Study Guide and Overview, David B. Ryden

Significance 

The "early modern period" marks the rise of Europe and the beginning of nation state building. Between c.1450 and c.1815, western European monarchs consolidated their power and that of the nation state by directly or indirectly encouraging overseas exploration, commerce, and colonization. Thriving Atlantic trade not only promoted economic activity for seafaring nations, but provided an easy source for government tax revenues. As a result, the support of provincial nobility became less relevant to monarchical authority. 

In addition to describing the advancement of state building in Europe, the conventional narrative emphasizes the religious fissures sparked by the Protestant Reformation, which divided the Christian church between the Church of Rome and the many protestant denominations were established during the early modern period.  Some historians have argued that religion shaped emerging national politics, while others claim that it was politics which shaped religious belief.  In any event, the division between protestant and Catholic nations can explain imperial designs (particularly during the Elizabethan era) and, for our purposes, is necessary to understanding the establishment of the New England colonies (what is now the most northeastern part of the modern United States).

Portuguese Exploration 

Under the leadership of Prince Henry "the Navigator," the Portuguese crown invested in the maritime industry in order to develop new trade routes to Asia. At the beginning of the fifteenth century, the "spice trade" between Europe and the East was controlled by North African and Italian (Genoese and Venetian) merchants. The Portuguese hoped that by mastering the Atlantic and sailing well off shore, they would discover a southern route into the Indian Ocean. Obviously, this strategy would put the Portuguese into contact with sub-Saharan economy. Initially interested in West African gold and ivory markets, the Portuguese would become increasingly involved in African slave trading. 

There are two reasons why Portuguese expansion and exploration is important to a U. S. history survey course: 

1. The Portuguese success in creating an Empire based on trade (which spanned the globe) would inspire other monarchs to follow a similar maritime strategy.  Ultimately, Spain, Holland, England, and France would follow  the Portuguese blue-water precedent.

2. On the island of Sao Tome in the Gulf of Guinea, Portuguese merchants imported African slaves (from West African slave traders) to work on sugar plantations. These complex operations were funded with capital provided by the Portuguese Crown as well as  Lisbon and  Antwerp  financiers.   By the early 1500s, Sao Tome was the single largest supplier of sweetener to Europe, eclipsing the Madeira's production (Indeed, Arlindo Manuel Caldeira suggest that Soa Tome's sugar industry, in the 1500s, illustrates a "break with past experience, in that the export markets and sources of credit were truly international; the highly capitalized estates were larger, and African slaves dominated the labor force) .  Thus, Portuguese exploration led to the development of a business model that would be tragically replicated in the New World; by the 1570s, the Portuguese would begin carrying African slaves to northeast Brazil, where they were doomed to endure demographic catastrophe on sugar plantations. Other Europeans, most notably the English, the French, and the Spanish, would also chase after the profits sugar offered, building massive factory-like estates in the West Indies (the Caribbean). It is hard to estimate the significance of the sugar to the development of the "New World:" of the roughly 12 million Africans caught up in the Atlantic slave trade, at least 7.5 million were destined for sugar growing regions.

Spanish Exploration 

Spain would be the first western power to attempt to follow the Portuguese model of overseas exploration. Instead of creating an Empire of trade, however, the Spanish built an empire on American mineral wealth (Gold and Silver) and on native labor (sometimes called an Empire of People). Military discipline, superior weapons, and, most importantly, disease allowed the Spanish "conquistadores" to control the most densely populated regions of the Americas. Subduing the native population and instituting the Encomienda system, a comparatively small number of Spaniards ruled over the Indians. The gold and silver mined by both American and African forced labor catapulted the Spanish Crown to become the leading European power during the sixteenth century. Historians commonly argue, however, that the injection of mineral wealth (bullion) failed to provide long-term growth to the Spanish economy: the Crown is said to have squandered American riches in fighting the wars of the counter-reformation against the newly declared protestant states. 

Protestant Reformation 

In 1517 the German Catholic monk, Martin Luther, launched the "Protestant Reformation." Luther hoped to reform the Catholic Church by correcting inconsistencies between church doctrine and his view of the Gospel message (the Gospels are the first four books of the New Testament in the Bible. The Gospels give an account of the life and teachings of Jesus). Luther's most fundamental criticism was on the Catholic emphasis on church hierarchy and the expectation that parishioners would defer to church leaders. In other words, Luther wanted to underscore the importance of cultivating personal relationships with God that were relatively free from church intermediaries (priests, bishops, pope). Luther did not want to end the ordination of church leaders, but he insisted that lay people should live their lives as if they were clergy. In Luther's words, he expected that the church would consist of a "priesthood of all believers." Thus, he was critical of the Catholic Church's emphasis on mysterious ceremony and argued that church services should not be in Latin, but in the language of the parishioners, so that they could understand their priests. Similarly, Luther argued that congregants should have access to the Bible and be able to read it in their own tongue. Lutheranism placed a heavy responsibility on the individual to care for his or her spiritual welfare. 

Perhaps inconsistently, Luther claimed that the individual should act as if he or she were a priest in their daily lives (ie avoid over-indulgence, be honest, etc), but emphasized that salvation is not gained through the individual's own efforts, but through "faith" alone, which can only be bestowed as God's gift. This theological position was squarely at odds with Catholic teaching and would result in Luther (and his followers) being labeled a heretic. Lutheranism and other Protestant sects would spread to other parts of northern Europe, causing discord and war between European powers. 

For a survey U.S. history  class, the Protestant Reformation is significant for four reasons. The Reformation: 

1. helps explain why northern Europeans were preoccupied with their internal religious affairs and therefore reluctant (or unable) to compete with Spanish Empire building in the Americas during the fifteenth century.

2. shows how Europe became divided along sectarian lines during the Early modern period. While the theological underpinnings of the split between Catholic and Protestant were murky by the eighteenth century, protestant England's chief rival, France, was indeed a Catholic nation.

3. is important for viewing the origins of Puritan (Calvinist) thought, which is central to understanding (a) the political strife in seventeenth century England and (b) the settlement of the New England colonies.

4. helps one understand the ideology and xenophobia of eighteenth and nineteenth century protestant America.

Columbian Exchange 

The Columbian exchange is a phrase coined by the historian Alfred Crosby, who noted that "the most important changes brought on by the Columbian voyages were biological in nature." What Crosby emphasized in his Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492 (1972), was the bio-cultural significance of transatlantic contact. His book explained how the transoceanic transfer of (1) diseases, (2) plants, and (3) animals transformed Amerindian and European society. Most importantly for American history, the long-run isolation of native populations made them susceptible to Eurasian and African diseases (most importantly, small pox, influenza, and measles). In addition to the direct mortality from disease, social disruption undermined native societies and economies: not only was the productive capacity weakened by catastrophic illnesses, but the introduction of European plants and animals crowded out native species and traditional means of subsistence. 

On balance, it would seem as if European society benefited from the Columbian exchange. American food crops-- such as maize (corn) and potatoes--grew on marginal lands not suited for traditional European cereals. Thus, European total caloric production and population was enhanced by contact with the Americas. 

Key Terms 

People

• Prince Henry "the navigator"

• Queen Isabella

• King Ferdinand

• Hernan Cortes

• Martin Luther

• Henry VIII of England

• John Calvin

Places/Geography

• Mesoamerica

• Iberian Peninsula

• England

• New Spain

• Hispanola

• Soa Tome

• Portugal

• Spain

• Spice Trade

• Venice & Genoa

Concepts/Events

• Expansion of Europe: Causes of Statebuilding

• Exploration and Imperialism

• Protestant Reformation and its Consequences

• English Reformation

• Calvinism

• Treaty of Tordisillas

• The Columbian Exchange

• English Invasion of Ireland

• Roanoke

Copyright ©2009, 2018 D.B. Ryden