Warning: Undefined variable $num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 126
Warning: Undefined variable $posts_num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 127
In the late 1500s Spain had presented itself as a dominant power in Europe that shaped the way other countries interacted with America. Because of Spain’s efforts to colonize the Americas, other European countries felt it necessary to try and expand their empires as well, if only to try and keep the Spanish from having too much power. As Tram Hua pointed out, the Spanish crown had demanded that one-fifth of the profits were sent to the crown. This “Quinto Real” provided the Spanish rulers a valuable source of capital to use for various different purposes, most importantly being able to fund a war on a scale not previously reached before, (Egerton, 116).
This imperial rivalry between European nations was also impacted by religious motivations. Throughout the chapter the authors go into detail about the various social movements that took place following the excommunication of Martin Luther from the Catholic Church and the creation of Protestantism and Calvinism. The authors state how the Catholic Church’s grasp on the European world was weakened immensely, “These different Protestant sects, each of which called for its own version of reform, shattered the religious unity Western Europe had known for centuries.”(Egerton, 120).
The European world was in a state of major flux, not just in political and religious terms, but economically as well. The rapid colonization that Europe had jumped to allowed some countries economic benefits that would not have been available prior to exploration, (Egerton, 130). Colonization created more opportunity for European countries to diversify their trade, giving them more options; more people to trade with and more places to settle. In addition to that, colonies provided a hope for opportunity to those who had none in mainland Europe.
Europe’s rapid colonization of the Western Hemisphere brought upon more dynamic and layered problems to the countries who had begun exploring. Through these we begin to see the various new environments that people were introduced to and how they reacted and dealt with new problems in the beginning of a new global period.