European Explorers and Exploiters (Essay Sample)

Instructions:

Please read these instructions fully, before you begin preparing Paper One. Ask any questions early! (For general assignment inquiries, use the Q & A Discussion area.)
Using information from the Week 2 Required Readings, the Wk.2 PowerPoints, and the additional posted readings for the paper (see the separate links and attachments; non-course materials are not required and should NOT be used – at least not without my permission), please write a 4-6 page paper (4=minimum length; more is okay; the bibliography is additional) on the questions below. The completed paper must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on Tues., Sept. 30* in your Assignments Folder (as an attachment in Word.doc or .docx format preferably – please do NOT use a .wps or .txt file). An attachment sent to my email address will NOT be credited. This is because LEO does not record documents sent to instructors outside of the course-site. [*This revised due date supersedes the date on the Syllabus.]
You can submit the paper earlier if you wish. But if you anticipate a late submission, you must contact me in advance to offer your reason, so that I can determine whether to wave the late penalty and offer an extension. Please do not wait until just before the (new) due date to inquire. A late penalty of -10 points per day will apply to all submissions beyond the due date, unless you have received my permission for an extension without penalty. Also, unless special permission has been granted, Paper One will not be accepted after Week 5.
Citations (in a specific format described below) and a full Bibliography formatted in Chicago Manual of Style for Humanities format (see below) are required in this paper.
If you have ANY questions about the topics, or the format and style instructions that follow, please ask them before you submit the paper. (Preferably use the Q&A Discussion, so others also can benefit from my answers.)
Topic (Questions to Answer) for Paper One: European Explorers and Exploiters
Using SIX (minimum – see below) sources from the Paper One Readings list, A. identify and explain the motives AND the methods (for achieving their goals) of the Portuguese, Spanish, English, and Dutch in their overseas activities. Be as comprehensive as you can in this analysis, and note that there are usually more than one (sometimes many) specific elements to discuss for each question in EACH source. B. Then discuss: Why did these Europeans act in the specific ways described? To answer this, consider such factors as the particular circumstances of these encounters and who the Europeans were dealing with in each case, and whether an alternative course of action would have served the Europeans as effectively to meet their needs. (This last part requires thought and argumentation; pay careful attention to details of the Europeans’ interactions with both non-Europeans and other Europeans, if any, in the source accounts).
In the Introduction, please clearly identify your overall goal, and specifically name the sources you are using. Then discuss each of your national representatives (the people in your sources) in the body paragraphs. Answer each of the questions comprehensively and with supporting citations. No summary conclusion is needed in the paper.
In addition to the PowerPoints and Modules, use at least SIX additional sources from the provided Paper One readings list – with at least one per nationality (the two others and any further sources can be for any of the four nationalities. [Ex.: 1 Portug.; 2 Span.; 2 Eng. 1 Dutch = 6 sources.]
The following are required instructions regarding format and style:
1. The paper should be clearly structured and well-organized. Include an introduction paragraph with a concise statement of your overall purpose, and your specific selected sources; and body paragraphs for each source (your answers to the questions and supporting evidence from the readings). No general conclusion is needed. Use 11 or 12 point font, Times New Roman (or a similar, readable) script, one-inch margins, and please number your pages and double-space the paper. No title page is needed. The paper should be 4-6 full pages long, with an additional page for the bibliography. Going over the minimum 4 p. length is okay. Please include a brief title along with your name and the date at the top of the first page. (Try not to use too much space for the title info.)
2. Keep your discussion and provided information focused, on topic, and to the point. Omit all off-topic discussion. Include detailed textual support (evidence) for your statements and arguments – but, DO NOT USE long and/or numerous direct quotations from your sources. (You may use a few short quotations; but if you do so, for any quotation you should supply at least an equal amount of written commentary specifically about that passage. Using your own words to describe the contents of a source is preferable to using quotes, whenever possible.)
3. You must document all of your sources of information. If you directly quote, paraphrase, or mention any not-generally-known piece of information given by any writer (of a primary source or a modern scholar/author), you MUST provide a citation in the paper to tell the reader where you found your information. You should cite the PowerPoint presentations and UMUC Modules also, if used. See below for the format.
Papers with no source citations will receive an automatic grade of F. Too few citations, or insufficient info and/or bibliography will result in a severe grade penalty. [These technical features are very important in academia. Remember the Plagiarism Prevention Exercise!]
Citation Examples (inline OR footnotes – do NOT use both in the paper, and NO endnotes): Written sources: cite the author’s name (or a short but recognizable version of the title, if no author is given; if a modern author, use only the last name), the date of the modern edition of your source (not an Early Modern date), and the page number(s) in our documents (or a section title, or as a last resort a paragraph number, if no page numbers are given) to indicate the specific location of the information you used (this is the ‘position indicator’ for your source). Inline notes: place this information in parentheses at the end of the specific source discussion in your paper; for footnotes: same information but without the enclosing parentheses, and place the citation it in the footnote.
Ex. Inline: (Hans Mayer 1974, 4). [1974 is the date of the edition; 4 is the section used]
Ex. Footnote: Adolf 1964, 12. [This is for the Squanto article (some bib. info is in the title line).]
Ex. PPT Inline: (PPT: Portug. and Span. Conquist., slide 36)
Ex. Module Inline: (Module 2, 8) [8 is the Word.doc page of the Module, given by Word]
[Notes: NO comma after the author (or short title); the only comma is placed after the date. If no date is given, use ND (for No Date). All citations should be as specific as possible in providing the location of your info. (Do NOT provide the entire page range when only one page was cited.) Use notes for all sources, but not necessarily for every sentence – if you have several notes from one source with the same page numbers appearing sequentially within one paper paragraph, use only one note at the end of that discussion and eliminate the earlier, same notes in that paragraph. And finally, use ONLY short notes in the paper – you do NOT need full bibliographic info here.]
If you are confused about the proper way to cite a source, please ask me (early) – I will help!
4. Bibliography: Include the full source information for all sources used in the paper in your bibliography. A full bibliography is required. Each entry should begin with the same author or short title that appears in the paper citations for that source. To format these entries, use ONLY the Chicago Manual of Style for Humanities guidelines. These can be found online by searching the WWW for Chicago Manual of Style, which brings up their main-page; then use the provided Quick Guide for bibliography format (the bottom line in each source type) to model your own source entries. You will need to find the info to use in your entries within our docs or websites if they are linked sources (or on the Home pages for these linked sources).
Ex.: de las Casas, Bartolomé. The Devastation of the Indies: A Brief Account. Ed. Bill M.
Donovan. Translated by Herma Briffault. Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992.
[Notes: Alphabetize all bibliography entries by the first word that appears. DO NOT number or bullet-point these entries. Indent all entries starting with the second line, if there is a second line of information. For more examples and further explanation, also see the class document titled “Supplemental Citation and Bibliography Instructions,” in the Paper One Disc. post.]
The PPTs and Modules do NOT need to be listed in the Bibliography.
5. Clarity and the organization of your ideas are very important. As a preparation strategy, you may wish to begin with a detailed outline or diagram of ideas that contains your concise introduction statements, the main points for each of the body paragraphs, and specific supporting evidence (from your sources) for these body paragraphs. An outline can help you to get organized, and to stay on track in your discussions.
I WILL NOT read FULL DRAFTS of papers. BUT, I can review OUTLINES in addition to answering ANY questions you have about these papers. Please ALLOW SUFFICIENT TIME for my responses (DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST DAY TO ASK QUESTIONS). ☺
5. Please proofread your paper. I will not penalize you for occasional misspellings—BUT, incorrect grammar may affect the fluency and clarity of your paper, which may in turn affect your grade. Frequent or easily correctible spelling and grammar errors also make a paper look sloppy. If a paper contains numerous errors, points will be deducted for presentation.
(Also See Below)
Grading Criteria: Your paper will be graded on the bases of
Proper length and focus on the assignment questions (as described in the instructions);
Completeness of the assignment (i.e., addressing all parts/sub-questions in the assignment);
Usage of all the required sources, and provision of specific detail when discussing your topics;
Note: Penalizations will occur for the use of non-course (non-approved) sources of information;
Organization, clarity, presentation, and proper format (font, margins, page numbers, title, etc.);
Level of analytical depth in your discussions, and use of support in / defense of your answers;
Proper use of source citations, and proper Bibliography format (use ONLY the Chicago Manual of Style for Humanities format for the Bibliography – NOT MLA, APA, etc.).
A number grade from 1-100 will be given as you score. Please allow approximately 2 weeks for grading after the submission deadline. (I will try to grade these as soon as possible!)

source..

Content:

European Explorers and Exploiters
History
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Introduction
The historical experience of colonization was a great phenomenon, which expanded around the world and across time. Imperialism or colonialism started during 15th century in the period of Age of Discovery when Spanish and Portuguese began exploring America, East Asia, Middle East, coasts of Africa and India. In 16th and 17th centuries, the Dutch republic and England formed their oversea empires as they were competing for oversea colonies. At the end of 18th and the beginning of 19th century, was the initial period of decolonization when many European colonies in America acquired independence from their particular colonialists. Spain was greatly weakened after losing its colonies in America while England, Portugal and the Dutch republic focused their attention on coasts of Africa (especially South Africa), South East Asia and India. In 19th century, the Second Industrial Revolution took place that led the period of New Imperialism during which colonization rapidly increasingly caused the expedition of the Scramble for Africa. In 20th century, decolonization began its second phase when the Second World War came into an end. This paper examines the motives and methods that Portuguese, Spanish, English, Dutch and English used in their overseas activities. Moreover, the paper discusses why these European empires acted in such particular ways, and also analyzes how the activities aimed to achieve their needs.
Discussion and review
The era of exploration started in Portugal when its rulers encouraged exploration by sending explorers to first expedite Africa and then move around the world. The Portuguese explorers moved to both western and eastern hemispheres. They had religious and financial motive as the goals of conducting such explorations. The explorers identified the lucrative business of the spice trade, and, as a result, the Portuguese ventured into the trade and gained huge profits. By 15th century, Portuguese explorers sailed through the Atlantic islands of Cape Verde, Azores, and Madeira, and they successfully sailed to the western coasts. Their exploration proved possible with Vasco da Gama reaching India in 1498.
The achievement of Portuguese exploration influenced the Spanish to finance Christopher Columbus on his mission to expedite a different route to Asia. Christopher Columbus sailed to the west where he reached a land currently known as Bahamas where in the real sense he discovered a new continent called the America. Since Christopher Columbus thought that he and his men had reached Indies, he called the local people in this area as Indians. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, in late 1400s, wanted to ensure the Spain became a powerful empire in Europe. One approach of achieving this goal was to promote explorations and acquire new lands for Spain. Ferdinand and Isabella sponsored the expeditions of Christopher Columbus, who sailed to the west as this was the easiest way to reach Indies. Ferdinand and Isabella funded many voyages in order to defeat the Portuguese so that to take control of the resources in Asia. Spain sent explorers to spread Christianity in order to reach these places. It is believed the Columbus discovered huge landmass between Asia and Europe. Columbus’s voyages settled in West Indies and enabled Spain to get lucrative resources when it settled in this place. Spain settlers exploited great minerals and began sugar plantations.
During 1493, the pope ruled that the entire lands of the west of the Cape Verde and Azores were under Spain’s possession. However, Portugal was another powerful sea that opposed the papal decree. Both Spain and Portugal reached an agreement of the Treaty of Tordesillas during 1494 that divided all discovered lands between Portugal and Spain. The Treaty of Tordesillas identified that both Spain and Portugal the only two empires in charge of expediting the New World. After the Treaty of Tordesillas, Spain rapidly developed itself as the leading European powerful empire in colonizing the New World. Spain succeeded in establishing big empires and aggressively searched for profitable trade routes, slaves and minerals. By 1536, Spain captured Aztecs in Mexico and in 1536 it captured the Incas in Peru. Spain proved dominant in North America where it successfully formed settlements and destroyed French expansion and settlement.
In Netherlands, the Dutch East India Company was interested to settle in North America in 1609. It was a time when Henry Hudson sailed along the river which was named after him. During 1625, the Dutch purchased Manhattan Island from the locals who lived there. As a result, the Dutch settled in New Amsterdam near the Hudson River. Although, the colony owned by the Dutch prospered due to venturing in the fur trade, the Dutch did not do a lot to develop their landholdings to cover areas beyond the Hudson. In 1664, there was a conflict between England and the Dutch, and the conflict spread across the New World. Consequently, the English captured the New Amsterdam and renamed it “New York” while Ditch’s influence became so weak after 1664.
English had the motivation of the need to colonize larger parts of America as much as possible and to make British Empire more powerful. English leaders had the motive to establish colonies in America. The English wanted to accumulate a lot of raw materials and to make profits. They wanted to establish markets for surplus production of their manufacturing products. England began relatively late in colonization and exploration of America. King Henry VII of England encouraged expedition. He sent John Cabot to explore areas around the Atlantic during 1497. As a result, Cabot claimed the Grand Banks, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia for England. However, after Cabot’s successful determinations, the English focused on domestic matters as these issues were much-concerned to them. The English, therefore, stopped exploring. By 16th century, England had not made its presence in America (the New World).
England’s interest to explore the New World aroused in the second half of the 16th century. Protestant reformation led to the increase of dissecting sects (such as puritans) who wanted to worship based on their ideas rather than complying with religious uniformity expected by the Anglican Church. The king persecuted the dissenting religious sects who refused to conform to the religious uniformity. The religious sect individuals escaped and sort refuge to America (New World) which provided them a peaceful place to practice their religious matters.
English monarchy was attracted by wealth that Spain was amassing from West Indies, South America and Mexico. Captain Francis Drake and other Spain explorers amassed great wealth from Central America in late 1590s, and consequently, England gained interest to colonize the New World. The emerging England Protestants and British sea power was a threat to the catholic Spain. The two European powers rapidly became great enemies and each planning to capture strategic areas across the New World.
England’s initial plan to settle in the New World was futile. Sir Walter Raleigh acquired a royal charter to establish a settlement in Roanoke, situated on the island near the coast of North Carolina. However, the Native Americans raided Sir Walter Raleigh and his men who also were affected by diseases. Consequently, the settlement plan was finally abandoned. Moreover, Spaniards were still determined to defeat the English. In 1588, the Spanish Armada was sent to eliminate the British in the coast of England. Nevertheless, it was through luck and creativity that the English troops managed to defeat the Armada. England gained victory and started its exploration as a dominant naval power to boost its colonial efforts. On the other hand, the power of Spain gradually declined and fell.
The strife between Spain and Britain persisted throughout the 16th century. This struggle had detrimental impacts. The English parliament by 1600 was unwilling to spend government finance on colonization. Government funding was not spent on colonization. Instead, joint stock companies were established to collect money for colonization through venturing on sales of public stock. In the entire 17th century, the responsibility of most English colonization was under the joint stock companies.
Conclusion
The native populations suffered much as a result of the negative impact of colonization. Hunger, slavery and war caused many sufferings while diseases, particularly smallpox, had most dangerous impact. In Mexico, by 1600, native populations reached 2milion, which was a decline from 25 million during 1519. European settlements brought much destruction which led to the displacement of the native tribes. Native American faced fateful events during the era of colonization throughout Am...

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European Explorers and Exploiters (Essay Sample)

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