Chapter 16 Notes: The Transatlantic Economy, Trade Wars, and

Colonial Rebellion

Part 1: Periods of European Overseas Empires

- Since the Renaissance, European contacts with the rest of the world have gone
through four stages:
- 1) European discovery, exploration:
___________________________________________________________
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- This phase witnessed penetration of Southeast Asian markets by
Portugal and the Netherlands
- This established major imperial outposts: ____________________
- This stage ended in the late 17th century
- 2) This was of mercantile empires and was one of colonial trade rivalry:
___________________________________________________________
_
- Differing goals sparked intense rivalry and conflict in key imperial
trouble spots
- As a result, imperial ventures often led to: ___________________
- This was also the era that slavery increased greatly, with European
powers creating economies based on slave labor
- This era closed in: ______________________________________
- 3) The third stage occurred in: ___________________________________
- During this period, European governments carved out formal
empires in Africa and Asia
- The bases of these new empires were trade, national honor:
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
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 - Unlike the previous two eras, this era was based on free labor,
though there was still harsh treatment
- 4) The last era occurred during the: ______________________________
- During this era, decolonization began
- This was due to the political dominance:
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
__
- The indigenous people became fed up with the harsh treatment and
revolted
- Before this, the Europeans were able to: _____________________
Part 2: Mercantile Empires
- The Treaty of Utrecht (1713) established the boundaries of empire:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- Spain controlled almost all of mainland South America, Florida, Mexico, CA, and
the Southwest, Central America, and the islands to the southeast of Florida
- Britain controlled colonies along: ______________________________________
- France controlled much of the American Midwest and some Caribbean islands
- The Dutch controlled some major trade areas within:
_________________________________________________________________
_
I. Mercantilist Goals
- Mercantilism was the driving force behind: ______________________________
- This was the practical creed of hard-headed businesspeople
- Basically, it was the idea that a nation had to gain a favorable:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- Mercantilists saw the world as an arena of scarce resources that one must fight for
control over

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 - Mercantilists believed that only slow economic growth was possible unless:
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_
- This idea led to the practice of colonies providing for the home country, allowing
it to prosper, and in return receiving protection
- National monopoly was the ruling principle and colonies were to:
_________________________________________________________________
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__
- The problem was that the economies didn’t mesh well and colonies started trading
w/ one another
II. French-British Rivalry
- Colonists from both areas constantly clashed w/ each other over:
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
__
- The West Indies were the biggest problem as the French and British fought over
the valuable resources there
- India was another source of rivalry b/c it was seen as an eventual:
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
__
Part 3: The Spanish Colonial System
I. Colonial Government
- Because Queen Isabella of Castile had commissioned Columbus, the link:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- This meant the Castile line had few limitations and it assigned the gov’t in
America
- The monarchy used patronage, or appointing people wanting:
_________________________________________________________________

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 _________________________________________________________________
__
- All power structure flowed downward from Castile so in effect, no local
government existed or was actually in control
II. Trade Regulation
- Colonial political structures functioned largely to:
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
__
- Spain maintained a trade monopoly w/ its colonies and trade was closely
regulated
- Spanish fleets would carry goods to the New World and these fleets were:
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
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- Spain prohibited the colonists from trading within the American Empire
- Foreign merchants were also prohibited from:
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
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III. Colonial Reform Under the Spanish Bourbon Monarchs
- A crucial change occurred in the Spanish colonial: _________________________
- The War of Spanish Succession (1701-1714) and the Treaty of Utrecht replaced
the Spanish Habsburgs w/ the Bourbons of France
- Philip V (r. 1700-1746) and his successors tried to use French administrative
skills to: __________________________________________________________
- Under Philip, Spanish patrol vessels tried to:
_________________________________________________________________
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 - The great mid-century wars exposed the weaknesses of the Spanish empire to
naval attack
- This convinced many that the: _________________________________________
- Charles III (r. 1759-1788) attempted to reassert Spanish control of the empire
- He abolished the monopolies and allowed: _______________________________
- To increase the efficiency of tax collection and end corruption, Charles
introduced: ________________________________________________________
- The reforms, however, brought the empire more fully under direct Spanish control
- More and more people born in Spain were: _______________________________
- As a result, creoles (persons of European descent born in the Spanish colonies)
felt like second class citizens
- Their discontent led to wars of: ________________________________________
Part 4: Black African Slavery, the Plantation System, and the Atlantic Economy
- Slavery had existed throughout: ________________________________________
- However, before the 18th century, little or no moral stigma was attached to slave
owning
- Slavery had a continuous: ____________________________________________
- Importing slaves from Africa started in the 15th century
- In the 16th century, slave labor became essential for the European colonies in the
New World and slave owning:
_________________________________________________________________
_
I. The African Presence in the Americas
- Once the Spanish and Portuguese began to settle:
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
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- They and most of the later French and English settlers had no intention of doing
the hard labor themselves

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 - At first, they used Native Americans but during the 16th century:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- As a result, the Spanish and Portuguese turned to African slaves
- Settlers in the English colonies turned more slowly to slavery but soon:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- The major source for slaves were slave markets on the west African coast
- Slavery and an extensive slave trade had: ________________________________
- Internal affairs in Africa made many Africans willing to sell their own people
- Europeans did not usually forcefully take slaves, rather they:
_________________________________________________________________
_
1. The West Indies, Brazil, and Sugar
- Far more slaves were imported into the West Indies and:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- Slavery entered the British colonies in 1619 but slavery had existed for 50 years
prior in the West Indies and South America
- Africans had a major social presence in these areas and their presence and:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- Soon, Africans in these areas outnumbered whites and a multiracial society was
created
- The cultivation of sugar was a major reason why slavery:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- Sugar was a labor-intensive crop and since the European markets were demanding
sugar, plantation owners needed more slaves for more crops and more money

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 - By the close of the 17th century, the Caribbean islands were the world center:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- The 18th century required more slaves and it became a major period of
importation
- Other crops required slavery, such as tobacco and coffee, and so did gold mining:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- In Brazil and the West Indies and the southern British colonies, prosperity and
slavery went hand in hand
- The 18th century was when most slaves arrived to the New World, w/ as:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- It has been estimated that at one point, 90% of Jamaica’s population were slaves
- Newly imported Africans were needed b/c the fertility rate of the earlier:
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_
- The West Indies were particularly harsh to maintain a stable slave population
- The conditions there led to high rates of mortality and new slaves had:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- One result of all this was that slaves were now African-born instead of African
descent
- This had a major impact on the: ________________________________________
II. Slavery and the Transatlantic Economy
- Different nations dominated the: _______________________________________
- The Portuguese and Spanish ruled in the 16th, the Dutch in the 17th, and the
English in the 18th
- Slavery touched most of the transatlantic world:
_________________________________________________________________

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 _________________________________________________________________
__
- European goods were carried to Africa to be exchanged for slaves, then slaves
were taken to the New World in exchange for raw materials, which were then
shipped to Europe
- At various times, the prosperity of major European: ________________________
- All the shippers who handled cotton, tobacco and sugar depended on slavery
- Political turmoil rocked Africa in the 18th century, especially in:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- The tribes would sell their captives or have slave raids in order to fund the war
- As a result, warfare in West Africa and the economic development of:
_________________________________________________________________
_

III.The Experience of Slavery

- The European slave traders forcibly transported several:
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_
- The travel conditions were horrible – cramped quarters, bad food, disease, heat,
etc.
- In the Americas, slave groups were divided between:
_________________________________________________________________
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- Africans accustomed to slavery were preferred, as they already knew the way of
life, and they were more expensive
- New slaves had to go through a period of “seasoning” during which:
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 - Some slaves worked in a kind of apprentice relationship to an older African slave
of a similar background
- Others were broken into slave: ________________________________________
- Generally, North American plantation owners were only willing to purchase such
recently arrived Africans seasoned in the West Indies
1. Conversion to Christianity
- Most African slaves transported to the Americas were, like the:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- In the Spanish, French and Portuguese areas, they became Catholics
- In the English colonies: ______________________________________________
- Both forms of Christianity preached to slaves to accept both their slavery and
natural social hierarchy with their masters on top
2. European Racial Attitudes
- The Europeans usually were very: ______________________________________
- Many Europeans considered Africans to be savages or less than civilized
- Many looked down on them just because they were slaves:
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- Race was an important element in keeping black slaves in subservience
Part 5: Mid-Eighteenth-Century Wars
- From the standpoint of international relations, the state system in the 18th
century:
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- Statesmen of the period thought warfare could further national interests
- No forces or powers really saw it in their:
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 - Wars rarely affected the civilian population until the French Revolution, so many
people viewed war in a positive way
- Two areas of great rivalry were overseas: ________________________________
I. The War of Jenkins’ Ear
- By this time, the West Indies had become a: ______________________________
- The Spanish patrolled the area, looking for British vessels that were smuggling
goods
- In 1731, the Spanish boarded a British vessel and there was a fight:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- In 1738, Jenkins used his ear as evidence that the Spanish were committing
atrocities
- Britain and Spain went to war in 1739, and while minor, it:
_________________________________________________________________
_
II. The War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748)
- In December 1740, after being king of Prussia for less than 7 months, Frederick II
(r. 1740-1786): _____________________________________________________
- This invasion shattered the provisions of the Pragmatic Sanction and upset the
continental balance of power
- Frederick saw the House of Habsburg as another German state:
_________________________________________________________________
_
1. Maria Theresa Preserves the Habsburg Empire
- Maria Theresa (r. 1740-1780) was more interested in preserving:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- She was only 23 and had just gained control two months before the invasion
- She won loyalty through her heroism and by: _____________________________
- She allowed some nobility autonomy, which preserved the Empire but cost the
central monarchy some power

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 2. France Draws Great Britain into the War
- The war over the Austrian Succession and the British-Spanish dispute could:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- The French nobility convinced Cardinal Fleury to not attack Britain but instead to
support Prussia against Austria
- This had a few results:
- First, it made Prussia strong and: _________________________________
- Second, it brought Britain into war as Britain wanted to:
___________________________________________________________
_
- Later, the French supported the Spanish against the British in the New
World
- As a result, the French were stretched too thin and the:
___________________________________________________________
_
III. The “Diplomatic Revolution” of 1756
- The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (ended the two wars) had brought peace in Europe:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- George II (r. 1727-1760), who was also the Elector of Hanover, was worried that
the French would attack Germany in response to the conflicts in America
- In 1756, Britain and Prussia signed the Convention of Westminster, which was a:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- Frederick II liked this alliance b/c he feared: ______________________________
- This meant that Britain, a traditional friend of Austria, now had made an alliance
w/ Austria’s enemy
- Maria Theresa was very unhappy about this, but her foreign minister:
_________________________________________________________________
_

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 - He thought this would allow for an alliance w/ France, which it eventually did
- France would now fight to restore: _____________________________________
IV. The Seven Years’ War (1756-1763)
1. Frederick the Great Opens Hostilities
- Frederick II started the Seven Years’ war: _______________________________
- He considered this a preemptive strike against a conspiracy by Saxony, Austria
and France to destroy Prussia
- The invasion created the destructive alliance Frederick feared and in 1757:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- Two factors saved Prussia:
1. First, Britain furnished: ________________________________________
2. Second, in 1762, Empress Elizabeth of Russia died (r. 1741-1762) whose
successor was Peter III who admired Frederick greatly
- Russia made peace with Prussia, allowing Frederick:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- The Treaty of Hubertusburg in 1763 ended the continental conflict with no major
territorial changes
2. William Pitt’s Strategy for Winning North America
- William Pitt(1708-1778) became Secretary of State in: _____________________
- He regarded the German conflict as a way to divert French resources and attention
from the colonial struggle
- North America was Pitt’s real concern b/c he wanted all of:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- He sent more than 40k regular troops, both British and colonial, against the
French in Canada
- Pitt actually received unprecedented cooperation from the American colonists:
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 - The French gov’t was unwilling to dedicate so many resources to fighting in
North America
- As a result, the French army in America was weak and the British were:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- The British also wanting French trading routes and were able to gain control of
the French West Indies and India
3. The Treaty of Paris of 1763
- George III (r. 1760-1820) disliked Pitt and: ______________________________
- In the peace settlement, Britain received all of Canada, the Ohio River valley, and
the eastern half of the Mississippi River valley
- The Seven Year’s War was a complete world war with tens of thousands of:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- France was no longer a world power, and Prussia was gaining power in Europe
- In India, the British East India Company tried to impose its own authority on the
indigenous:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- The British had to organize their new territories in North America
- The war also convinced the: __________________________________________
- Major powers in Europe had to increase revenues to pay for debt, which caused
major problems for these nations
Part 6: The American Revolution and Europe
I. Resistance to the Imperial Search for Revenue
- After the Treaty of Paris, the British gov’t faced two problems:
- First, the cost of maintaining:
___________________________________________________________
_
- The British thought it was obvious for the American colonies to
pay for the war debt…

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 - Second, the vast territory in: ____________________________________
- The British drive for revenue started in 1764 w/ the Sugar Act:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- This act tried to collect more taxes on imports, although the tax itself was lower
than before
- The next year, Parliament passed the Stamp Act, which put a tax on legal:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- The British considered both of these acts to be legal since the Parliament had
approved the decision to collect the taxes
- The Americans responded that they alone:
_________________________________________________________________
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- Also, they said they weren’t represented in Parliament and therefore, Parliament
could not pass laws dealing w/ the colonies
- In 1765, the Stamp Act Congress met in America and:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- The colonists agreed to refuse to import British goods and in 1766, Parliament
repealed the Stamp Act, although a Declaratory Act said Parliament had the
power to legislate for the colonies
II. The Crisis and Independence
- In 1767, Charles Townshend (1725-1767), the British finance minister, led:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- The colonists once again resisted and Townshend sent over its own customs
agents to enforce the new laws
- To protect the agents, the British:
_________________________________________________________________

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 _________________________________________________________________
__
- In 1770, the Boston Massacre took place, during which British soldiers fired on
five citizens, killing them
- The same year, Parliament repealed the: _________________________________
- In 1773, Parliament passed a new tea act, which lowered the price of tea while
keeping the tax intact
- In some cities, the colonists still refused to pay the tax and in Boston:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- Lord North (1732-1792) was determined to assert the authority of Parliament over
the colonies
- In 1774, Parliament passed what became:
_________________________________________________________________
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- These closed the port of Boston, reorganized the gov’t of Massachusetts and
allowed troops to quartered in private homes
- The British also passed the Quebec Act, which extended the:
_________________________________________________________________
_

- The colonists saw this as a threat since they wanted to continue to move west
- During these years, citizens critical of British policy had:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- In 1774, the First Continental Congress was held in Philadelphia:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- By April 1775, the battles of Lexington and Concord had been fought and in June,
the Battle of Bunker Hill occurred

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 - The colonists still sought reconciliation and in May 1775:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- But, George III declared the colonies in rebellion
- Thomas Paine (1737-1809) wrote Common Sense which helped to:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- A colonial army and navy were formed and on July 4, 1776 the Congress adopted
the Declaration of Independence
- The War of the American Revolution continued until 1781:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- The war had become a world affair when Benjamin Franklin convinced the
French to help U.S. and the Spanish joined too
III. American Political Ideas
- The political ideas of the Americans had evolved out of:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- The Americans had adopted many of the English ideas on political liberties and
John Locke’s ideas as well
- Americans also had strong republican beliefs from:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- Many of these men viewed parliamentary taxation as a means of financing
political corruption
- In Britain, these ideas had: ____________________________________________
- But in the American colonies, they had a huge impact and the colonists accepted
the ideas at face value
- The policies of Great Britain toward the American colonies after the Treaty of
Paris in 1763: ______________________________________________________

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 - All of these events coincided with George III’s accession to the throne
IV. Events in Great Britain
- George III believed that powerful Whig families had become:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- When Pitt resigned, George appointed the Earl of Bute (of Treaty of Paris fame)
who was against the Whigs
- The problem was that George couldn’t get:
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
__
- The Whigs claimed that he was becoming a tyrant, but he was only trying to
restore more royal influence
1. The Challenge of John Wilkes
- In 1763, a political radical named John Wilkes started publicly:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- Wilkes was arrested, then released when he pleaded privileges of the Parliament
- Parliament expelled him for libel and Wilkes fled the country:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- In 1768 he returned to England and was elected to the House of Commons again,
but the house was under George’s control
- The House of Commons refused to seat him and:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- The House kept ignoring the results and seated the gov’t choice
- This caused major demonstrations among: _______________________________
- Americans followed this closely and these events confirmed their fears about a
monarchical and parliamentary conspiracy against liberty
- In the Americans’ eyes: ______________________________________________

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2. Movement for Parliamentary Reform
- Both the American colonists and: ______________________________________
- Both groups were questioning the Parliament’s power and authority
- Both groups had leaders that appealed to: ________________________________
- The Americans showed the rest of Europe how people could fight an Old Regime
and win by forming legal gov’ts
3. The Yorkshire Association Movement
- By the close of the 1770s, many British resented the mishandling of:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- In 1778, Christopher Wyvil organized the Yorkshire Association Movement
which demanded moderate changes in the corrupt system of parliamentary
elections
- They intended to later: _______________________________________________
- The movement collapsed b/c it was unwilling to appeal to broad popular support
but it helped to bring about later movements
4. Broader Impact of the American Revolution
- The Americans had demonstrated to Europe the possibility:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- They had shown that a nation could thrive on documents based on popular
consent and popular sovereignty
- The Americans embraced democratic ideals and asserted the idea of equality:
_________________________________________________________________
_
- The American society was not entirely free but it was more free than any other in
the world and it affected Europe greatly

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