted a centralization of authority b/t province and country but guaranteed an elite few an unlimited right of local rule
Sir Edwin Sandys
-"Sands" -elected director of the Virginia Company in 1616 -initiated major changes in Virginia: unoccupied lands were distributed for the support of education and maintenance o the company's officers in the colony and a headlight system awarded 50 acres to each person who emigrated to Virginia -private plantations were permitted and a general assembly was authorized (1619) -in early 1618 there were only 400 people in colony, almost few as when it was its earliest days. the burst of activity by sadness was intended to sure great action wouldn't fall to nothing -had 310 settlers transported to dwindling colony
Tobacco saving VA
-"saved" the colony -1624= 200,000 lb -1638= 3,000,000 lb -1650= 13,000 people, surge of immigrants -mortality rate 25% per annum until 1640s -1670= 41,000 people
Great Britain population
-1492: 5 million -1800: 16 million, plus 5 million across the Atlantic
European population
-1492: 80 million >> France and Habsburgs -1650: 105 million -1800: 180 million
England population
-1500: 3 million -1600: 4 million -1650: 5 million -80% rural farmers -20% artisans in urban settings -cloth manufacturing (wool) most important -half of the rural peasantry lost their lands between 1530 and 1630
London
-1550: 120,000 -1600: 200,00 -1650: 375,000 -aristocratic splendor and display contrasted with filth, poverty, plagues, fires, crime, and public executions -increased poverty, vagrancy, and crime profoundly alarmed the propertied, who dreaded an imminent collapse into anarchy
early Virginia
-1607 to 1630s -Powhatans -John Smith -Opechancanough -Sir Edwin Sandys -John Rolfe
middle years of Virginia
-1640s to 1660s -mortality declines -labor management practices established
later years of Virginia
-1670s to 1705 -William Berkeley -Nathaniel Bacon
North America
-3 waves of migration across Bering Strait -50 million native Americans in North and South America in 1492 -5 million north of Rio Grande -at least 375 distinct languages in North America
first anglo-powhatan war (first one)
-August 1609 to April 1614 **pitted the natives' superior numbers against nominally superior English technology. weakened by a war of attrition and the destruction or desertion of key allies, Powhatan reluctantly agreed to a face-saving peace in 1614, marked by the marriage of Anglicized Pocahontas to colonist John Rolfe -more than 600 English killed
Virginia to 1705
-Bacon's rebellion stirred up major changes -natives closest to settlers suffered losses from which they never recovered -Berkeley was disgraced and dismissed **news of this provoked the king to dispatch troops, ships, and a commission to put down Bacon and investigate causes of disturbances **VA came under great royal scrutiny after 1676, and the general assembly lost considerable autonomy, while the colony's social order stabilized *first slave code in VA
Over-dependence on crops
-Creates disaster when the crop fails (ex: Ireland and potatoes) -Irish population: 1750=3 million; 1800=5.25 million -blight struck in 1840s, forcing immigrants to US
Disease brought to New World
-Europeans brought smallpox, typhus, diphtheria, bubonic plague, malaria, yellow fever, cholera, and influenza
First records African presence
-In English settlements of eastern North America= 20 Africans in 1619 -by 1820, at least two thirds of the 12 million emigrants from the Old to the New World were enslaved Africans rather than free Europeans
17th century Virginia
-JOINT STOCK COMPANY of 1606 was application of a method to fund long-range exploration and develop trade that was first used in 1553, when Edward VI licensed the Russia Company -the method grew out of the fact that A SINGLE INDIVIDUAL'S FINANCIAL RESOURCES WERE INSUFFICIENT to create a transatlatnic colony, as Raleigh had attempted to do at Roanoke in 1585 -with the signing of a peace treaty between England and Spain in 1604, idea of a Virginia colony resurfaced among London merchants and among privateers who were familiar with Caribbean and the north Atlantic. THE PRIVATEERS WANTED AN ENGLISH BASE CLOSE TO THE HOMEWARD ROUTE OF THE ANNUAL SPANISH TREASURE FLEETS -the Londoners chartered 3 vessels to carry 105 men to the Chesapeake. the colonists were a COMBINATION OF VETERANS OF THE WARS IN THE LOW COUNTRIES AND ARTISANS LIKE GOLDSMITHS AND GLASS BLOWERS WHO COULD EXPLOIT LOCAL MINERAL RESOURCES AND NATIVE LABOR TO MANUFACTURE COMMODITIES THAT COULD BE EXPORTED TO HELP SUPPORT THE SETTLEMENT. applying the Spanish pattern of a 'factory' system, the colonists intended to exploit native mineral resources in labor
Opechancanough
-John Smith invaded his home village near present day West Point, Virginia in January 1609 -Smith seized 800 bushels of maize and threatened Opechancanough at gun point -O responded w/ anger and militancy that shaped intercultural relations for the next 4 decades!! -Opechancanough became paramount chief after Powhatan abdicated in 1617 and revitalized the Powhatan tribes both culturally and militarily, rejecting Christianity but adopting English firearms
Virginia becomes royal colony
-King James I dissolved the VA Company on May 24, 1624 -made it the first 'royal' colony -by that point the enduring contours of VA society had already been established
Chattel slavery
-NOT initially a major source of labor b/c Virginia planters could not afford to buy Africans -Virginia is at the end of a pipeline in which people are sold more profitably elsewhere **gradual growth over 17th century, but white indentured servants still greatly outnumber black slaves, from 1650 onward... BUT # OF AFRICANS REACHES 'CRITICAL MASS' PERHAPS BY 1675
Powhatan confederacy
-Powhatan, chief priest and political leader (circa 1540-April 1618) -Confederacy= 15,000 to 20,000 sedentary maize-growing Algonquians in 30 or so tribes living on the coastal plain between Potomac and James rivers **at pinnacle of power just at point when 105 English settlers arrived on 13 May 1607 **FIRST SIGNIFICANT VIOLENCE BETWEEN CULTURES ON 26 MAY, WHEN SEVERAL HUNDRED WARRIORS ATTACKED JAMES FORT
3 waves of migration
-across Bering Strait to North America -12,000 to 10,000 years ago= CA to PA and FL -10,000 to 8,000 years ago= Navajo and Apache -5,000 years ago= Inuit and Aleut
Christopher Columbus
-believed world circumference to be 18,000 miles -took a ship filled with 90 men to America in 33 days -principal achievement was the discovery of fast, reliable, and exploitable routes both ways across the Atlantic, inaugurating the continuous history of transatlantic navigation -founded the first enduring European colony in the new world and wrote the first descriptions of the central Atlantic and any part of the america
powhatan on english
-by august 1609, powhatan realized that the english were too arrogant and culturally condescending to be his allies and more dangerous than his traditional Indian foes. he shifted policies and retailed against colonial aggressions with a devastating siege of Jamestown, creating the "starving time", november 1609-april 1610 which nearly annihilated the garrison and caused the temporary abandonment of the settlement -badly injured in a gun powder explosion when his term of office was all put complete, Smith sailed for England on 4 October 1609, after two and a half years in Virginia. his vigorous presidency probably ensured the colon'y long-term survival
labor management
-central problem for planters is how to extract labor from people who have limited or no incentive to work for someone else
four C's and why's
-context, connection, contingency, change (over time) -why? so what?
Taino on Hispaniola
-demographic catastrophe for native Americans -300,000 people in 1492 -50,000 dead by 1494 -33,000 left by 1510 -500 by 1548 -300,000 to 500 in 56 years= less than 2% alive Mandan in the northern Missouri River valley somehow survived until 1837, then in a few weeks in the summer smallpox reduced tribe from 2,000 people to 40= 98% mortality
Europeans on Native Americans
-didn't accept their beliefs -regarded them as dictated by the devil and considered their shamans to be witches possessed of evil power -Europeans thought supernatural intervention did not reside within plants, animals, and places -natives were more than passive victims of European power; they were also trading partners and often allies as well as rivals of the transatlantic newcomers
Powhatan
-expected to use English ships and firearms against his native American enemies **Powhatan, more than any other person, determined the fate of England's empire in the New World during the early years of the Virginia colony -his contributions of maize and meat saved the hungry colonists on several occasions between May 1607 and July 1609
Food in New World
-hybridized crops that has greater caloric value than European counterparts -maize -squash -beans
authority
-imperial/federal -local activity and local perspective are most important -land is abundant and labor is scarce -the federal authority always tries to impose its control over colonies/states, but it rarely succeeds in the ways it desires -colonies and states stay focused on local issues
Powhatan quote
-in January 1609, convinced that the English had landed in Virginia "to invade my people, and possess my Country," Powhatan asked of the colonists, "What will it availe you to take...by force [what] you may quickly have by love, or to destroy them that provide you food [?] What can you get by warre?"
diversity
-inevitable product of encounters -leads to: unprecedented mixing of radically diverse people, cultural hybridization, consequences endure
starving time
-november 1609-april 1610 -nearly annihilated the garrison (65% mortality) and caused the temporary abandonment of the settlement
Atlantic world
-ocean highway connecting western Europe, eastern North and South America, and western Africa -blending of disparate cultures -evolution of distinctive 'American' culture that moved inland across the North American continent
Native raids (July 1675)
-party of Indians attacked an outlying plantation -this raid set off a series of raids and counter-raids that incited frontier colonists -Berkeley failed to see the gravity of the situation, and by the spring 1676 his authority was seriously undetermined -Bacon took action anyways and was removed from council b/c of this
black death
-principally bubonic plague, combined with other diseases like typhus -reached England in August 1348 -killed between 20% and 40% of the population -disappeared in 1350, and returned in 1361 -cut the population by half; not recovered until after 1450
Spanish empire
-private contracts and entrads -after reconquista (1492) -Cortes in Mexico in 1519-1521 -Martin luther's 95 theses against the selling of indulgences by the Roman Catholic Church at wittenburg in 1517-1518 -Pizarro in Andes in 1531-1536 -Hernando de Soto in the American southeast in 1539-1543; born circa 1500 and died 21 May 1542 -full settlement colonization -veneer of Spanish control over vast numbers of native Americans
tobacco
-smoking was new, exotic, outlandish, and controversial habit **mentioned by Columbus in 1492, tobacco was introduced to Europe by Andre Thevet in mid-century, was growing in England by 1571, and was being smoked there by 1573 -Sir Walter Raleigh helped to make it fashionable at court **John Rolfe (avid smoker) saw tobacco as the crop that could provide the colony with a sound economic foundation, despite James I's counter-blast to tobacco of 1604 -settlers used tobacco b/c they knew they had to produce a commodity that would allow them to trade w/ England for supplies needed
Edmund Morgan's thesis
> race as social control
Forced marriage of 2 hemispheres
Demographic boom for Europe and a demographic disaster for the Americas, with enduring consequences for world history
Capitalism
Encouraged individuals to harvest wealth from nature as quickly as possible
Spanish colonizers
First brought African Labor to Hispaniola in 1518
Portuguese and cassava/maize
Introduced cassava (manioc) and maize to Africa in 16th century, helping to create a surge in population that enabled the forced emigration of Africans as slaves to replace the Native Americans killed by European diseases
Disease brought from New World to Old World
Vinereal syphilis; during siege of Naples 1495 "the French disease" > chronic by 1600
civil war
changed political order on surface, but not underlying distribution of sovereignty among states and federal union, the implications of which we continue to deal with today
encounters that shape societies
examples: -broad cultural groups: Europeans, Native Americans, Africans -along marshlands (contact frontiers, also known as Middle Ground) -east vs. west -north vs. south
federal union
of separate sovereignties created in 1788
class
organizing principle in society until around 1675 when 'race' becomes paramount
culture encompasses
politics, religion, society, economics. identifiable aspects of a society that make it distinctive
threshold
race supplants class as organizing principle of society
Herrenvolk democracy
system of government in which only the majority ethnic group participates in government, while minority groups are disenfranchised
states dealt with
the implications and realities of their origin stories down to 1860
historiography
understanding previous interpretations and revisions, so we see how we think
privateering
wartime practice in which a belligerent power would authorize its citizens to operate privately owned ships in campaigns against enemy shipping
labor and tobacco
white indentured servants who emigrated from England were ruthlessly exploited by tobacco barons