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    Unit 3 - The Diversified Caribbean in the 16 17 Centuries

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    presentation on diversified caribbean

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    34 views20 pages

    Unit 3 - The Diversified Caribbean in The 16 17 Centuries

    Uploaded by

    Michael Huie
    presentation on diversified caribbean

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    Unit 3 The Diversified Caribbean in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries Overview The diversity of the Caribbean, reflected in linguistic, ethnic and general cultural differences, has its origins rooted in the complex history of the region. From the time Christopher Columbus made known the Caribbean region to Europe in the latter part of the fifteenth century, the flood gates were opened for successive waves of migrants from Europe, who not only destroyed the indigenous people but who brought with them cultural norms which, whether willingly accepted or not, were imposed on the region These divergent cultural norms have all, in varying degrees of strength, continued to shape the region to the present day. Unit 3 traces the developments in Europe that influenced voyages of exploration in the fifteenth century and ultimately contributed to the historical landseape of the Caribbean. ‘The unit also examines the factors that encouraged various agricultural activities in the region and finally led to the emergence of sugar cane as the dominant crop by the end of the seventeenth century. The final session of the unit focuses on the different types of labour schemes used to pursue the agricultural aetivities of the time and the impact of these schemes on the population of the region, ‘The unit is divided into three sessions: Session 1: Maritime exploration and the interlopers Session 2: Agricultural change and the emergence of ‘King’ sugar Session 3: Labour diversity and demographic change in Caribbean ‘frontier’ society. 45 Unit 3 Learning Objectives ee After completing this unit you should be able to: 1. Identify the factors that underlay and made possible fifteenth and sixteenth century voyages of exploration by Europeans, 2, Account for the various agricultural activities in the Caribbean prior to the establishment of sugar cane; 3. Discuss the reasons why sugar cane became the dominant plantation crop in the Caribbean by the seventeenth century; 4. Trace some of the factors that contributed to the complexity of Caribbean society: its diversity, its multinational beginnings and its earliest introduction to globalisation by being integrated into a world economy. Session 1 a Maritime Exploration and the Interlopers Introduction In this session we will examine the reasons why Europeans felt it necessary to embark on voyages of conquest. In this regard, we will focus on two main points, namely popular ideologies at the time, and advances in nautical technology. The final section of the session will account for the diversity of the Caribbean by tracing the factors that led to ‘interloping’ in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Objectives On completing this session students should be able to: * discuss the reasons why Europeans embarked on voyages of discovery in the fifteenth century; + evaluate the extent to which fifteenth century voyages of discovery resulted 1n local territorial wars and, ultimately, in nationalistic and cultural diversification of the Caribbean. The Reasons for Maritime Exploration in the Fifteenth Century The governments of maritime nations in Portugal, France, England and Spain frequently supported seafaring expeditions involving hundreds of sailors (and as many ships), into uncharted and often dangerous waters and territories. The rationale for these voyages of exploration revolved around two main points. Firstly, those who supported such explorations justified their actions with specific social, religious, economic and political theories and ideologies that were being propagated at the time. Secondly, by the fifteenth century developments in nautical techniques and equipment had taken place. These developments supported and iacilitated maritime exploration. We turn now to briefly identify and discuss some of these ideologies and developments that encouraged and supported maritime exploration. Theories and Ideologies Bullionism The concept of bullionism was one that was never far away from the minds of many adventurers and national administrators as they contemplated exploration. In brief, the 7 concept of bullionism was the belief that the wealth of a nation depended on the stores of bullion (gold and silver) that it physically held. It was, therefore, in the best interest of each state to secure as much of the world’s bullion as possible because there was also the belief that the amount of bullion in the world was finite. As a consequence, failure to capture as much bullion as possible meant an irretrievable loss to the exploring nation, as some other nation would then benefit from the bullion that was not acquired. Since this theory held that one nation could only prosper at the expense of another, voyages of exploration were deemed necessary to find new lands and untapped reserves of bullion before other competing nations found them. Mercantilism Mereantilist theory was an extension on the earlier bullionist theory. The mercantilists understood the wealth of the world not only in terms of physical stores of bullion, but also in terms of trading activities that resulted in wealth creation. Mercantilists argued that a nation’s trading relations, and the resources that were created through exports and the control of markets, had a large part to play in the creation and sustenance of the nation’s wealth. Mercantilists held the view that to create and sustain wealth, nations must always have a positive balance of trade. In general te-ms, that meant that the volume and value of the nation’s exports must always exceed what was imported. In order to achieve this, mercantilist nations encouraged exports of locally produced goods, reduced their own imports of goods and services and developed local substitutes. The mercantilists, like the bullionists, understood economic prosperity in terms of competition between maritime powers and states. To this end the finding of new lands also meant new opportunities for trade and wealth creation. To maximise on this, the mercantilist nations needed to ensure that they secured trade relations with newly found lands first. Mercantilists argued that their nations were only secure as long as they excluded other nations from engaging in trade with newly conquered lands. By so doing the mercantilists achieved their goal of ensuring that all the wealth from trade would go only to the European ‘discoverer’! of these lands. Colonialism Colonialism was the logical concept to emerge from theories that sought to justify economic advancement and nation building through the control of trade and the accumulation of wealth. Colonialism usually implies formal political control, involving territorial annexation and loss of sovereignty for the territory annexed. To be an effective colonial nation it was necessary to wage military, intellectual and psychological warfare to ensure that the wealth derived from newly seized territories and their

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