Chapter 1: The Material and Trading Worlds, circa 1400

Population Density and Civilization

> 350 mil. in 1400 were clustered - most land was not suitable > the most densely populated regions corresponded with the 15 most highly developed civilizations - these 15 civilizations all had a special relationship between those who lived in the countryside producing the food supply and those in the cities who consumed surpluses of food

the weight of numbers

> 6 bil. people today > 350 mil. six hundred years ago > 80% of population were peasants > Three great waves of pop. increase and decrease 1. 900-3000 C.E. -> pop. increase - 1350 C.E. -> sharp decrease -> Black Death 2. 1400-1650->pop. increase 3. 1700-current -> pop. increase - expected to halt by 2100

Agricultural Revolution

> Fertile Crescent (Iraq): first place in the world where people learned how to grow their own food and to raise their own animals > change from hunting-and-gathering to a sedentary agricultural society > agricultural revolution gave rise to: cities and writing

THE BLACK DEATH: A Mid-14th Century Conjuncture

> also known as the bubonic plague > a result of bacillus - a disease-producing bacterium that was endemic among rodents in southwestern China > passed to humans through flea bites > would have stayed in China and not become a worldwide issue if the following had not happened: - rodent host pop. in Europe grew when black rat began living in people's houses - shortages of land and fuel due to pop. growth - adverse climate conditions - Mongol riders heading west probably transmitted the plague across Eurasia - regional trading network also spread it - trading city of Caffa spread it > not purely natural; required many circumstances > illustrates the impact of epidemic disease on human pop. > demonstrates the early connectedness of the world

CONCLUSION: The Biological Old Regime

> biological ancien regime OR biological "old regime": balancing act of people fending off or dying from macro- and microparasites > humans lived in the environment which had limited opportunities > agriculture provided food and raw materials > depended on solar energy to grow crops food and fuel > human activity drew upon renewable sources of energy supplied on an annual basis by the sun > agriculture was the primary means by which humans altered their environment > size of human pop. limited by land availability and availability of people to cultivate it > Black Death dramatically reduced global pop. especially in China and Europe > global pop. began increasing again from 1400 > market specialization spread allowing economies to produce more

Wildlife

> by 1400, humans had migrated to or through virtually every place on the globe > wolves roamed through most of Europe > tigers in China > greatest amount of wildlife in New World (specifically North America) > the more people, the less wildlife > expansion of the human population on earth meant less land and habitat availaible for other species

THE WORLD AND ITS TRADING SYSTEM CIRCA 1400

> during the 14th c.e. the Old World (Eurasian continent and Africa) had been connected by eight interlinking trading zones within 3 great subsystems: 1) East Asia subsystem 2) Middle East-Mongolian subsystem 3) European subsystem > 3 primary trade routes in the eastern Mediterranean > this trading system was important because: - its existence is surprising to many historians - it functioned without a central controlling or dominating force (trade circuits had dominating groups); the world was polycentric (contained several regional systems each with its own core); stayed this way until 1800 when Europeans colonized most of the world - called a world system NOT because it encompassed the world, but because it was greater than any given part

Climate Change

> general cause of the premodern pop. increases due to food production > better climatic conditions improved harvests while harvest failures could be disastrous

Population Growth and Land

> had pros and cons > an increase in humans means success in obtaining food > greater populations made advancing easier and faster > pop. growth = improving conditions and rising standards > pop. growth requires additional food - came from 3 sources in 1400: 1) bringing more land to cultivation, 2) increasing labor inputs, or 3) increasing amount of water or fertilizer > requires human migration > too much/fast pop. growth = famine and increase in susceptibility to epidemic diseases

Peasant Revolt

> if the gov't had sufficient military force, peasants either endured or fled > peasant community required collective action to succeed

Towns and Cities in 1400

> nine of the world's largest cities were all in China - the wealth of the world in 1400 (as measured by the number and size of cities) was concentrated in Asia

Nomads

> obtained their food by hunting and gathering > mobility on horses was a way of life > not completely self-sufficient; needed things from the cities > had a symbiotic relationship with civilizations; mostly peaceful

Epidemic Disease

> peasantry made it possible for various forms of maroparasites to live off of them > epidemic diseases carried by microparasites > spread was initially slow, but as the world became more connected, epidemic disease could move much more rapidly

Famine

> too easy to blame on "natural causes" > more of a "social phenomenon" in peasant societies - government oppression of peasants lead to the peasants developing concept of rights

INTRO

> two major structural aspects of the world in 1400: 1. material and natural conditions (biological old regime) 2. trading networks > material world: most people lived restricted lives > trading world: commercial; brought the parts of the world into greater contact > globalization is hardly new > major point about the 15th century: Most of its people shared a basically material world. - because most people obtained their food via agriculture > The no. of people on earth is an important indicator of the success humans have had