Concepts & Relevant Factual Examples in underline / “Facts”
- Describe the degree of global “interconnection” after 1500 CE compared to before 1500. What were the overall effects of this change in global interconnectedness? This is meant to be a general answer here.
- How did the global trade network after 1500 affect the pre-existing regional trade networks?
- What technological developments made transoceanic European travel and trade possible? Where did those developments originate?
European travel and trade was simplified by the development of new navigational instruments. These new tools include the astrolabe from the Islamic world, and improved maps drawn up by the Europeans. New ship innovations, including the caravel, a highly maneuverable ship, made trade easier. The Portuguese invented this. A new understanding of weather and wind made global ocean navigation faster and easier. /
- Indian Ocean
- Mediterranean
- Trans-Saharan
- Silk Road
- Maps, navigational instruments, ship building?
- Discuss the major notable trans-oceanic voyages between 1450-1750.
- What originally motivated Europeans to travel across the northern Atlantic?
- What areas of the world were largely unaffected by the new global connections during this period?
Europeans were originally motivated to cross the Atlantic in search of a Northwest Passage. This passage would make trade throughout the Indian Ocean much simpler. In reality, the passage is a route through North America and the Arctic Ocean. In search of this passage, Britain and France were the first major powers to send multiple explorers. These explorers discovered cod, a species of fish that became well desired. It is found in Greenland and the Eastern Atlantic.
Oceania, or Australia and New Zealand, remained unaffected by global connections during this time period. This is because they were islands now directly involved in any major trading networks, and this area had not yet been viewed as valuable for colonization in the eyes of the Europeans. /
- Zheng He
- Prince Henry, Dias, and da Gama
- Columbus
- Magellan
- Northwest Passage
- Cod?
- What new financial and monetary means made the new scale(s) of trade possible? What previously established scale(s) of trade continued? a more general answer here
- Describe the overall trade role of European merchants c. 1450-1750.
- What role did silver play in facilitating a truly global scale of trade?
- What new mercantilist financial means develop to facilitate global trade?
- What were the economic and social effects of the Atlantic trading system?
With newfound connections to the New World, European goods became unimportant and lost value, which made the role of European merchants decrease. Because they did not have their own goods, they became middlemen. Middlemen transported goods from region to region. These European merchants also turned to colonization in order to allow their own goods to compete in the Silk Road, for they were interested in possible profit gain from them. Merchants would spend excess amounts of silver on goods, so that Europeans had to find new sources of silver in order to pay for commodities.
Silver played a major role in the global development of commerce. After Europeans discovered silver in Brazil, they tried to mine it quickly and effectively. Natives were exploited, and African slaves were traded to mine in dangerous environments in order to be the most effective in silver production. The most well-known and productive mine is Potosi, where the Spanish gained most of their silver, which was then traded globally. Brazilian miners sent silver to Spain, where it was in turn traded to the Chinese. The global scale of trade increased due to the role of silver.
The idea of mercantilism had a prominent role in Spain. The concept was utilized to increase exportation and decrease importation. This made Spain need to regularly monitor their economy. It then caused countries to engage in the colonization of other areas so that they could then engage in trading relations. An example from Spain was Brazil. Spain, ruling its colonies in Brazil, could prohibit other countries from utilizing Brazil’s natural resources, such as sugar. Dutch and British East India Companies facilitated trade for their respective countries, and were successful in doing so.
Economically, the Atlantic trading system connected Europe, Africa, and the Americas. It even influenced as far as China, for silver flowing from America created high demands worldwide. In Europe, many cash crops were in demand, such as sugar and tobacco. In Brazil and the Caribbean Islands, Europeans established many sugar plantations. These plantations demanded large amounts of labor of labor at little cost, but because European disease had killed the majority of the natives, slaves were imported from Africa. With increase in crop demand and industrial size, more and more slave labor was needed. These slaves were forcibly migrated to the Americas across the Middle Passage, during which many died. The Europeans came to the Americas as colonists, and to run plantations. The migration of slaves and Europeans into the Americas also created a new social order and formed new hierarchies. Mestizos and mulattos were new races in the Americas, and the lack of female slaves often led to interracial relationships. Peninsulars, or Europeans born in Europe, were at the top of the social hierarchy, for they were considered the purest. Whites born in the Americas were ranked just below the peninsulars, and were called Creoles. Social relations also changed in Africa, as well as economic factors. Slaves, mainly men, were largely exported from Africa. This slave trade involved increasingly more African involvement, for Africans had to capture and sell slaves to the Europeans. Socially, the loss of men to slavery led to increased polygamy, primarily in Western Africa. /
- royal charters—joint stock companies
- Potosi
- mercantilism,
- Dutch and British East India Companies
- Migrations including the Trans-Atlantic slave trade
- What were the effects of the Columbian Exchange?
The transfer of foods/animals to new geographic regions? Discuss “new” world to “old” AND “old” world to “new”
- What effects did American food crops have on the diet of Afro-Eurasians…and what demographic impact ultimately? Why?
- How did the actions of European settlers in the Americas affect the region environmentally?
Unintentional biological effects included the introduction of foreign species and diseases. These species were accidentally introduced, for they may have boarded ships docked in the Americas or in Europe. Also, diseases unintentionally were introduced to Africans and Europeans, who were not naturally immune. The natives gave the Europeans syphilis.
Transfer of foods and animals increased exponentially throughout this time period in both the Old World and the New World due to the Columbian Exchange. Cattle, horses, pigs, sheep, grapes, okra, and bananas were some of the few crops carried from the Old World to the Americas. The transfer of livestock made it simpler to grow food, which then caused famine to decrease due to the fact that food became plentiful. This caused a population increase. Because of the new availability of livestock, or beasts of burden, long distance trade was simplified. From the New World to the Old World, turkeys and guinea pigs were traded. Also, manioc, potatoes, and maize, as well as sugar, became widely available to the Europeans from the Americas.
Manioc from America was beneficial to both Europe and Africa. Because of the high calorie count in this crop, it was healthy and good to eat. Additionally, manioc was simple to grow, causing an exponential population increase within Africa. Secondly, American potatoes easily grew in Ireland. They became so common that they were regarded as the staple crop for lower class citizens. All in all, American food crops benefited the diets of Europeans and also caused a population increase. American foods became staples in Europe.
European settlers wanted wood and farmland, which led to deforestation over time. They desired to acquire this land for agricultural purposes and the cultivation of more crops, which eventually caused soil depletion. This occurred due to the loss of soil nutrients due to the constant use of the soil itself. Environmentally, Europeans negatively impacted the Americas. /
- Smallpox, measles
- Potatoes, maize, manioc
- Okra
- Sugar
- Horses, cattle
- Turkeys, guinea pigs
- Deforestation
- Soil depletion
- How did the Columbian Exchange affect the spread of religions?
- Overall—where did the “universal” religions of Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam spread in this period?
- What other syncretic religion developed during this period—why?
The universal religion of Islam was present in the Mughal Empire, which was centered in India and ruled by Muslims. This spread Islamic influence to India. The Europeans spread Christianity to the Americas. However, the final universal religion, Buddhism, was not spread consistently throughout this time period. Janissaries in the Ottoman Empire were converted to Islam at a young age.
Sikhism came about in India as a mixture of Hindu and Islamic beliefs. In came about from the Mughal Empire, which was ruled by Muslims in India. It developed because the Mughals governed over the majority population in India, comprised mainly of Hindus. /
- Christian missionaries
- Jesuits
- Vodun, Candomble
- syncretism
- Sikhism
- What major developments occurred in the arts during the period?
- How did public literacy as well as literary and artistic forms of expression develop during this period?
Christianity grew and spread throughout this period, leading to increased literacy because followers needed to be able to read the Bible. The invention of the printing press made books more widely available and accessible to the majority of the public population, so that literacy expanded largely. This widespread availability of books led to increased reading, which in turn encouraged more writing of all sorts, including that of novels, plays, and poetry. These artistic forms of expression greatly expanded in this period. Basic education became more accessible.
Answer
Concepts & Relevant Factual Examples in underline /
- Renaissance
- Mughal miniatures
- Japanese woodblock prints
- Post-Conquest codices in Mesoamerica
- Shakespeare, Cervantes, Sundiata, kabuki