Europe Case

Tania Peña

October 2, 2011

History 1301

Europe wanted to prosper and find new opportunities not only for themselves but for their families and countries. They tried many new things like inventing boats to sail and start their adventures into this new uncharted territory. The road to new discoveries wasn't as beautiful as some people made it out to be. Many were treated unfairly and suffered as these people settled into these new frontiers.

Many European countries such as England, Spain, and Portugal tried to take advantage of the possible opportunities this new land brought along with it. For many it was a new beginning and a very scary but welcome change to their lives. The way they brought about the settlement of the Americas held very good intentions but was handled in a very misguided manner. One such instance were the English settlers and the manner in which the they acquired the land of the Native Americans for the original thirteen New England colonies in North America. At the very beginning they were very accepting of the English settlers out of curiosity and in due time learned to trust them as they had learned to trust each other. However as the colonies progressed forward, slowly but surely, the newly settled young government in the New World began to take advantage of the trust that was earned between the colonists and the Native Americans. Rather than search for a diplomatic compromise the colonists decided it was best to take the land on which generations of each tribe had lived on. In time as the colonists learned the ways of the Native Americans they began to take the land by force. Some of the tribes were forced out of their land and if they didn't surrender they and their families were killed and lost their land regardless. The Natives were severely overpowered by the colonists due to their horse mounted forces (horses are not native to North America), the colonists advanced weaponry such as guns, as well as the unintentional spread of disease.

The slave trade ran from the 1600's through the 1800's and it also helped stimulate the economies of North and South America despite how unethical it was. The idea behind slaves is that they were cheap labor stripped of rights and in doing so weren't required to pay them (if at all) very much. The Triangle Trade, as it is called in modern times, was started by the Portuguese as a cheap and easy to stimulate the economy due to free/cheap labor thus keeping all the profits to themselves. Slaves were sent to the Americas from Africa where they were bought and used to cultivate the sugar cane crops under very harsh and strict working conditions, the sugar was sold to the New England colonies, from there rum and other goods