Week 6 Blog

Key Points from Chapters 14, 15, and 16

Chapter 14: European Empires in the Americas

The European Advantage...
Geography provides a starting point for explaining Europe’s American empires.  It was countries on the Atlantic rim of Europe (Portugal, Spain, Britain, and France) that led the way to empire in the Western Hemisphere. They were simply closer to the Americas that any Asian competitor. Like the Asian and Arab powers whose lands and trading partners were rich in resources, Europeans were forced to look far outside their borders. And unusual advantage that the Europeans had over their Native Americans was their germs and diseases. Native Americans had no immunity to these new diseases and saw their population decreased dramatically and allowed Europeans to outnumber natives within a few decades.

Settler Colonies in North America.. 
The British colonized New England, New York, and Pennsylvania. They were the last of the European powers to establish a colonial presence in the Americas; a full century after Spain, and the land that they acquired was widely regarded in Europe as the unpromising leftovers of the New World. Although they brought English culture with them the Puritans of Massachusetts and the Quakers in Pennsylvania, sought to escape aspects of old European society rather than to re-create it, as was the case for most Spanish and Portuguese colonists. Unlike the Catholics of Spain the Protestant English colonists were less interested in spreading Christianity among the native peoples. It is ironic that for most of modern history the resources, wealth, and power lay in the South American continent but in the 19^th and 20^th century that balance shifted to North America through the United States.

Chapters 15: 

Spain and the Philippines...
Spain was the first to challenge Portugal domination of Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean. In the early 16^th century they establish themselves on what would become the Philippine Islands named after the Spanish King Philip II. Instead of a trading post empire the Spanish sought to set up colonial rule and imported Spanish customs and Catholicism.  Spanish rule would continue until the 19^th century where was lost to the United States in the Spanish-American War.

The East India Companies...
Both the British and the Dutch set up private commercial trading companies known as the British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company. They received charters from their respective governments granting the monopolies on trade in the region and the power to make war as well as govern of conquered peoples. The Dutch established themselves in Indonesia and the British in India. In the second half of the 18^th century these trading post empires slowly evolved into more traditional colonial societies.

Chapter 16:

Western Christendom Fragmented: The Protestant Reformation...
The Reformation, started in 1517 by German priest Martin Luther, shattered the unity of the Roman Catholic Church which is in the cultural and organizational foundation of Western European civilization. Luther’s theological protest would be potentially revolutionary, as he believed salvation came from faith alone, and neither the good works of the sinner nor the sacraments of the Church could bestow.  Though the Reformation was religious, it encouraged a skeptical attitude toward authority, and tradition, and successfully challenged the immense power of the Pope and the established church.

 Science and Enlightenment...
Enlightenment came to describe Europe in the 18^th century. During this time the divine right of kings is questioned and English philosopher John Locke offered principles for constructing a constitutional government. Also during this time the French writer Voltaire commented sarcastically on religious intolerance. His own religious beliefs were based in deism, which believe in a rather abstract and remote deity who created the world but did not intervene throughout history or can’t do with natural law. Science and enlightenment challenges related and for some to road religious belief and practice, although enlightenments primary goal with the idea of progress and that human action could be improved.

Looking Ahead: Science in the Nineteenth Century
During this time Charles Darwin publishes his famous work “ the origin of species” as well as “ the descent of man” which shattered traditional religious views as outlined that life was in constant motion and that over millions of years new species of plants and animals were continuously emerging and becoming extinct. At the same time Karl Marx cultivated a view of human history that likewise emphasized change and struggle. The views of enlightenment had begun to fade as individuals of all species were viewed as though caught in vast systems of biological, economic, and social conflict.