Transcript Presentation

IQ’S
1. What is an American?
2. Where do Americans come from?
3. During the early years of our nation’s
existence, why was it called an
experiment?
4. In spite of all the differences and
conflicts, what concepts/elements have
held this country together for over 200
hundred years?
American Origins
Unit 1
Unit 1, Notes 1
NATIVE AMERICAN
ORIGINS
The First
Inhabitants
 From
 Asia
 Arrived via…
 Land bridge (Beringia)
connecting NE Asia to NW
North America that existed
during the last ice age
 When
 15,000 to 30,000 years ago
 Why
 Nomadic hunters following
their prey (wooly mammoth,
mastodon, caribou, ox, etc.)
Nomads to Farmers
 Paleo-Indians: first
colonizers/inhabitants of the
Americas; learned to adapt to
their different environments
 Agricultural Revolution:
transformation of nomadic
hunter/gatherers to fixed farmers
 Learned to grow





Maize
Pumpkins
Peppers
Squash
Beans
 Civilizations formed: highly
organized society marked by
trade, government, art, science,
and often a written language
Ancient Indian Civilizations:
Olmec
 Lived in Mesoamerica
(middle America)
 Built complex villages
and pyramids
 Constructed first large
city in America called
Teotihuacan
Ancient Indian Civilizations:
Maya
 Located on the
Yucatan Peninsula
 Talent for
engineering and
mathematics
 Developed accurate
calendars
 Constructed
pyramids for worship
Ancient Indian Civilizations:
Aztec
 Located in Central Mexico
 Built great city of
Tenochtitlan (modern
Mexico City)
 Great military power that
conquered neighboring
tribes
 Controlled about 5 million
people during the height of
their civilization
Ancient Indian Civilizations:
Anasazi
 Located in the American
southwest
 Built pueblos (villages)
inside canyons where
streams of rainwater
drained
 Constructed network of
basins to store rainwater
used for their crops
Ancient Indian Civilizations:
Adena/Hopewell
 Located in Ohio
River Valley and
Eastern United
States
 Built large
geometric
earthworks to
serve as
ceremonial
centers,
observatories,
and burial places
Ancient Indian Civilizations:
Mississippian
 Located near
Mississippi River Valley
 Built large city of
Cahokia
 Constructed large cities
and pyramids
 Flat-topped mound city
at present day
Moundville, Alabama
arose from this culture
Tribal Descendants

Southwestern U.S.:
 Apache
 Navajo

Pacific Coast
 Nez Perce

Great Plains
 Pawnee
 Iowa
 Sioux (Lakota)

Far North
 Inuit

Northeast
 Algonquian: Shawnee, Delaware,
Powhatan, etc.
 Iroquois: Huron, Seneca, Mohawk,
Oneida

Southeast






Cherokee
Creek
Choctaw
Seminole
Natchez
Chickasaw
Native American Legacies
 Slash and burn: agricultural
practice that involved cutting
down forests and burning the
cleared land to produce
nitrogen rich soil
 Wigwams: dome-shaped
buildings made using bent
shaped poles covered with
hides or bark
 Wampum: beaded belts made
from shells; their designs
recorded family/tribal histories,
public events, peace treaties,
and were used as mediums of
exchange
 Iroquois League: alliance of
Iroquois tribes formed to
maintain peace
Review
 Explain the Asian migration to America.
 Why did people from Asia come to
America and why did they end up in
Mesoamerica?
Unit 1
EUROPEAN EXPLORATION
AND COLONIZATION IN THE
16TH CENTURY
Iq’s
• What type of risks would you be willing to take
in life?
• Would you be willing to travel to an unfamiliar
place away from family and friends?
Unit 1, Notes 2
Europe Explore the East
For “god, glory, and gold”
• Beginning around 1100, European
crusaders battled Muslims for control of
the Holy Lands in Southwest Asia.
• In 1275, the Italian trader Marco Polo
reached the court of Kublai Khan in
China.
• For the most part, Europeans had neither
the interest nor the ability to explore
foreign lands. However, that changed by
the early 1400s. The desire to grow rich
and to spread Christianity, coupled with
advances in sailing technology, spurred
an age of European exploration.
For “god, glory, and gold”
• Europeans Seek New Trade Routes
• The main reason for European exploration was the
desire for new sources of wealth
• Merchants and traders hoped to profit from
overseas exploration through the trade of spices
and other luxury goods from Asia
• The people of Europe were first introduced to these
items during the Crusades. This was a series of
wars fought between Christians and Muslims from
1096 to 1270.
• After the war, Europeans continued to demand such
spices as nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, and pepper,
all which added flavor to the bland foods of Europe.
• The Muslims and Italians controlled the trade routes
from East to West. Muslims sold Asian goods to
Italian merchants, who in return sold the goods at
increased prices to European merchants. The
European merchants did not like this because it cut
into their own profits. Therefore, Europeans began
the search for a new sea route directly to Asia.
For “god, glory, and gold”
• The Spread of Christianity
• The Crusades not only left Europeans with a taste for spices, but more
significantly with feelings of hostility between Christians and Muslims.
• European countries believed that they had a sacred duty to not only
continue fighting Muslims, but also to convert non-Christians
throughout the world.
• Bartolomeu Dias, and early Portuguese explorer, explained his
motives: “To serve God and His Majesty, to give light to those who were
in darkness, and to grow rich as all men desire to do.”
• Technology Advancements
• Advances in technology made the voyages possible. During the 1200s,
it would have been nearly impossible for a European sea captain to
cross 3,000 miles of ocean and return again.
• In the 1400s, shipbuilders designed a new vessel, the caravel. It was
stronger and sturdier than the previous vessels. In addition, triangular
sails adapted from the Arabs allowed it to sail effectively against the
wind.
• Europeans also improved their navigational techniques. Sailors used
the astrolabe, which the Muslims had perfected.
• Sailors also used the sextant and magnetic compasses to improve their
ability to sail further distances.
Portugal leads the way
• Portugal was the leader in developing and
applying these sailing innovations. Portugal
was the first European country to establish
trading outposts along the west coast of
Africa. Eventually, Portuguese explorers
would sail farther east into the Indian Ocean.
• Portuguese Explore Africa
• Prince Henry – the son of Portugal’s king. Henry began
dreams of overseas exploration in 1415 when he helped
conquer the Muslim city of Ceuta in North Africa. In Ceuta,
Portuguese invaders found exotic stores filled with pepper,
cinnamon, clovers, and other spices.
• Portuguese Sailors Reach Asia
• In 1497, Vasco da Gama began exploring the African
coast. He eventually reached the port of Calicut, located
on the southwestern coast of India.
• Da Gama and his crew found an enormous amount of
spices, rare silks, and precious gems. When the crew
returned, their cargo was worth 60 times the cost of the
voyage. Da Gama’s voyage had now given Portugal a
direct sea route to Asia.
The Atlantic World
Unit 1, Notes 3
Spain Builds an American Empire
Setting the Stage
• Competition for wealth in Asia among
European nations was fierce. This competition
promoted a Genoese sea captain named
Christopher Columbus to make a daring voyage
for Spain in 1492.
- King Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain funded his
voyage
• Instead of sailing around Africa and then east,
Columbus sailed west across the Atlantic in
search of an alternate trade route to Asia and
its riches. Columbus never reached Asia.
Instead, he stepped onto an island in the
Caribbean.
• That event would bring together the people of
Europe, Africa, and the Americas.
The Voyages of Columbus
• The Niña, Pinta, and Santa Maria were the
names of the ships in Columbus’s fleet that
sailed out of a Spanish port on August 3, 1492.
• The fleet encountered land during the early
hours of October 12, 1492 when a loud cry
came from the Pinta, “ Tierra! Tierra!” which
means “Land! Land!”
• Columbus thought that he had successfully
reached the East Indies, so he called the
surprised inhabitants who greeted him, los
indios – which is translated into “Indian”. This
word has been mistakenly applied to all the
native people of the Americas.
• Columbus miscalculated where he was.
Scholars believe he landed instead on an
island in the Bahamas in the Caribbean Sea.
The natives were not Indians, but a group that
referred to themselves as the Taino.
Regardless, Columbus claimed the island for
Spain and named it San Salvador, or “Holy
Savior”.
Columbus’s Voyages Cont…
• Columbus, like other explorers, was
interested in gold. He explored other
Islands after not finding any gold on San
Salvador. In the words of Columbus, “It
was my wish to bypass no island without
taking possession”.
• Columbus returned to Spain in early
1493. The news of his voyage delighted
the Spanish monarchs. Spain’s rulers
agreed to fund three more trips for
Columbus. As a result, he sailed off for a
second trip to the Americas in
September of 1493.
• The Spanish intended to transform the
islands of the Caribbean into colonies –
or lands that are controlled by another
nation.
Other Explorers Sail the Sea
• Pedro Álvares Cabral
• Reached the shores of modern-day Brazil and claimed
it for Portugal
• Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512)
• Made several voyages to the Western Hemisphere to
follow up Columbus’ discoveries
• One of first explorers to believe that Columbus had
not discovered part of Asia but a “New World”
• “America” became the official name of the “New
World” in honor of Amerigo Vespucci’s voyages
• Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521)
• Magellan led the boldest exploration yet in 1519. He
sailed around the southern end of South America
with about 250 men and 5 ships.
• Magellan and his crew explored the island of Guam
and eventually the Philippines. However, they were
struck by disease and death due to war.
• Only 18 men and one ship returned home three years
after they left. They were the first crew to
circumnavigate – sail around the world.
Spanish Sailors/Explorers, continued…
• Ponce de Leon (1474-1521)
• Explored the Caribbean for the “Fountain of Youth”
• Discovered Florida
• Endured several conflicts with the natives he attempted to colonize and
died of arrow wounds
The Rights of Settlement
• Treaty of Tordesillas (1494):
treaty signed between Spain
and Portugal to avoid
conflicting claims in the new
world that might interfere with
their trade; established the Line
of Demarcation and gave
Portugal possession of all lands
to the east of this imaginary
line while granting Spain a
monopoly of all lands to the
west of this line
Spanish Conquests in Mexico
• Hernando Cortés
• Landed on the shores of Mexico in 1519.
Cortés marched inland looking for new land
to claim for the Spanish. Those who followed
him were called conquistadors – conquerors.
• Cortés Conquers the Aztecs
• Cortés and his force of approximately 600
men reached the Aztec capital of
Tenochtitlán. The Aztec emperor, Montezuma
II, was convinced that Cortés was a god
wearing armor. He agreed to give him a share
of the empire’s existing gold supply.
• Cortés told the Aztecs that he and his men
were sick with a disease and the only cure for
it was gold.
• He was able to defeat the Aztecs for several
reasons: The female translator Malinche,
superior weaponry, and foreign diseases that
the Aztecs were unable to fight off.
Spanish Conquests in Peru
• Francisco Pizarro
• Spanish conquistador who took a small army
into South America and conquered the Incan
Empire in 1532.
• Pizarro met the Incan ruler, Atahualpa, near
the city of Cajamarca. Atahualpa brought
several thousand unarmed men to the
meeting, and the Spaniards waited in
ambush and destroyed the unarmed Incan
force. The Spanish force then kidnapped the
Incan king and later killed him.
• Spain’s Pattern of Conquest
• The Spaniards lived among the native
population and imposed their culture upon
them.
• The Spanish settlers were mostly men,
known as peninsulares. These men had
relations with the natives and created a
blended population of Spanish and Native
Americans – mestizo.
• The Spanish also oppressed the natives and
forced them to work in a system known as
encomienda in which the natives farmed,
ranched, or mined for the Spaniards.
Spain’s Influence Expands
• Conquistadors Push North
• The Spanish had settled in parts of the
United States before they began to
dream of expanding their empire in the
Americas. Spanish explorer Juan Ponce
de León landed on the coast of modernday Spain and claimed it for Spain.
• Francisco Vásquez de Coronado
• Led an expedition through present-day
Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma,
and Kansas.
• He found little gold amidst the dry
deserts of the Southwest. As a result, the
Spanish monarchy assigned mostly
priests to explore the future United
States.
Opposition to Spanish Rule
• African Slavery and Native Resistance
• The Spanish government abolished the encomienda system in
1542. To meet the labor needs. Las Casas suggested Africans to
replace the Natives. He stated that, “The labor of one African is
more valuable than that of four Indians”. However, the priest
later changed his viewpoint and denounced African slavery,
but others promoted it…
• Opposition to the Spanish method of colonization came not
only from Spanish priests, but also from natives.
• Columbus saw resistance at the present-day island of St. Croix.
The Spaniards also experienced resistance from the natives in
New Mexico.
• Popé, a Pueblo ruler, led a well-organized rebellion against the
Spanish in 1680. The rebellion involved more than 8,000
warriors from villages all over New Mexico.
• For the next twelve years, until the Spanish regained control of
the area, the southwest region of the future United States
once again belonged to its original people.
• However, by this time, Spain had greater concerns. The other
nations of Europe had begun to establish their own colonies in
the Americas.
REVIEW
1. Who believed that Christopher Columbus did not discovered
Asia, but a part of the “New World”?
• Amerigo Vespucci
2. Which explorer was denied financial support from Spain to
conduct a voyage in search of a new trade route?
• Christopher Columbus
3. Who defeated the Incan Empire?
• Francisco Pizaro
4. Which Spanish explorer defeated the Aztecs?
• Hernando Cortés
Unit 1, Notes 4
Europeans Settle North
America
The Battle for North American
Territory – French Sailors/Explorers


Explorers Establish New France – Early French
explorers sailed west in hopes of reaching the East
Indies.
Giovanni da Verrazzano (1524)


Jacques Cartier


Sailed to North America in search of a sea route to the
Pacific. Did not discover a route, but he did come
across what it the present-day New York harbor.
Reached a gulf off the eastern coast of Canada, and
he named it St. Lawrence. After following the gulf, he
reached an island controlled by a mountain. He named
the island Mount Real (Mount Royal), which later
became known as Montreal.
Samuel de Champlain – sailed up St. Lawrence with
approximately 32 other colonists. The founded
Quebec, which became the base of France’s
colonial empire in North America, known as New
France.
French Sailors/Explorers Cont.

Jacques Marquette (1637-1675) and Louis
Jolliet (1645-1700)



Marquette was a Catholic missionary and Jolliet a
fur trader
First Europeans to discover the northern Mississippi
River
Rene-Robert de LaSalle (1643-1687)




First European to sail down the Mississippi River to
the Gulf of Mexico
Claimed the Louisiana Territory for France
Set up several French fur trading posts
Explored Texas where he was assassinated by own
men
English Arrive in North America


Jamestown – Located off the coast of
Virginia. Was founded in 1607 by English
settlers who received orders by King James to
charter a colony in North America.
The Settlement at Jamestown – The start was
disastrous. The settlers were more interested in
finding gold than planting crops. However,
Jamestown became England’s first
permanent settlement in North America, and
it eventually provided a positive outlook for
farmers.

Its main crop was tobacco. This turned out to be
extremely profitable for England.
New England
 Pilgrims
– founded a second English
colony, Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620.
The Pilgrims sought were persecuted for
the beliefs in England, so they sought
religious freedom.
 Puritans – Also sought religious freedom
from England’s Anglican Church. They
established another colony nearby on
Massachusetts Bay.
The Dutch Found New
Netherland

Henry Hudson



An Englishmen in service of the Netherlands. He sailed
west in 1609 in search of a new sea route to Asia.
Did not find the northwest route, but discovered three
waterways that were eventually named after him –
Hudson River, Hudson Bay, and the Hudson Strait.
The Dutch claimed the region and established a fur
trade with the Iroquois Indians. They built trading post
along the Hudson River at Fort Orange (Albany). They
were granted permission to colonize the region and
expand the fur trade, and the area became known
as New Netherland in 1621.
The Caribbean




French – Seized control of present-day Haiti,
Guadeloupe, and Martinique.
English – Settled Barbados and Jamaica.
Dutch – In 1634, the Dutch captured what are now
the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba from Spain.
The Europeans built huge cotton and sugar
plantations on these islands. Although the
products were profitable, they demanded a very
large and steady supply of labor. Eventually,
enslaved Africans would supply this labor.
The Struggle for North America

The English Overthrow the Dutch



To the English, New Netherland separated their northern
and southern colonies. In 1664, the English king, Charles
II, granted his brother, the Duke of York, permission to
drive out the Dutch.
The Dutch surrendered without firing a shot when the
duke’s fleet arrived in New Netherland. The Duke of York
claimed the colony for England and renamed it New
York.
England Battles France



The English grew in desire to expand their colonial
population, but bumped into France’s North American
territories along the way.
In 1754, a dispute over land in the Ohio Valley led to a
war between the British and French. This conflict
became known as the French and Indian War.
The British colonists, along with the help of the British
army, defeated the French in 1763. As a result of the
way, the British seized control of the eastern half of North
America.
Native Americans Respond
• French and Dutch


Both nations primarily had cooperative relationships with the Native
Americans. This was because of the mutual benefits of the fur trade.
The Natives did most of the trapping and then traded the furs to the
French for guns, hatchets, mirrors, and beads.
The Dutch would eventually set up a fur-trading enterprise with the
Native Americans as well.
• Settlers Battle with the Native Americans


In 1622, the Powhatan tribe attacked colonial villages around
Jamestown, killing about 350 settlers.
King Philip’s War – One of the bloodiest conflicts between colonists
and Native Americans.

Metacom (King Philip) – Was a Native American ruler who led an
attack on colonial villages throughout Massachusetts. After five years
of continuous fighting, the colonists would defeat the natives.
• Natives Fall to Disease
 Europeans brought with them many diseases that were foreign to the
Native Americans. This proved fatal when the Massachusetts natives
were struck with the smallpox epidemic and the population dropped
from 24,000 in 1616 to 150 by 1631.
 One of the effects of this loss in population was a severe shortage in
labor in the colonies. European colonists soon after placed Africans
into forced labor to meet their labor needs. Africans would be
enslaved by the millions.
Unit 1, Notes 5
The Atlantic Slave Trade
The Causes of African Slavery
 Slavery in Africa
 Slavery had existed in Africa for centuries. In most regions, it was a
relatively minor institution. The spread of Islam into Africa during the
seventeenth century, however, brought in an increased slavery and the
slave trade.
 Muslim rulers in Africa justified enslavement with the Muslim belief
that non-Muslim prisoners of war could be bought and sold as slaves.
As a result, between 650 and 1600, Muslims transported about 17
million Africans to the Muslim lands of North Africa and Southwest
Asia.
 In most African and Muslim societies, slaves had some legal rights and
an opportunity for social mobility. In the Muslim world, a few slaves
even occupied positions of influence and power. Also, in African
societies, slaves could escape bondage in numerous ways, including
marrying into the family they served.
The Demand for Africans
 Portuguese – Were the first Europeans to explore Africa during the 1400s.
Portuguese traders were initially interested in trading for gold. However, that
changed with the colonization of the Americas and the natives began dying by
the millions.
 Europeans Saw Advantages

Many Africans had been exposed to European diseases and had built up immunity to them.

Africans had experience in farming and could be taught plantation work.

Africans were less likely to escape because they did not know their way around the new land.

Their skin color made it easier to catch them if they escaped and tried to live among others.
 Atlantic Slave Trade – The buying and selling of Africans for work in the
Americas. 300,000 Africans were transported to the Americas between 1500
and 1600. By the end of the slave trade around 1870, Europeans had imported
approximately 9.5 million Africans to the Americas.
Slavery Spreads Throughout the Americas
 England Dominates the Slave Trade

England controlled the majority of the Atlantic Slave Trade as its presence grew in the
Americas. From 1690 until England abolished the slave trade in 1807, it was the leading carrier
of enslaved Africans.

African slaves were also brought to what is now the United States. In all, nearly 400,000
Africans were sold to Britain’s North American colonies. Once in North America, the slave
population consistently grew. By 1830, roughly 2 million slaves labored in the United States.
 African Cooperation and Resistance

Many African rulers and merchants played a willing role in the Atlantic Slave Trade. Rather
than travel inland, most European traders waited in ports along the coasts of Africa.

African merchants, with the help of local rulers, captured Africans to be enslaved. They then
delivered them to the Europeans in exchange for gold, guns, and other goods.

As the slave trade grew, some African rulers voiced their opposition to the practice.
Nonetheless, the slave trade continued to grow. To avoid conflict with opposing African rulers,
African merchants developed new trade routes to continue receiving the various profits and
luxuries in exchange for Africans.
The Forced Journey
 The Triangular Trade – The transatlantic trading network
that involved transporting Africans to the Americas.

Over one trade route, Europeans transported manufactured goods
to the west coast of Africa. There, traders exchanged these goods
for captured Africans. The Africans were then transported across
the Atlantic and sold in the West Indies

On another triangular route, merchants carried rum and other
goods from the New England colonies to Africa. There they
exchanged their merchandise for Africans.
 The Middle Passage – The voyage that brought captured
Africans to the West Indies and later to North and South
America.

It was considered the middle leg of the transatlantic trade route.
The journey along this passage was cruel and horrific.

Europeans packed numerous Africans onto dark crowded ships in
which Africans endured whippings and beatings from merchants.
Many Africans also died due to infectious diseases carried
throughout the ships.

Olaudah Equiano
•
Wrote about the horrors of the middle passage in a document known
as the Primary Source.
Slavery in the Americas
 Upon arriving in the Americas, captured Africans
usually were auctioned off to the highest bidder.
After being sold, slaves worked in mines or fields
or as domestic servants. Many lived on little food
in small and undesirable huts.
 Resistance and Rebellion
 Africans developed a way of life based on
their cultural heritage to help them cope with
the horrific conditions of slavery. They kept
alive such things as their musical traditions as
well as ancestral stories.
 Slaves resisted by breaking tools, uprooting
plants, working slowly, ran away, or even
started a revolt against their slave masters
and colonists.
Consequences of the Slave Trade
 Numerous cultures in Africa lost generations
of their best members including their young
and most productive laborers.
 Countless African families were torn apart due
to the slave exchanges.
 A new level of violence was introduced into
the African societies when guns were brought
over to the continent through the slave trade.
 Although they were unwilling, African slaves
contributed greatly to the economic and
cultural development of the Americas.
 Africans also brought with them their
expertise in agriculture, their cultural heritage,
art, music, religion, and food which all
significantly impacted the American societies.
Unit 1, Notes 6
The Columbian Exchange and
Global Trade
The Columbian Exchange
• Columbian Exchange – the global transfer of foods, plants, and animals
during the colonization of the Americas.
• Ships brought back a variety of plants such as: tomatoes, squash,
pineapples, tobacco, and cacao beans. The also brought back animals such
as the turkey.
• Most important items that were brought back were corn and potatoes. Both
were inexpensive to grow and nutritious
• Europeans also introduced various livestock to the Americas. These
animals included horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs.
• Other items that migrated from Africa were bananas, black-eyed peas, and
yams. Grains that were introduced from the Americas included wheat, rice,
barley, and oats.
• Diseases also had a major impact in the Columbian Exchange. This impact
would be negative as many Native Americans would die from diseases such
as smallpox and measles.
Global Trade
• The Rise of Capitalism
• Capitalism – An economic system based on private ownership and the
investment of resources, such as money, for profit.
• Governments were no longer the sole owners of great wealth. Due to
overseas colonization and trade, numerous merchants had obtained
great wealth.
• Merchants continued to invest their money in trade and overseas
exploration. Profits from these investments allowed merchants and
traders to reinvest even more money into other enterprises which
resulted in flourishing European businesses.
• Inflation
• Inflation – Occurs when people have more money to spend and demand
more goods and services as a result.
• Because the supply of goods is less than the demand for them, the
goods become both scarce and more valuable. Prices of those goods
then rise.
• The increase in economic activity in Europe led to an overall increase in
many nations’ money supply. This in turn brought on inflation.
Global Trade Cont.
• Joint-Stock Companies
• Joint-Stock Companies – A business in which investors pool
(combine) their wealth for a common purpose, then share the profits.
• The joint-stock company worked much like the modern-day
corporations, with investors buying shares of stock in a company. It
involved a number of people combining their wealth for a common
purpose.
• 16th and 17th Century Europe
• The common purpose was American colonization. It took large
amounts of money to establish overseas colonies.
• While profits were great, so were the risks. Many ships never
completed the long and dangerous voyages.
• Because joint-stock companies involved numerous investors, the
individual members paid only a fraction of the total colonization cost.
• If the colony failed, investors lost only their small share. If the colony
thrived, the investors shared in the profits.
The Growth of Mercantilism
• Mercantilism – An economic policy under which nations
1.) sought to increase their wealth and power by obtaining
large amounts of gold and silver and by 2.) selling more
good than they bought.
• The theory of mercantilism held that a country’s power depended
mainly on its wealth. Wealth, after all, allowed nations to build
strong navies and purchase vital goods.
• Balance of Trade
• Favorable Balance of Trade – Sell more good than you buy.
• A nation’s ultimate goal under mercantilism was to become selfsufficient, not dependent on other countries for goods.
• Economic Revolution Changes European Society
• While towns and cities grew in size, much of Europe’s population
continued to live in rural areas.
• In addition, mercantilism contributed to the creation of a national
identity.