The English mariners had been slower than the French to make their way into the distant regions. The comparatively few voyages undertaken by them in the early part of the sixteenth century to the West Indies and Brazil seem to have been usually made in association with French ship-owners and seamen.[1] In the latter half of the sixteenth century, however, England came to be the most formidable opponent of the monopolistic claims of Portugal and Spain. In 1553, a joint-stock company was founded in London for the Guinea trade; between 1562 and 1568 Hawkins made three slave-trading voyages between Africa and the West Indies; subsequently English privateers played havoc with Spanish shipping in West Indian waters, and by 1586, Drake had definitely proved England's mastery of the sea. Upon Spain's command of the sea, as Spain and England were perfectly aware, depended the maintenance not only of Spain's colonial monopoly, but also of her national strength, which was derived from the Indian trade; hence, the great potential importance of uniting the naval forces of the English and Dutch to co-operate against Spain's American fleets. At this time France, on the other hand, had little strength upon the ocean, and sought to defeat Spain on land. For this purpose she received small aid from her allies, and therefore in 1598 she made a separate and advantageous peace with Spain, but was able to arrive at no better understanding in respect to navigation beyond the lines of amity than she had reached in 1559 (Doc. 23, end of introduction).
In the last decade of the sixteenth century, the Dutch were beginning to send out their ships to Guinea and both the Indies. Their well-founded hopes for the future expansion of this commerce strengthened their aversion to reunion with the southern provinces, or Spanish Netherlands, when these, upon receiving from Philip II. in 1598 a quasi-independent status, were prohibited from engaging in the East and West Indian trade (Doc. 24). In the same year, despite some jealousy aroused by the commercial successes of the Dutch, England concluded an alliance with the States General (Doc. 25) which provided for joint aggressive action on the part of their naval forces against the Azores and the Indies.
But the death of Elizabeth, and James's accession, foreshadowed an Anglo-Spanish peace. This Henry IV. endeavored to prevent, urging England to continue her offensive action against the Spanish coasts and colonies. He succeeded only in drawing her into a defensive alliance (Doc. 26), which provided only contingently for such naval operations. Conformably with Henry's expectation, in the following year ( 1604), James made peace with Spain (Doc. 27).
In the discussions preliminary to the treaty of 1604, the right of Englishmen to engage in the Indian trade was argued at length. The question had previously been debated with representatives of Portugal or Spain in 1555,
- ↑ R. G. Marsden, in English Historical Review, XXIV. ( 1909), p. 100.
