1) Briefly explain at least four factors that contributed to the Spanish decline.
2) How did the European wars impact Spain's monopoly ?
3) What did the three Dutch Wars do to the Dutch supremacy?
4) "Trade rivalry and power and prestige triggered all of the European Wars we've studied so far." Discuss
Roman Catholic Church providing impetus for the formation of many Protestant Churches. However,
ReplyDeleteSpain, the "bastion" of Catholicism according to Isaac Dookhan (1971), remained ever faithful to the
Roman Catholic Church. The Catholic Church has been signifacantly reduced in the eyes of many
members of Eurpean society and by challenging the Church of Rome was challenging Spain in itself
as Spain was the symbol of Catholicism.
In addition, Spanish neglect of the smaller lesser Antilles proved fatal for their well-being. Historian Eric
Williams noted that "it was gold which detemined the location of Spanish settlesments." The Greater
Antilles were abundant in gold while the lesser Antilles were not. Furthermore, the small insignificant
size of the lesser Antilles and the presence of the warlike Caribs made it nearly impossible for
Spaniards to settle in the lesser Antilles as the islands offered little land to cultivate and the Caribs
fought with ferocity and strong determination for their land. According to Dookhan, "Spanish neglect
of the lesser Antilles paved the way for other European countires to exercise their principle of
effective settlement." The counter argument of effective settlement justified colonization of Spanish
land by non-Hispanic European countries. These countries argued that only islands occupied by Spain
would be recognized as belonging to her and all others were open to colonization by other nations. As
a result, the smaller islands were colonized by other European bodies. In 1624 Thomas Warner
established the first English settlement on St. Christopher, the French colonized
Martinique and Guadelope in 1635 and then the Dutch followed soon after on the smaller islands of
Saba, St. Eustacious and Curacao. Seizing of Spanish ships and smuggling with Spanish colonists
ensued, reducing Spain's main source of revenue.
This leads to the third point. Illegal trading became rampant within the colonies. Because of the
close proximity to the Spanish colonies, a haven was provided for smugglers. Smugglers now
had an excuse to occupy land in the Americas. Pirates, independent illegal traders and Privateers,
traders sanctioned to conduct illegal trade by way of a marque from their respective Crowns,
constantly attacked Spanish settlements and robbed Spanish ships seizing pesos, gold and silver.
F.R Augier et al 1(960) posited that Le Clerc, a successful French Pirate stoles 80,000 pesos from
Santiago de Cuba and Francis Drake, a brutal English pirate seized enough silver from Peru to enrich
all his sailors for life. Illegal trading cost Spain dearly and eventually damaged the Spanish economy,
the source of their power beyond repair.
Lastly, Colonization of the smaller islands caused Spain's restrictive trade
policy to work against them. Spain's restrictive trade regulations ensured that Spanish colonists only
traded with Spain. However, the length of time it took for goods to arrive, the small
quantities in which the goods arrived and as Dookhan noted the high prices of Spanish maufactures
and the compartively low prices for colonial goods were irksome to the planters and encouraged their
violation of the trade policy. Spanish colonists traded with pirates and privateers and by doing so,
undermined their very own monopoly and weakend the Spanish Empire.
Good job Kacy-Ann! Also remember later on to add the European Wars. Keep up the interest! A very good attempt!
ReplyDeleteThank you, and I will.
ReplyDeleteSorry for the post.
ReplyDeleteBut this was supposed to be before the first line. I don't know why it didn't show up.
By the year 1600, Spain was the most powerful nation in Europe. They had an empire than spanned through the Caribbean, Central and South America, the Philippines and even owned half of Italy and
the Netherlands. However, at the turn of the sixteenth century, Spain's power started to dwindle.
The Spanish Crown worked tirelessly to portect their empire and safeguard their monopoly but the
Reformation, Spanish neglect of the lesser Antilles, illegal traders and their restrictive trade policy brought the Spanish Empire to its knees.
The first factor that contributed to Spanish decline was the reformation. The Reformation,
spear-headed by Martin Luther with the publication of his ninety-five theses in 1517 (a catalyst for
the Reformation) was an attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church by challenging many of its
religious dogmas such as indulgences and sacerdotalism. This along with the popularization of Humanisn and concepts of individualism and nationalism reduced people's faith in and respect for the Roman Catholic Church providing...
solid points kacy.. i love the fresh quote you brought to the table as well from FR Augier. :-)
ReplyDeleteMonopoly is defined as a country or cooperation having complete control over an establishment or in this case a region or territory.
ReplyDeleteSpain’s monopoly was geared for political, economic, and religious dominance. Isaac Dookhan pointed out that “the west indies had special attraction for non-Hispanic European nations. As a source of Spanish wealth, the region aroused their fear and envy.” As a result these European nations sought any opportunity to reduce the “extension of it’s supremacy in Europe” to obtain some of the wealth that lavished the modern world by relinquishing the Spanish crown of the monopoly they held. To aspire to this end I will discuss four occurrences that led to the aforementioned desires and ultimately the decline of the Spanish monopoly in the Americas not only economically but politically and religiously as well.
Firstly and most importantly was the decline In catholic influence. Eric Williams in Columbus to Castro noted that the “challenge to the Roman Catholic Church by first Wycliffe, then Hus, then Luther gave Protestantism too its place in the world sun.” during the renaissance people questioned the perception of life and eventually, during the 16th century, they began to openly question and challenge the authority of the church in defining the boundaries by which people were to live and perceive reality. Evidently, the exploration and further settlement of the Americas was not entirely driven by economics. Religion also propelled the desire for exploration. The protestants wanted to extend their belief systems to the new world and so fought against the Spanish inquisition, which was the keen attention of the Spanish to punish those who indulged any other belief than those of the Catholics. Assuredly, it is true to express that the decline in Roman Catholicism not only provided extreme impetus for the attacks on Spanish monopoly but also, in itself gave rise to the decline of Spanish monopoly. By challenging Rome Spain was being challenged.
Secondly, the prevalence of buccaneers contributed heavily to the decline of the Spanish monopoly. Within the jurisdiction of the Spanish empire legal measures were addressed to maintain the potency of the monopoly. A restrictive trade policy in the name of “casa de contratacion” was legislated. This system made certain that all checks and balances were recorded so as to ensure that all Spanish cargo was being traded with Spanish trades men only. Also, a convoy system was instituted. The bureaucracy council and “its all-pervading authority ensured that colonial matters were rigidly controlled” with an understanding of the laws established, the buccaneers plundered the legal boundaries and illegally traded with Spanish personnel. Consequently non-Spanish European nations undermined the source of their wealth by smuggling products into Spanish America. The Portuguese were first to start trading as their possession of Brazil warranted their presence in the West Indies. One would have thought that the Spanish, in knowing this, would pay keen attention to the price of their commodities so as to curtail the desire of its colonizers in trading outside the Spanish zone. John Hawkins, between 1562 and 1568 organized four voyages and traded sugar cloth slaves and other merchandises setting a bold precedents for other to trade illegally and for colonizers to indulge in the activity for what it can save them. Evidently, the concept of the Spanish monopoly was to conceal all of the wealth and distribute it to the crown, if this structure has been compromised then it is in right doing to assert that indeed the Spanish decline was on its way.
Moreover, it is noteworthy and somewhat paradoxical to purport that the enemy( non-Hispanic traders) was a friend to the enemy which is the colonizers in the modern world. The restrictive trade, born to retain wealth for the crown inadvertently forced the hands of the law-abiding colonizers to retire that upright title for means of survival. Isaac Dookhan emphasized that “the high prices demanded for Spanish manufacturers and the comparatively low prices offered for colonial produce were direct consequences of an exclusive trade policy” this was true. As a result, the colonizers encouraged the already wealth absorbing buccaneers to their shores to offer them a better price and a greater quantity. It was not for share selfishness why the spanish colonizers encouraged this illegal and detrimental activity but in the words of Dookhan “this was a severe hardship since the colonist often depended on European supplies to provide the barest necessities of life” with this happening the disintegration of the monopoly held by Spain was officially on the table as external and internal forces worked together to decline the influence of Spanish authority and monopoly of the new world.
ReplyDeleteAnother point of interest and contribution to the decline of the Spanish monopoly of the new world was the neglect of the lesser Antilles. This led to the inhabitation of non-Hispanic nations into the new world, legally. Spain made the mistake in focusing on the greater Antilles only. They provided the very reason they explored beyond their European shores, gold silver and spices. With this neglect, the Spanish empire gave the non-Hispanic nations questions to rise and thus the counter argument of settlement was begun. The counter argument expresses the notion that possessions of lands were acknowledged in settlement or colonizing of those lands. With this case the other Europeans placed no longer, as it were, had their foot in the modern world but virtually there whole body. It was just a matter of time before the monopoly held by the Spanish came to fell as pirateering became more prevalent and colonizers began gravitated back to Europe an resounding end of the monopoly was soon to be trumpeted.
Well I must say Jhonaton that if you keep writing like this you are bound to get a good grade. Exceptionally titillating stuff!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ms Samuel. Good job Jhonaton. One question, where is this quote from? “its all-pervading authority ensured that colonial matters were rigidly controlled” Dookhan?
ReplyDeleteGood observation Kacy-Ann. Please acknowledge source Jhonaton.
ReplyDeleteyes, it is from Dookhan pg.15, paragraph 2 line 8. i apologize for not acknowledging the source in the essay.
ReplyDeletethank you miss Samuel and kacy, i will endeavor to maintain the level of expression and information.
ReplyDeleteThe Spanish fought endlessly to protect and secure the monopoly that was granted to her by Papal decree. However, if her own neglect and illegal smuggling wasn't enough, European wars had a profound impact in shattering the Spanish monopoly.
ReplyDeleteThe three Dutch wars which commenced because of an increased nascent nationalism, trade rivalry
and the insatiable greed for power and wealth changed the nature of traditional English policy. It was the beginning of the end. England was no longer content with their lot and initiated a mission to devour Spain's colonies one by one, which had fertile lands and were loaded with gold. After the first Dutch war which was settled by the Treaty of Westmnister (1654), British Member of Parliament Oliver Cromwell launched his Western Design. This plan was put in place to avenge the ills the British had suffered at the hands of the Spanish. British troops were sent to seize Hispaniola however, they were defeated by Spanish forces. Unmoved, they forwarded to Jamaica and commandeered the island which was poorly secured. Barry Coward in his "The Cromwellian Protectorate" (2002) called this "the dagger pointed at the heart of the Spanish Empire" as capturing Jamaica was the first symbol of a disintegrating empire. What's more,
after the second and third Ducth war, Isaac Dokkhan noted that "The Treaty of Breda (July, 1667) which ended the war, marked a definitive distribution of colonial possessions in the islands between rival powers."
The Spanish war of succession also had some negative impacts on the Spanish monopoly. Isaac
Dookhan posited that “The over-all effect was to create further inroads into Spanish trading rights in the West Indies.” The impetus for the war was Louis XIV of France violation of partition treaties with Austria. He crowned Philip V his grandson King of Spain, granting everything to France and Spain in hopes of uniting the two most powerful European nations and denying Austria what was rightfully
theirs as earlier a treaty was signed to grant the Spanish fortune to Joseph Ferdinand,
Leopold's grandson. The power struggle between Leopold I of Austria and Louis XIV of France
resulted in Louis XIV dreams of uniting France and Spain being crushed as he was forced to sign the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), which ended his ambitions to create a partnership of Bourbon monarchs in France and Spain. Thus, the commercial power of Spain was weakened without France as a partner and the maintanence of their monopoly was now threatened as the idea of an inetrnational balance of power now prevailed. Additionally, Philip V of Spain ceding a number of valuable Spanish territories in Italy and the Netherlands to Austria who won the war.
Moreover, the War of Jenkins' Ear caused further destabilization to the Spanish monopoly. The war, marked by continuous warfare and destrcution was caused by the dismembering of British Captain Robert Jenkins' ear which the British used as an excuse to commence a war against Spain. According to Isaac Dookhan "the seizure of British vessels by spanish 'guarda costas', the cruel treatment of their
crews, and the reprisals and counter reprisals which ensued, led to hatred of Spain in Britain." England was eager acquire Spains' colonies and take vengeance against the Spaniards for the wrong doings they
subjected British colonists to and now was the perfect time to strike. The war which lasted
approximately nine years caused huge financial lossses for Spain as ports and forts were attacked and ships burnt. Spanish settlements and treasure that had been accumalated over the course of many years was destroyed. Concisely, the constant warfare with European rivals smashed the Spanish monopoly
to a point where it could no longer be recovered. The monopoly Spain held for over 400 years was finally coming to an end.