Commerce in a Global Age WHAP/Napp
“World history after 1450 was gradually reshaped by new power alignments among major civilizations, most notably the rise of the West but also the emergence of land-based empires in Asia and eastern Europe. A new kind of world economy developed, supported by new military and shipping technology, while the inclusion of the Americas affected virtually all major societies. Disease patterns changed decisively, while population growth in Europe and parts of Asia surged beyond any previous precedent. The period 1450 – 1750 is called ‘early modern’ to note the formation of many durable developments, such as a literally global economy, but also some important differences from a more fully ‘modern’ world.
The framework of world history during the three centuries after 1450 was dominated by several interrelated changes. Slowly but steadily, western Europe rose to a top power position in military and economic terms. Initially, its strength internationally concentrated on naval power, where new sailing ships, navigational devices, and ships’ cannons allowed it to dominate sea routes and conquer many islands and ports. New trade and transportation technology intensified international contacts, creating a fuller world economy, where position in trade powerfully shaped internal economic systems, labor patterns, even politics. Regions pressed to trade raw materials, for example, operated at a disadvantage, importing more complex and expensive goods – such as guns – made in the West in exchange for cheaper items, such as sugar, that now had to be produced in growing quantities. Trade was controlled by Western countries, limiting local capital and merchant activity. Governments were kept weak to facilitate economic exploitation. Forced labor, either slavery or harsh serfdom, predominated, to assure low-cost output. As part of the Western-dominated, intensified world economy, the Americas, and by the 18th century, Pacific Oceania were brought into world contacts for the first time, while trade in West Africa was reoriented to the Atlantic with the rise of a massive export of slaves. The results transformed American history, while bringing new crops and other products to Afro-Eurasia. Areas that had previously developed in isolation were subjected to European colonial rule, bringing new cultural forms; then largely dependent, raw-materials-producing economy; and devastating population loss due to previously unknown contagious diseases. Spain and Portugal set up vast empires in South America and the Caribbean, followed by other colonial expansions in North America. Massive movements of people brought Europeans as well as African slaves to the Americas, Europeans to Australia and parts of Africa, and later, Asians to several areas
These key developments were shaped by technology. Guns and sails helped spur Europe’s advance from the 15th century onward, as Europeans capitalized on techniques imported from Asia to solve long-standing trade inferiorities. After this initial spurt, technological change was more gradual.” ~ Experiencing World History
1- Identify changes that occurred in World History after 1450. ______
2- Describe the intensified world economy that developed after 1450. ______
3- Identify the causes and effects of these changes. ______
Notes:I. Motivation for Global Trade
A. Deliberate century-long Portuguese effort to explore a sea route to East, by sailing down West African coast, around tip of South Africa, up East African coast, and finally to Calicut in southern India in 1498
B. Immediate motivation: spices – cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, cloves, pepper
C. Western Europeàrecovered from plagueàmonarchies taxing more effectivelyàgunpowder weaponsàcities growing too
D. Capitalist economyàmarket exchanges, private ownership, capital to invest
E. Search for all-water route to Asiaàavoid Muslim and Venetian monopolies
F. Rumoràmysterious Christian monarch, Prester John, in Asia or Africa?
II. Complexities
A. But few products of less developed Europe were attractive in Asian markets
B. Europeans were required to pay in gold or silver for Asian spices or textiles
C. Persistent trade deficit contributed to intense desire for precious metals
D. Portuguese voyages along West African coastàseeking direct access to gold
E. Enormously rich silver deposits of Mexico and Boliviaàtemporary solution
F. Yet Portuguese learned Indian Ocean merchant ships not heavily armed
G. Military advantage benefitted Portugueseàfortified bases…Indian Ocean
H. Portugueseà“trading post empire,” aimed to control commerce with arms
I. By 1600àother European countries contested Portugal’s monopoly
J. Spain was the first to challenge Portugal’s position
K. Spaniards established themselves on “Philippine Islands”…named after Philip IIàDiscovered on Ferdinand Magellan’s “round world” (1519-1521)
L. Spanish established outright colonial ruleà until U.S.A. assumed control following Spanish-American War of 1898
M. Far more important than Spanish were the Dutch and English (1600s) àorganized their Indian Ocean ventures through private trading companies
III. British and Dutch
A. British East India Company and Dutch East India Company: had government charters, trading monopolies, power to make war and govern
B. British East India CompanyàIndia…DutchàIndonesia
C. Dutch controlled production of cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, and mace
D. But British were not in a position to practice “trade by warfare”
E. British traded with permission of Mughals or local rulers…bribes
F. Slowly evolved into a more conventional form of colonial domination
G. European presence in Asia less significant due to great powers of South and East Asia – Mughal India, China, and Japan
H. When Portuguese traders and missionaries first arrived in Japan in the mid-sixteenth centuryàdaimyo fighting in Japanàwelcomed technology
I. But by early 1600sàTokugawa shoguns united Japan/viewed West as threat
J. Tokugawa expelled Christian missionaries and isolated Japan
IV. Silver Trade
A. More than spice, silver trade gave birth to a global network of exchange
B. Mid-16th discovery of rich silver deposits in Bolivia, and simultaneously in Japan, suddenly provided a vastly increased supply
C. 1570s, Chinese authorities consolidated a variety of taxes into a single tax (Single Whip), which its huge population was now required to pay in silver
D. This sudden new demand for silver caused its value to skyrocket
E. Foreigners with silver could now purchase far more of China’s goods
F. At the world’s largest silver mine in what is now Bolivia, the city of Potosí, some families held funeral services for men drafted to work the mines
G. Infusion of silver in Spain generated more inflation of prices than growth
H. Shoguns used profits from silver to developed a market-based economy and invested heavily in agricultural and industrial enterprises
Complete the Graphic Organizer Below:
Questions:
· What drove European involvement in the world of Asian commerce?
· To what extent did the Portuguese realize their own goals in the Indian Ocean?
· How did the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, and British initiatives in Asia differ from one another?
· To what extent did the British and Dutch trading companies change the societies they encountered in Asia?
· What was the world historical importance of the silver trade?
· Describe the impact of the fur trade on North American native societies.
· How did the North American and Siberian fur trades differ from each other? What did they have in common?
1. Which New World commodity was of the greatest value to the Spanish monarchy?(A) Potato
(B) Tomato
(C) Silver
(D) Sugar
(E) Quinine
2. What was the long-term impact of the massive influx of silver into the Spanish economy that resulted from its domination of the New World?
I. Inflation and unwise government spending
II. A permanent economic advantage over other European powers
III. Development of the most sophisticated banking system in the world
(A) I only
(B) II only
(C) III only
(D) I and II
(E) I and III
3. The initiative for Western exploration and conquest came from the kingdom of
(A) Spain
(B) Sicily
(C) France
(D) Portugal
(E) Tunisia / 4. Which statement most accurately describes Japanese participation in the global trade network?
(A) The Japanese were quickly enslaved by the colonizing Europeans.
(B) The Japanese warmly accepted Western commercial interests and became part of the dependent zones of the global trade network.
(C) The Japanese did display some openness to Christian missionaries and they were also fascinated by Western advances in gunnery and shipping.
(D) After 1600 all Europeans were banned from Japan, but Japanese traders continued to travel and trade abroad.
(E) Japan, like China, showed no interest in any aspect of Western trade.
5. The Portuguese trading post and fortress established in India was
(A) Goa
(B) Mozambique
(C) Macao
(D) Calcutta
(E) Effim
Thesis Statement: Change Over Time: Trade: 600 C.E. – 1750 C.E.
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