Why did Europeans come to the Pacific islands?
Much of the European exploration of the Pacific was inspired by two obsessions: the search for the fastest routes to the spice-rich islands of the Moluccas (modern-day Maluku in Indonesia) and the theory that somewhere in the South Pacific lay a vast undiscovered southern continent, possibly also rich in gold, spices, …
What countries colonized the Pacific islands?
From the mid-nineteenth century onward, the Pacific islands came under the rule of Britain, France, Germany, Japan, and the United States.
What are the impacts of colonialism in the Pacific region?
Residual effects initially included radiation sickness, but later increased rates thyroid cancer as well as lung cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, leukemia and lymphoma (Anderson et al., 2006). Today, these island nations struggle with the legacy of the colonization and westernization of their island homelands.
Which of the following most motivated European powers to claim Pacific Islands as colonies?
Which of the following most motivated European powers to claim Pacific islands as colonies? The islands were useful ports for merchant and war ships.
Why did Europe want colonies?
The opportunity to make money was one of the primary motivators for the colonization of the New World. The Virginia Company of London established the Jamestown colony to make a profit for its investors. Europe's period of exploration and colonization was fueled largely by necessity.
When did Europeans discover the Pacific Ocean?
September 25, 1513 On September 25, 1513, Vasco Núñez de Balboa sighted the Pacific Ocean, which he called Mar del Sur (South Sea).
When did Europeans come to the Pacific?
The 16th and 17th centuries Vasco Núñez de Balboa was the first European to sight the Pacific, in 1513; seven years later Ferdinand Magellan rounded South America and sailed across the ocean, missing the main island groups but probably encountering Pukapuka Atoll, in the Tuamotu Archipelago, and Guam.
How was Pacific Islands affected by imperialism?
Foreign diets, illnesses, and economic practices were imposed on the islanders, disrupting native lifestyles, traditions, and even languages. These colonialist practices continue to detrimentally affect islanders.
How did European contact change island societies?
How did European contact change island societies? Island societies began to decline – died of diseases brought by Europeans, western ways replaced traditional customs & Europe & the U.S. took control of the islands, turning them into territories & possessions.
How did Europe colonize the world?
By discovery, conquest, and settlement, these nations expanded and colonized throughout the world, spreading European institutions and culture.
What were the two main reasons for European exploration?
The two main reasons for European exploration were to gain new sources of wealth. By exploring the seas, traders hoped to find new, faster routes to Asia—the source of spices and luxury goods. Another reason for exploration was spreading Christianity to new lands.
How did European countries benefit from colonization?
Many European nations exhibited a growing interest in colonies as sources of raw materials and new markets and as potential outlets for excess population and for administrators who could not be accommodated at home. Opportunities for individual adventurism and profit also ran high.
How were the Pacific islands first settled?
While the first settlers of the Pacific Islands are thought to have crossed over land from northern Australia to New Guinea at least 40,000 years ago, evidence for human movement east of the Solomon Islands originates with groups of master seafarers in southern China approximately 5,000 years ago.
How did European colonization affect Oceania?
Indigenous populations were treated harshly during the colonial period. European powers claimed Australia and Oceania's lands as their own because they considered them terra nullius, or a “no man's land” inhabited by heathen natives. Colonizers implemented their own systems of governance, land management, and trade.
How did contact with Europeans and Americans affect the societies of the Pacific island?
How did contact with Europeans and Americans affect the societies of the Pacific islands? They brought their religion- missionaries, traders (coconut oil) sailers hunted whale. They brought diseases, and took control of the islands.
Why did European countries actively colonize?
Many European nations exhibited a growing interest in colonies as sources of raw materials and new markets and as potential outlets for excess population and for administrators who could not be accommodated at home. Opportunities for individual adventurism and profit also ran high.
Why did Europe colonize the world?
The opportunity to make money was one of the primary motivators for the colonization of the New World. The Virginia Company of London established the Jamestown colony to make a profit for its investors. Europe's period of exploration and colonization was fueled largely by necessity.
How did people settle in the Pacific?
Using their knowledge of tides and stars, Polynesian seafarers explored vast areas of the Pacific. They discovered and settled nearly every inhabitable island in the Pacific Ocean well before European explorers got here in the 16th century.
Where did Europe colonize?
The European colonization of the Americas was the process by which European settlers populated the regions of North, Central, South America, and the islands of the Caribbean. It is also recognized as the direct cause for the cultures of the various indigenous people of those regions being replaced and often eradicated.
Why was Europe successful with colonization?
Gunpowder was really important for conquering territory; it allows a small number of people to exercise a lot of influence. The technology grew to include more than just guns: armed ships, fortifications that can resist artillery, and more, and the Europeans became the best at using these things.
How did people migrate to Pacific Islands?
Pacific islands are so widely scattered that humans lived on them in genetic isolation, and travel between islands by canoe was necessarily undertaken by small groups of perhaps 30 to 200 individuals, who formed a very small founding population on each new island that they reached.
Why did the European countries colonize?
The opportunity to make money was one of the primary motivators for the colonization of the New World. The Virginia Company of London established the Jamestown colony to make a profit for its investors. Europe's period of exploration and colonization was fueled largely by necessity.
How was Europe able to colonize?
Gunpowder was really important for conquering territory; it allows a small number of people to exercise a lot of influence. The technology grew to include more than just guns: armed ships, fortifications that can resist artillery, and more, and the Europeans became the best at using these things.
How did European countries became rich and powerful?
Their power stems primarily from the emergence of the Roman Empire that allow the development of primary technologies (agriculture, weaponery, etc.) and trade which enable the development economic poles across those regions that have usually remained and developed through the centuries.
What were the major effects of European colonialism?
Colonialism's impacts include environmental degradation, the spread of disease, economic instability, ethnic rivalries, and human rights violations—issues that can long outlast one group's colonial rule.
Why were Europeans so successful at colonizing?
Gunpowder was really important for conquering territory; it allows a small number of people to exercise a lot of influence. The technology grew to include more than just guns: armed ships, fortifications that can resist artillery, and more, and the Europeans became the best at using these things.
How did Europe benefit from colonization?
Many European nations exhibited a growing interest in colonies as sources of raw materials and new markets and as potential outlets for excess population and for administrators who could not be accommodated at home. Opportunities for individual adventurism and profit also ran high.
Why was Europe so successful?
In this domain, Europe possessed an undeniable comparative and absolute advantage, early on: European states were simply better at making and using artillery, firearms, fortifications, and armed ships than powers in other parts of the world and they had this advantage long before 1800.
How did colonization affect Europe?
Colonialism's impacts include environmental degradation, the spread of disease, economic instability, ethnic rivalries, and human rights violations—issues that can long outlast one group's colonial rule.
Why was Europe so good at colonizing?
Gunpowder was really important for conquering territory; it allows a small number of people to exercise a lot of influence. The technology grew to include more than just guns: armed ships, fortifications that can resist artillery, and more, and the Europeans became the best at using these things.