North America

The Age of Exploration

The Age of Exploration

Columbus jump started the Age of Exploration in 1492 when he sailed straight west to in an attempt to reach the spices of India before Portugal got around Africa. Columbuss geographic discovery of the Americas gave Spain claim to most of South America, Central America, and the Gulf Coast/Southwest of North America. Shiploads of Aztec and Incan gold and silver made Spain rich beyond their wildest dreams. So what were France and England doing?

France vs. England

France and England were locked in the ultimate death match of the Hundred Years War into the 1400s. England dominated early in the war, but Joan of Arc and trading gunpowder with the Muslim Middle East saved the French. The French win, Englands failure after 113 years of warfare causes the 27 year long Wars of the Roses, a civil war in which the government is overthrown and replaced by a new royal dynasty. The geographic significance is that France will explore next and England will be further behind.

French Exploration

The French choose to search for a Northwest Passage in an attempt to find a more efficient route to India for the spices. This is of course impossible due to Arctic conditions. Jacques Cartier explores the St. Lawrence River which gives France claim to Canada. Samuel de Champlain establishes Quebec as the first permanent French colony. Marquette and Joliet explore the Great Lakes, down the Illinois River and about half way down the Mississippi River. Rene Robert Cavalier de la Salle completes the Mississippi exploration and declares Louisiana, all land drained by the river, to be French. Thus, France gets all the land between the Appalachian Mountains and the Rocky Mountains. The French befriend the Indians and get shiploads of furremember Versailles Palace?!?

English Exploration

England is late to exploring due to the Hundred Years War loss and subsequent Wars of the Roses. In addition, the new dynasty established of Henry VII is followed by the religious turmoil of Henry VIII. Henry VIII married the Spanish princess Catherine of Aragon for her money and political power. However, she only produces the daughter Mary. Henry VIII joins the Protestant Reformation to get a divorce, which insults Spain in two ways: rejection of the Catholic faith and the divorce of their princess. Henrys next child Elizabeth is still unacceptable, so he cycles through six wives total before having a son. Henry dies. The son dies at 9 years old. Mary and Elizabeth keep England in religious turmoil until people simply want to leave!!! But only the 13 Colonies East of the Appalachians remain!!

Virginia and the South

The first attempted English settlement is Roanoke Island. The settlers were dumped in 1587. The boats return to England for supplies just in time to get locked into a life or death battle for England with Spanish Armada. Spain was insulted by Henry VIIIs divorce, rejection of RCC and Elizabeth was using pirates to steal Spanish gold. So, Roanoke was empty when England returned. Who knows? They do no try again until John Smith saves Jamestown in 1608.

The Pilgrims and Massachussetts

Meanwhile, the religious turmoil in England has offended almost everyone. The Pilgrims are given permission to settle in Virginia. They missed by about 600 miles. Geographic mistake or treason? Either way, they establish the New England region.

Ohio River Valley

The limited space of the 13 colonies soon led to elbow room problems. The Pilgrims in New England were very puritanical. It was more of a religious dictatorship than religious freedom. Think Salem Witch Trials and The Scarlet Letter. Meanwhile, the cotton/plantation culture of the South mirrored English nobility. The poor of Scotland and Ireland were neither welcomed nor successful in either, so they moved to the backwoods of Appalachia. They generally preferred the freedom from royal authority. However, these hillbillies inevitably came into conflict with the French who desperately wish to maintain control of the Ohio River due to its fur transportation value.

The French and Indian War

The conflict of French and English settlement led to the French and Indian War (Seven Years War world-wide). The first shot is literally fired by a young Virginian named George Washington who sent to evict the French from Ft. Duquesne at the headwaters of the Ohio River. He is defeated and sent home in shame. The French do well in the war until Prime Minister Pitt outspends the French. The fort is renamed Pittsburgh when the English win. The resulting peace treaty gives England all of Canada and the eastern half of Louisiana. Spain gets the western half. France is left with nothing, goes broke and ends up in the French Revolution. England has large new empire to defend and decides to tax the people living there for their own defense. Silly England!!!

American and French Revolutions

The new tax conflicts led to the American Revolution. America won. Of geographic significance, a hillbilly army under George Rogers Clark capture Ft. Kaskaskia which gave America claim to the Mississippi River in the treaty negotiations. Then English were so happy to get back to trading and making money they agreed before our allies the French arrived. So, we got it all. The French got nothing. Louis XVI had spent his last dime helping America win. The French lapse into the bloody French Revolution as America writes its Constitution and unanimously elects George Washington. Louis XVI gets executed. The five monarchies of Europe attack France to end the revolution, Napoleon defeats them and declares himself Emperor of France.

Lewis and Clark

Napoleon needed gun money, though, to continue his conquest of Europe. Spain had closed American access through New Orleans to cripple the American economy west of the Appalachians. Napoleon conquered Spain. Jefferson needed New Orleans and offered Napoleon $15 million. Napoleon gave us the entire remainder of Louisiana. Jefferson sends Lewis and Clark on a journey of GEOGRAPHIC discovery!!!!

Mexican War and Manifest Destiny

Manifest Destiny developed as America developed economically. We believed we had the god given right to rule this continent sea to shining sea. Our pilgrim heritage and defeat of England, the most powerful country in the world made it obvious god was on our side. Plus, the Missouri Compromise line limited the expansion of slave states, which was giving free states an advantage in the House and Senate. James Knox Polk ran for president in 1844 with one promiseWAR!!! We shall either take Canada or Mexico. England gave us full claim to Washington and Oregon to avoid another costly war. So Mexico was doomed. We took half their countryand I think it is fair to say we took the good half. Just the state of California is currently the 5th largest economy in the world.

America is Completedwell, almost!!!

The Mexican War, more than anything, brought on the Civil War. The primary argument was not actually should we have slavery, but should we allow slavery to extend to the new territories. Even Lincoln was willing to let slavery stay where established as long as it did not spread. Southerner pointed to the Constitution, though, which is based on the John Locke premise that governments purpose is protect property. The Dred Scott case declared slaves were property and could be taken anywhere. So war was inevitable.

 The Mexican War ended continental expansion, but America What about Alaska did get the bug for an overseas and Hawaii? trading empire later in the 1800s. Alaska was purchased cheap from Russia, who figured England was about to just take it from their weak, corrupt empire. Hawaii ummmwas stolen fair and square from Queen Liliuokalani by American missionaries. We then needed more islands to serve as shipping gas stations to trade with Asia so we declared war on Spain in 1898 to take the Philippines and other Pacific Islands (Guam, Wake, Christmas, Midway, etc). Islands that Japan also wanted for Asian trade, which leads to World War II.