Western European colonial empires were distinct because they expanded through maritime exploration and conquered territories located overseas rather than adjacent to the homelands. They had advantages including geography, naval technology, and military prowess. Local divisions and diseases devastated Native populations, aiding European dominance. Though the empires differed in policies, they all generated new colonial societies oriented around mercantilism. The Spanish established extensive settlements and infrastructure in Mexico and Peru before English colonization began. Russia expanded into Siberia, absorbing native groups. The Qing dynasty brought outer regions like Tibet and Xinjiang under Chinese control using local elites but without forced assimilation. Religious differences divided the Mughal Empire's Muslim rulers from the Hindu majority population.

2.  Western European modern empires were
distinct because they were initiated by
maritime expansion and because they
conquered territories lay on ocean away
from the imperial heartland.

3. I. European Advantage
A. Geography:
1. Closer to the Americas then Asian
competitors
2. Fixed winds of the Atlantic vs. alternating
monsoons winds of Indian Ocean
3. Robust Indian Ocean market gave little
incentive for further exploration.
a. Europeans empires had a strong desire to become a
part of this commercial market.

4. B. Naval power
1. Seafaring technology, built of Islamic and
Chinese technology enabled them to cross
the Atlantic with ease and transport people
and supplies across a great distance.
C. Military
1. Superior Ironwork, gunpowder weapons,
horses.
D. Local divisions
1. Various subjects people of the Aztecs Empire,
joined Hernan Cortes in defeating the empire

5. 2. The Inca elites welcomed the Spanish
invaders as liberators and willingly settled
down with them to share rule of Andean
farmers and miners
a. The fight for the thrown between the Atahualpa
and Huascar (brothers) assisted with Spanish
conquest.
E. Germs/Disease
1. Native American were not immune to.
Caribbean, Virginia, and New England, the
rapid buildup of immigrant populations, with
native demise allowed for European to out
number local people.

6. II. Similar in Colonies
A. Europeans generated wholly new societies.
B. The Spanish, Portuguese, British and French
each was viewed through the lens of the
prevailing economic theory know as
mercantilism.
1. Which fueled European wars and colonial
rivalries around the world in the modern era

7. III. Differences in the colonies
A. Varied in culture and policies of colonizing
people
B. Character of the Native American cultures
1. The density of the Native population. Urban
compared to rural population.
C. Different economies
1. Settler-dominated agriculture, slave-based
plantations, ranching or mining.

8. IV. Spanish had established over a dozen
major cities, universities, hundreds of
cathedrals, churches, administrative
bureaucracy and international
commerce in Peru and Mexico nearly a
century before the British colonized.
A. Economy based on large rural estates, and
silver and gold mining.
1. Based from native labor

9. IV. A new social order developed in the
colonies
A. “I obey but I do not enforce” was a slogan
that reflected local authorities’ resistance to
orders from Spain
B. Peninsulares: From the Iberian Peninsula
C. Creoles : Spanish born in the New World
D. Mestizo :Mixed Race
1. Cortes fathered children with two of
Moctezuma’s daughters.
E. Indians: Native People
F. Slaves: Africans (Less popular in these areas

10. V. Local Native authorizes retained a
measure of autonomy
VI. Traditional market operated regularly
VII. Christian saints blended with specialized
indigenous gods, while folk medicine,
communion with the dead, and magic
still existed.
VIII. Social hierarchy existed but did allow
for some movement.

11. IX. Brazil and Caribbean
A. Lacked the great foundational civilization that
we see in Mexico and Peru.
B. Colonial empire saw the great value of sugar
which used it for:
1. Medicine, spice, sweetener, preservatives, and
decorations.
C. Portuguese dominated world sugar market from
1570-1670.
1. The British, French and Dutch would break the
monopoly by establishing markets in the
Caribbean.
2. With Indigenous population dying slave labor
became essential.

12. X. Brazils populations was predominantly
African decent
A. Mulattoes (African and Portuguese)
B. Less mix races because of the influx of
European women
C. Sharply defined racial system
D. Unlike N. America new slaves continued to
come to Latin America until late 19th century.
1. In Latin America slave were able to gets rights
and freedom quicker than in N. America

13. XI. Russian Nobles began to emerge from
the Mongolian Golden Horde after two
centuries of control.
A. Entrenched in feudalism, Russian nobles
use administrative powers from Mongol to
create a more unified empire.
B. Authority demand oath of allegiance
“Eternal Submission to the grand star” and
“yasak” or tribute.

14. XII. Small pox/ measles devastated Siberian
population
XIII. Religious tolerance existed. Catherine
the great established a state agency to
over see Muslim affairs.

15. XII. Russian Settlers moved in masses to
Siberia by 1720 some 700,000 Russians
settled there.
A. Which reduced the native population to 30%.
B. Farming and hunting land was lost with the
influx of settlers. Making Siberians dependent
on Russian markets
C. Intermarriage, Prostitution, and sexual abuse
resulted in mix races but usually were only
seen as Russian.
D. Over the next three centuries Siberians and
steppes were incorporated into Russian state.

16. XIII. Russian became a multiethnic empire
A. Slavic Ukrainians, Belorussians, as well as
many nomadic groups
XIV.Became a dominate European
Christian state.
A. Fur trade, agricultural land, and mineral
deposits.
XV. Geographic Struggle
A. Because of it vast empire Russia infringes on
Western Europe, Muslim world, and Asia.

17. XVI. The Qing/ Manchu Dynasty (1644-1912)
A. A foreign group from Manchuria
B. Qing leaders Learned Chinese, Confucius
teaching and used bureaucratic system.
1. However created laws against interracial
marriage.
C. In a 80 year military effort the Chinese were
able to bring parts of Mongolia, Xinjiang
and Tibet under Chinese rule.

18. XVII.Chinese northern expansion became
necessary because of fear of Northern
invaders.
A. As the Russian Empire grew the Chinese
saw them as a potential threat. However
land distributions were settled politically
rather than through war.
1. Treaty of Nerchinsk 1689 marked the
boundary between Russia and China

19. XVIII. Like other colonial powers the Chinese
used local notables
A. Mongolian aristocrats, Muslim officials, Buddhist
leaders.
B. Which did cause local abuse of power, which
in turn created hostility.
C. Did not force assimilation into Chinese/Qing
culture.
1. Chinese where not allowed to settle in Mongolian
territory, because of the fear that soft Chinese
civilization would erode the fighting spirit of
Mongolians

21. XIX. Muslims and Hindus in the Mughal
Empire
A. Mughals united much of India between
1526 and 1707
B. the Mughal Empire’s most important divide
was religious
C. some 20 percent of the population was
Muslim; most of the rest were
Hindu

22. XX. Emperor Akbar (r. 1556–1605) attempted
serious accommodation of the Hindu
majority
A. brought many Hindus into the political-military
elite
B. Imposed a policy of toleration
C. abolished payment of jizya (head tax) by non-
Muslims
D. created a state cult that stressed loyalty to the
emperor
E. Akbar and his successors encouraged a
hybrid Indian-Persian-

23. XXI. Turkic culture
A. Mughal toleration provoked reaction among
some Muslims
B. Emperor Aurangzeb (r. 1658–1707) reversed
Mughal policy, tried to impose Islamic
supremacy
C. Aurangzeb banned sati (widow burning), music
and dance at court, various vices
D. destruction of some Hindu temples
E. reimposed jizya
F. Aurangzeb’s policy provoked Hindu reaction
G. opposition movements fatally weakened the
Mughal Empire after 1707