New Encounters: The Creation of a World Market
Chapter Outline
An Age of Exploration and Expansion
Islam and the Spice Trade
o growing portion of the spice trade was being transported in Muslim ships
o major impetus for the spread of Islam was the foundation of a new sultanate at Malacca in Indonesia Islands
o Malacca was founded was Paramesvara
o Malacca became a tributary of the Chinese
o Paramesvara converted to Islam, to enhance ports ability to participate in Muslim dominated trade
o Malacca became leading economic power in region and helped promote spread of Islam
The Spread of Islam in West Africa
o Muslim trade and religion continued to expand south of Sahara into Niger River Valley in West Africa
The Empire of Songhai
· New power emerged in West Africa: The empire of Songhai founded by Sonni Ali - a local chieftain
· Songhai emerged as a major trading state in the region
· Power was seized by Askia Mohammed - a fervent Muslim
§ Songhai increasingly relied on Islamic institutions and ideology to strengthen unity and authority
A New Player: Europe
o Europeans had long been attracted to the East - myths and legend of exotic land of great riches and magic - Marco Polo's stories
The Motives
· Merchants, adventurers, and government officials had high hopes of finding precious metals and expanding areas of trade
· another reason was religious zeal - a crusading mentality was particularly strong in Portugal and Spain
The Means
· European monarchies had increased both authority and resources and were in a position to expand
§ France invaded Italy - Portugal went abroad - Spain pursued both on continent and abroad
· European states had achieved a level of knowledge and technology that enabled them to conduct series of voyages beyond Europe
§ portolani - detailed charts made by navigators and mathematicians
§ cartography had developed so that Europeans had fairly accurate maps
§ mastered use of sternpost rudder and could combine use of lateen sails with a square rig
§ caravels - ships mobile enough to sail against wind and engage in naval warfare with heavy cannons and substantial amount of good over long distances
§ compass and astrolabe - astronomical instrument
§ growing knowledge of wind patterns
· The Portuguese Maritime Empire
o Portugal took lead in exploring coast of Africa
o Prince Henry the Navigator was main sponsor of exploration
· wanted to find a Christian kingdom with which to ally with against Muslims
· wanted to acquire new trade opportunities
· wanted to extend Christianity
· founded navigation school
o fleets began probing southward along western coast of africa for gold
o first reached Senegal River to bring back cargo of black Africans as slaves
o continued to discover new source of gold along southern coast of west africa
o established contact with state of Kongo and Benin where they leased land and built stone forts along the coast
· The Portuguese in India
o Vasco de Gama rouded Cape of Good Hope and stopped at several Muslim ports along coast of East Africa
o Vasco de Gama eventually made it to southwestern coast of India where they spices but no Christians
· The Search for Spices
o Admiral Afonso de Albuquerque established his headquarters on western coast of India where the Portuguese raided Arab ships
o Albuquerque attacked Malacca b/c would help destroy Arab spice trade network by blocking the passage and would provide way station to Spice Islands
o Portuguese captured city and killed the Arabs and set up a fort, a warehouse and a church
o Portuguese also signed treaty with China to export cloves to Europe
o Portuguese were successful in seizing control of the Spice Trade
· b/c Portuguese ships were heavily armed and could defeat if necessary naval or land forces
· New Rivals Enter the Scene
o Portuguese lacked both numbers and wealth to overcome local resistance and colonize Asian regions
· investments in ships and laborers proved very costly
· disease, shipwrecks, and battles took a heavy toll
The Spanish
· Queen Isabella sponsored the voyage of Christopher Columbus into Atlantic Ocean in search of westward route to Indies
· Treaty of Tordesillas - divided newly discovered world in separate Portuguese and Spanish spheres of influence
· Columbus's voyages convinced many that he had not reached the Indies
· dispatched fleet under command of Ferdinand Magellen that sailed around the world
· Spain sold their rights in Tidor to Portuguese but managed to consolidate their control over the Phillippines
The English and the Dutch
· East India Company was founded to provide a stable source of capital for future voyages to Indies
· English also conducted trade with Southeast Asia
· Dutch East India Company was established under gov't sponsorship and was soon actively competing with English and Portuguese
· Dutch seized entrepot of Malacca - linchpin of Portugal's trading empire in Asia
· The Conquest of the “New World”
The Voyages
· Europeans were aware world was round but had little understanding of size or extent of continent of Asia
· Christopher Columbus believed that Asia could be reached by sailing West instead of East around Africa
· Columbus persuaded Queen Isabella of Spain to finance his exploratory expedition
§ reached Americas and explored coastline of Cuba, northern shores of Hispaniola, Caribbean, and Hondorus
§ Columbus believed he had reached Asia
· Other navigators realized he had discovered a new frontier - "New World"
· John Cabot explored the New England coastline of Americas under license of King Henry VII of England
· South America was discovered accidentally by Portuguese sea captain Pedro Cabral
The Conquests
· Spanish Conquistadors were conquerers with superior weapons, organizational skills, and determination
· Hernan Cortes landed at Veracruz, on the Gulf of Mexico, and marched to Tenochtitlan - Aztec city
· Tensions soon erupted btwn Spaniards and Aztecs
§ Cortes demanded that Aztecs renounce their beliefs and accept Christianity
· Spanish took Aztec leader hostage and began destroying Aztec religious shrines
· Aztec population revolted and drove invaders from city
· Cortes managed to fight his way back into the city
· Aztecs were beginning to suffer from European diseases
· Aztecs were vanquished by the Spaniards
· Francisco Pizarro destroyed Inka power in the Peruvian Andes
· All Spanish conquests were facilitated by arrival of European diseases
The Portuguese in Brazil
· Portuguese inadvertently discovered the eastern coast of latin america - Brazil - while en route to the Indies
· Brazil was a source of gold and silver
· formal administrative system was established in Brazil and many migrated there to produce sugar, coffee and other tropical products
Governing the Empires
o Portugal came to dominate Brazil - Spain had a colonial empire that included Central America, most of South America, and parts of North America
o Btwn Central and South America a new civilization arose called Latin America
o Latin America became a multiracial society
· Mestizos - offspring of Europeans and Indians
· Mulattoes - offspring of Africans and whites
The State and the Church in Colonial Latin America
· difficulties of communication and travel btwn the Americas and Europe made it impossible for monarchs to provide close regulation of empires
· In Brazil the head of the administrative system was the position of governor-general (viceroy)
§ had only loose control over captains-general - responsible for governing the districts of Brazil
· In Spanish America - the king appointed viceroys or viceroyalties - that were subdivided
§ all gov't positions were held by Spaniards
§ creoles - american born descendants of Europeans - could only hold up to a city council position
· Spanish and Portuguese were determined to convert indigenous people to Christianity
§ Catholic missionaries fanned out to diff parts of the empire
§ missionaries brought Indians together into villages where they could be converted, taught trades, and encouraged to grow crops and keep them docile
§ Catholic Church built hospitals, orphanages, and schools that instructed Indians in reading, writing, and math
Exploiting the Riches of the Americas
· One source of wealth came from the abundant supplies of gold and silver
· Agriculture provided to be a more abiding and more rewarding source of prosperity for Latin America
· sources of raw materials - sugar, tobacco, chocolate, precious woods, animal hides etc.
· in turn for all this mother countries supplied colonies with manufactured goods
· Queen Isabella declared Indians to be subjects of Castile and instituted encomienda system
§ europeans settlers received grants of land and could collect tribute from indians and use indians as laborers - supposed to protects indians and supervise spiritual and material needs
§ largely ignored gov't and brutally used indians to pursue their own economic interests
· forced labor, starvation and disease - smallpox, measles, and typhus - took fearful toll on Indian lives
§ caused spanish/portuguese to import African slaves to replace Indians in sugar fields
The Competition Intensifies
o Dutch founded the Dutch West India Company to compete w/ Spanish and Portuguese in America
· profits were never big enough to cover cost and it went bankrupt
o English seized colony of New Netherland (Dutch) and renamed it New York
o Canada became the property of French crown and was administered as a French province
o French began to cede some of their American possessions to their English rival
o English created a colonial empire along the Atlantic seaboard of North America
Africa in Transition
The Portuguese in Africa
o Portuguese seized number of East African port cities and built forts along the coast in an effort to control the gold trade
o Portuguese established a protectorate and forced local ruler to grant title to large tracts of land to Europeans officials and individuals
o Portuguese lacked personnel, capital and expertise to dominate local trade and were driven from plateau
The Dutch in South Africa
o Dutch set up a way station at Cape of Good Hope to serve as base for fleets en route to East Indies
· intended simply to provide food and other provisions to Dutch ships but developed into permanent colony
· when Boers - Dutch farmers - began to settle in areas outside of Cape Town
o Dutch became active in West African trade
o Dutch seized number of Portuguese forts and took over bulk of Portuguese trade across Indian Ocean
The Slave Trade
o thousand/millions of men, women, children were removed from their homes and forcibly exported to plantations in Western Hemisphere
The Arrival of the Europeans
· slaves - often captives from battle or raids - had been used in many African societies and some were allowed to purchase their frredom
· vigorous traffic in slaves developed, as Arab merchants traded for slaves
· Portuguese simply replaced European slaves w/ African ones until discovery of Americas where they established sugar plantations worked by Africans
§ plantations required more workers than what could be provided by Indian population
· African slaves began to be shipped to Brazil and Caribbean to work on Plantations
Growth of the Slave Trade
· trade in slaves increased by massive proportions
· altogether as many as 10 million African slaves were transported to the Americas and 2 million exported to other areas
The Middle Passage
· one reason for high numbers was the high death rate
· Middle Passage - arduous voyage from Africa to Americas
§ up to 1/3 of human cargo died on voyage
§ future slaves were treated inhumanely, chained together in the holds of the ship w/ human waste and vermin
· transmission of diseases from one continent to another brought high death rates among those lacking immunity
· only half as many women were enslaved as men, so birthrates for women living in slavery were low and infant mortality was high
· slave owners believed that purchasing new slaves was less expensive than raising a child from birth to working age
Sources of Slaves
· Europeans first would purchase slaves from local African merchants at infamous slave markets in exchange for gold, guns or other European good
· local African monarchs viewed slave trade as source of income, and many launched forays against defenseless villages
· African merchants, local elites, and trading state monopolies were very active in slave trade process
The Effects of the Slave Trade
· Africa high birthrates could counterbalance the loss of adults and introduction of new crops let to increase in food to supply larger population
· slave trade represented a tragic loss for millions of Africans - individual victims and their families
· slave trade caused the introduction of firearms into the African continent which were used to raid neighboring villages
· Europeans rationalized that slave traders were only carrying on tradition of slavery
§ also said that Africans would now be saved and exposed to Christian faith
Political and Social Structures in a Changing Continent
o importation of manufactured good from Europe undermined the foundations of local cottage industries and impoverished countless families
o demand for slaves and introduction of firearms intensified political instability and civil strife
o Europeans influence generally did not penetrate beyond coastal regions
o demands of slavery and temptations of economic profit also contributed to increase in conflict among states in area
Southeast Asia in the Era of the Spice Trade
The Arrival of the West
o Dutch East India Company succeeded in elbowing rivals out of spice trade and begun to consolidate their political and military control over area
o Dutch East India Company attempted to monopolize clove trade by limiting cultivation of crop to one island
o Dutch succeeded in bringing almost entire Indonesian archipelago under their control
o indigenous cultures were quickly overwhelmed under impact of Western material civilization