Chapter 16 The World Economy
Chapter 16The World Economy
New Toys
• Deep-draft, round-hulled sailing ships, loaded with heavy armaments
• Compass (China-ME-Europe)
• Gunpowder related toys – same chain– European metalwork allows for first guns and
cannons– HUGE advantage
The pioneering explorers• Portugal – excitement of discovery, potential harm to Muslim world,
and craving for wealth “potent mix”• Henry the Navigator• Dias -- Cape of Good Hope (1488) – will become a filling station• Columbus’s voyage in 1492 causes Portugal to up their efforts• Vasco da Gama reaches India in 1498
– Annual visits to India– Sometimes use ship’s guns to intimidate – Blown off course to Brazil – establish colony– Set up Mozambique in E. Africa and Gao in India– Islands of Indonesia– China– By 1542 even Japan
Spanish Explorers
• Christopher Columbus – origin? – Sponsored by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella (Spain,
pushed out Muslims, reclaimed kingdom, Castille and Aragon)– West Indies (Caribbean)
• Amerigo Vespucci (Italian) – “New World” and the Americas– Spain wins papal approval for control of land (Portugal will get
Brazil)• Ferdinand Magellan – set sail in 1519
– Pass Southern tip of S. America – Discover and name Pacific Ocean for Europe for “peaceful”
ocean– Reached Indonesian islands in 1521– Claims the Philippines and names them after King Philip II (will
remain a Spanish holding until 1898)
Spanish Conquistadors
• God, gold, and glory!• Hernan Cortes – Tenochtitlan to Mexico City• Francisco Pizarro – Inca Empire – Equador to Chile• Soon all but Brazil of S. America all the way up to
California• St. Augustine 1519• Catholic Church and the Jesuits – chance to convert and
gain Catholic souls• Silver and gold, silver and gold….FLOODS the
European Economy• Glory! – Well, it’s obvious.
• Easily conquer the Americas– Gunpowder– Diseases– Civil Unrest in the Americas
British, French, Dutch, Spanish
• Spanish Armada 1588• French in Canada – 1534, Samuel de
Champlain – Quebec 1608, Great Lakes region, Mississippi Valley– Restrict protestants
• English – Jamestown 1607, Plymouth, 1622 (but this one wasn’t economic)– Restrict Catholics
• Dutch East India Company – 1602– Taiwan
• British East India Company
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Mercantilism
• Economic concept –
• Import only from empire– Import raw materials, manufacture at home,
export manufactured goods out
• Export as much as possible to as many as possible– Allow own colonies to only buy from your
kingdom
• Exploration
• Conquest when necessary
• Colonization– Emergence of Coercive labor systems
Colonization Perks
• Precious metals and cash crops– Sugar, spice, tobacco, and later on – cotton– All very labor intensive
• Human labor becomes part of the exchange• Encomienda and other systems used, but some
Europeans (Bartolome de las Casas) find these systems morally appalling– European kingdoms turn to Africans and enslave
them
Triangle of Commerce
To Africa:Iron, Muskets, Silver, Textiles
Into Americas:Slaves
To Africa:Rum and Muskets
Into Americas:Axes, Cloth, Furniture, Muskets, Tools
To Europe:Fish, Rice, Tar, Timber and Tobacco
Ottoman Empire
• Established 1453
• Continues trading Arab trading connections with E. Africa, India, and China
• Loses B. of Lepanto in 1571 – setback against Spanish navy in the E. Mediterranean
China
• Participated less actively than Europe• Benefits from world economy – excess of
American money a positive for China• Avoid entering involvement of international trade
on anyone’s terms – limits trade to a trickle– This just keeps China’s stuff in the “rare” category,
Europeans anxious to open China up• Strong export pattern• British government tries to get China to open up
– Effort turned down– Haughtily inform Europeans that the Chinese have no
need for outside goods
Japan and Korea
• Japan – initially attracted by Western expeditions in the 16th century– Pulls back– Show some openness to Christian missions– Fascinated by Western gunnery and shipping– Once they develop the ability to mimic W. weapons
they cut off contact– Forbidden to travel or trade abroad– Enter a period of near complete isolation from 17th-
19th century• Exceptions? – Chinese contact (only a little) and Dutch
enclave in Nagasaki
• Korea – pulls back as well
India
• Mughal India – Persian for “Mongol India”– Proceeded Dehli Sultanate
• Sold goods for New World silver
• British East India Company
• France
• Britain wins control after 7 years war
Russia
• Isolated by Mongols
• Open back up slowly – Ivan the III – capital in Moscow
• Ivan the Terrible (IV)
• Time of Troubles early 1600s
• Michael Romanov appointed – establishes Romanov line
Africa
• West Africa – become victims of the slave trade
• East Africa – still trading with India, China, and ME
• North Africa – still trading