AMERICAS IN 1750

• Look at the map of colonies in the Americas, which were many times the size of the countries (Spain, Britain, etc.) that controlled them. What doe the caption below the image imply about these territories?

  • It implies that the colonized territories were very much in control. Managing to live outside of colonial control also seemed to be a reliever, indicating that conditions were bad under colonial control

  
• Like other empires, the European empires in the Americas had diverse populations, including many enslaved people. How did they try to control these populations?

  1. harsh laws, surveillance, punishment, and social hierarchies enforced through racial classifications and systems of oppression like slavery
• What were the roles of the Americas in the global economy in this period?

  1. the produce Europe’s wealth & to provide many resources in Afro-Eurasia like fur and foods
• What were Indigenous American people doing in this period?

  1. Indigenous American people in this period were engaging in diverse activities, including maintaining their traditional ways of life, participating in trade networks, forming alliances with European powers, and, in some cases, resisting colonial incursions through armed conflict or diplomatic negotiations
• How did enslaved and subordinated people react to being ruled by European empires?

  • they reacted in many ways. resistance through rebellion, escape, forming maroon communities, cultural preservation, and seeking legal redress through petitions and appeals for justice
• Explain how economic developments in the Americas in 1750 affected social structures over time?

  • It led to the consolidation of wealth, power among European elites, and the creation of rigid social structures based on race and class. Over time, this contributed to habitual inequality and exploitation, shaping the social fabric of American societies
• What aspects of American societies in 1750 seem unique or distinctive, and what aspects seem to be part of a wider global pattern?

  • Unique aspects included the diverse mix of Indigenous, African, and European cultures and populations & distinct social hierarchies and systems of racial oppression
  • However, American societies were also part of wider global patterns of colonialism, imperialism, and economic exploitation, with European powers exerting control over resources, labor, and trade networks in the Americas
• • European producers relied on colonies in the Americas for both raw materials and markets for their manufactured goods
• • Colonial governments controlled access to millions of consumers in their colonies, restricting trade with other European powers and limiting production within the colonies
• • Laws passed by European governments, like those by the British Parliament in the eighteenth century, restricted the production and export of certain goods from the American colonies, forcing colonists to export raw materials to Europe and import manufactured goods from European producers
• • This system of colonial resource extraction created a link between European empires and their colonies, as well as global networks of trade
• • The American colonies supplied raw materials to Europe, where they were manufactured into consumer goods and traded back to the colonies
• • Africans were enslaved and sent to the Americas, where their forced labor produced more raw materials for export
• • These exchanges contributed to the expansion of global networks of merchants and consumers
• • New Orleans was a diverse city composed of Indigenous Americans, Africans, and Europeans, with unequal social statuses
• • Founded by French settlers in 1718, New Orleans faced challenges such as hurricanes, disease, and a lack of desirable settlers
• • After the French ceded New Orleans to Spain in 1763, Spanish rule imposed a racial classification system, but fluidity existed among the diverse population
• • New Orleans included enslaved Africans, free people of color, Creoles, French, Spanish, Indigenous Americans, as well as smaller communities with German and British ancestry, alongside "undesirable" groups like pirates and prostitutes
• • Despite the official Catholicism of the colony, various African, Indigenous, and syncretic faiths, including voodoo, were practiced, reflecting the eclectic mix of cultures and peoples
• • Positioned at the mouth of the Mississippi River, New Orleans was a crucial hub in a network of exchange connecting northern regions of the Americas with the Caribbean and beyond
• • New Orleans was vital due to its thriving sugar plantation industry and its strategic location, highlighting the complex dynamics of social orders, cultural interactions, and economic exploitation in the Americas during the eighteenth century
• • These tensions between colonial control and resistance laid the groundwork for industrial and political revolutions after 1750, leading to a profound upheaval of European power and colonial dominance