The Colonial Atlantic World

 

We learnt about colonisation, migration, and commerce as integrative forces in the Atlantic world this lecture.

 

Colonies and European power

Early colonies, especially in the Spanish case, had rather weak administrative structures. They were more focused on exploitation, this being their key aim, rather than government. In the Spanish case, they were primarily targeted at the mining and processing of silver and gold. Potosi, in Andean Bolivia, was the key silver mine, producing over 300 tons of a silver per year in the 1580s and boasting a population in excess of 150 000 (at the time an extremely large city). There was a small indigenous population, a large black population and only a small white population. Much of the silver was going to Indonesia to balance trade with Asia in the increasingly global market. Early colonial development was closely connected to expansion of the 'plantation complex'. In Brazil, the Portuguese developed the most extensive plantation system and it remained the primary destination of slaves in the early modern period. Brazil was vital in a global commercial system constructed by the Portuguese: by 1630, Brazil was contributing about 40% of the Portuguese state's revenue. In these tropical and sub-tropical colonies, there were only relatively small European populations: adventurers, missionaries, slave-traders, and plantation owners. As time progressed though, significant mestizo populations emerge, with complex mixes of ethnic groups. There was no colonization however and Europeans were 7 tims more likely to die there of disease than Europe, which accounted for the very small white population.


In temperate North America, the fur trade dominated early European activity. After Iberian power began to wane in the north Atlantic, important settlements were established: Jamestown, Virginia (1608), Quebec (1608), and New Amsterdam (1630).

 

Quebec, on the St Lawrence River, and New Amsterdam on the Hudson, controlled access to the great Lakes and vast hinterland. With time the economic life of these cities diversified and they emerged as key commercial centres.

 

Migration

The first substantial and permanent European communities emerged on the east coast of North America. By 1700 there were about 90 000 Europeans living in New England and 85 000 in the Chesapeake. For some of these migrants, the New World offered religious freedom. The Plymouth Colony, the first settlement in New England (estab. 1620), was the product of ongoing religious conflict within Britain and its "Puritans" fled England to establish a "truly Protestant" colony. Most migrants, however, sought social advancement and economic benefits. Between 1620 and 1660, many poorer Britons (mainly English and Welsh) initially worked as indentured servants in Virginia's tobacco industry, hoping to buy land after the expiration of their contract. The flow of European migrants greatly increased during the eighteenth century. Between 1718 and 1800, 240,000 Scots-Irish migrated to America, joining substantial flows of Irish Catholic and Scottish migration. Significant European migration from France (Huguenots) and Germany (Protestants form the Rhine) added to the mix. Migrant cultures transplanted to particular regions of America and strong local social structures and cultural patterns emerged: New England, dominated by Puritan English; Virginia, by Anglican English; Appalachia by Sots-Irish; Pennsylvania by Germans; Quebec by the French.

English and Welsh - 51%

African - 20%

Scots-Irish - 8%

German 7%

Irish - 5%

Scots - 4%

Dutch - 3%


Ties that bind

These migrant groups were part of significant trans-Atlantic communities, constructing networks that knitted Europe and North America together. The cultural baggage they brought with them: common religious traditions, linguistic patterns and 'folkways' maintained important elements of cultural continuity within a radically different environment. Letter-writing and printed word created a strong flow of information and knowledge. This not only reaffirmed family bonds, but was also crucial in commercial activity and in recruiting new migrants. It is out of these texts that information about Native Americans and African slaves became widely disseminated in Europe and promoted the myth of America. It was a land with opportunities for social advancement, without the massive illiterate peasantry Europe was burdened with. Commercial ties and trade in key commodities also connected communities across the Atlantic: markets were a crucially important integrative force.