AP European History/Neiffer

Reading Guide:
Chapter 16: The Transatlantic Economy,
Trade Wars and Colonial Rebellion

Periods of European Overseas Empires

What are the three periods of European contact with the outside world?

Mercantile Empires

Mercantilist Goals
• mercantilism
• mercantile system
• What are arguments against mercantilism?
• What was the difference between mercantilism in theory and mercantilism in practice?

French-British Rivalry
• What was the nature of the French-British rivalry?
• How did the rivalry play out?

The Spanish Colonial System

Colonial Government
• What was the structure of Spanish colonial government?
• Audincias
• corregidores

Trade Regulation
• Casa de Contratacion (House of Trade)
• Consulado
• flota system

Colonial Reforms Under the Spanish Bourbon Monarchs

• How did the Treaty of Utricht impact the Spanish rule in this
region?
• Charles III
• peninsulares
• creoles

Black African Slavery, The Plantation

System and the Atlantic Economy
The African Presence in the Americas
• What led to the Spanish and Portuguese moving towards a
slave model in the New World? This now famous diagram was
• How and why did slavery increase in the New World? presented to a House of Commons
investigation on the slave trade.
Slavery and the Transatlantic Economy
• How did slavery impact the economy on both sides of the Atlantic?

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The Experience of Slavery
• The Atlantic Passage
• seasoning
• How was cultures forced on slaves? What was the result?
• Was was the daily life of slaves?
• How did religion impact the slave relationship?
• What was the nature of prejudice toward slaves?

Mid-Eighteenth-Century Wars
The War of Jenkins's Ear!!
• Robert Jenkins
• Sir Robert Walpole

The War of Austrian Succession

• Prussia seizes Silesia → Shatters the
Pragmatic Sanction
• Maria Theresa
• France drawn in
• Great Britain Drawn In
• Results → Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle

The “Diplomatic Revolution” of 1756

• What caused the so-called “Diplomatic Illustration 1: The War of Jenkins's Ear!
Revolution?”
• What was the results?

The Seven Years' War

• What starts the Seven Years' War?
• How and why does it migrate to North America?
• The Treaty of Paris (1763)

The American Revolution and Europe

(Okay... so, let's be honest: the American Revolution IS important to Europe but, we aren't going to going into
the kind of detail on it that your textbook forces. So... please read this. Note the European influence stuff.
And then call it good... thanks!)

Review Questions
1. What wee the fundamental ideas associated with mercantile theory? Did they work? Which European
country was most successful in establishing a mercantile empire? Least successful? Why? 2. What were the
main points of conflict between Britain and France in North America, the West Indies, and India? How did the
triangles of trade function among the Americas, Europe, and Africa? 3. How was the Spanish colonial empire in
the Americas organized and managed? What changes did the Bourbon monarchs institute in the Spanish
Empire? 4. What was the nature of slavery in the America? How was it linked to the economies of the
Americas, Europe, and Africa? Why was the plantation system unprecedented? How did the plantation system
contribute to the inhumane treatment of slaves? 5. What were the results of the Seven Years’ War? Which
countries emerged in a stronger position and why? 6. How did European ideas and political developments
influence the American colonists? How did their actions, in turn, influence Europe? What was the relationship
between American colonial radicals and contemporary political radicals in Great Britain?

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