Chapter 17 - American Colonial Societies - 1530 - 1770

     The Columbian Exchange, set up after Columbus' voyages to the Americas, brought in new people and goods. English and French colonies sprung up in North America, bringing with them diseases that the natives had no resistance to. Disease wiped out many native populations and made taking over easier for the incoming Europeans.
     Although Christianity was imposed on them, the Amerindians kept practicing their religions in secret. Some newcomers protected them, such as Bartolome de las Casas, who defended Amerindian's rights in Mexico. Overall, the Amerindians were suppressed by viceroys (colonial leaders)  who forced them into economiendas, or grants of labor to land owners. The mita required that 1/7 of all adult male Amerindians had to work for two to four months in factories or on farms. Portugal forced the Amerindians into slavery, often working in mines or growing sugar and tobacco.
     Some different people groups:

• Creoles - Europeans born in the New World
• Mestizos - 1/2 Amerindian and 1/2 European
• Mullatos - 1/2 African and 1/2 European

     In North America, indentured servants worked to pay off debts while slaves were brought in from Africa to work indefinitely (more on that in the next chapter).
     The groups of colonists we are most familiar with are the Puritans and the Pilgrims. The Puritans wanted to purify the teachings of the Church of England, so they formed the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1629 after sailing from England. The Pilgrims split away from the Church of England entirely and went to the New World, landing in Plymouth in 1620.
     *Side note: The Iroquois Confederacy formed from five tribes (six in 1722) who allied with the Dutch and then the English when the English took New Amsterdam (New York). They were a voice for the tribes of the area whenever colonial leaders met.*
     From 1534 to 1542, Jacques Cartier explored Canada, and in 1608, New France (Quebec) was formed. They relied heavily on fur trading and eventually were taken over by the English in 1763. Since they had a small population and limited resources, the French relied on political and military power, which they lost when the English took over America east of the Mississippi River.
     The latter half of the 1700's was a time of rebellion and social unrest. Tupac Amaru II of Peru led an Inca rebellion against the Spanish and was executed in 1781. In the North, England had already limited colonists' trading by passing the Navigation Acts of 1651-73 when they started to pass more laws and taxes for the 13 colonies. New York and Massachusetts overthrew their British governors and politics in the colonies remained confrontational. England's defeat of France and weakening of Spain in 1770 essentially showed that they were the dominant power and readied France (but not Spain) to aid the colonists in the revolution.