Introduction
During the 15th century and the 17th century, Europeans focused on expanding their dominance into America. They heavily invested their resources in America with the intention the land was rich in resources and fertile enough to meet their feed them and cloth them. (Ayers, 130).
The Europeans colonized America back in 1492. Although, earlier, the Vikings were among the first Europeans to set foot in North America during the 10th century .They settled at green land which is presently known as new found land. Christopher Columbus, an explorer, reached America after being granted permission by the Spanish monarch leaders to find new lands and resources for Spain (Ayers, 130).
Before the 1490s Europeans had already sailed to western coast of Africa and had already established a trading slave with Africa (Ayers, 112). Moreover, their motive was to get access to resources within Africa and expand to Asia. They furthered their efforts and expanded to Asia .More than three centuries later before Columbus discovered America. The continent was dominated by the Native Americans. After its discovery the Europeans namely the Spaniards and the French came and occupied it. The Europeans occupied the western part of America and brought in African slaves to work on their plantation. The European expansion into America as motivated by social, political and economic determinants (Ayers, 112).
Reasons why the Europeans expanded into America
There are various reasons that forced the European to expand into America. The expansion took place during the sixteenth century .Expansion became popular across each and every nation of Europe. This made expansion to be known as the Age of extension or the age of new horizons. Based on the study by Rick McKinney, there are several causes that caused expansion into America. The expansion during that period can be categorized into three: exploration of oversea lands; due to increase in population and high cost of living. These reasons are tied together to form multiple reasons that cannot be isolated and studied separately. Alongside the three factors mentioned above there are other factors i.e. spreading of Christian religion by preaching to Native Americans. The other reason was desire for economic power and exploiting new resources. Economic power could only be gained through securing trading new trading routes. Trading also came with new raw material s such as rubber, oil and mineral cores. The only way to secure new trading routes was through expansion into new lands such as America. Exploration was not new to Europeans of the sixteen century, therefore they had the know- how the during their early days, Europe and explored other lands through land. Italian s such as Marco polo established a lot of colonies in various parts of the world. The colonies were many trading posts that were to assist Italy gain economic power. Power assisted them to push through new lands without encountering many challenges. (Ayers, 355).
One of the primary reasons was economic gain. The Europeans hoped to explore the resources in America (Ayers, 98). Their own resources were reducing and expansion into new horizons proved lucrative. Aside from exploiting resources, they hoped to use America as a base for their operation and exploration into other unexploited lands such as Asia. They hoped that America could provide alternative shorter routes to the Indies at the same time providing safe routes away from the dangerous waters that were filled with pirates. America would also provide a strategic place where trade could thrive by avoiding Arab middlemen and secure unexploited raw materials. Discovering new lands opened up new possibilities and expanded trade relationships with the new inhabitants (Ayers, 98).
The Europeans wanted glory. They were competing for dominance by exploiting new lands. The rivalry between Portuguese and Spanish pushed the two countries to expand into new horizons; America was one of the coveted locations they hoped to expand into (Ayers, 98). Prince Henry of Portugal exploited Africa and the Atlantic during the 1400s. They established trade in African before spreading into South America. They later moved in to America to stay ahead of their Spanish rivals (Berkin, et al., 160).
America was new land that had neither regulation nor rules to restrict their activities. This lack of regulation and rules motivated the Europeans to concur America with hopes of creating a better future for themselves (Billington, 123). For instance, the puritans grew tired of reforms brought in by John Calvin. They shifted to North America where they hoped to come up with new and complete reforms that would shape their church. The puritan were encouraged by the hope that a new land or state would provide freedom they needed to bring better reforms to the church (Billington, 123).
In England, life was growing harder as days with each passing day. Most people were losing employment, homes and investments to taxes and other rectifications imposed on them by the government (Berkin, et al., 117). They were forced to search for better lands. This purpose brought them to America. The scenario is similar to that of pilgrims who were searching for religious freedom from their native land England. A Lot of people left England in search for new lands to restart their life again. They joined forces to form colonies (Berkin, et al., 117). They explored new lands in colonies and cultivated land they settled on without supervision or restriction from anyone. They utilized natural resources depending on the particular location they settled on. Banking on the land they inhabited, they sent back exports into England and gained profits which in turn increased economic chances. Economic opportunities in turn attracted other people to America. The need for employment that guaranteed a good pay gave the Europeans exactly what they came for. The new communities prospered due to trading of imports and exports. The people of England needed resources from America to supplement their industries. The colonies were able to meet the requirements and increased their wealth in terms of resources and economy (Berkin, et.al 116).
Some Europeans were not just after economic gain but also in the pursuit of knowledge and adventure that new America had to offer (Berkin, et al., 110). Europeans came up with maps of locations they ah not yet discovered. They were interested in vegetation and people that inhabited these new lands and wanted to expand their knowledge. The thirst for knowledge was brought about by rebirth that had dominated Europe during that period, a time of renewed focus in acquiring knowledge in the arts and other field (Berkin, et al., 110).
Routes the Europeans used to expand into America
The first phase of expansion into America was done through three areas .First; it was extended through the Atlantic basin from Atlantic peninsula and the West African coasts which linked the Europeans to central parts of America (Berkin, et al., 128). Secondly, it was through the northern water bodies that extended east from the Baltic countries to the white seas and oceans and coast of Siberia and westerly towards the North America coast of Canada, and other islands. Thirdly, through the eastern seas and north Asia (Berkin, et al., 128). The second phase of expansion into America took place during the 18th century (Ayers, 67).
Impact of European expansion into America
When Europeans discovered America, their influence and effects were many. It changed America in several ways. Socially, European expansion into America created a new home for many poverty stricken individuals especially those who came from England (Ayers, 79). They influenced the natives and in turn the native impacted them to a certain degree. The impact were not uniform, they varied from one place to the other within America. The old political native system were altered and replaced with European systems, institution, languages and way of life (Ayers, 79).
American settlers interrupted the normal way of the native population which resided on the eastern side of Mississippi (Norton, 567). For instance, missionaries introduced their Christian religion .Christianity came with its rules and regulations. While dealing with native people, they gave them cheap gifts in exchange for land and valuable resources, they short changed the natives. In turn the natives remain dependent on the Europeans (Norton, 567).
When the Europeans moved into America, they urgently needed labor to grow cash crops such as tobacco and sugarcane. This need was filled by Africans. They moved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean and into America. The English authorities gave royal African company the right to transport African slaves from Africa into America. The company transported more than 350,000 Africans into America to supply labor in their fields (Norton, 567). The arrival of slaves into America changed the entire system. Laws were established to direct slavery merchants who traded in slaves for textile companies, alcohol, ammunition and food where they ended up making a lot of money (Norton, 123).
Although the native still had control over America during the first three decades of European expansion, conflict grew between the Europeans and the native people. The Europeans expected the natives to adopt into their way of life. The natives were expected to convert into Christianity, that is, catholic or protestant. They were also expected to leave their barbaric and uncivilized ways of life. Through the 17th century, the native fought the European and drove them out of their land due the mistreatment they received from them (Norton, 89).
At the same, Europeans brought with them goods that had great benefits to the natives. In the 1500 the Europeans brought with them glass, beads, metal, utensils and copper, just to name a few (Ayers, 116). Natives usually accepted these items but tailored them according to their own needs. For instance, natives cut kettle made of copper and used them as they deemed fit. The pieces of kettle were used as jewelry to symbolize they have the European wealth. As the number of Europeans increased, their goods flooded the American native societies and the natives started to put the goods to proper use as they got more familiar with them. For example many natives abandoned their traditional furs and exchanged them for European trousers and shirts .similarly, clay cook items gave way to metal made European utensils .Indian natives realized that European flints and steel would start fires faster and much easier than their conventional ways (Ayers, 116). The native adopted some of the European items and learnt to make them. For example, the native used iron owls to make beads which led to discovery of new art and style of making beads among the natives (Berkin, et al., 110).
The European brought with them diseases that killed a lot of native people in America. The European lifestyle involved sharing of house item and living under the same roof with domestic animals such as sheep and goats (Ayers, 33). This facilitated the spread of unknown diseases within America. The contact between the European and Native American led to an outbreak of small poke disease, influenza and measles. The diseases were caused by germs and other types of bacteria. The disease caused a lot of deaths to occur. It killed an estimated 10 million to 20million native inhabitants of America (Ayers, 34). These numbers represent almost 95% of the total population at the time. This loss of indigenous people caused cultural and political collapse of the framework upon which the natives operated on. It weakened them and Europeans easily took over by establishing their way of life (Ayers, 34).
European inhabiting America altered the environment greatly. Their way of life was different from the natives. Hunting using guns coupled with the desire of the native Indian to own guns, made natural resources deplete at a faster rate (Berkin, et al., 78). For instance, popular birds such as beaver trim hats became very scarce as people used guns to hunt then down. The loss of the species came also with loss of the natural habitats. The beaver ponds had been home to fish as well source of drinking water for deer and other wild animals. European introduced other domestic animals such as pigs into America. Pigs got their food from forest and the grasslands. The introduced species increased competition for food with indigenous animals. This led to scarcity of food that native people depended on for their daily meals (Berkin, et al., 78).
European used privatized land which was in contrast with the understanding of native people. Natives believed that land was owned by all the people and should benefit the whole community. Natives who migrated seasonally to utilize natural resources of different lands found them limited (Berkin, et al., and 120).
Politically, the Europeans generated a lot of wealth form the colonies established in America (Ayers, 25). The wealth gave them access to power and influence. They used their power to establish a governing system over the natives. Furthermore power gave them control over resources that were once owned by the natives. In short, the Europeans expanded into America in search for natural resources. They established new social, religion and political systems within America. They established alternative shorter routes within America and used the routes foe exploitation (Ayers, 25).
Conclusion
It is not clear whether the expansion into America was justified but the expansion had both negative and positive effects on the native people. The European came into America to seek new land that would give them new opportunities and give them a chance to start life over again. They could exploit the new found land in any way they wanted. The raw material they harvested form America were imported back to their countries and brought in profits to the. These caused economic growth which attracted European into America. The European established new shorter routes that could be used to transport products faster through America. The native people adopted into the European’s way of a life .Europeans forced the Indians to assimilate their culture.
Works Cited
Ayers, Edward L. American Passages: A History of the United States. Boston, MA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2009. Print.
Berkin, Carol, Christopher L. Miller, Robert W. Cherny, and James L. Gormly. Making America: Billington, Ray A. American History before 1877. Totowa, N.J: Rowman & Allan held, 1984 A History of the United States. , 2014, Print.
Norton, Mary B. A People and a Nation: A History of the United States. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co, 2008, Print.
