European Colonial Charters – Primary Source Set
Make inferences based on conclusions drawn from primary sources and reasoning.
Background Information
These European colonial charters and legal documents reflect the early stages of exploration and colonization by powerful European nations in the late fifteenth to early seventeenth centuries. They were issued by monarchs to grant explorers, settlers, and companies the authority to claim land, govern new territories, and control trade in the name of their respective countries. These documents reveal the different motivations, strategies, and systems of control used by European powers during the age of exploration.
Privileges and Prerogatives Granted by Their Catholic Majesties to Christopher Columbus (1492)
Background: Granted by Ferdinand and Elizabeth to establish a settlement in America, this charter provided Christopher Colombus with ships and men to discover and conquer land in the name of the Spanish monarchy.
| Text | Vocabulary and Context |
| For as much of you, Christopher Columbus, are going by our command, with some of our vessels and men, to discover and subdue some Islands and Continent in the ocean, | our command: under the order of the King and Queen of Spain.
subdue: bring under control by force |
| Our will is, That you, Christopher Columbus, after discovering and conquering the said Islands and Continent in the said ocean, or any of them, shall be our Admiral of the said Islands and Continent you shall so discover and conquer; and that you be our Admiral, Vice-Roy, and Governour in them
|
our Admiral: the commander of a fleet, a very high rank in the Navy.
Vice-roy: a government official that rules in the name of a monarch.
Governour: an elected official in charge of a particular region or state
|
Charter of Acadia (1603)
Background: Granted by Henry IV of France to Pierre du Gast, Sieur de Monts, giving him exclusive rights to colonize and trade in the region of Acadia. This charter marked a key step in French efforts to establish a permanent presence in North America.
| We have, for many important reasons, ordered, commissioned, and established the Lord of Monts, … to people and inhabit the lands, shores, and countries of Acadia, and other surrounding areas… | people and inhabit: settle and live in the area.
Acadia: a region of North America located in present-day Canada.
|
| and there to establish our authority, and otherwise to there settle and maintain himself in such a way that our subjects will henceforth be able to be received, to frequent, to dwell there, and to trade with the savage inhabitants of the said places… | establish our authority: set up a territory under the rule of the French monarchy.
our subjects: the people under French rule.
savage inhabitants: Native Americans |
Charter of the Dutch West India Company (1621)
Background: Issued by the States General of the Netherlands, granting the West India Company, a private company, exclusive rights to trade and colonize in the Americas and West Africa. It played a key role in Dutch expansion, particularly in establishing New Netherland (modern New York) and controlling the Atlantic slave trade.
| … the aforesaid Company may, in our name and authority, … make contracts, engagements and alliances …, and also build any forts and fortifications there, | in our name and authority: the government of the Netherlands, which was a representative government at the time. |
| …to appoint and discharge Governors, people for war, and officers of justice, and other public officers, for the preservation of the places, keeping good order, police and justice, and in like manner for the promoting of trade; | appoint and discharge Governors: the company has the power to hire and fire leaders to run the territories.
police and justice: the company will provide police and keep order. |
| VIII. That we will not take any ships, ordnance, or ammunition belonging to the company, for the use of this country, without the consent of the said company. |
consent: permission or agreement |
| IX. … they may pass freely with all their ships and goods without paying any toll to the United Provinces; and that they themselves may use their liberty in the same manner as the free inhabitants of the cities of this country enjoy their freedom | without paying any toll: the company does not have to pay taxes or pass profits on to the government.
United Provinces: the name of the government of the Netherlands. |