The World and the Age of Reason: 1600 – 1700
History Paper #3, 2/12/2007
By David Sakowski
During this period, the explorers from the countries of
Europe continue to explore for new countries to populate and riches to
export back to their mother country. Some of the reasons the Europeans
felt superior to the natives they came upon were their superior technology
and different religious beliefs.
The civilizations of Asia and the Middle East remained within their
natural boundaries because the leaders of Japan, China, India and the
Middle East were comfortable within their countries.
A new Age of Reason begins where the Renaissance ends. New ideas exchanged
with the people of different cultures bring new learning, inventions, and
technology especially to the growing cities of Europe. Europe becomes the
center of wealth, power, and colonization. During the Age of Reason, the
poor people of Europe started to realize that the power of the Catholic
Church and how much influence it had was becoming corrupt. The Age of
Reason, 1600-1750, was a time of new arts, science, architecture, and
technology, also the people of Europe started to question the teachings of
the church.
The Arts improved because many of the countries in Europe started to use
the extra money they made from exploring and used it support new artists
and sculptors who produced many beautiful paintings and statues. The rich
also sponsored musicians who produced music and many new operas and
ballets.
The architecture of Europe, the new buildings and churches started to get
bigger and more advanced due to the new ideas brought back from other
countries.
Science and Technology in Europe started to advance far more than any
other country in the world; a few of the many inventions were the planter,
the thermometer, the microscope, and the telescope.
North American Indians began to experience the arrival of explorers from
Europe who began to build Colonial America. In the 16th Century, Spanish
explorers traveled up from Mexico, Texas, into the southwest. Spain
developed the first colony in 1565 at St. Augustine, Florida by Ponce De
Leon.
In 1585, the unsuccessful English colony of Roanoke Virginia was attempted
by Sir Walter Raleigh. It failed because he was not able to re-supply the
colony due to the war with Spain and the Spanish Armada. By the time he
returned, the Lost Colony of Roanoke had disappeared. In 1607, the English
established their first successful colony at Jamestown, Virginia; it was
established by money seeking businessmen that were not willing to work.
Instead of building the colony, they were busy digging for gold. In 1620,
the English Pilgrims established Plymouth, Massachusetts because they were
seeking religious freedom. In 1625, the Dutch settled in New York only to
have it taken away by the British. In 1680, William Penn was owed a large
sum of money by the King because the King took a loan from Penn’s father.
The king couldn’t pay it back, so he gave Penn the entire state of
Pennsylvania. Penn made it a safe haven for Quakers.
In 1534, the French explored the St. Lawrence River. In 1608, a Frenchman,
Champlain establishes Quebec and New France in Canada. The French also
begin to explore the Ohio River Valley west of the Appalachians building
trading posts. The Indians were not so worried because there were very few
Frenchmen and the Indians enjoyed trading with the French who provided
guns and other modern tools. But the English were coming over by the
thousands and that worried the Indians.
England In 1603 was ruled by a new King James I, replacing Queen Elizabeth
I who died. King James made peace with the Catholics of Spain. He
authorized the printing of the bible into English in 1611, called the New
King James bible. The English Civil War, 1645-1660, was fought between
supporters of Parliament and supporters of the King because of this the
country was divided. At the end, parliament won and chopped off the head
of King Charles II.
France had a new king in 1624, Louis XIII. Because he was just nine years
old at this time, a church cardinal, Cardinal Richelieu, was appointed
Chief Minister to help rule France. Richelieu was powerful and very strict
and tried to destroy the Protestants, Huguenots, and he killed anybody in
his path to increase the power of France. Louis XIV, the Sun King, reigns
from 1643-1715 determined to make France a culture center in Europe; but
by doing this, he drained the French Treasury and this resulted in the
French revolution of the next century.
Spain loses its power within Europe during this period following the loss
of the Spanish Armada to England in the previous century. They still had
all the land they gained in the New World and the Philippines.
The 30 Years’ War in Europe, 1618-1648, was between the Catholic and
Protestants. The Cardinal of Prague allowed the Catholics to burn down a
Protestant church; this made the other Protestant supporters in other
countries of Europe join the fight. The result of the war was the power of
the Hapsburgs and the size of Germany were reduced.
The East India Companies were powerful trading organizations developed by
the English, Dutch, and French to support new colonies around the world.
They funded colonies and trading expeditions in exchange for resources
which turned into profits.
Japan in this period becomes isolated from the world because the leaders
did not want to be influenced by the Europeans.
China was ruled by the Manchu Qing dynasty from 1644-1770. The Manchus
conquered most of China and the neighboring countries of Tibet, Vietnam,
Burma, Mongolia, and Turkistan. They also did not want to be influenced by
the Europeans.
In the Middle East, the Ottoman Empire continued to be strong
throughout the 17th century because of the internal fighting within
Europe. They remained within their borders that were previously
established.
Slavery and Pirates have existed since people began to travel on the seas.
During the 17th Century, the number of pirates grew along with the
exploration of the new world. The ships sailing the Atlantic Ocean trade
routes, especially in the Caribbean, were attacked by pirates and stripped
of their precious cargoes. Even the slave ships were attacked, and some of
the slaves turned into pirates.
The Triangle of Trade occurred between Europe, the Caribbean, and the East
coast of America. The slave traders of Africa would capture slaves and
ship them to the West Indies to work on the sugar plantations. These same
ships would be loaded with sugar that was shipped to the northern colonies
which they made into rum. The same ships were then loaded with the rum and
other goods and resources from the area and shipped to Europe. The process
was then repeated over and over.
Africa south of the Sahara Desert continued to be a tropical world
inhabited by many tribal societies. Some of these tribal members were
captured and shipped to the new world as slaves. Other countries of Europe
explored and colonized other areas. The French colonized some of northern
African like Algeria and Morocco. The English and Dutch colonized South
Africa.
Russia prior to the end of the 17th Century was a backward nation. In
1682, Peter I, known as Peter the Great, spent 8 months in Europe
gathering ideas to improve his country of Russia.
The 17th Century produced much learning, building, wealth, growth and
colonization by the powerful countries of Europe. They had a strong
influence on all they encountered.
