Dr. Shrout – Page 35 – Atlantic History

Spanish Decline. Dutch Success

September 19, 2016December 16, 2020Dr. Shrout

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

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).

Week 5: European Rivals and Atlantic Repercussion – Atlantic World Ch. 4

September 19, 2016December 16, 2020Dr. Shrout

Chapter Four of The Atlantic World heavily focuses on culture and religion, and imperialism and commerce of the European nations. European nations have always wanted to expand their sphere of influence beyond their borders and one way to expand their influence is to make sure that their behaviors of imperialism and commerce are in action. Spain was already in action by the 1530s and 1540s by expanding their influence in Mexico by “locat[ing] massive silver deposits in Pachuca, Taxco, Guanajuato, and Zacatecas” (Atlantic World, 115). In order for the Spanish to use their new found treasures at home, they made sure that their ships were protected from any group that wanted to do harm. Kyle Kelsay makes a clear point in regards to groups that want to do harm to the ships of Spain. The reason why some groups want to do harm to other merchants is because of they (in reference to corsairs, a pirate (Atlantic World, 116)) were harmed physically, mentally, or a combination of both and they felt it is only appropriate to do the same actions that those affected had to endure. Once Spain had received their newly acquired treasures, they decided to use it to expand their sphere on the European continent by declaring wars on other nations that eventually failed and left the monarchy bankrupt “multiple times” (Atlantic World, 116). Even though Spain’s imperialistic actions did expand their influence, it did leave then without money.

Culture and religion were also important in expanding on one nation’s sphere of influence, but those that lacked the resources (i.e. money and power) to do it could not. Everybody in Western Europe was Catholic until 1517 when Martin Luther, “an Augustinian friar challenged” the entire religion from the Pope to the practices of the Church. Due to his challenging of the Church, he was able to form a “Religious Revolution” that was able to break down the practices of old and form new factions of the Catholic Religion (Atlantic World, 117 – 122). Because of this “Religious Revolution,” I believe that imperialism and commerce also faced reforms based on how the church was able to reform itself in accessibility, sociability, and openness.

Chapter 4 of The Atlantic World

September 19, 2016December 16, 2020Dr. Shrout

Chapter 4 of The Atlantic World deals primarily with the various feuds that European powers had and how they transferred over to the Atlantic. One of the major subjects that cause this feuding in the Atlantic is religion specifically the various Christian denominations not getting along. Along with the conflict amongst nations, there is a discussion on the difficulties that a number of nations faced while attempting to set up colonies in the Americas. In particular the French and English have a tough time setting up colonies in South America and North America respectively. Another interesting point discussed in the readings is that because of feuding, particularly with Spain, that the French start to encourage privateering or Piracy.

Another interesting, but sad, topic that is brought up is the Atlantic slave trade. The chapter discusses the English foray into African Slavery and how they managed to undermine the Spanish in an effort to gain profits. While this section is related to last week’s readings regarding Slave ships and Guardians, I was unable to locate an argument or post that I could organically discuss here as none talk about the same points that are brought up in my readings. The closest post that I could find that I can reference is a post by Hunter Loya on Sep, 14. In the post, he discusses the relationship between the British sailors and the slaves they transported, and the relationship that the Slaves had amongst themselves.

Chapter 4 of The Atlantic World

September 19, 2016December 16, 2020Dr. Shrout

Claiming Atlantic Spaces

September 19, 2016December 16, 2020Dr. Shrout

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.

The Atlantic World, Chapter 4

September 18, 2016December 16, 2020Dr. Shrout

By 1561, the Spanish fleet system of strategically timed and secured voyages had successfully transformed Spain into a new power in Europe. With one-fifth of profits from all voyages, the Spanish crown now have the wealth to expand and declare wars in all over Europe. The Spanish rise to power did not without happened without a few competitions from other European nations. The French, the English, and the Dutch were all trying to cut back Spanish power in the western Atlantic and Africa. (pages 116-117)

The competition did not stop at the trading aspect but also in religious beliefs. Up until 1517, Catholicism was a shared religion in the western Europe (p,117). Martin Luther criticism of the Church inspired many different and newer beliefs. The religious unity Europeans had always known is now shattered.

European rivalries took their competition into and across the Atlantic (p,129). Catholic and Protestant sought to gain power through economic means (p,130). As Vince Tursini mentioned in his post on chapter 3, the Spanish ventured west toward Americas for a lucrative exploration. The Europeans also soon to realized having a stronghold on America is a way to thwart the Spanish power. The French was one of the firsts to attempt putting trade posts and settlements on the southern coast of the Americas (p, 131). Piracy was another of European strategy to directly putting damages on Spanish wealth.

Religion in the Atlantic World

September 18, 2016December 16, 2020Dr. Shrout

Religion in Western Europe played a major role in the movement across the Atlantic. Spain and Portugal had been uncontested by the rest of Western Europe in their quests to Africa and the Americas. However, the divide in religion in Western Europe pushed others to look towards the west.

Western Europe for many years had been a region without religious quarrel, as Catholicism dominated Western Europe. That all changed when Martin Luther, an Augustinian friar, spoke out against the Catholic church and challenged some of their ideology that included the sales of indulgences and good behavior guarantees salvation (The Atlantic World, 117). David Zamarripa-Shippey wrote that the “Reformation granted Protestant Christianity a huge presence in several kingdoms ruled by Catholic monarchs such as England and France.” The spread of Protestant Christianity challenged Catholicism in every part of Western Europe, including the Iberian Peninsula where Spain’s King Philip II pushed out Protestant groups from the peninsula and became determined to preserve as well as expand Catholicism (The Atlantic World, 122). This rift caused bad blood between Catholics and Protestants, leading to wars and for some Protestant kingdoms, voyages across the Atlantic.

News surfaced in Northern Europe that the Spanish had not only been able to find unimaginable treasures in the Americas, but they also converted many of the peoples in the Americas to Catholicism (The Atlantic World, 125). These stories turned the attention of many Northern Europeans to the Americas. The fight between Catholics and Protestants would boil over into the Americas, where Protestants believed that they could save souls from Catholicism (The Atlantic World, 125). Kingdoms such as England, France, and the Netherlands, believed that they could not only claim their own stake in the Americas for economic purposes but perhaps steal from the Spanish and Portuguese as well (The Atlantic World, 130). With the rivalry between Catholics and Protestants boiling over into the Americas and the decline of the Spanish kingdom alongside the rise of the Dutch, English and French, the Americas were of a new interest for the rest of Western Europe.

The Endorsement of Piracy

September 18, 2016December 16, 2020Dr. Shrout

The Spanish kept their reign over the New World for quite some time. Their Northern rivals, the French, English, and the Dutch, continuously tried to derail Spanish power in the western Atlantic and Africa. Up until 1517, western Europeans had shared a single religion: Catholicism (Chapter 4, 117). This changed when Martin Luther, an Augustinian friar, launched a religious revolution. Things quickly took the domino effect and new religious sects began to emerge. These new Protestant sects shattered the religious unity Western Europe had known for centuries (Chapter 4, 120).

Europeans took their religious, political, and economic quarrels into and across the Atlantic. States did their best to secure as must as they could by conquest and Spain focused on maintaining a favorable balance of trade. France had set out to thwart Spanish power in trade. They eventually realized that one way to challenge Spanish power was to steal the American wealth that funded them. Kyle Kelsay mentioned, “piracy became an important strategy of European nation’s states because it was a relatively inexpensive investment and advancement by 1650”. Piracy became a central strategy in the European struggles of the sixteenth and seventeenth century (Chapter 4, 134). They received state support through the form of letters of marque and reprisal. Instead of calling them pirates, they were referred to as corsairs or privateers.

Even with all the advances and efforts from the French and English, it was eventually the Dutch and their commercial and maritime strategies that was able to diminish Spanish power. It was not long before the Dutch surpassed the English as the most successful raiders in the first age of Atlantic piracy (Chapter 4, 143). By 1621, the Dutch had dominated the seas and the greater part of Atlantic trade.

The Religious Impulses Guiding Atlantic Trade

September 18, 2016December 16, 2020Dr. Shrout

What compelled seafaring Europeans to journey westward towards unfamiliar land and unfamiliar peoples? Was it strictly financial incentive? Was it the prospect of converting a ‘Godless’ people to Christianity? As it turns out, a great deal of motivation came from religious schisms and divisions in Europe itself.

Before 1517, Europe had largely existed as one monolithic Catholic Christendom (Chapter 4, 117). However, with the advent of Martin Luther and his 95 Theses, the continent quickly fractured into numerous denominations of Christianity (Chapter 4, 117). The Reformation granted Protestant Christianity a huge presence in several kingdoms ruled by Catholic monarchs such as England and France (Chapter 4, 120). Given the lack of separation between political and religious spheres, animosity emerged between Protestant nations and Catholic nations (Chapter 4, 129). This animosity manifested in the Atlantic, where contesting factions of Christianity competed against each other for strongholds throughout the Americas. French Huguenots and English Puritans, horrified by the Black Legend, sought to undo the atrocities committed by Spanish Catholic missionaries onto natives (Chapter 4, 126). The French established footholds in Brazil and Florida, only to be slaughtered and expelled by Iberian Catholics (Chapter 4, 135). The English founded short-lived colonies in the North Atlantic far from the reach of Spaniards (Chapter 4, 137). Indeed, as Kyle Kelsay noted in his own Chapter 4 reading response, an insatiable desire for Spanish wealth drove the French, the English, and the Dutch to launch bases throughout the Atlantic as bases of operation for privateering. These privateers, or corsairs, were state-sponsored and raided Spanish galleons and coastal settlements for tremendous profit (Chapter 4, 143). Privateering became an important method by which Protestant nations were able to undermine the economic might of Catholic Spain, a necessary recourse given Spanish aggression in Protestant Netherlands. As evident, a chief motivating factor for trade in the Atlantic was the European sibling rivalry that emerged from the splintering of Christianity in the 16th century. This dimension of religion emboldened the English, French, and Dutch to seek wealth comparable to their Catholic counterparts, and gradually integrate themselves into the burgeoning pan-Atlantic trade. Ultimately, Protestant nations would find themselves dominating this sprawling trade system and seizing areas of loose Iberian control (Chapter 4, 142).

Atlantic World Chapter 4

September 16, 2016December 16, 2020Dr. Shrout

Chapter 4 focuses on trading posts through piracy and the Dutch start getting involved in trading goods. Piracy became an important strategy of European nation’s states because it was a relatively inexpensive investment and advancement by 1650. The role of Pirates were refugees, slaves, or servants who served on naval ships or merchant ships that offered opportunities for revenge on those who had brutalized them by raiding ships and steal cargo to make profits. (Chapter 4, Page 133). These slaves and refugees felt they wanted payback after the way they were treated on these ships because they wanted to attack the ship’s crew and steal cargo which contained gold, silver, and cotton. Piracy made an impact in Atlantic History because these slaves who stole valuable cargo could buy them nice houses or sells these items for a high price. The theme of piracy continues today with the ride Pirates of the Caribbean located at Disneyland along with the Pirates of the Caribbean movies relating to Atlantic History. During the 17th century, Dutch trader’s main interest broke through the Portuguese monopoly on the East Asian spice trade and the Dutch sailed to Venezuela was massive deposits of salt, resulted in raiding Spanish ships and settlements along with invading wealthy port towns. (Chapter 4, Page 143). The Dutch maritime and commercial enterprise and trade factories in the Atlantic and around the globe fueled their emergence as a new Atlantic power. The story of piracy and trading posts became one of the commodities for mass consumption and the expansion of forced labor. (Chapter 4, Page 147). The section explains the Dutch being creative through trading posts and raids of Spanish ships and towns because this would increase their wealth and a lot of commercial goods to offer throughout the Atlantic region. As a result, the Dutch became a dominant force in the Atlantic region over the Spanish and Portuguese. The chapter explains how a new form of trading occurred in the Atlantic because it resulted in refugees and slaves trying to have the same wealth as their superiors had during their time on the ships through the Atlantic.

Atlantic History – Fall 2016

Author: Dr. Shrout

Spanish Decline. Dutch Success

Week 5: European Rivals and Atlantic Repercussion – Atlantic World Ch. 4

Chapter 4 of The Atlantic World

Chapter 4 of The Atlantic World

Claiming Atlantic Spaces

The Atlantic World, Chapter 4

Religion in the Atlantic World

The Endorsement of Piracy

The Religious Impulses Guiding Atlantic Trade

Atlantic World Chapter 4