Unit 4 (Hiemler) (Still 1450-1750)

So why did states sponsor the expansion of maritime exploration in 1450-1750?

- GOLD, GOD, GLORY GOLD -the economic system that dominated Europe during this time was mercantilism -A mercantilist saw the world's wealth as finite, which is to say, there is only a fixed amount of wealth to be had because they measured that wealth in gold -If you want a bigger piece of the global wealth pie, that means someone else has to have a smaller piece -One of the main reasons why rulers were motivated to expand their trade on the sea is because as they established trading posts, that meant more gold for their coffers. -New trading posts meant new wealth. GOD -Europeans were, by and large, Christians. -And since Christianity is at its heart a missionary religion, they believed it was their duty to convert people in distant lands. -And so there was a religious impulse to this expansion as well. GLORY -At the end of the day, nothing delivers more glory to a state than controlling a large empire -And as many states began to claim territories over the seas, a fierce competition grew up between them to claim lands before other countries did.

Development of Trade Monopolies

-A monopoly is when one entity has total domination over a particular market. -In this case the monopolies granted certain merchants or certain governments exclusive trading rights at given ports. Ex: -the monopoly established by the Spanish over tobacco growth in the Americas. -And since the world couldn't stop smoking, the Spanish grew extraordinarily wealthy as a result of this monopoly

Rebellions of enslaved people

-African slaves had been growing in number in the British colonies for years. -And the general attitude of their enslavers was this: enslaved people, because they are a lower order of human being, are content with their servitude. -But the Stono Rebellion of 1739 kind of put the kibosh on all that kind of thinking. -Twenty enslaved people gathered at the Stono River in South Carolina. -Fed up with the conditions of their servitude, they raided a warehouse where they killed the white workers and put their heads on the steps outside. -They moved through towns killing white people as they went. -And all the while they were chanting, "liberty." -Eventually this little gather grew to about 100 and they fought with the British for a week. -Ultimately the British won, and as a result they made life much harder for their enslaved workforce.

Why did Europeans think that chattle slavery from Africa was a better labor system?

-Africans were property for life & they weren't susceptible to European diseases as they have mingled with the larger afro-Eurasian continent system for forever

Economic Rivalries

-As the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, English, and French established their own trading-post empires political, religious, and economic rivalries emerged. -Some Asian states sought to limit the disruptive economic and cultural effect of European dominated long-distance trade by adopting restrictive or isolationist trade policies like the Tokugawa Shogunate in Japan who would only trade with the Dutch, and Ming China who limited the Portuguese to Macau but allowed them to act as shippers of Chinese silk to Japan and to bring Japanese silver back to them.

What was the Encomienda System?

-Conquistadors were given a plot of land and the job of protecting the Native Americans on that land, but could demand free labor from them in exchange.

This helps to explain how cross-cultural interactions resulted in the diffusion of technology and facilitated changes in patterns of trade and travel from 1450- 1750.

-Developments in tools and ship design, as well as improved understanding of regional wind and current patterns made transoceanic travel possible. -Knowledge, scientific learning and technology from the Classical, Islamic and Asian worlds spread which helped Europeans to innovate and develop their own navigational tools.

Impact of disease spread through the Columbian Exchange

-Disease wiped out between 50-90% of Natives, who didn't have the built up immunity to European diseases, as they were completely isolated. -Small pox in particular was devastating. Smallpox: -Smallpox was an airborne disease that Europeans had been exposed to for many centuries. -And even though it was still devastating, they had built up some immunity to it. -the smallpox contagion was deadly to the natives who had never encountered it before. -It was this disease that was responsible for the large-scale death that occurred in the Americas. -They also brought Malaria, measles and the flu which also brought on destruction. -You might even compare it to the devastating effects of the Black Death in the last period.

Triangular Trade

-Essentially the Triangular Trade was a new and massive system of trade that sprang up in the Atlantic Ocean. -Manufactured goods were traded from Europe to West Africa. -Enslaved people were transported to the Americas. -And in exchange for them, raw materials like sugar, molasses, and lumber were traded back to Europe.

This explains the causes of the Columbian Exchange and its effects on the Eastern and Western Hemisphere.

-European colonization of the Americas led to the unintentional transfer of disease vectors (pests that spread disease) including mosquitoes and rats. -Diseases that spread include smallpox, measles, and malaria. They had catastrophic effects in some areas on the indigenous population. -American foods became staple crops (like the potato and maize) in various parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa. -Cash crops (like sugar) were grown primarily on plantations with coerced labor and were exported mostly to Europe and the Middle East. -Afro-Eurasian fruit trees (oranges), grains (wheat), sugar and domesticated animals (horses) were brought by Europeans to the Americas, while other foods were brought by African slaves (African rice, okra). -Populations in Afro-Eurasia benefitted nutritionally from the increased diversity of American food crops. Some historians think the demographic devastation of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade would have been far worse without the arrival of new staple crops in Africa. -The connections between the Americas and Afro-Eurasia gave rise to the Atlantic trading system that involved the movement of goods, wealth, and labor including enslaved people.

African Population

-Even though the African population was experiencing a large scale deprivation of its menfolk, the African population actually grew significantly during this period -The reason is, again, because of the Columbian Exchange. -While enslaved people were being transferred from East to West, foods like yams and manioc were being introduced into Africa from places like Brazil. -And those new foods population growth

Columbian Exchange in terms of agriculture and labor

-Even though the initial explorers were in search of gold and silver, it didn't take them long to realize that their colonies in the Americas could get them rich through farming. -But there were far too few European colonists to attempt any large-scale agriculture -First solution: enslave the natives and make them do it. -kind of worked but: -he natives knew their own land way better than the Europeans did, and so they often escaped into the hills and forests and it was unlikely that the colonists would find them Ex: -Portuguese dealt with this difficulty in their Brazilian colony -They took to growing sugarcane there and it was making them so wealthy that when the natives ran away the colonists could just go cry in a bag of money. -Second Solution: import enslaved laborers from Africa -in Portugal's case, especially from the Kongo Kingdom -The Africans knew the land less than the Colonists did -As the demand for sugarcane and in other regions, tobacco, spiked, so did the demand for enslaved people from Africa. -And that meant that millions of Africans were forcibly removed from their homes and made to participate in the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

Gunpowder and Maritime Empires

-Gunpowder wasn't the primary means by which European maritime empires grew, -but that doesn't mean they didn't use it—oh they used it. -With the help of gunpowder and all the other technological advancements, Europeans have all they need to sail fast, dominate maritime trade, and blow up copious amounts of their fellow humans.

What was the connection between mercantilism and European states creating colonies?

-If a country wanted gold and silver coming in which is to say wanted a bigger slice of the world pie that means they had to have exports going out which means they need lots of raw materials to make those goods -Mercantilist states need lots of raw materials, which were accessible in their colonies. -They could also force the colonies to buy their manufactured goods to keep gold and silver flowing in, favorable balance of trade. -colonies existed to serve the mother country -Mercantilist policies and practices were used by European rulers to expand and control their economies and claim overseas territories.

Difference between the Middle Passage and the trade of enslaved people on other trade routes

-If you compare the middle passage to the fate of enslaved Africans in the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean trade, you can see the contrast in their fate. -In these trade networks African slaves were more likely to work in sea ports or as household servants or even as sailors. -And because they often were placed in highly populated areas, they had more occasion to develop communities with other dislocated Africans than did the Africans working in isolation on American farms.

Examples of state-sponsored exploration (English): John Cabot

-In 1497 the English state sponsored an explorer named John Cabot. -His aim was to find a northwest passage to Asia so that they didn't have to sail all the way around South America. -Turns out he didn't find such a passage, but he went ahead and claimed all the land from Newfoundland down to Chesapeake Bay for the English. -In 1607 the English established their first colony called Jamestown in the Chesapeake Bay

Examples of state-sponsored exploration (Dutch): Henry Hudson

-In 1609 the Dutch state sent Henry Hudson to seek a northwest passage to Asia. -He found what would later be named the Hudson River and although it didn't lead him to Asia, he went ahead and claimed the Hudson River Valley for the Dutch and called it New Amsterdam

Political, economic, and cultural factors affected societies from 1450-1750.

-In Africa, there was notable gender and family restructuring that occurred including demographic changes due to the slave trade. -For example, in some parts of West Africa there was a distinct gender imbalance due to the desire for adult male slaves. -Because there were more women the practice of polygamy, where one man is married to multiple women, began. -Also, women had to take on traditionally male jobs. -This is a good example of how economic developments from 1450-1750 affected social structures over time

Unit 4 Main Topics

-In the last unit we were concerned with the growth and maintenance of land-based empires. -In Unit 4 we're going to look at how states, especially European ones, began to establish sea-based empires

How was the Portuguese empire different from most other European states?

-Instead of claiming large pieces of land they established a Trading-Post Empire along the African coast. -This helped them to become a major player in the Indian Ocean. -They did, however, establish some traditional colonies, like Brazil. -The Portuguese development of maritime technology and navigational skills led to increased travel to and trade with Africa and Asia and resulted in the construction of a global trading-post empire. -This proved profitable for the rulers and merchants involved in new global trade networks. -It is an example of the process of state building and expansion among maritime empires.

Maritime Empires

-Maritime just means "related to the sea." -Maritime empires didn't grow necessarily because of gunpowder, but because of several other factors

Religious conflict to the Mughal Empire

-Mughal emperors were Muslim but the majority of the Indian people were Hindu -Eventually there was group of Hindu warriors called Maratha who rose up to resist what they felt was an invasion of their beliefs. -In this case, the uprising was successful. -They brought the Mughal Empire to an end and established the Maratha Empire in its place.

Systems of Labor in the Americas?

-Newly developed colonial economies in the Americas largely depended on agriculture and utilized existing labor systems, including the Incan mit'a. -They also introduced new labor systems including chattle slavery, indentured servitude, and encomienda and hacienda systems. -The growth of plantation economies increased the demand for slaves in the Americas, leading to significant changes.

Technology that allowed for the growth of Maritime Empires

-Now Europeans had long benefited from trade on the Silk Road and the Indian Ocean. -But because Muslims controlled many of the ports and much of the land that those trades, crossed through, it was difficult for Europeans to establish trade on their own terms. -Because of this, Europeans wondered is there another way to Asia -They looked westward, they needed new technologies for their ships -Now, they had learned plenty from the Greeks and the Asians and the Muslims, who at this time were advanced far beyond the Europeans. Tech: -The Europeans inherited was increasingly accurate records of wind patterns. -Also they inherited increasingly detailed astronomical charts, they have existed for a long time but they became far more complex and detailed -Also Europeans inherited technologies like the: -astrolabe, told sailors how far north or south they were from the equator. -the magnetic compass, gave sailors the ability to know exactly which direction they were headed thanks to the north/south magnetic field that runs across the Earth -the lateen sail, triangular sail that could catch wind on both sides of the ship, as opposed to the old square sails that could only catch wind from one direction; And for those ships that successfully combined square sails and lateen sails, that meant they could travel further into the ocean and therefore expand trade routes. -Portuguese caravel -the Dutch fluyts -All lead to Rapid expansion of European trade in 1450-1750.

Indian Ocean Trade

-Now the advent of the Atlantic trade was altogether new during this period. -But the Indian Ocean trade was still going strong. -Just as they always had, states vied for dominance over these routes. -For example, a big rivalry developed between the Europeans and the Muslims to control these trade routes -In 1509 the Portuguese defeated Muslim forces in a battle over trade rights. -The Portuguese had really good ships -But once they tried to defeat Morrocan Muslims on land, they weren't so fortunate, and suffered a pretty humiliating defeat.

joint-stock company

-Now under mercantilism a new kind of company was formed to finance colonial expansion, the joint-stock company. -Under this model, exploration and expansion of empire was financed not by the government, but by private investors who pooled their money together. -And once they did, the investors would share in the profits and losses of the venture. -Two prominent examples of joint-stock companies are the British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company. -Now not every European state adopted this new means of expansion. -Over in Spain and Portugal, the kings and queens were still footing the bills for exploration and expansion

Changing of Social Hierarchies

-One of the effects of the expansion of sea-based empires was the changing of social hierarchies all throughout the world. Social Hierarchies: It just means that in a given society, people are ranked one higher or lower than the other based on things like status or wealth.

Social Hierarchy in the Americas

-Over here it was a completely new formation of social hierarchy occasioned by the introduction of Europeans to the West. -Here it was a social hierarchy based on ancestry and race, it was called the Casta System. -And the Casta System was organized: -On top were the peninsulares, which is to say, those who were born on the Iberian peninsula, Europe -Next down were the criollos which were Europeans born in the Americas. -Next down were the castas, who were those of mixed ancestry, and the castas made up a further hierarchy within themselves: (-First the was the mestizos who were mixed European and indigenous ancestry. -Second were the mulattoes which were mixed European and African ancestry. -Third were the zambos which were mixed indigenous and African ancestry. -And then at the bottom of all were the indigenous and African people themselves.) -It was a lot like the Hindu caste system in that you were born into your particular caste and that was your caste for life. -And this was true for the casta system because it was strictly based on ancestry. -However, one difference between the two is that under the casta system you could marry into a different section of the hierarchy but it didn't happen often

Uprising against Empires in the Americas

-Over in the Americas there were similar uprisings against empires. Spain: -In the Spanish colonies of North America, the Pueblo and Apache Indians fought against the Spanish in what became known as the Pueblo Revolt. -The Indians had grown tired of the Spanish trying to force conversions to Christianity and so they killed hundreds of Spanish colonizers and burned their churches to the ground. -However, about ten years later, the Spanish came right back and reconquered the territory. British: -In the British colonies, we have what's called Metacom's War. -This was the final large-scale attempt of the natives of North America to rid their land of the British. -The British, however, won a decisive victory and subjugated most y of the remaining natives.

Resistance that came from the enslaved communities of these empires (Russia)

-Russian peasants who worked the land were known as serfs. -They were tied to land owned by the nobles and provided labor without pay or with next to no pay -The serfs were practically slaves because whenever the land was sold, the serfs were sold along with it -And as you can imagine, a system like this could only go on so long. -And in 1774 there was a fierce show of resistance to it. -Southwest of Moscow near the Black Sea there was a haven for runaway serfs. -These folks were called Cossacks and they happened to be skilled fighters. -Well, in 1774, they rose up in rebellion against the system of serfdom perpetuated by Catherine the Great -And this became known as the Pugachev Rebellion. -This group of serfs managed to gain some ground, but eventually they were crushed by the superior power of the Russian state. -As a consequence, Catherine clamped down even harder on serfs in order to prevent another uprising

African Slave Trade

-Slavery in Africa had existed before the Trans-Atlantic Slavey trade & continued there in its traditional form, including the incorporation of slaves into households and the export of slaves to the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean regions. -The slave trade in Africa also fostered the growth of states like the Asante and the Kingdom of Kongo in West Africa & Central Africa who participated in trade networks and increased their influence because of it.

Middle Passage

-So once Africans were sold to the Europeans, they had to endure the brutal middle passage across the Atlantic. -They were stuffed so tightly in the hulls of ships that many of them died from disease and some even from suffocation. -This disrupted family organizations. -As Europeans grew wealthy from agriculture in the Americas, demand for enslaved people spiked -Proportionally more men were taken than women, and that led to the rise of polygyny which is when one man takes multiple wives. -And once the Africans finally arrived on their plantations, they were dislocated from their family and their culture, and separated from all those networks of families and communities

Cultural effects of the African Slave Trade

-Some African states were severely weakened by the slave trade, for example, the Kingdom of the Kongo. -But because it was so profitable, the trade continued. -lead to demographic changes: -Since those captured and enslaved were in the majority males, that left a lot of women without husbands. -This reality led to the rise of the practice of polygyny which is a situation in which men take more than one wife. Population: -Additionally, Africa experienced a significant decline in population as a result of the slave trade -However, because of the Columbian Exchange and the introduction of American foods to Africa like maize and manioc, the population began to grow in spite of its depletion.

This also helps to explain the role of states in the expansion of maritime exploration from 1450-1750

-States like Spain and Portugal paid for the transoceanic maritime explorations of people like Columbus that occurred in this period to benefit themselves. -Once they were successful, this dramatically increased European interest in transoceanic travel and trade including the Northern Atlantic crossings undertaken by the English, French, and Dutch -also with the goal of finding a route to Asia.

Impact of plants

-The Europeans introduced wheat and grapes eventually became staples of the American diet. -The Mesoamericans introduced some very important food items to the Europeans. -For example, cacao, maize (which is a kind of corn), and potatoes -Lead to an expanded diet and massive population growth in Europe

Examples of state-sponsored exploration (French)

-The French state also wanted to find a northwest passage through the Americas and when they couldn't they went ahead and claimed part of the land which is now Canada. -And when they discovered how rich this land was in natural resources, they decided they didn't really need to find a way to Asia. -Just one year after the establishment of Jamestown the French established Quebec. -But in general, the French did not establish permanent settlements like the English did, Instead they became more interested in using these new territories as trading posts with the natives -And as you might imagine, that meant that the French had better relations with the native Americans.

Minorities and Women in the Ottoman Social Hierarchy

-The Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492. -The homeless Jews found sanctuary in the Ottoman Empire, especially in Istanbul -Even so, they were made to pay the jizya which is the tax that non-Muslims had to pay, and they were confined to live only in certain parts of the city. -As far as women in the Ottoman Empire, they didn't have much direct power, but many of the sultan's wives and concubines vied to promote their own sons to positions of power -This is what's known as harem politics. -So in this way, this particular group of women could wield some significant power.

Cultural Control in the Qing Dynasty

-The Qing Dynasty was established in 1644 by the Manchu people from Manchuria. -And as is probably obvious, they were Manchurian and therefore not Chinese. -So in establishing their empire, the Qing did retain a few distinctively Chinese institutions like the Civil Service Examination and the bureaucracy. -Partially this was to legitimize their power in the sight of the Chinese population they ruled over. -The majority of China's population was Han Chinese -And the Qing weren't really into tolerating Han culture. -If you didn't work for the government, you could wear traditional Han clothing if you wanted -But if you did work for the government men were required to wear their hair in the traditional braided queues of the Manchurians. -And if Han men refused to wear their hair in queues, they would be executed -Hair style is a part of a people's culture, and people don't willingly give up their culture to foreign rulers. -And as a result of this reality, the Qing ended up massacring hundreds of thousands of the Han who resisted their rule.

Examples of state-sponsored exploration (Spain)

-The Spanish state also sponsored exploration and two names you should know here are Ferdinand Magellan and Christopher Columbus. Magellan: -Magellan was the first to circumnavigate the globe by going west and then south around the tip of South America. -And when he landed in the Philippines it wasn't long before Spain annexed the network of islands and set up a significant trading post that attracted many Asian merchants. Christopher Columbus: -The Spanish state sponsored this guy to seek a new westward route to Asia and to look for some gold and silver to boot. -Eventually that journey across the sea led Columbus into contact with the Aztec and Inca Empires where he found metric buttloads of the gold and silver sought by the Spanish. -And that discovery made it worth the expense to keep traveling there. -Eventually the Spanish discovered that if they enslaved the natives (and later Africans) and forced them into agriculture, they could become wealthy beyond their wildest imaginations. -Columbus's contact with these peoples led to some massive changes known as the Columbian Exchange

African Rebellion

-The growth of powerful African States like Kongo, led other African states to rebel. -For example Queen Ana Nzinga, ruler of Ndongo and Matamba in Central Africa, resisted the Portuguese through both diplomacy and warfare. -Additionally, enslaved people rebelled against their own imprisonment in Chattel slavery. -In the Americas runaway slaves formed Maroon societies in the Caribbean and Brazil where they could live freely. -Others enacted armed rebellion such as Nat Turner's rebellion in the early 19th century and the take over of the small ship the Amistad around the same time, which led to enslaved people gaining their freedom from the Supreme Court of the United States.

Commercial Revolution

-The huge infusion of gold and silver into the world economy from the Americas had a profound effect. -What this means is that goods are, in large part, being traded for gold and silver instead of other goods. -The Chinese especially had a desire for more silver and they got it by trading luxury goods like silk.

Cultural Syncretism

-The mixing of African, American, and European cultures and peoples led to the development of cultural and religious syncretism. -For example, the religion Santeria was started by enslaved Africans who were forced to practice Catholicism in the Americas. -It is practiced in Cuba & combines west African Yoruban indigenous beliefs with Catholicism. -Catholic saints were believed to have dual identities, such as Saint Lazarus being associated with the orisha (spirit) Bablu-Aye because they both associated with healing the sick.

Environmental impact of the Columbian Exchange

-The natives of the Americas had been farming for a long time. -And they had developed ways to live with the land sustainably. -But when the European colonists arrived and grew wealthy through agriculture, they began to use the land much more aggressively. -And that led to large-scale deforestation and the eventual depletion of the soil. -Also, because Europeans tended to live in more densely populated settlements than did the natives, they put greater strain on the water supplies and introduced greater amounts of pollution.

Impact of animals spread through the Columbian Exchange

-The sharing of animals and food went much more both ways in the exchange and in many cases completely transformed the respective societies into which they were introduced. -Pigs, horses and cows were introduced to the Americas by the Europeans. -Horses allowed natives to hunt buffalos with greater efficiency which allowed for an excess of food. -Horses also gave Natives a competitive advantage against those without horses, which meant it was easier for natives to kill other natives.

Labor systems that kept the imperial machine running (Chattel Slavery)

-The word chattel means a piece of property. -So this is a kind of slavery in which people owned other people as property. -Some African states had long provided their own people as slaves in the Indian Ocean trade, but it was the Atlantic Slave Trade that really devastated Africa. Why did the Europeans target Africans for their coerced labor systems? -they established several systems to coerce the natives to work for them, yet there was two problems with that: -First, the supply was severely diminished by European diseases. -Second, because the natives knew their own land far better than the colonizers, it was much easier for them to escape, which they often did. -And so, the attempt to enslave natives was a large-scale failure. What did they try? -Up in North America, the British colonists tried indentured servitude which compelled people to work for seven years and then they became free. -But they had trouble with that system because once the servants had completed their indenture, they had this rude habit of actually going free. And so chattel slavery solved all these problems for the Europeans: -Africans who arrived as slaves knew the land even less than the Europeans. -And since there was no end to their term of servitude, they were in no danger of going free

Changes to Social Hierarchies in the Ottoman Empire

-Their social structure was built around a warrior aristocracy. -And these folks began competing for power with the ulama which were the Islamic scholars who held the power. -There was an elite squad of soldiers in the military called the Janissaries. -They too began to yearn for power too. -And in some cases they staged coups to overthrow the sultan. -The reason there was so much unrest with the Ottomans is because during this time they suffered from a string of incapable sultans. -Now this reality gave rise to a power shift in the sultanate. -Viziers, who were advisors to the sultan, consolidated much of the power in the empire.

Transoceanic trade and the Europeans (extra info)

-These new transoceanic and regional shipping services developed by European merchants helped regional markets in Afro-Eurasia continue to flourish -Even with the disruptions due to the arrival of the Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch merchants in the Indian Ocean -traditional inter-Asian trade and Asian merchants thrived, for example the Arabs on the Swahili Coast in Africa.

What was a Hacienda?

-They were huge plantations on which Native Americans were forced to work. -Spanish landowners turned their encomiendas, their little land grants, into huge plantations

Social Hierarchy in Europe

-Up top in Europe was the royalty, and under them was the nobility, which is to say the landed aristocracy. France: -Now, with the rise of absolutist thinking during this time, they royalty and nobility began to seriously struggle for power. - Louis XIV, Mr. "I am the state" won that battle in France by draining the power of the nobility and forcing them to relocate to his palace at Versailles so he could keep a close eye on their behavior. Russia: -In Russia we can also see tensions in the social hierarchy. -Over there, the structure went like this: -Boyars were the folks at the top of the hierarchy (under the tsar, of course), and they were the landed aristocracy. -Next you had the merchants. -At the bottom of all, you had the peasants, who were, of course, the most numerous. -During this time much of the peasantry sank into poverty and debt and became serfs. -And this meant that they worked the land of the nobles without much hope of ever leaving that land because of their debts. -Now the main conflict was between the boyars and the tsar. -The Boyars opposed the expansionist policies of Ivan the IV, who summarily entered into armed conflict with these nobles, and won. -As a result of this victory, Ivan confiscated their land and forced them to relocate to Moscow where they lived under Ivan's great, lidless eye.

What was indentured servitude?

-Used mostly by the British in North America, it was a system where servants were bound to work for seven years and then could go free. -did'nt work because after about 7 years they went free

Continuity of traditional regional markets with respect to trade.

-We've been talking a lot about the growth of big state trade, but the trade of peasant and artisan goods flourished too. -Examples include silk from China, cotton from India, and wool and linen from Western Europe.

Responses of Asia to the European imperial expansion (especially Japan)

-Whereas some African states were somewhat open to European influence, Japan offers us a good illustration of a state that closed itself off from European influence. -When the Dutch and Portuguese first showed up with merchants and missionaries, the Japanese were relatively tolerant of their influence. -But as the Japanese officials began to observed a growing European, and especially Christian, influence in their people, they shut it down. -They closed off all trade with Europeans and did their best to purge from Japan all European influence and foreign religion.

What was mercantilism?

-dominant economic system in Europe during this period -Based on the belief that there was a finite amount of gold and silver in the world (how they measured wealth), and that having the most of it would lead to the strongest state, -Europeans competed for wealth. -if you really believe that only one pie exists in the world and you want a bigger slice of that pie that means necessarily that somebody else has to have a smaller slice of that pie -everybody wants all the pie so intense rivalries among the European powers arose -This is an example of how rulers employed economic strategies to consolidate and maintain power.

How did the British and Dutch governments support exploration and colonization in a new and innovative way?

-in general it was the States who were paying for this exploration and colonization -They created joint-stock companies. -This was a way to fund exploration and colonization through private investors. -Investors could make tremendous profits if the ventures were successful, but shared the financial burden and risk -Rulers employed economic strategies to consolidate and maintain power. -This included the creation of Joint-Stock companies, influenced by mercantilist principles, that were used to finance exploration and were used by rulers to compete against one another in global trade.

Labor systems that kept the imperial machine running (Spanish)

-it was largely coerced labor that supported the expansion of empires. -several Forms of coerced labor: Hacienda system of Labor: -The Spanish government granted haciendas (which is to say, land holdings) to conquistadors and Spanish nobles who were willing to make the trip across the sea. -And that land was under their control to farm or to lease to other Spaniards of the lower class -And once these folks of lower class started working for the lords, they were unlikely ever to stop because of their exceedingly low wages and the enormous debts they had to pay to the owners of the land. -And many of these lords grew fabulously wealthy on the backs of their workers, especially with the cultivation of sugarcane. Encomienda System -used by the Spanish -This wasn't so much a land grant like hacienda, but it was more of a system of labor. -The beneficiary of the encomienda system was granted responsibility for a certain number of natives. -The nobles gave protection and Christian education to the natives in return for tribute, and most often that tribute came in the form of their labor. -Similar to Feudal Europe -It's not that these natives were slaves, but they weren't NOT slaves either. Mita System -Third, the Spanish took advantage of an existing labor system in the Americas, namely the mit'a system. -They borrowed this labor system from the Incas. -And under the Incan Empire, the mit'a system provided the state with labor by compelling certain people work on public projects for a given number of days per year. -The Spanish came to the Americas in search of gold. -Now they certainly found some, but not enough to cure them of their desire for wealth. -But when they found amounts of silver buried in the American earth, they decided that the Incan forced labor system might serve them well. -And so the Spaniards compelled native villages to send a portion of its men to do the dangerous work of silver mining for next to no wages.

What was Repartimiento or Mita?

-neither the encomienda nor the hacienda systems worked for long so they turned to the Incan Mita System -Native Americas were forced to work for part of the year for the Spanish, similar to the Inca Mit'a system. -However, the Mit'a was for public benefit while the Spanish Mita was for private gain -The labor of American Indians and enslaved Africans helped to facilitate the new global circulation of goods because of the global flow of silver, especially from Spanish colonies in the Americas, which was used to purchase Asian goods for Atlantic markets and to satisfy the Chinese demand for silver.

What is the Columbian Exchange?

-the Columbian Exchange changed the world in ways that few other events had. -In the short run, the Columbian Exchange meant disaster for the natives of the Americas and extraordinary profitability and wealth for the Europeans. -But in the long run, for all involved, the Columbian Exchange introduced new ways of life (and death) through the mutual sharing of the East and West. -name comes from Christopher Columbus whose landing on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola launched the transaction.

Responses of Africa the European imperial expansion (especially Portuguese)

-the Portuguese were the first to establish an empire in Africa, yet it was different, it was a trading post empire -By setting up ports of trade at strategic locations along the African coast, the Portuguese grew exceedingly rich by controlling trade. -And these trading posts were usually established in cooperation with local African leaders. -Once they arrived, the Portuguese traded with the Africans, offering them gunpowder weapons in exchange for enslaved people. -And once some African leaders had guns, it gave them a supreme advantage over their neighboring tribes who did not have guns -at least some of the African peoples were open to influence from the Europeans. -In fact, some African states grew exceedingly wealthy by trading enslaved people to the Portuguese. -Some African states raided other states to get enslaved people to sell to the Europeans. -But not only were these African states benefiting from economic growth, they also experienced some cultural borrowing from the Europeans as well. Ex: -In the Kingdom of the Kongo, King Alfonso I converted to Christianity and you can see Christian influence in the art coming out of the Kingdom of Kongo during this time. -

Mercantilism

-the dominant economic system of the European states that were doing most of the colonizing during this period was called mercantilism. -And the main idea here is that the mercantilist system assumed that there was a fixed amount of wealth in the world. -Like a pie -If there's only one pie, that means if I'm going to get a bigger piece of the pie, then someone else has to get a smaller piece. -And the main operating principles of mercantilism are as follows: -Number one, a state's wealth is measured in gold and silver. -Number two, a state's main economic goal is to create a favorable balance of trade, more exports than imports which means gold and silver are coming in -Number three, colonies exist to serve the mother country, especially with raw materials.

What is a Maritime Empire?

A sea-based empire. -the leading player in this new kind of Empire was Europe and -That's kind of a big deal because up to this point world history of Europe is kind of behind everybody else in terms of economics and empire building -but during this period Europeans assumed a primary place on the world stage as an imperial to be reckoned with

Europeans and the the cultures of the peoples they conquered

A significant question any expanding empire has to answer is this: how do we deal with the belief systems of the people we conquer? -the Mongols decided it was best to be tolerant of people's religious beliefs, as did Akbar in the Mughal Empire. -But in general, Europeans, when they were in the business of empire-building, did the opposite -Because of the spread of European diseases among the native Americans, much of their cultural and social systems were wiped clean. -Even those who survived the onslaught of smallpox had a further erasure of their culture. -For example, Hernan Cortes, upon conquering native peoples, had all their books burned. -And once their history was gone, the Spanish transplanted their language into these places, further diminishing native culture.

Political, religious, and economic rivalries that spurred European expansion on.

British: -After driving the French out of India during the Seven Years' War, Britain gained significant influence in India. -At the beginning of their time in India, Britain had established your average trading posts which were run by the British East India Company. -Under this arrangement, they were pretty restricted by the Mughal Empire and therefore held very little territory. -But because of the growing tensions between the Hindus and Muslims, the British were able to play each faction against the other and ended up consolidating power for themselves. Spain: -With the arrival of Columbus and the diseases he and his men carried, the Spanish eventually toppled the Aztec and Incan Empires. -By 1521 the colony of New Spain was established on the ashes of the Aztec Empire, and -by 1572 they had conquered the Incans as well. -But the Spanish had to deal with rivalries of their own, namely, with the Portuguese. -Spain and Portugal vied powerfully to control new empires in the Americas. -Finally they settled their differences in the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494. -According to this treaty, the Portuguese controlled all the land east of a particular meridian line (essentially Brazil) and the Spanish controlled all the land west of the meridian. -There were other rivalries in empire building, like the Dutch and the British in the North American colonies, -and the French and the British in Canada

Changes and Continuity

Changes: -People from all over the world had always explored the seas. -What is new here is the large-scale state sponsorship of those explorations.

What were some of the most significant exchanges due to the Columbian Exchange?

Disease: ● From Europe to Americas: Smallpox killed up to 90% of the Native American population in some places. ● From the Americas to Europe? Debatable, but Europeans believed that Syphilis came to them from the Americas. Food & Animals: ● From Europe to the Americas: Sugar, horses ● From the Americas to Europe: Potatoes, Maize, Guinea Pigs People: ● Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade: Chattle Slavery. People from Africa were taken as property to work on plantations in the Americas. -once the colonizing Europeans realize that the climate in the Americas made for great agriculture and once they failed miserably to make other systems of Labor worked they turn to the importation of enslaved people from Africa

The general resistance that these empires would face when it conquers people (Portugal) *don't need to know*

Ex: -As Portugal expanded its empire into Africa, they experienced resistance from some of their allies -One of their allies was the ruler of Ndongo, Queen Ana Nzinga. -Her kingdom was plagued by slave raids from Portugal and attacks from neighboring tribes. -So she entered an agreement with Portugal in which the Portuguese agreed to cease the slave raids and offer protection against her neighboring tribes. -During her talks with the Portuguese, Queen Nzinga proved herself to be a pretty powerful woman -The Portuguese brought in chairs for themselves and a mat for her to sit on. -This, of course, was the way they communicated their social dominance over her. -Seeing the arrangement, Queen Nzinga ordered one of her servants to get down on all fours and act as her chair -But even after their agreement was made, the Portuguese couldn't help themselves from continuing to take land from her kingdom. -So she allied with the Dutch and incited a rebellion against the Portuguese and continued to resist their influence for decades.

What was the Columbian Exchange? Who was it named after?

It was named after Christopher Columbus who was the first European of this era to find the Americas. -landed in the Caribbean islands -It was a biological exchange of animals, people, food, and diseases between the hemispheres.

Why did Europeans use enslaved Africans for labor in the Americas?

Native Americans had died in such great numbers that they could not fulfill European's desire for labor in the Americas. -This section explains the changes and continuities in economic & labor systems, including systems of slavery in the period from 1450-1750.

What kind of technology helped Europeans to create their maritime empires?

New Ships: ● The Fluyt, the Caravel, the Carrack ● Ships were smaller, faster, cheaper to build, nimbler on the seas. ● Ships were intended for trade only & not to be converted into warships. Started with the Portuguese. This made them cheaper. Maritime Technology: ● Lateen sail borrowed from Arabs and Chinese made them faster and nimbler; this was a triangular sail that allowed sailors to harness wind on both sides of the boat instead of just waiting for it to blow from behind ● Improved astronomical charts to help figure out where they were when at sea. ● Astrolabe & compass also for navigation and to pinpoint a ships exact location; and borrowed from Asia -didn't invent these technologies they just harness their power for their own purposes during this time -made it possible for Europeans to venture out into the Atlantic Ocean to search for a sea route to Asia

Examples of state-sponsored exploration (Portugal)

Portugal -It's hard to think of another nation whose whole state/exploration knot was tied tighter. -Portugal juts right into Spain's backside, and that means they only have one way to expand: into the sea. Portuguese explorers worth noting: -Bartholomew Diaz: In 1488 Diaz sailed all the way around the southern tip of Africa and then returned home. -Vasco de Gama: Ten years later he sailed around the southern tip of Africa and continued all the way to India. And when he landed in India, he claimed that territory as part of Portugal's empire -In 1514 Portuguese traders arrived in China. -Initially they had little effect on the Chinese, but after the merchants came the missionaries. -Two sects of Catholic missionaries made it their aim to convert the Chinese: The Franciscans worked to convert the mass of Chinese people while the Jesuits worked to convert the elite. -Now they had some success, but the vast majority of the Chinese considered these Christians barbarians and therefore, overall, their impact was minor. State Building -But with all these accomplishments under their belt, the Portuguese began work on empire building -And for them it wasn't the traditional means of empire building, which is to say, get as much land as possible under your command. -Rather, the Portuguese established what's known as a trading-post empire. -This means that they claimed small amounts of land at strategic locations around the African coast and throughout the Indian Ocean. -Their goal was to possess a complete monopoly over the spice trade and to charge all other ships passing through the ports they controlled.

Two responses to the spread of religion:

Religious Beliefs: -And as religion spread into new territories during this time, there were essentially two responses: syncretism and conflict. Syncretism: -Syncretism just means the blending of two or more beliefs into one. Ex: -Africans melded their traditional, indigenous religions with the Christianity of the Europeans. -They combined Christianity's major doctrines with beliefs about the African spirit world and the importance of dance and movement. -Over in the Americas, many indigenous people embraced Christianity and combined it with the celebration of their own holy days. Conflict: Ex: -A good example is the Sunni/Shi'a divide among the Muslims. -Was pretty old but this split was intensified in the conflict between the Ottomans -Another good example of religious conflict during this period was the Protestant Reformation. -This was a split in the Christian church that separated Roman Catholics from the newly formed Protestants -And the split occurred for many reasons, but perhaps the most significant was the differing interpretation of the doctrine of salvation.

All of this cross-Atlantic empire building led to massive changes in trade patterns across the Atlantic Ocean, yet how were the Indian Ocean Trades Networks?

The Indian Ocean trade networks were still going strong: -And although there was significant change there as well with the huge infusion of European merchants, the Indian Ocean network pretty much absorbed the changes and kept doing its thing -However, there are some changes Changes: -For example, trade along the Indian Ocean networks had always been maintained by ethnic and religious ties. -But when the Portuguese showed up with cannons all over their ships, they used military might to make trade favorable for themselves. -Even so, much of the intra-Asian and Asian merchants traded just as they always had.

Portuguese and Dutch maritime technology (Technology that allowed for the growth of Maritime Empires)

The Portuguese created a new ship called a caravel. -And some of the chief advantages of the caravel compared to the older technology of ships are: -The caravel was much smaller and therefore was highly navigable along coastlines and rivers. -They were fast because of their combination of square sails and lateen sails. -But despite their diminutive size, these caravels could carry metric buttloads of cargo for trade -The Dutch invented a new kind of ship as well, and theirs was called a fluyt. -Most merchant ships before this time were built in such a way that if they were needed for battle in a navy, they could be easily converted into a warship. -But when the Dutch built their fleet of fluyts, they built those ships exclusively for trade -And that meant that they were built with enormous cargo bays which could carry far more tradable goods than before -That also meant that they could sail these ships with much smaller crews. -And that ALSO meant that to build these ships was about half the cost of the older technology. -And the result of all of this is that the Dutch had a growing competitive advantage in maritime trade. -All lead to Rapid expansion of European trade in 1450-1750.

What motivated Europeans to explore the oceans?

They wanted a sea route to Asia because Muslims controlled many land-based routes making it impossible for Europeans to trade on their own terms. -Ran into the Americas and spurred on the Columbian Exchange -This helps to explain the economic causes of maritime exploration by various European states.

What was the Casta System that developed in Latin America?

With the introduction of Europeans into the Americas, The Casta was a new social hierarchy system that organized society based on ancestry and race. ● Peninsulares who were born in Europe. ● Criollos (Creoles) who were Europeans born in the Americas. ● Castas who were people of mixed race heritage ○ Mestizos: European and Native American ○ Mulattos: European and African ○ Zambos: African and Native American ● Native American ● African -Imperial conquests and widening global economic opportunities contributed to the formation of new political and economic elites in the Americas with the rise of the Casta System. -This is a good example of how economic developments from 1450 to 1750 affected social structures over time.