The English East India Company

“Compare and contrast the early colonial empires of Portugal, Spain, and England in terms of motives, economic foundations, and relations with Africans and Native Americans. What factors explain the similarities and differences in the two ventures?”

In the Indian ocean from 650 C.E. and 1750 C.E. there have been many continuities in commerce. One such continuity was the goods traded. For

The events of this period of english settlement are best understood within the context of expansionism. As land in the “New World” was being discovered, the zeal for

2. Early Colonial Indian relations were an uneasy mix of cooperation and conflict. On the one

In the book The Indian Ocean in World History, according to Dr. Milo Kearney the Indian Ocean played a key role in the rise and domination of many state’s and region’s economic standing. Dr. Kearney informs readers about how the influence of the Indian Ocean has been underestimated or completely ignored of other states and regions. However, he confirms, “Indian Ocean trade has always been a major indicator of a state’s or region’s prominence and leadership from a global perspective.” Throughout history, trade on the Indian Ocean had in turn helped the state or region’s success. Dr. Kearney gives an example of the effect of Indian Ocean trade by explaining its role in Portugal`s economic success in the 1500s. He also elaborates on the concept

On the 31st of December in the year 1600, ‘The Governor and Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East Indies’ received a Royal Charter to be England’s trading representative in India. By they early part of the 17th Century, Britain had already eclipsed Portuguese interests in India. The company bought in cotton, silk, indigo, opium, saltpeter and tea mainly in exchange for silver bullion. These were valuable commodities in Britain at that time. By 1720, 15% of British imports were from India.

In a time when Spanish and New England colonies journeyed to explore and to colonize the New World in the 1600’s. The colonies both looked to gain more power and wealth. It is in this context that the ways of the Spanish and English colonies varied when it came to settlement and survival on the land in the New World. The difference between the Spanish and New England colonies in the New World between 1492 to 1700 differed considerably in religious beliefs, economy, and treatment of the indigenous people because of the significant change that occurred when the colonies migrated into the New World.

The Portuguese first made contact with the Kongolese in the 1400s sparking a long and varied relationship between the two kingdoms. In order to better understand how this relationship played a part in the trade, colonization, and warfare of this region of Africa, the following paper will discuss the relationship between the Kongolese and the Portuguese up until the Battle of Mbwila, what occurred at the Battle of Mbwila, and how this battle effectively destroyed the Kingdom of Kongo in the latter part of the 17th century.

- Because Spain and Portugal were rivals, they were always trying to out beat each other. Since the Portuguese set up trading posts in Africa first, other European countries started and later on Spain set up posts too. Because the Portuguese didn’t like taking water routes, it took them longer to get to India through land to get spices and jewels. While this was happening, the Spanish people became unified and seeing that they were now stronger, planned to outstrip their rivals of the Indian

Colonization was very important to religion, politics, economy, and other developments of the Spanish and English. The impact of settling in new land either affected them in a positive or negative form depending on their perspectives of things. With evidence collected the differences between both sides were notable. The seventeenth century was a key point where the goals and perspectives differed within the Spanish and English

In 1607, 13 years before the Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts, a group of 104 English men and boys began a settlement on the banks of Virginia 's James River. They were sponsored by the Virginia Company of London, whose stockholders hoped to make a profit from the resources of the New World. The community suffered terrible hardships in its early years, but managed to endure, earning the distinction of being America 's first permanent English colony. Today at Jamestown Settlement, the story of the people who founded Jamestown and of the Virginia Indians they encountered are told through film, gallery exhibits and living history. Artifacts found at Jamestown tell us about the material conditions of the early British settlers including how they acquired food, what kinds of tools and domestic furniture they used, the ailments they suffered and how they were treated, even what they did for recreation. Drawing upon historical documents and archeological findings this paper will show the types of occupations, activities, and the living standards of the British at Jamestown.

With the collapse of the Great Silk Road, trade routes through the waters became more necessary. Muslims and Europeans fought over the Indian Ocean and the several prosperous ports (plus major cities and villages in Ethiopia) during the fifteenth and sixteenth century. (McKay et al., 2009) Although Muslims had controlled the Indian Ocean trade for centuries, Portugal’s ability to circumvent the southern tip of Africa led to war and Portugal’s eventual defeat of Muslim traders and their imperialism throughout the Southeast Asian market. Africa’s Swahili people and their ivory, copra and rhinoceros horns and China’s “age of commerce”, which was developing within the neighboring countries of Vietnam and Burma, multiplied the available goods for Europeans to bring back home. (McKay et al., 2009) Portugal, as with most European countries, was beginning their recovery financially after years of war and plague. With the growth of trade and the amount of people in the Indian Ocean area, religion quickly followed. (McKay et al., 2009) Again, Muslims and Europeans were in battle. But this time they fought for religious supremacy in numbers. Each faction quickly moved to convert as many people as possible. Settlements were formed, cities grew, and customs and culture began mixing in an early version of a melting pot. (McKay et al., 2009)

This journal refers to the time of Portuguese discoveries and expansion, as it refers to the first voyage of Vasco da Gama from Africa to India. It is an extremely meaningful document, as it describes the long and troubled voyage to India that in the end of the 15th century this voyage had an impact in global scales in the economic, political, religious, cultural and scientific levels of that time. Moreover, animals, trees and plants, birds, the different events, the arrival to India, contact with people, gifts, war equipments, food, musical and instruments, difficult navigation situations; and so on, that mentioned in the journal can help us to understand the environments at the

From 1580 to 1640, the throne of Portugal was held by the Habsburg kings of Spain. This period marked a phase of decline for the Portuguese Empire. Spain's enemies, such as the Netherlands and England, coveted their overseas wealth, and in many cases found it easier to attack poorly-defended Portuguese outposts than Spanish ones; Spain also pursued a policy of neglect of the Portuguese colonies it now controlled. Although Dutch colonies in Brazil were wiped out, over the 17th century the Dutch were able to occupy Ceylon, the Cape of Good Hope, and the East Indies, and to take over the trade with Japan at Nagasaki. Portugal's Pacific territories were reduced to the bases at Macao and East Timor.

"Clearly, turmoil, victimization, and disappointment are themes that have pervaded Angola's history, especially since the arrival of the Europeans in the fifteenth century" (Collelo xxi). "In 1576, in effective control of the countryside and facing no organized Kongo opposition, the Portuguese founded the town of Luanda, in effect establishing the colony of Angola" (Bender 24). After the Portuguese began reaching the interior, they soon appointed royal governors who tried to impose their ideas and beliefs upon the people (Halladay 82). Many African leaders resisted this foreign rule and the Europeans only managed to "establish insecure footholds along the coast" (Collelo 9).