2. The Spanish Empire in the Americas
• The Spanish Empire being the largest empire in world history was one
of the first global empires. Within its territories it includes Europe,
the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania between the 15th and late
19th centuries. The Spanish also held several different colonies in
Africa until the 20th century. Spain started as a united monarch in
1492 after the reconquista of the Iberian peninsula. Following that
current year, Christopher Columbus commanded a Spanish
exploratory voyage across the Atlantic Ocean that lead to the
discovery of America. His new discovery became the focus of all the
explorations of that time.
3. The Spanish Empire in the Americas
• During this recent Age of Discovery the Spanish began to settle the
Caribbean islands and conquistadors soon controlled native empires
such as the Aztecs and Incas on mainland America. Soon after these
expeditions established territory that stretched from present-day Canada
in North America to Tierra del Fuego in South America. The Spanish
expedition of the world started by Ferdinand Magellan in 1519, and
completed by Juan Sebastian Elcano in 1522, achieved what Columbus
had longed for, a westward route to Asia, and brought the Far East to
Spain's attention, where it established colonies in Guam, the Philippines
and surrounding islands.
•
4. The Spanish Empire in the Americas
• Geography:
• This Geographic stretch Began with Columbus's explorations of the
late fifteenth century where Spain took the lead in developing an
empire in the New World. The Spanish Empire extended across most
of the Americas and into Asia by the sixteenth century. Spain divided
up their world into three primary viceroyalties: New Spain, New
Castile, and New Granada.
5. The Spanish Empire in the Americas
• Administration:
• The Spanish monarch was the first to
be confronted with the problem of
administering large tracts of
conquered territory on the other
side of the Atlantic ocean. Straight
from the beginning, careful
measures were taken to control this
difficult situation. Ferdinand and
Isabella trusted the building of an
administration, from as early as
Columbus' second voyage in 1493, to
their personal chaplain Juan
Rodriguez de Fonseca.
6. The Spanish Empire in the Americas
• Economy:
• Spanish empire huge, lasted more than 300 years, went through
many changes So no generalizations could cover all variation.
Very Slow communications; rigid rules, often ignored; layers of
bureaucracy. Mainstay of economy was silver, more than gold,
produced in Peru and Mexico.
7. The Spanish Empire in the Americas
• Social characteristics:
• The society was divided into three
states; nobility, clergy, and
commoners. In addition, there were
corporate bodies such as military
orders, towns, universities with
their own legal prerogatives. Nobles
exempted from direct taxation. Top
social aspiring noble men subverted
to privileges and status it conferred.
From 1520s, Crown starts selling
patents of nobility.
8. The Portuguese Empire in the
Americas
• The Portuguese Empire was very
strong amongst the first global
empires in history, with territories in
South America, Africa, India and South
East Asia subject to the sovereignty of
Portugal. It was also the longest lived
of the modern Europeancolonial
empires, spanning almost five
centuries, from the discovery of Brazil
in 1500 to the handover of Macau in
1999, having existed longer than the
Spanish, British, and French Empires.
9. The Portuguese Empire in the
Americas
• Global Portuguese ambitions
began in earnest with the
explorers that began exploring
the coast of Africa in 1419, after
having conquered the North
African city of Ceuta in 1415.
They made use of the latest
developments in navigation,
cartography and maritime
technology such as the caravel,
in order that they might find a
sea route to the source of the
lucrative spice trade.
10. The Portuguese Empire in the
Americas
• Geography:
• Portugal occupies the western part of the Iberian Peninsula and is
slightly smaller than Indiana. The Portuguese continent is crossed
by three large rivers that rise in Spain, flow into the Atlantic. This
divides the country into three geographic areas. The Minho River,
part of the northern boundary, cuts through a mountainous area
that extends south to the vicinity of the Douro River.
11. The Portuguese Empire in the
Americas
• Administration:
• The corrupt King Carlos, who ascended
the throne in 1889, made João Franco
the prime minister with dictatorial
power in 1906. In 1908, Carlos and his
heir were shot dead on the streets of
Lisbon. The new king, Manoel II, was
driven from the throne in the revolution
of 1910, and Portugal became a French-
style republic. Traditionally friendly to
Britain, Portugal fought in World War I
on the Allied side in Africa as well as on
the Western Front.
•
12. The Portuguese Empire in the
Americas
• Economy:
• Portugal was admitted to the European
Economic Community (now European
Union) on Jan. 1, 1986, and on Feb. 16,
Mario Soares became the country's
first civilian president in 60 years.
AníbalCavaço Silva, an advocate of
free-market economics and the Social
Democratic candidate, had been
elected as prime minister in 1985,
signaling a more politically stable era.
Portugal became a Socialist
government that continued to take
advantage of rosy economic conditions
in 1997, and in 1999, Portugal became
a founding member of the European
Economic and Monetary Union.
13. The Portuguese Empire in the
Americas
• Social characteristics:
• Modern Portuguese are an Iberian ethnic group and their ancestry is
very similar to other western and southern European peoples,
particularly from Spain, with whom it shares ancestry and has
cultural proximity. It is largely consistent with the geographic
position of the western part of the Iberian peninsula, located on the
extreme southwest of continental Europe.
•
14. The French Empire in the Americas
• The French colonial empire is the set
of territories outside Europe that were
under French rule primarily from the
1600s to the late 1960s (some see the
French control of places such as New
Caledonia as a continuation of that
colonial empire). In the 19th and 20th
centuries, the colonial empire of
France was the second largest in the
world behind the British Empire.
15. The French Empire in the Americas
• The French colonial empire
extended over 4 million square miles
of land at its height in the 1920s and
1930s. Including metropolitan
France, the total amount of land
under French sovereignty reached
the same at the time, which is a small
percentage of the Earth's total land
area.
16. The French Empire in the Americas
• Geography:
• In the Alps near the Italian and Swiss borders is western Europe's
highest point at Mont Blanc (15,781 ft; 4,810 m). The forest-
covered Vosges Mountains are in the northeast, and the Pyrénées
are along the Spanish border. Except for extreme northern France,
the country may be described as four river basins and a plateau.
17. The French Empire in the Americas
• Administration:
• The Empire of the French[1]
(1804-1814), also known as
the Greater French Empire or
First French Empire, but
more commonly known as
the Napoleonic Empire, was
the empire of Napoleon I in
France. It was the dominant
power of much of continental
Europe during the early 19th
Century.
18. The French Empire in the Americas
• Economy:
• Socialist François Mitterrand attained a stunning victory in the May 10, 1981, presidential
election. The victors immediately move to carry out campaign pledges to nationalize
major industries, halt nuclear testing, suspend nuclear powerplant construction, and
impose new taxes on the rich. The Socialists' policies during Mitterrand's first two years
created a 12% inflation rate, a huge trade deficit, and devaluations of the franc. In March
1986, a center-right coalition led by Jacques Chirac won a slim majority in legislative
elections. Chirac became prime minister, initiating a period of “cohabitation” between
him and the Socialist president, Mitterrand. Mitterrand's decisive reelection in 1988 led
to Chirac being replaced as prime minister by Michel Rocard, a Socialist.
19. The French Empire in the Americas
• Social characteristics:
• Subsequent years of military victories known collectively as the
Napoleonic Wars extended French influence over much of
Western Europe and into Poland. At its height in 1812, the
French Empire had 130 départements, ruled over 44 million
subjects, maintained extensive military presence in
Germany, Italy, Spain, and the Duchy of Warsaw, and could count
Prussia and Austria as nominal allies.
20. The English Empire in the Americas
• British colonization of the Americas (including colonization under the
Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland before the 1707 Acts of
Union created the Kingdom of Great Britain) began in the late 16th
century, before reaching its peak after colonies were established
throughout the Americas, and a protectorate was established over the
Kingdom of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. The British were one of the
most important colonizers of the Americas and their American empire
came to rival the Spanish American colonies in military and economic
might.
21. The English Empire in the Americas
• This British conquest caused dramatic upheaval upon the
indigenous civilizations in the Americas both directly through
British military force and indirectly through cultural disruption and
introduced diseases. Though many of the indigenous societies had
a developed warrior class, and long history of warfare, they were
not able to withstand the technologically superior British force
and eventually succumbed. Many of the conquered peoples
vanished or were incorporated into the colonial system.
22. The English Empire in the Americas
• Geography:
• Empire covering, at its height in the 1920s, about a sixth of the
landmass of the Earth, all of its lands recognizing the United Kingdom
(UK) as their leader. It consisted of the Empire of India, four self-
governing countries known as dominions, and dozens of colonies and
territories. The Empire was a source of great pride to the British, who
believed that it was an institution for civilizing the world, and for many
years Empire Day (24 May) saw celebration throughout the UK.
23. The English Empire in the Americas
• Administration:
• The story of the British Empire began
in 1497 when the Italian seafarer John
Cabot sailed across the Atlantic Ocean
in the service of King Henry VII of
England and reached Newfoundland.
In 1583 the explorer Sir Humphrey
Gilbert took possession of
Newfoundland for Elizabeth I. By this
time the Portuguese and Spanish had
divided between them a considerable
part of the Earth's land surface.
England was already a formidable
power at sea, but its seafarers were
mainly freebooters engaged in trade,
piracy, and slavery
24. The English Empire in the Americas
• Economy:
• Several Domestic industries of this time flourished, with many workers
pursuing dual occupations on a seasonal basis in industry and
agriculture. English society contained a flourishing and more extensive
middling sector than any other western country, including the Dutch
Republic. This provided a strong platform for commerce with, and
settlement in, far-flung territories.
• The long 18th century was the period in which Britain rose to a
dominant position among European trading empires...'
25. The English Empire in the Americas
• Social characteristics:
• Troops from the colonies included white colonists, or their descendants, and colonized peoples.
Cultural misunderstandings were regular. The superior attitudes adopted by some of the
aristocratic British officers towards the colonial troops under their command caused resentment,
and bitterness rose at their perceived recklessness when using colonial forces. During the fruitless
Gallipoli campaign the death rate among the Anzac troops (combined Australian and New Zealand
Army Corps) exceeded a third.
26. The Dutch Empire in the Americas
• The Dutch Empire consisted of the overseas territories controlled by the
Netherlands from the 17th to the 20th century. The Dutch followed
Portugal and Spain in establishing an overseas colonialempire, aided by
their skills in shipping and trade and the surge of nationalism
accompanying the struggle for independence from Spain.
27. The Dutch Empire in the Americas
• Right next to the English, the Dutch initially built up
colonial possessions on the basis of indirect state
capitalist corporate colonialism, via the Dutch East and
West India Companies. Dutch exploratory voyages such
as those led by Willem Barents, Henry Hudson and Abel
Tasman revealed to Europeans vast new territories.
28. The Dutch Empire in the Americas
• Geography:
• The coastal provinces of Holland and Zeeland had for a long time prior to Spanish rule been
important hubs of the European maritime trade network. Their geographical location provided
convenient access to the markets of France, Germany, England and the Baltic. The war with
Spain led many financiers and traders to emigrate from Antwerp, capital of Flanders and then
one of Europe's most important commercial centers, to Dutch cities, particularly Amsterdam,
which became Europe's foremost centre for shipping, banking, and insurance.
29. The Dutch Empire in the Americas
• Administration:
• Dutch commercial power stagnated in the
18th century, and was eclipsed by the
British Empire. In the primarily colonial
Fourth Anglo-Dutch War of 1780-1784, the
Dutch suffered devastating losses. The
Dutch state was obliged to take over the
WIC’s debts and possessions; the latter
were taken by the English once again
during the French Revolution and
Napoleonic Wars. The VOC was similarly
baled out by nationalization in 1799, but
once again it was academic, because the
English had taken over the Dutch East
Indies in their wars against the French,
with the exception of a small Dutch
presence on Java.
30. The Dutch Empire in the Americas
• Economy:
• The Dutch Empire began as an extension of existing trading activities and as an additional element
of economic warfare against the overlord Spain in the Dutch Revolt, when Dutch merchant-
venturers went out to plunder Spanish fleets and take over Spanish markets abroad. The crucial
year was probably 1585, when Dutch ships were banned from the harbours of the Spanish Empire
and Portuguese Empire. The year before that the main rival of the trading northern Dutch, the great
port of Antwerp, had fallen to the Spanish. This removed the local mercantile competition.
31. The Dutch Empire in the Americas
• Social characteristics:
• Despite the Dutch presence in Indonesia for almost three hundred and
fifty years, the Dutch language has no official status and the small
minority that can speak the language fluently are either educated
members of the oldest generation, or employed in the legal profession,
as some legal codes are still only available in Dutch.
