CHAPTER 13
New Encounters: The Creation of a World Market
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CHAPTER OUTLINE
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I. An Age of Exploration and Expansion
A. T<SPACER TYPE="HORIZONTAL" SIZE="72"</SPACER>he beginning exemplified by Vasco da Gama’s arrival in India in 1498
1. Not the first (Ming China in the early 1400s)
2. West influence paramount in Latin America and Southeast Asia, but not Middle East or South Asia
B. Islam and the Spice Trade
1. By 1300s, majority of spice trade in hands of Muslims, even to Sumatra and Java
a. Sultanate of Malacca, ruler a Muslim convert, leading power in Southeast Asia<SPACER TYPE="HORIZONTAL" SIZE="72"</SPACER>
C.A New Player: Europe
1. For a millennium, Catholic Europe largely restricted to <SPACER TYPE="HORIZONTAL" SIZE="72"</SPACER>Europe
a. Crusades had failed
b. But some contacts, e.g. the Polos in the 1280s
c. Collapse of Mongol empire reduced land travel across Asia, impetus to sea
2. The Motives: economics and religion, or “God, glory, and gold”
3. The Means
a. Exploration was a state enterprise, not private
b. Knowledge and technology
1) New detailed charts/portolani
2) Stern rudder, combine lateen and square-rig sails, compass, astrolabe
3) Knowledge of Atlantic Ocean wind patters
II. The Portuguese Maritime Empire<SPACER TYPE="HORIZONTAL" SIZE="72"</SPACER>
A. Prince Henry the Navigator (1394-1460), religious/economic motives, navigation school 1419
1. Portuguese ships brought black slaves to Portugal in 1441, reached “Gold Coast” 1471
2. Leased land and built forts on east African coast
B. The Portuguese in India, led by government
1. Bartolomeu Días rounded Cape of Good Hope in 1487
2. Vasca da Gama reached Calicut in India in 1498: but no Christians found spices
C. The Search for Spices
1. In 1510, Admiral Alfonso de Albuquerque established headquarters at Goa
2. In 1511, Albuquerque captured Malacca
3. On to the Maluccas/Spice Islands, Portugal seized control of spice trade from Muslims
4. Why Portugal successful? Guns and seamanship
III.Spanish Conquests in the “New World”<SPACER TYPE="HORIZONTAL" SIZE="72"</SPACER>
A. The Voyages
1. Christopher Columbus (1451–1506) convinced circumference of the earth smaller and Asia larger
a. With support of Isabella, reached Cuba and Hispañola in 1492
b. Three more trips (1493, 1498, 1502), and died convinced he had reached Asia
2. Follow up by John Cabot, sailing for England, and Pedro Cabral, who discovered South American continent
3. Amerigo Vespucci’s letters resulted in name “America” applied to the new lands
B. The Conquests
1. Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) divided world between Spain (west) and Portugal (east)
2. Spanish conquistadors
a. Hernan Cortes overthrew Aztec empire by 1521
b. Francisco Pizarro seized control of Inca empire by 1536
c. Gunpowder and disease
C. Governing the Empire, or a combination of confusion, paternalism, and exploitation
1. Encomienda gave Spanish settlers right to collect taxes and use natives as laborers
a. Supposed to protect natives, but did not
2. Casa de Contratactión, or board of trade, supervised economic matters
3. Council of the Indies was chief organ of colonial administration
4. New Spain (Mesoamerica) and Peru governed by viceroys, aided by advisory groups (audiencias)
5. Followed by churches, schools, hospitals, and the other trappings of European society
IV. The Impact of European Expansion
A. <SPACER TYPE="HORIZONTAL" SIZE="72"</SPACER>The Columbian Exchange
1. Psychological: conquerors v. conquered
2. New World’s gold and silver fueled price revolution in Europe
3. New crops and animals
4. Increased European rivalries
5. New social opportunities, including opportunities for European women abroad
B. New Rivals <SPACER TYPE="HORIZONTAL" SIZE="36"</SPACER>
1. Portugal lacked number and wealth to colonize Asian regions
2. European Asia
a. Spain to Philippines
b. England’s East India Co., Surat in 1608 and trade with Mughals
c. Dutch East India Co., 1602
3. Europeans in the Americas
a. Portugal in Brazil
b. Spain
c. Dutch West India Co., 1621
d. England and France in North America
V. Africa in Transition<SPACER TYPE="HORIZONTAL" SIZE="72"</SPACER>
A. The Portuguese in Africa
1. East African coast for gold, forced Mwene Meapa to grant a protectorate
B. The Dutch in South Africa: a way station established at Cape of Good Hope in 1652
1. Boer farmers
C. The Kingdom of Songhai
1. Succeeded Mali in West Africa, under Askia Mohammed (1493-1528), then declined
2. Dutch, French, and English increased contacts in West Africa, at expense of Portugal
D.The Slave Trade<SPACER TYPE="HORIZONTAL" SIZE="72"</SPACER>
1. Origins of Slavery in Africa went back centuries before European arrived
a. Portugal brought a thousand slaves a year back to Europe in late 1400s
b. New World sugar plantations increased demand for black slaves as Native Americans had died from European diseases
1) 1518, first direct slave voyage from Africa to New World (earlier through Portugal)
2. Growth of the Slave Trade
a. 275,000 enslaved Africans exported during 1500s, rose to 6 million in 1700s, 10 million to the New World alone by late 1800s.
3. The Middle Passage’s high death rate
a. Perhaps 1/3 lost their lives due to maltreatment and diseases
4. Sources for Slaves
a. Purchased from native Africans for gold and guns
b. As demand increased, local rulers would wage war to gain captives
c. Male slaves to New World, female slaves often sold to other Africans or to trans-Sahara trade
E.Political and Social Structures in a Changing Continent
1. European manufactured good undermined local cottage industries
2. Demand for slaves intensified civil strife
3. Much of Africa not experience European settlements
4. Most West
5. African states were strong enough to resist Western encroachments
6. In East Africa, African rulers <SPACER TYPE="HORIZONTAL" SIZE="36"</SPACER>allied with Arabs expelled Portuguese from Mombasa
VI.Southeast Asia in the Era of the Spice Trade<SPACER TYPE="HORIZONTAL" SIZE="72"</SPACER>
A. The Arrival of the West
1. Spanish followed the Portuguese, and then the Dutch, French, and English
2. Dutch East India Co. (VOC) dominated the spice trade
a. Political and military control from fort at Batavia (today’s Jakarta)
b. Usually ruled through local elites
3. Europeans had less success on mainland because of cohesive monarchies/fewer spices<SPACER TYPE="HORIZONTAL" SIZE="72"</SPACER>
B.State and Society in Precolonial Southeast Asia<SPACER TYPE="HORIZONTAL" SIZE="36"</SPACER>
1. Until 1800, Western influence relatively limited
2. Religion and Kingship
a. Buddhism and Islam established with Christian success in Philippines
b. Traditional nature religions survived in rural areas
c. Politically evolved four main types
1) Buddhist kings, with godlike character of the monarch
2) Javanese model: blend of Buddhist and Islamic, semi-divine losing out
3) Islamic model: rulers were sultans, a mortal with magical qualities
4) Vietnamese emperors, modeled on China
3. The Economy
a. Mainly agriculture but more commerce by 1500s
b. Regional and interregional trade even before arrival of Europeans
c. Southeast Asia had somewhat higher living standards than elsewhere in Asia
1) Salubrious climate, fertile river deltas, thinly populated
4. Society
a. Little social stratification compared to China and India
b. Women fared better than elsewhere in Asia
VII.Conclusion
THOUGHT/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR THE PRIMARY SOURCES (BOXED DOCUMENTS)
1 “The Portuguese Conquest of Malacca”—In the excerpt, what are the motives which Albuquerque uses
to justify the conquest of Malacca? What role does religion play in his aims? Is he sincere? Why or why
not? Would a Muslim justification for taking over a like-settlement differ from Albuquerque? Why or
why not? (page 368)
2.“Las Casas and the Spanish Treatment of the American Natives”—What motivated Bartolomé de Las
Casas to provide vivid descriptions of the mistreatment of the natives? Do you believe La Casas’ criticism
of the Spanish treatment of the natives was unique in his own times? Why or why not? Could the
Spanish have behaved differently and still obtained the pearls? Were the Spaniards' religious beliefs a
restraint on their behavior? Why or why not? (p. 370)
3. “An Aztec’s Lament”—Does this perspective consciously attempt to downplay the role of the Spanish
in the Destruction of the Aztec Empire, or are they truly seen only as an instrument of a greater force? Is
the lamenter certain of the reason(s) for he displeasure of the “Giver of Life”? Does the excerpt seem
authentic or does it reflect Spanish influences? What evidence causes you to think as you do? (p. 372)
4.“King of Songhai”—Does Mamar appear to be motivated by religion, or is he using it as an excuse to
force people to bend to his well? How did his behavior compare with that of Arab Islamic expansionists
in the seventh century?Given that the epic was passed down orally for many generations, are there any
elements in the excerpt that might not be historically accurate? If so, what are they? (p. 378)
5.“A Slave Market in Africa”—What reasons for engaging in the slave trade are given by the Dutch
observer? What inaccurate ideas about the slave trade does he attempt to correct? Does his account seem
accurate? Why or why not? Why did Europeans significantly expand the scope of the slave trade? Were
their views of it related to Spanish and other European ideas about the nature and import of Amerindians?
(p. 382)
6.“An Exchange of Royal Correspondence”—Is Louis XIV being sincere or opportunistic in his letter?
What does Louis want? How does the King of Tonkin characterize fidelity and justice in his reply to
Louis’ letter? What was the king’s response to Louis’ request? What reasons did the king give for making
such a response? Are the letters a reflection of the culture of each society? Why or why not?(p. 386)
7. “The Timely End of Sultan Zainal-‘Abidin”—Could Sultan Zainal-‘Abidin’s actions be similar to those
of rulers elsewhere? Are there possibly similarities to an autocratic Roman emperor? Why or why not?
What actions of the Sultan caused the chiefs to arrange his murder? Why was his death described so
casually? Are there any religious references in the excerpt? (p. 388)
STUDENT RESEARCH AND PROJECT TOPICS
1. Have students examine various maps in order to familiarize themselves with the “New World” of the
late1400s and afterward.
2. Invite students to compare and contrast the scale, speed, tactics and results of waterborne, early
modern European overseas trade and imperialistic activity with that of the Mongol overland invasions of
the thirteenth century. Gaps between goals, actions and results in both cases might prove enlightening.
3. Using Portugal as a test case, examine the motives for Portuguese exploration, the technologies used,
the geographical areas of their overseas interests, and their successes and failure. How do these compare
with the other nations of Western Europe?
4. Have students examine and compare the causes and results of the explorations of Ming China’s Zhenghe with Dias, da Gama, and Columbus.
5. Ask students to assess the nature and timing of various European overseas efforts and, in the process, to
compare and contrast the goals and relative success of each group.
6. Suggest students discuss and debate the relationship between economic and non-economic causes and
motives as Europeans encountered the non-Western world.
7. In a panel discussion, have students explore and examine the possible reasons why the first era of
globalization was largely the result of European initiative rather than Chinese or Arabic or some other
non-Western state or society.
8. Have class members examine the slave trade in terms of its scope and impact on the trading groups, the
slaves, and the origin and resettlement areas. Ask them to consider how, and why, the trade expanded so
extensively and how the normative beliefs of all groups involved were able to accept and operate the
system of related activities involved.
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