Question

compare the different economic and political systems of spain, portugal, the netherlands, and france in the age of expansion

Answer 1

- Spain had a colonial government headed by lawyers and bureaucrats; had an upper class that had a say in political views and laws and a lower class that were forced to be laborers.
- Portugal was focused on economics, trading posts, factories, established plantations which replaced the native populations with thousands of slaves shipped from Africa.
- Dutch & French focused on colonization, commercial ventures never attracted large numbers of colonists, more dependent on the Indians as trading partners and military allies, allowed the Native Americans greater freedoms than the English

Answer 2

During the Age of Exploration, each of the European nations had different economic and political systems. Portugal became one of the biggest players during the age of exploration because of Henry the Navigator, who sponsored the majority of the voyages. Portuguese explored Africa and found routes to reach India and the Far East for spices and other materials. After Portugal, Spain began to spend much of its wealth in voyages to find riches. Spain, with the discovery of America, found bullion of gold and silver in Central America, which helped them to explore further. France focused on maintaining their power in Europe. The Netherlands during this period built a fleet which became favorite among the explorers. Amsterdam was the trading hub for the traders.