American Vision Chapter 1, Section 2 Review
by Stacie Bass
1. Causes for European Exploration
1.1. The Crusades broaden European horizons and stimulate interest in luxury goods from Asia.
1.2. The rise of towns and the growth of the merchant class enrich monarchs and make them less dependent on the nobility.
1.3. Monarchs want to find trade routes to Asia, by passing Italy and the Muslim states.
1.4. The Renaissance promotes a scientific view of the world.
1.5. New technologies such as the compass and astrolabe make sea exploration possible.
2. Causes of English Colonization
2.1. The wealth of Spain acquired from conquering the Aztec and mining gold encourages others to consider creating colonies.
2.2. The Protestant Reformation in England leads to the rise of Puritans who are persecuted by the English government, as are Catholics and others who disagree with the Anglican Church.
2.3. Puritans Catholics, and other religious dissenters, such as Quakers, seek religious freedom by migrating to America.
2.4. The growth of trade and the rising demand for English wool lead to landowners evicting peasants so as to raise sheep. Some of the peasants migrate to America to escape poverty and obtain land.
3. Effects of European Colonization
3.1. Europeans explore West Africa; they begin enslaving Africans and forcing them to work on sugarcane plantations.
3.2. European explorers land in the Americas, map the eastern coastline, and begin exploring the interior.
3.3. Beginning with Cortes, Spanish conquistadors conquer Mexico, Peru, and the Maya people of Central America.
3.4. An exchange of plants, animals, goods, and ideas begins between Europe and the Americas; European diseases devastate Native American populations; American diseases spread to Europe.
3.5. Spain establishes colonies in the Caribbean; France establishes colonies along the St. Lawrence River; England establishes colonies along the east coast, from Massachusetts to Georgia.
3.6. Cash crops such as rice, tobacco, and sugarcane allow Southern Colonies to flourish; they also lead to the rise of the slave trade.
3.7. Triangular trade allows northern American colonies to prosper and leads to the rise of cities along the American East Coast.
