Chapter 17The Diversity of American

Colonial Societies

By: Kayla Brennan

Colombian Exchange• It was the transfer of people, animals, plants,

agriculture, and diseases between the Old and New Worlds.

• Diseases from the Old World wiped out the majority of the native population.

• Spain and Portugal, England, and France became areas of cultural and social experimentation.

Demographic Changes• Death rates in the New World were very high

due to lack of immunity.• New World staple crops impacted European,

Asian, and African diet and agriculture.• Livestock were brought to the New World and

therefore altered the land and jobs of the natives.

Spanish Colony• Spain and Portugal expanded into the New

World rapidly.• The Spanish and Portuguese set up there

societies based on cultures and traditions of their own lands.

• Amerindian culture and practices continued.• African slave trade began.

StateSpanish

• Council of the Indies supervised the Spanish Colony.

• There were many areas controlled by viceroys.

• Taxes were in gold and silver.

Portuguese• They set up

administrative responsibilities.

• They eventually had a viceroy in Brazil.

• Sugar plantations and gold mines= intrusive colonial bureaucracy.

ChurchSpanish And Portuguese

• Wanted to convert Amerindians to Christianity• Began using torture, executions, and destruction of native

manuscripts• Bartolome de Las Casas protested the natives’ treatment• Amerindian Christianity came out which was the blend of

their beliefs with Catholic rituals associated with the Virgin Mary

• Churches made improvements to intellectual life– The printing press– Universities– Secondary schools

EconomySpanish

• Silver mines dominated the economy

• Encomienda- forced labor on the Amerindians

• Low Amerindian populations led to free wage labor

• Became a Spanish speaking Catholic colonial society

• Increased trade

Portuguese• Sugar plantations

dominated the economy in Brazil

• Worked by Amerindian slaves at first, but changed to African slaves

• This connected them commercial links around the world

SocietySpanish and Portuguese

• Populations dominated by Africans, Amerindians, and creoles• Creoles were whites born in the Americas• Indigenous elite became closer to Spanish authorities to help

them survive• Afro-Iberian slaves had similar roots of Spain and Portugal• African slaves had different languages, beliefs, and practices• Black populations grew and a lot of them bought their

freedom

English Colony• Multiple failed attempts to settle in the New

World• Jamestown brought 144 settlers to VA but 80%

died• The survivors stayed and moved inland• They discovered tobacco and this brought more

settlers.• Immigrants that could not afford the trip were

brought as indentured servants.

Government• They were ruled under the House of Burgesses

and a governor and his council• They had major fur trade• Altered the environment and Amerindian

agriculture

The Carolinas• They used slavery and plantations• African slaves brought new agricultural

techniques• South Carolina had a hierarchy type society– The rich at the top– Small farmers, cattlemen, artisans, merchants, and

fur traders were middle class– Indigenous people and slaves were at the bottom

New England• Pilgrims wanted to break off of the England church

so they emigrated to the Americas.• Settled in Plymouth and dispersed according to

their beliefs.• Puritans wanted to purify the Church of England.• They set up Massachusetts Bay Colony and

absorbed Plymouth.• Little diversity, no agriculture, few slaves• Shipped and provided commercial services

The Middle Atlantic Region• English speaking societies• Dutch settle on Manhattan Islands and

Quakers settle Pennsylvania• New York: large commercial and shipping

center• Pennsylvania: grain-exporting colony• Traded with Iroquois Confederacy

French Colony

• Interested in beaver and other animals’ furs• Made allies with Huron and Algonquin Indians• Couveurs de bois- were sent to live among

native tribes and master their customs• Deadly wars between Algonquin and Iroquois• Firearms spread and mixed in some areas with

horses

French• Jesuits converted natives to Christianity• Native religions persisted so they used money

to build schools, hospitals, and churches.• Eventually they lost Canada to the English and

lost Louisiana to Spanish.

Summary• All of the colonies applied their knowledge from

the Old World to the transforming of the New World.

• They all permanently altered the native peoples.• They brought African Americans to the New

World creating diverse societies.• They also brought silver, sugar plantations, and

fur trade into the commercial networks of that time period.