Europeans Compete in North America

1
Europeans Compete in North America

• Chapter 2
• Section 3

2
Section Focus Question

• How did conflicts in Europe spur explorations in
  North America?
• Conflicts in North America
• Religious Conflicts
• Economic Conflicts
• As the appeal of the Reformation increased, the
  split between the Catholics and the Protestants
  increased religious and economic tensions between
  countries in Europe.

3
Religious Conflicts

• By 1530s, the rulers of Sweden, Denmark, and
  several European states had split with the Roman
  Catholic Church and set up Protestant churches in
  their countries.
• In other areas of Europe, the teachings and
  writings of a Swiss thinker, John Calvin, had a
  great influence on the development of Protestant
  churches in France, Switzerland, Scotland, and
  the Netherlands.

4
King Henry VIII

• Henry married Catherine of Aragon, the daughter
  of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain.
• Catherine did not produce a son or male heir to
  the English throne. Henry sought a divorce and
  wanted to remarry.
• Catholic law does not permit divorce, so Henry
  asked the pope to annul (cancel) his marriage.
• The pope refused and caused Henry to break with
  the Catholic Church.
• Henry set up a Protestant Church and named it the
  Church of England.

5
Economic Conflicts

• Religious tensions inflamed rivalries that
  already existed among the nations of Europe.
• Wars were common and alliances often shifted.
• This uncertainty made European rulers believe
  they could not depend on one another to protect
  their countrys security.

6
Spain

• Spain was not willing to depend on Italian and
  Portuguese traders.
• As a result, the Spanish monarchs supported
  Columbuss search for a new route to Asia.
• The Spanish thought that if they could start
  colonies there, goods from those colonies would
  make Spain wealthy and powerful.
• Most importantly, Spain hoped Asian colonies
  would provide them with gold.

7
Mercantilism

• Nearly every European nation sought gold to pay
  for its wars and help strengthen its armies.
• Spain required one fifth of all gold that
  Spaniards found be sent to the king.
• This requirement was part of a system widely
  followed at this time, called mercantilism.
• Mercantilism is a system where the colonies
  existed to make the home country wealthy and
  powerful.

8
The Spanish Armada

• King Henry VIII of England died in 1547.
• The throne was ruled by his son Edward who died
  shortly after.
• Mary I took the throne and she planned to restore
  the Roman Catholic Church in England.
• Mary died in 1558 and Elizabeth I, a Protestant,
  took the throne.
• The rule of the Protestant Queen renewed the
  rivalry with the Roman Catholic Spain.

9
Spains Defeat

• Spains ruler, King Phillip II hoped to make
  England a Catholic nation again.
• In 1588, Phillip assembled a fleet of 130
  warships known as the Spanish Armada.
• Phillip hoped to force Elizabeth from the throne.
• Englands smaller and faster ships sank many of
  the Spanish ships.
• The Spanish Armada returned to Spain with barely
  half of their ships.

10
Changing the Balance of Power in Europe

• The defeat of the Spanish Armada changed the
  balance of power in Europe.
• Spain was weakened and so was its control of the
  seas.
• This enabled countries like England and France to
  found colonies in the Americas.
• Europes religious and economic conflicts were
  not settled by the defeat of the Armada.
• As England France founded colonies, these
  conflicts spread to the Americas.

11
John Cabot

• Columbus returned from his first voyage
  interested another Italian explorer, John Cabot.
• Cabot decided that a more northern route to Asia
  would be shorter and easier.
• Spain and Portugal had no interest in Cabots
  ideas but England did.
• England financed Cabots voyage.

12
Cabots Voyage

• Cabot left England in May 1497 with one ship.
• He crossed the North Atlantic and explored the
  region around Newfoundland.
• On a second voyage in 1498, Cabot may have
  explored the North American coast as far south as
  Chesapeake Bay.
• We cannot be sure because his ships disappeared
  without a trace.

13
Northwest Passage

• Europeans soon realized that the lands Cabot had
  reached were not Asia, but a land that they had
  never seen.
• England, France, and Holland all financed voyages
  of exploration to North America.
• These voyages focused on finding a northwest
  passage, or a sea route from the Atlantic to the
  Pacific that passed through or around North
  America.

14
Giovanni da Verrazano

• In 1524, another Italian explorer, Giavanni da
  Verrazano searched for such a passage for King
  Francis I of France.
• Verrazano explored the Atlantic coastal region
  from North Carolina to Newfoundland.
• In doing this, he discovered the mouth of the
  Hudson River and New York Bay.

15
Jaques Cartier

• French explorer, Jacques Cartier, made three
  trips to North America for France.
• In searching for the Northwest Passage, he
  discovered the St. Lawrence River and explored it
  as far as present-day Montreal.

16
Henry Hudson

• English explorer Henry Hudson made four voyages
  in search of a Northwest Passage.
• Two voyages in the Arctic Ocean, during 1607 and
  1608, were unsuccessful.
• Hudsons English backers gave up on him but the
  Dutch grew interested in his activities and
  financed a third expedition in 1609.
• Crossing the Atlantic, Hudson reached what is now
  New York and explored up the river that today
  bears his name.

17
Hudson Bay

• Hudsons discoveries convinced the English to
  sponsor a fourth voyage in 1610.
• Hudson sailed into the Arctic again looking for
  the passage to the Pacific.
• He reached as far a Hudson Bay, which is also
  named for him.