United States History - Essay Example

United s History Trace the development of Spain New World Empire and explain why the Spanish conquistadores were able to conquer large portions of the America.  For 350 years, Spain ruled the vast empire the Spanish conquistadors had established. Queen Isabella of Spain supported Christopher Columbus, a Genoese explorer in his quest to explore the world. He arrived in Bahamas and made voyages to the new world before dying in 1506. This opened way for more explorers that are Spanish. The Spanish conquistadors conquered large empires in the New World. The Spanish colonizers had superior military technology and advanced military tactics that enabled them to form alliances with local tribes and carry out surprising attacks to conquer different areas. The Spanish conquistadors would then partition the conquered areas into encomiendas. The encomienda system converted Indians into slaves. In the sixteenth century, Spain had emerged as the most successful colonizer. Other colonizers such as England and France felt threatened by continued success of Spain in colonization. Spain was the first colonize America and had managed to capitalize on vast regions of America while other rivals such as England and France had not entered America. Spanish colonizers managed to acquire vast natural resources from its colonies and develop the economy in its mother country. Although the Spanish government was operating from Madrid it made use of viceroyalties, royal courts of appeal and audencias to manage its colonies in the new world. Megellan started circumnavigating the globe but natives killed him while he was crossing the Pacific. Spaniards then captured Aztec in 1519. In 1507, Waldseemuler named the newly discovered world as America. The terrain was characterized by harsh conditions. Moreover, few native laborers had been reduced to slaves. They could not satisfy the growing number of Spanish settlers. Therefore, Spanish started importing African slaves. Francisco later invaded and conquered Peru. Later on Jamestown was founded in Virginia for English settlement. In 1680, Pope Rebellion led to end of the encomienda system. 2) Describe the major difficulties that early settlers in Virginia encountered and how these difficulties were overcome. The early settlers in Virginia encountered numerous challenges. One of the challenges was hunger and diseases, which left several of the settlers dead. Most of the settlers were vulnerable to diseases and most could hardly stand diseases. Although most of the settlers died due to famine, a number died from water poisoning. The river water they were using had slime, which caused salt poisoning, typhoid and dysentery. The poisoned water caused an epidemic that killed most of the colonizers. This resulted in disintegration of the leadership. Moreover, most of the remaining settlers were ill and could hardly work. In the early 1608, there was a fire that destroyed the fort as well as the colonist dwelling and provisions. This left the colonizers without food and they had to depend on Indians. Around 1609 major hunger had affected Virginia, resulted in instances of malnutrition, and made settlers vulnerable to diseases. Moreover, the local Indians retaliated and would and times attack the settler. The settlers overcome the challenges by carrying out faming to obtain food. Additionally, they would use guns to threaten the Indian attackers. Moreover, the settlers built a wall around their houses to prevent themselves from the attacks. The settler’s leaders such kept recruiting new settlers to replace the dead ones, which helped the colony survive. Moreover, the settlers imported slaves from Africa to help in the faming. 3) Define mercantilism and describe the obligations of the colonies under England’s mercantilist policies. Mercantilism was an economic system adopted by England, which was based on the belief the national wealth depended on the contribution of the colonies in supplying resources such as precious metal and purchasing the goods manufactured by England. England aimed at using the mercantilism strategy in increasing their prosperity through acquisition of law materials for their industries and ready market for their manufactured goods. England believed that it could only gain power though enhancing a self-sufficiency economy through trade. Moreover, merchants were considered important in enhancing England’s national propensity while the colonial markets were viewed as possible tickets to power. The colonies under England were obligated to purchase only those goods that had been manufactured by England. The colonies were also obligated to avoid engaging in any form of competition with mother country. They could thus not manufacture any products that were being manufactured by England. They could only manufacture goods that England was not manufacturing. The colonies thus acted as a source of ready market. The colonies were also obligated to produce raw materials for the mother country. Moreover, the colonists were viewed as source of labor for the colonizers. 4)  Describe the similarities and differences between the Middle Colonies and the New England and southern colonies.  The New England colonies included New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. The New England colonies were different from the other colonial regions in terms of climatic conditions. The climate in New England was cold but favorable since it prevented spread of life threatening diseases. Moreover, the terrain was also harsh since it comprised of rocky hills and the soil was unfavorable for farming. The winter was severely cold winters killed numerous people. The colony also differed from southern and middle colony in terms of natural resources. New England possessed fish, whales, trees, and furs. Additionally New England supported Puritanism, which did not tolerate other religions. The Southern colonies had warm climatic conditions and the winters were not severe. However, the warm climate encouraged spread of diseases that killed most of the colonists. The terrain was also hilly but was covered by forests. The natural resources in these colonies included rich farmland, fish, and large forests. The middle colonies had religious freedom as opposed to the New England. Moreover, the middle colonies had a balanced class system with several wealthy merchants. The New England colonies and the Southern colonies differed agriculturally due to differences in Climate and Geography. Therefore, the Southern colonies engaged in trade where they exported agricultural products while New England colonists had numerous natural resources but depended on imported agricultural products. Additionally, New England colonies depended on manufactured goods while the southern colonies paid little attention to manufacturing industries. Another difference was the high prevalence of slavery in Southern colonies and New England but not in Middle colonies. 5) Explain the factors that contributed to the desire of the colonist to challenge Britain militarily by spring of 1775.  One of the major factors that contributed to the desire of colonists to challenge Britain military was the objection of colonist to the British policies such as the Stamp act. The acts aimed at making the colonists pay for the high cost that the British had incurred during the Seven Years War. The Colonists were opposed to this act and several other unpopular acts introduced by British government. Another policy that increased the resistance was the Tea Act of 1773, which colonists viewed as a form of taxation tyranny. The British parliament enacted the Coercive act whose aim was to fight against the Boston Tea party formed by colonist in Massachusetts. The act closed Boston to merchant shipping and made the British officials immune to criminal prosecution. The colonists responded by calling a Continental Congress whose aim was to form a united American resistance against the British. Additionally, the colonists were opposed to their lack of elected representation in the Parliament, which they considered illegitimate. The crisis was heightened by the British attempts to prevent Americans from smuggling. Additionally, the Americans realized they had several strengths over the British. One of the major strength of Americans was the great cause to fight for their independence. This made them determined ad more willing as opposed to the British soldiers who were fighting just for the sake. The Americans were familiar with the vast terrain, which made it easy for them to defeat the British military that had little knowledge of the landscape. The French was willing to help to the Americans to conquer the British. The British army was weakened since they had to rely on supplies from their mother countries, which at times arrived late. Read More