1. Which was the main Reason that European nations competed to establish colonies along the coasts of Africa in the fifteenth Ce
ntury? A) Their Desire to control eastward trade routes B) their hope to uncover westward trade routes C) Their need to explore the interior of the continent D) Their plans to establish missions to spread Christianity
Eastern trade routes were of high importance because access to them brought high profits to the European nations. But it was a long route and therefore port stations were needed for the safety of ships and goods. The monopoly over the African Coastline proved vital for supremacy in Indian Oceans and therefore to protect their colonial interest. European nations competed to establish colonies along the coast of Africa.
Lack of representation was a motivating factor for the revolutions in both regions. Neither the Latin American colonists nor the American colonists had seats in the parliaments of the European colonial powers they belonged to.
None of the revolutions were peaceful, all the colonies had to wage war against their colonial masters. Mexico and Perú, the two most important Spanish colonies, underwent particularly bloody wars.
Fiscal difficulties helped bring about the revolutions: England was almost bankrupt because of the French-Indian War, and raised taxes on the American colonies, which angered the American leaders, and Spain was conquered by Napoleon, who raised taxes on the Latin American colonies.
Three differences:
The American revolution occurred decades earlier. The United States became an independent nation in 1776. By 1820, 44 years later, over half of Latin American colonies were still fighting for independence.
The American revolution did not have any direct historic event as inspiration, because of how early it came about, meanwhile, the Latin American revolutions were greatly inspired by both the American revolution and the French revolution.
The American revolution led to the formation of a federal state, most of the Latin American revolutions resulted in the formation of centralized states inspired by the French style of administration.
