only for PROF ANTHONY- 4 short essay and 1 long essay
lulukiller
Lecture 02 Hist. 260 13 Sept. 2016
Existing Indigenous Social, Political and Economic Systems
- Intersection of European and Indigenous systems
- Social / cultural exchange?
- Power relationship?
Imperialism:
- Systems of political and economic control?
- Projection of national interest into empire?
- European conflicts spreading to empire?
Agricultural Settlement:
- Where does agricultural settlement factor in?
Commercial Capitalism:
- Natural resource exploitation
- Strategies / systems of resource development
- Creation of social / cultural systems
Early Exploration • European trans-Atlantic exploration underway by
the 1490s
Spanish exploration in the Caribbean
English / Basque exploration around Newfoundland
• Extensive coastal / interior exploration by 1530s- 40s; search for a northwest passage (1570s)
• Motives for European exploration
Profit
Plunder (esp. after Aztec and Inca Conquests)
Spice trade (direct route to Asia)
Christianity
Strong missionary impulse (Catholic European nations – Spain, France, Portugal)
Exploration / colonization would deny profits to Muslim rivals
• State-building Overseas colonialism related to the growth of
strong national monarchies (late 15th Century)
• Limited activity in the 1400s
Hundred Year’s War (1346-1453)
Wars of the Roses (1455-85)
• Rise of the Tudor Dynasty
Henry VII (becomes king in 1485)
Seizure of power – faces multiple challenges to legitimacy of reign
• Henry VII’s policies:
Strengthen power of the monarchy
Advance power/authority of the crown
Extremely cautious with spending
Peace with the rest of Europe
Careful foreign policy – don’t antagonize France or Spain
Expand trade (overseas markets)
Loss of the French markets (1450s)
Search for the Northwest Passage
England and Atlantic Exploration
Medieval Fisheries
• Significance of fish to European diet (cost and faith)
• Pre-1100 fisheries = primarily freshwater (inland)
Shift to ocean fundamentally transforms the nature of the fishery
• England develops significant commercial fishery by ca. 1300
• Domination of the Hanseatic League
Commercial alliance of northern European states/cities
Potentially vulnerable position of France / Spain / England
England’s expulsion from the fishery (1475-86)
• England, France, Spain have strong incentive to expand commercial fisheries by late 1400s
Navigation and technology readily available
North Atlantic provided a familiar ecosystem
John Cabot – Man of Mystery • Venetian born – arrives in England ca. 1494
“very expert and cunning in knowledge of the circuite of the worlde and landes of the same”
• Secures charter from Henry VII to explore and claim lands for England in 1497 Cabot would be exempt from customs on subsequent trade
Crown would retain 20% of the value of all trade
• Explicitly directed away from the south Atlantic Henry VII’s efforts to secure a Spanish marriage alliances
• Significant controversy over where he made landfall Newfoundland; Labrador; Cape Breton; Maine
Debate reflected contesting nation-building projects
• Key = exposure of Grand Banks cod stocks they assert that the sea there is swarming with fish, which can be taken not only
with the net, but in baskets let down with a stone...These same English, his companions, say they could bring so many fish that this kingdom would have not further need of Iceland, from which place there comes a very great quanitity of fish called stockfish – report from Spanish diplomat
• English crown finances 1498 voyage – Cabot disappears
England’s Colonial Retreat • Despite Cabot’s voyage, England did not have dominant presence in
Newfoundland fisheries in the 1500s
• Government Policy
Henry VII dies in 1509 – Henry VIII less cautious
• Existing fisheries adequate (though access to Iceland still insecure)
Lower population (demand for fish not as urgent)
• Naval power
England not dominant until late 1500s
• Investment capital attracted elsewhere
Muscovy Company – explores eastern trade (search for northeast passage)
Efforts to break into African slave trade (1550s)
• English colonial activity retreats until the 1570s-1580s
Frobisher and Hudson • Search for the Northwest Passage [1570s]
Prospect offered sea route to Asia with no political / military entanglements
• Firm conviction in England that NW Passage existed Classical evidence
New ‘scientific’ evidence
• Martin Frobisher Privateer with a long interest in exploring the Northwest Passage
Secures financing for three expeditions
Clashes with the Inuit
Presumed mineral wealth
• Henry Hudson
Expedition of 1610-11
Abandoned in Hudson Bay
The Iberian North Atlantic [I]
• Portugal took an early lead in overseas exploration
Political, geographic and scientific advantages
• Portuguese colonial activity generally directed south
African slave trade
Dominated the sub-African trade route to Asia
Establish colony in Brazil
• Portuguese exploration of the North Atlantic [early 1500s)
Explore Greenland, Labrador, Newfoundland, Atlantic Canada’s coastline
Failed efforts to colonize Newfoundland and Cape Breton Island (1520s)
• Significant Portuguese presence in the Atlantic fisheries
Dominate Northern Avalon and Bonnavista by early 1500s
Taxation commences in 1506
Portuguese fishery declines by 1600
Newfoundland Place Names
with Portuguese Origins:
• Cape Race [c. Raso]
• Cape St. Mary’s [c. s
maria]
• Spear Islands [Yslas de
Espera]
• Cape St. Francis [c de sa
francisco]
• Baccalieu Island [y dos
bacalhoas]
• Trinity Bay [b de s. Iria]
• Red Island [Ilha Roxa]
The Iberian North Atlantic [II] • Significant whaling presence along coast of Labrador and Quebec
Born out of the reports from the cod fishermen (presence of bowhead whales)
Importance of the Strait of Belle Isle
• Primary group involved in whaling = Basques [Spain] Arrive in 1530s; significant growth between 1542 and 1580
May have also been a geopolitical response to French colonization
Whaling stations – substantial work camps
Most significant = Red Bay
• Labour largely migratory, but First Nations workers also employed With great diligence and patience to kill, cut up and boil the whales to
make oil -
• Significant trade between First Nations and whalers / fishermen Metal tools (knives, axes, kettles)
Represented the earliest sustained contact between First Nations and Europeans in present-day Canada
French Colonialism • King Francis I [1515 - 1547]
Aggressive foreign policy; competition with England and Spain
Response to success of Spanish exploration and imperialism
• Verrazzano’s exploration (sponsored by French crown, 1524)
Reports of “Norumbega” and the Pacific Ocean
Establishes French ‘claim’ to North America
• Jacques Cartier
Born 1491 in Sainte-Malo (Northern France)
Went to sea as a young man (Newfoundland and Brazil – possibly also part of Verrazzano’s voyage)
Mandate: “to discover certain islands and lands where it is said that a great quantity of gold and other precious things are to be found”
Political goal: to anchor France’s claim to North America
Cartier’s Second Voyage (1535-36) • Second voyage
Larger scale (meant to overwinter)
Intended to push further into the interior (not just explore the coastline)
Return of Donnacona’s sons (translators)
• Deteriorating relations with the St. Lawrence Iroquois
Cartier’s determination to travel to Hochlega
Donnacona’s efforts at obstruction
Hears rumors of “Kingdom of Saguenay”
Cartier’s crew builds fortification
• Disastrous winter of 1535-36
Salvation of Cartier’s crew
• Cartier kidnaps 10 (incl. Donnacona)
Cartier’s Third Voyage
• French king finances third voyage (deeply impressed by Cartier’s news)
Expedition delayed by outbreak of war with Spain
• New mandate of third voyage (1541)
Settlement: establish a permanent colony [with prisoners!]
Roberval to lead
Christianity: convert the First Nations
Impress the Pope [deflect complaints of the Spanish]
• Disaster
Driven out by First Nations (relations had collapsed)
Colony fails by 1542
• No further efforts by French state to colonize until 1599
French Wars of Religion (1562-98)
Growth of the English Empire • Colonial promoters emerge in large numbers in the 1570s-80s
• Arguments in favour of Empire: Wealth:
Spanish power based on New World wealth
Other empires waiting to be conquered (persistent rumors)
Colonization:
Colonies would provide strategic base of attack on rival European powers u
Would provide markets for English goods [mercantilism]
Solution to social problems (deport ‘idle persons’)
many thousands of idle persons are within this realm, which having no way to be set on work be either mutinous and seek alteration in the state, or at least very burdensome to the common wealth – Richard Halkuyt
Religion:
Protestant identity in England
Nationalism linked to religion and defeating Catholic rivals (France, Spain, Portugal)
Sense of destiny (England’s greatness would be secured by overseas empire)
• English colonial presence grows in the early 1600s
English Colonialism
• Primary focus of English colonization directed south of Canada
Early failures in the 1580s
• Plantation Colonies (commercial agriculture, unfree labor)
Virginia (1607)
Maryland (1632)
Leeward Islands (1624-32)
• Settlement Colonies (family settlement, gender balance)
Plymouth (1620)
Massachusetts (1630)
Growth driven by exodus of Pilgrims and Puritans (persecuted Protestant dissenters)
deep-rooted antipathy against Catholicism
• Relations with aboriginal peoples: Fur Trade – close alliances (Iroquois)
Settlement and Plantations – sustained conflict and dispossession
European attitudes towards ‘civilization’ and land rights
As for the Natives in New England, they
enclose no land, neither have any settled
habitation, nor any tame cattle to improve the
land by, and so have no
other but a natural right to those countries,
so as if we leave them sufficient for their use,
we may lawfully take the rest, there being
more than enough for them and us
[John Winthrop, 1629]
Cod Fisheries: Technologies • “Wet” Fishery (“Green” Fishery)
Fish caught offshore (Grand Banks) and processed (gutted, salted) on boat
Advantages: quantity and cost
Disadvantages: quality
• “Dry” Fishery Fish are caught close to Newfoundland shore
Processed at onshore work camps
Advantage: quality (sells for higher price)
Disadvantage: expensive, requires: Occupation of onshore sites (work camps)
Construction of small boats (to fish in shallow waters)
• Dry fishery work camps Hostility of the Beothuk (grows with fishery)
Entirely European migratory workforce
Very attractive work option for sailors
Overwhelmingly male (no jobs available for women)
Extremely localized cultures
• Both variants of fishery had advocates / economic interests Dry fishery eventually leads to permanent settlement
Seasonal camps become year-round
English Settlement in Newfoundland • Supporters of a Settled Fishery:
Settled fishery cuts costs
Opportunities could develop other industries
• Supporters of a Migratory Fishery: Permanent settlement = government regulation
Economic impact on West England Merchants
“Nursery” of the English Navy
• English government seeks a balance between migratory and settled fishery Government ambiguity on issue creates uncertainty
• Barriers to permanent settlement Environment [agriculture]
Piracy
Hostility of the Beothuk
• First settlement (Cupid’s Cove) established in 1610 Abandoned by 1613
English Settlement of Newfoundland
• Ferryland (1621) Established by Sir George Calvert
Calvert given full authority over island; no authority over offshore fishery
• Faces similar problems to Cupid’s Cove: Piracy and war (French conflict)
Problems with agriculture
Harsh winters
Calvert’s focus shifts to Maryland (1632)
• David Kirke (1638) Gains authority over Newfoundland after Calvert abandons it
Work to attract settlers
500 English by 1650 (scattered across various settlements)
• French colonization Less incentive to established colonies (offshore fishery)
Plaissance established in 1620s (small French foothold)
French Colonialism and the Fur Trade • French Empire stalls in second half of 16th Century
Wars of Religion
Failed efforts in Brazil and Florida
• Early fur trade Develops out of cod fisheries and whaling expeditions [including French]
Tadoussac [1558] becomes important French seasonal trading post
• Significant growth of fur trade (1580s onward) Instability of European supply
Fashion (luxury and felt markets)
Highly appealing commodity for trade
Dedicated trading expeditions underway by 1580s
• Fur trade tended towards monopoly capitalism Industry not well suited for small-scale entrepreneurs
Monopoly gave French crown greater control and authority
Ambitions of King Henri IV
• Monopoly granted to Chauvin (1599) Condition: “inhabit the country and build a lodging there”
Small, isolated, and vulnerable – but anchors a French presence
First Nations and French Colonialism • No trace of St. Lawrence Iroquois by late 16th century
Disease, dispersal or both
• Montagnais and Algonquin Peoples
Occupy territory between Tadoussac and Lake Ontario
Develop a trading relationship with the French
Play middleman role in the trade (restrict access of other tribes)
• French negotiate alliance with Algonquin and Montagnais
French: secure right to settle on St. Lawrence
A / M: secure French military alliance vs. Iroquois
Trade in iron weapons (not firearms at first)
Fortified French settlement would serve A / M advantage
Limited occupation of the land
• Monopoly passes to de Monts [1603]
Colonial attention passes to Acadia [1603-07]
Founding of Quebec (1608) • Key figure = Samuel de Champlain
Present in Canada since 1603
Diplomat, cartographer
Recognized significance of First Nations knowledge, technology
Sent to establish colony on St. Lawrence
• Choice of Quebec: Defence
Proximity to fur
Fertility of land
• Early Struggles and Survival Scurvy and treason
• Military campaigns against the Iroquois (1608-09) Champlain, two others accompany A / M on raids
Battle of Lake Champlain (July 1609)
Franco-Huron Alliance • Algonquin try to stop French from exploring Huron alliance
Want to retain status as middlemen; unable to do so
• Huron initiate negotiations for an alliance (1611)
• Champlain visits Huron settlement in 1615 Leads French force into significant raid against the Iroquois
Huron prevent Champlain from any further travel / contact with other tribes
French / Huron alliance secured – becomes foundation of French fur trade
No further expeditions, but French presence deterred Iroquois attacks
• Dutch exploration of the Hudson River (1610) Establishment of “New Netherland” and Fort Albany
Establish strong alliance with the Iroquois
English maintain alliance after displacing the Dutch
Social / Cultural Dimensions • Truchements – linguistic / cultural interpreters sent to live with First Nations
Played informal diplomatic and intelligence roles as well
Highest paid field workers in the French fur trade
• Individual traders
On average, 20-25 individual traders would be found in Huron settlement
Opportunities for lower-ranking French men to gain wealth / status
Free to trade on their own initiative, but had to sell fur back to French
• Cultural fusion
French living in Huron settlements adopt dress, language, technology of Huron
Relationships with First Nations women [wide range]
• Trade in New France
Trade expeditions to New France embedded in ceremony / ritual
Typically conducted in aboriginal languages rather than French
Social – Cultural Exchange: Religion
• French viewed missionary work as essential to the project of empire Champlain’s message to the Huron: French goal was to establish settlements “whereby we should
have communication with one another, and live happily in the future in the fear of God, whom we should make known to you”
Viewed missionaries as suitable allies for the larger colonial project (would help anchor the colony)
• Recollets First missionary order to work in New France [arrive in 1615]
Sent with state funding
Carry out most of their work among Algonquin and Montagnais [some among Huron]
Extremely difficult and ineffective
• Challenges facing the Recollets Structure of Algonquin / Montagnais societies (nomadic, limited chiefly authority)
Recollets attitudes
Cultural distance
Viewed settlement and assimilation as necessary first steps
European views of civilization
• Fusion of State and Religious Authority Recollets and Champlain work to try and compel Montagnais and Algonquin to settle permanently
Structure of French Authority • French crown exercised limited oversight over early New France [1608-27]
Assassination of Henri IV [1610]
Rebellion, civil conflict [1617 - 1624]
• Champlain the only dedicated government official in New France
Home government provides very little support to the colony
Result = extremely slow growth [only 60 people by 1620]
• Growing political conflict with the Montagnais
Diverging French / First Nations views of sovereignty and authority
Champlain attempts to appoint / dismiss chiefs
Attempts to send Montagnais children to France
Fusion of state and religious authority (Champlain and Recollets)
• Looming threat to the south
Growing English colonies (New England, Virginia) and New Netherland
Iroquois raids increase in frequency in 1620s
Growing firearms trade with Iroquois
Richelieu and New France
• Cardinal Richelieu Rises in prominence during early reign of Louis XIII (child king)
Aggressively Catholic – sought to end Protestant autonomy / rights in France
Part of the larger ‘counter-Reformation’ against Protestant gains in Europe
Strong advocate of empire as key to French strength (challenge England and Spain)
Strong advocate of Mercantilism and diversification of New France’s economy
• Company of One Hundred Associates (1627)
State-sponsored company aimed at stabilizing New France
Directors = clergy, nobility rather than merchants
Terms:
Given a monopoly on the fur trade in New France (and significant other economic privilieges)
Massive land grant under terms of seigneurial system (would collect rent)
Company responsible for preparing the land (clearance, food, seed)
Company responsible for settling 4,000 Catholic French in New France [15 years]
Company agreed to support missionary work to spread Catholicism
Occupation of Quebec • Anglo-French War [1627-29]
Breaks out over English support for French Protestants (La Rochelle)
English crown grants Kirke family colonization rights on St. Lawrence
• Kirke brothers lead privateer fleet against Quebec (1628) Intercept supply / colonization fleet sent by Company of One Hundred Associates
Force Champlain to surrender (1629)
Company of One Hundred Associates sends military force to re-conquer Quebec (fails)
English occupy Quebec for three years
• Impact Physical destruction of most of Quebec
Virtual bankruptcy of the Company of One Hundred Associates
Disruption of trading agreement, military alliances
• Restoration of Quebec: Company of One Hundred Associates Recruitment of indentured labor (serve as workforce and settlement population)
Expansion of the seigneurial system (offset the cost of settlement)
Work closely with missionaries to help anchor the stability of the colony
Ursuline Order • Most significant female religious order operating in New France
• Marie de l’Incarnation (Marie Guyart) Born in Tours in 1599; widowed at age 19
Worked with brother/sister-in-law in family business
Experiences dreams/visions that draw her to religious life
Establishes Ursuline Order in Quebec (1642)
• Roles of the Ursuline Order:
Missionary work (education of First Nations girls) – unsuccessful
Education of French girls
Day schools (open to all)
Boarding schools (for daughters of the elite)
Charitable institutions
Hospital, orphanage
Jesuits and New France Established 1534 in Spain by Ignatius of Loyala
◦ Key element of the Counter-Reformation ◦ Organized along lines of a religious order (‘Soldiers of Christ’) ◦ Took oath of loyalty directly to the Pope
Active throughout Asia and New World • Spanish / Portuguese Empires, China, Japan prior to Canada • Start work in Canada in 1625; given monopoly in 1632
Algonquin / Montagnais • Jesuits establish the Sillery Reserve to compel the A / M to settle down
Huron • Permanent settlement of missionaries made a condition of renewed alliance [1632] • Jesuits fully established in Huron territory by 1635 • Ste.-Marie des Huron established as base and model community (1639)
• Jesuit Relations (start in 1632) • Annual reports issued by Jesuit Order in New France; sold in France to raise money • Become the primary source of information overseas about Canada
Plagues and Priests • Major outbreak of smallpox coincides with Jesuit arrival (1635-40)
• Huron understanding of disease: natural affliction, spiritual affliction, witchcraft Huron attributed the disease outbreak with witchcraft, associated with arrival of Jesuits
• Suspicious activities:
Baptism and deathbed conversions [especially of children]
Celibacy
Seeming immunity (carriers rather than afflicted)
Boasts about technology and ‘power’
• Huron suffer at least 50% population loss in this period
Impact on senior spiritual / political leadership
• Refusal to expel Jesuits from Huronia
Dependence on trade goods?
Cultural persistence?
It is the black robes who make us die by
their spells; listen to me and I’ll give you
proof. They arrive in a certain village
where everyone is healthy. As soon as
they are established there, everyone dies,
except for three or four people. Then
they change places, and the same thing
happens again. They have only to enter a
cabin to bring sickness and death with
them. Don’t you see that when they move
their lips, which they call praying, they
are really casting spells. It’s the same
thing when they read their books.
Moreover, they have big wood [firearms]
in their cabins and they use these to make
noise and send their magic everywhere.
If we don’t put them to death immediately,
they will ruin the country and leave no one
alive.