Author: Dr. Shrout

“Sugar Islands” by Alberto Vierira is a very detailed account of the Madeira and Canary Island sugar trade. Spanish and Portuguese enterprises made use of these islands because sugarcane was considered an exotic ingredient in Europe. It proved to be such a valuable commodity, it actually created an economic network that civilized the Canary and Madeira Islands as well as the rest of Europe. According to Vierira, it led to “the creation of other jobs on the islands like shoemakers, barbers, carpenters and merchants (Vierira, 45).” From this, it looks like sugar is the vehicle of growth on this islands because all of Europe as well as the Middle East use it in order to sweeten their drinks because before that, all they could use is honey as their natural and only sweetener. Sugar Cane proved to be so important and profitable on the Canary and Madeira islands, the Crown even issued land distribution to those based on output. According to Vierira, an observer named Gaspar Frutuoso documented “how a mill owned by Jacome de Monteverde produced an estimated 7,000-8,000 arrobas of sugar from January to July(Vierira, 47).” This was in part of the warm climate on the islands. Sugar`s integration in Mediterranean markets sparked growth in investments and trade. Pretty soon, sugar ignited global competition as the European powers wanted to get their hands on this gold rush of the Atlantic.

I agree with Erin’s response “Sugar Commerce in Atlantic Spaces” because this excerpt actually does remind me of Grove’s Green Imperialism with the environment playing a huge factor in colonization. I also agree with the fact enterprises like sugar cane were determined by geographical factors like weather, water sources and soil fertility. If it made food and drinks taste better, then it is fair to say a sugar rush built the Atlantic World.

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Sugar cultivation on the Madeira and Canary Islands allowed prospectors to operate a successful and open market from the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries. Factors such as warm climates, rich soil, and nearby sources of water contributed to the growth of sugar cane fields (Vierira, 43, 47). With an abundance of sugar on their land to harvest, sugar cultivators were able to make a significant profit off of their crops. Due to a lack of local labor sources, slaves were imported from Africa to work in the sugar mills (Vierira, 57). As a consequence, a mass market for slaves began to emerge to keep up with outside demand for sugar. Foreign investors such as the Italians and Flemish began to occupy the Madeira and Canary Islands in order to bring sugar crops to the Europe (Vierira, 63). On international competition, I agree with Andre that many Europeans scrambled to take over land in the Atlantic and use it to further expand their empire (http://courses.shroutdocs.org/hist410-fall2016/course-blog). By becoming involved in commerce in Atlantic spaces, Europeans attempted to prove that their empire was more mighty than others and hopefully establish a permanent settlement for future business operations. Invading and taking advantage of non-European spaces provided many opportunities for foreigners to generate success for their home countries. By establishing successful businesses catering to international trade, sugar merchants generated more open commerce for sugar products to meet the demands of the European market. Trade networks between Europe and the Atlantic led to foreign investors becoming central participants in the sugar market, as well as giving them opportunities to settle in Atlantic spaces (Vierira, 67). Madeira and the Canary Islands grew to have a booming sugar industry and were the focal points of sugar trade. During the sixteenth century, however, competition from Brazil began to affect the islands’ prominence in the sugar industry (Vierira, 72).

Concerning the impact of environmental imperialism, sugar cultivators offered to burn acres of forests so they would have more territory to grow sugar cane. There was also a possibility that burning land would have a negative effect on others’ cane fields (Vieira, 51-52). This section reminded me of Richard Grove’s work Green Imperialism, when he refers to the harm of human expansion on the environment (Grove, 2). Prospectors’ destruction of nature to initiate business ventures deeply affects their surroundings even if they are not aware of the damage being done. By this process, investors begin to conquest land, trade, and the goods market by exploiting territory to generate profit from their cash crops.

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Matthew Liivoja: Atlantic Battleground

Chapter 4 of The Atlantic World by Douglas R. Egerton et al. vividly describes the bitter and ruthless rivalries between European countries and their methods of acquiring land and materials. Potosi, Spanish for wealth, inspired the Spanish and men like Francisco Manuel to find rich mineral deposits like silver and, of course, gold. It made Spain rich and powerful by expanding their military and their empire and soon enough, their rivals England, France and the Dutch wanted a chunk of the Spanish wealth for themselves. In turn, they resorted to piracy in places like the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern Seaboard like the English settlement of Roanoke, VA. I read Kyle Kelsay`s response and I like how he mentions the “Pirates of the Caribbean” ride at Disneyland because it`s actually very relevant with Atlantic History especially with piracy running rampant in the Caribbean. I was surprised to hear the Dutch, French and English were actually granted licenses to raid enemy ships like the Spanish galleons. In doing so, piracy left Spain impoverished.

Secondly, Chapter 4 describes religion as a motivation for colonization. Catholicism was the primary religion across Europe and according the Egerton, Spain’s military power made King Philip, “the protector of Catholicism and pushed to protect it. (Egerton, 122).” He defended it so much, he bankrupted Spain. Martin Luther, however, believed “the Bible should be accessible to everyone (Egerton, 117).” So, the English and the Dutch took advantage of Spain`s fall and Martin’s goal to spread the Word of God in Africa and the Americas. As a result, the Protestant Reformation swept across the world as the Dutch and English took up land formerly occupied by the Spanish.

In conclusion, this “Atlantic Race” was all fueled by the dream of wealth and creating larger networks of religion by using mercantilism to extract the world`s wealth. When you think about it, the battles for money and religion made empires out of Spain, England, and the Dutch. All in all, this chapter is about how rivalries and religion forged the Atlantic into a powerful “highway” for commerce, competition, and communication.

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1. Christopher Columbus discovering the Americans and recruiting people to help him as he sails to the “New World” known as the Americas.
2. Africans’ Transatlantic Voyages towards the Americas before 1492.
3. The Spanish discovery of political, economic, and social networks in the Caribbean.

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I agree with Diana about the Dutch because Diana brings up a good point about how the Dutch became dominant force in commercial and maritime strategies that was better than the Spanish. With the Dutch’s creativity through trading posts and raids through Spanish ships and towns, increased the wealth of the Dutch and profited a lot of commercial goods to offer throughout the Atlantic region. As a result, the Dutch became a better and more dominant force in the Atlantic region than the Spanish, Portuguese, and English.

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1. Aztecs Writings and their Destruction by the Spanish.
2. The Europeanisation of Pocahontas.
3. The Rise of Coffee and Coffeehouses in 17th and 18th Century Europe.

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The main point of Chapter 4 is to show the causes of the rivalries between the European nations between 1500 and 1650. With the realization that the seemingly “New” World possessed many riches, materials, and labor, the European nations entered into what seemed to be a rat race for exploitation of the New World. The economic benefits of the Europeans’ involvement in the New World allowed them to further build up their armed forces and wage costlier war, particularly the Spanish. Classmate David Zamarripa points out the importance of religious influence on Atlantic interactions. While this was a key factor, it was not the only one to set the tone of Atlantic interactions. During this time, European nations recognized the religious authority of the Pope, who played a key role in politics and international relations. It wasn’t until Martin Luther challenged the Catholic Church that some European nations isolated themselves from papal authority. As a result, numerous Protestant factions developed, all missing uniformity. Some religious leaders sought to take advantage of Europe’s religious divide for political gain. Nations would brutally torture and execute any religious dissenters. One example would be the Spanish Inquisition. Under Philip II Spain purged itself of non-Catholics, halted the westward advance of the Ottoman empire, and ultimately bankrupted Spain. In addition to the conquest of material wealth, the European religious divide inspired more religious motivation among competing Europeans. Protestant European nations were determined to liberate Catholic converts in the Americas and convert them to their own religion. Northern European nations even turned to piracy, or hiring privateers to loot Spanish ships. For example, England encouraged privateers to loot the Spanish when at war with Spain, but they quickly became enemies of both sides when there was peace. The relationships and interactions between European powers in this time period demonstrate that colonization was not necessarily at the heart of Atlantic history, at least not at this point in history, but rather commerce and disrupting other nations’ ships in the Atlantic.

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Space making practices in the Atlantic were established based on religious divides and commitment to a monarchy based on heredity. The Spanish had begun establishing permanent residence in South America, forcing the rest of Europe to work around them if any benefit was to be had from the area. The text explains how the Dutch were , “most successful when they focused their intervention on commercial and maritime opportunities, not settlement,” and other, “European rivals found themselves in the fringe regions of the Americas.” (Egerton 117)
The posting of the Ninety Five Theses by Martin Luther on October 31, 1517, “shattered the religious unity Western Europe had known for centuries.” (Egerton 120) Spanish dedication to Catholicism influenced the social separation from Protestant and Calvinist Europe despite their continued aspiration of political dominance. Queen Elizabeth adopted Spanish methods of religious colonial intervention when she chose to thwart an Irish Catholic rebellion violently and based on, “religious antagonism,” and “cultural differences.” (Egerton 127) The British were able to quell the uprising with a mass settlement in Ireland with inspiration from, “the Spanish example in the Canaries and the Americas.” (Egerton 127)
Indigenous populations were either forced to assimilate to Colonial customs, or eradicated from the desired space. Native American’s would adopt Spanish Catholicism to an extent, but would keep important elements of their traditional religions. The Protestants saw it as their duty to rescue the indigenous people from Catholic oppression. Developments in the Americas, whether religious or economic, were always fueled by European politics. Atlantic geographic borders and populations that inhabited them during the sixteenth century emerged as powerful European states continued attempts at empire building and economic domination.

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The 16^th century was a major turning point in the Atlantic World. The desire of the Spanish to have complete control over the “New World”, religion and the trade network/economy of the Atlantic lead to a series of events that eventually created the world we live in today. Their desire for control of all things created many ideas that would change the course of history.

The first part that jumped out to me was the way the Spanish wanted to control all of the “New World.” Their recent war experiences had lead them to understand the vast costs associated with war. They saw the “New World” as a way to fund their global aspirations. Egerton states “With this wealth, the Spanish were able to wage war on a scale not previously imagined” (116). With the funds to properly support their military endeavors, the Spanish felt as though they were able to hire a large enough military force to help them reach all their goals. In response to this rapid growth, the other countries began to come up with methods to slow the growth of the Spanish.

Hunter talks about this in his blog entry. He brings up the way that the sudden rise of the Spanish made other European countries hungry for a piece of the action, if you will. I think this is a great point and is definitely demonstrated through the text. We see efforts from mainly the French, Dutch, and English to establish a presence in North and South America as a way of competing for power with the Spanish. This competition will lead to the settlement of colonies that will create the map that we see today.

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Chapter four of The Atlantic World examines the escalating rivalries between the kingdom of Spain and English, French, and Dutch. During this time, Europe was in turmoil. The Reformation, started by Martin Luther as Diana Tran mentioned in her post, created a religious crisis that fractured the Catholic Church between devout Catholics and Protestants. To respond to this exigency, the Spanish monarch, Phillip II through his use of the mass material wealth of his American possessions, tried secure his influence and control in Europe. Phillip II’s repression and intimidation of Protestant Europe along with Bartolome de las Casas’ disastrous account of the Spanish cruelty towards the Native Americans (Egerton 126), mobilized the Protestant English, French, and Dutch to take action against Spain’s detestable conduct. Having an ideal to rally behind is all well and good, but in reality the English, French, and Dutch were looking for an angle to disrupt the Spanish and Portuguese stranglehold over the American and African trade market.
According to the English clergyman Richard Hakluyt, Pope Alexander VI’s decree that Spain had exclusive rights over the American continent carried no weight in the Protestant world (Egerton 130). So other European nations (England, France, and the Netherlands) should be able to seek their own fortunes. Even though Spain warned its adversaries that severe repercussions would happen if they decided to set up a settlement or trading out post on New Spain soil, as the French could attest to, the English, French, and Dutch were determined to claim their own wealth of the Americas. Securing themselves strategic positions to attack Spanish shipping (Egerton 135), the resulting English, French, and Dutch piracy (or known as privateers if they were given a contract to plunder Spanish ships by a monarch or ruling body (Egerton 135)) exploited a weakness that sent shock waves throughout the Spanish kingdom. As a result, these Spanish competitors harassed and robbed the Spanish galleons laden with riches from their colonies. Without his American resources, Phillip II found it difficult to buy influence and carry out his holy war throughout Europe. Hence the effect of the piracy was one of the factors that lead to Spain’s diminished power through the Atlantic.
With Spanish Atlantic power waning, the English, French, and Dutch had an opportunity to capitalize. While the English and French were setting up small trade ports hoping to carve themselves out a small part of the American and African trade market, the Dutch created a system that allowed them to profit off the diminished power of the Spanish and Portuguese. The Dutch East and West India Companies executed a private semi-capitalist model of business that rivaled and overtook the state run concept of the Spanish and Portuguese (Egerton 144). With their shareholders in mind, these Dutch Companies were less interested in land acquisition than creating well-armed trading centers (Egerton 145). Since they were not beholden to the state and had nearly sovereign political power, the Dutch East and West India Companies were able to build an extensive and well-armed shipping fleet (Egerton 144). With the advantage of their ships, the Dutch were able to acquire or takeover the Portuguese trading outposts in Brazil and along the Atlantic coast of Africa which reduced the Portuguese hold on the Atlantic. As a result, by 1650 the Dutch trade networks between Europe, Africa, America, and the Caribbean eclipsed the ones by the Spanish and Portugal (Egerton 146).

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