Chapter 16 Introduction

1. Chapter 16 Introduction • The explorations and conquests of the West between the 15th and 18th centuries redefined the relationships among world societies • During the classical era international exchanges were not of fundamental importance, during postclassical these contacts became more significant • After 1450 a new world relationship developed where trade became so significant that new relationships emerged among societies which altered existing political and cultural traditions. • After 1500, the spread of the foods from plants of American (30% of the world total today) origin took place, with corn and potato being the most important.

2. I) The West’s 1st Outreach: Maritime Power • Europe had become more aware of the outside world by the beginning of the 12th century • Interest had been spurred by the Crusades and contact with the Mongol Empire • European upper class had became used to imports, especially spices, brought from Asia to the Middle East by Arab vessels and then carried to Europe by Italian traders • Europe launched expansion in the late 13th century as a result of the fall of the Mongol dynasty and the strength of the Ottoman Empire

3. a) New Technology: A Key to Power • Technological improvements in the 15th century changed the balance of power • Deep-draft round-hulled ships were able to sail in the Atlantic's waters • Improved metalwork techniques allowed the vessels to carry armaments far superior to the weapons aboard ships of other societies • The compass and better mapmaking improved navigational skills

4. b) Portugal and Spain Lead the Pack • Portugal took the initiative for Atlantic exploration • Prince Henry the Navigator directed explorations motivated by Christian missionary zeal, the excitement of discovery, and a thirst for wealth. • Portuguese vessels traveled further around Africa and the Cape of Good Hope from 1434, with Vasco da Gama reaching India in 1498. • By 1514 they had reached Indonesia and China, one blown off course reached Brazil. • When the Portuguese reached Japan in 1542 they began missionary activity and fortresses were established in African and Asian ports.

5. b) Portugal and Spain Lead the Pack • Spain quickly followed Portugal when Christopher Columbus reached the Americas (1492) • The Pope approved most of Spain’s Latin American claims, although a later decision gave Brazil to Portugal • The Spanish reached as far north as the southwestern United States in the 16th century • Ferdinand Magellan began a Spanish voyage in 1519 that circumnavigated the globe, claiming the Philippines for Spain

6. c) Northern European Expeditions • By the 16th century exploration moved from Portugal and Spain to the strong northern European States (Britain, Holland, France). • All three chartered great trading companies, such as the Dutch East India Company and the British firm of similar name, the British East India Company. While the companies were given a government monopoly on trade, they were not rigorously supervised and almost acted like independent governments, raising armies and making coin money of their own. • Northern European states improved vessel design and the British naval victory over Spain in 1588 changed the balance of naval power • The French crossed the Atlantic in 1534 and established settlements in Canada in 1608 • Britain came to North America in 1497, colonizing the northeast US • The Dutch also had holdings in North America and gained control of Indonesia from the Portuguese.

7. d) In Depth: Causation and the West’s Expansion • In order to study social change, one must understand causation • While it is difficult to make precise answers, when sufficient data is available high probability of change can be achieved • Scholars looking for single factor determinants often raise as many questions as they answer • Best understanding is reached through debate based on all efforts chosen as explanations

8. II) Toward a World Economy • Europe’s new maritime activity had three major consequences for world history • 1. The creation of a new international pool for exchanges of food, diseases and manufactured products • 2. The forming of a more inclusive world economy • 3. The opening of some parts of the world to western colonization

9. The Columbian Exchange of Disease and Food • The expansion of international interaction facilitated the spread of disease • Native Americans and Polynesians died in large numbers due to a lack of natural immunities to small pox and measles. • Europeans forged new populations in the Americans from their own people and importation of African slaves • New World crops spread rapidly as corn and potato changed life and increased population in Europe, China and Africa • Tobacco, sugar and coffee slowly became widespread in Europe as well. • Animal husbandry became more similar across the world as European and Asian animals, such as horses and cattle, were introduced into the new world.

10. b) The West’s Commercial Outreach • Westerners dominated international trade because of their military might. In the eastern Mediterranean a Spanish fleet defeated the navy of the Ottoman empire in the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. • Rivals were not totally displaced, however, as Asian shipping, Muslim traders, and Turks in the Eastern Mediterranean were active. • Europeans conquered little inland territory in Africa or Asia but concentrated on secure harbors and built fortifications to protect their commerce and serve as contact places for inland traders • When indigenous states opposed such bases, Europeans gained protective enclaves within their states

11. c) Imbalances in World Trade • Europeans dominated a new world economy by the 17th century • Spain and Portugal could not hold their early leadership due to their weak economies and banking systems. • England, France and Holland established more durable economies that expanded manufacturing to meet new market conditions. These dominate core nations in the new world system supplemented their growing economic prowess by self serving political policies. • The doctrine of mercantilism, which urged that a nation state not import goods from outside its own empire but sell exports as widely as possible in its own ships, protected home markets and supported exports and tariff policies that discouraged competition from colonies and foreign rivals • Other areas beyond Europe became dependant on manufactured goods which they traded for low cost raw materials • Africa entered the world network as a supplier of slaves

12. d) A System of International Inequality • Some participants in the dependant economic zones had a opportunity for profit • African slave traders and rulers taxing the trade could become rich • Many peasants in all regions remained untouched by the new international markets, the wealth gained did not stimulate local manufacturing or general economic advance • Dependence in the world economy helped form a coercive labor system in which the necessity for cheap products produced in the Americas led to a exploitation of indigenous people and the use of slaves. • Many Native Americans and mestizos, people of mixed European and Native American blood, were forced into systems that demanded large amounts of labor.

13. e) How much World in the World Economy? • Huge world areas remained outside the world economy and were not affected politically or economically. • East Asia and China did not need European products and were uninterested in international trading involvement • China was powerful enough to keep Europeans in check and Japan’s early openness quickly ended as contacts were prohibited from the 17th to 19th century • India, the Ottoman Empire and Persia all allowed minimal trade with Europeans but concentrated with their own internal developments

14. f) The Expansionist Trend • European dominance spread to new areas in the 17th and 18th centuries • As the Mughal Empire fell apart, Britain and French merchants strengthened their positions. Tariffs blocked cotton from competing with British production • India’s complex economy survived but with a weakened international status • Eastern Europe joined world economic activity by exporting grain, mainly produced by serfs working on the large estates

15. III) Colonial Expansion • The new world economic network accompanied Western colonial dominance over many people • American colonies emerged in Latin America, the Caribbean, and in North America • Smaller colonies were present in Africa and Asia

16. a) The Americas: Loosely Controlled Colonies • Spain quickly colonized West Indian islands and began settlement on the mainland in Panama in 1509 under an able, but unscrupulous adventurer named Vasco de Balboa. • Military expeditions by violent adventurers conquered the Aztecs (Hernan Cortes) and Incas (Francisco Pizarro). • Early colonies were loosely controlled bands of adventurers who ruthlessly sought gold and extracted tribute from Indian populations • Spain and Portugal created more formal administration as agricultural settlements were established and missionaries became active • Northern Europeans began colonization in the early 17th century, with France settling in Canada and the Dutch and English occupying coastal Atlantic territories • All Europeans built slave-based economies

17. b) British and French North America: Backwater Colonies • Colonial patterns were different in North America than Latin America and the Caribbean • The French in Canada planned the establishment of New France with manorial estates under the control of great lords under the control of the state, with the Catholic Church holding a strong position • Religious refugees came to British territories, where societies developed following European patterns. Colonists avidly consumed Enlightenment ideas and formed assembles based on broad male participation • As part of a worldwide colonial struggle between the two powers in the Seven Years’ War, France surrendered Canada and the Mississippi basin to Britain in the Treaty of Paris (1763) • Indians and Europeans did not form new cultural groups as they did in Latin America, instead Indians moved westward where they developed a culture based on the imported European horse • The importation of African slaves separated the North American experience from European patterns

18. c) North America and Western Civilization • Western habits had been transplanted into a new setting • Americans produced the European style family, but married earlier, had more children, and displayed an unusual concern for children • Western inspired political and economic ideology inspired British colonists to revolt against their rulers • They were the first to implement some of those principal concepts after their success

19. d) Africa and Asia: Coastal Trading Stations • Most Europeans were confined in Africa to coastal trading stations because of climate, disease, and geographical barriers. • The Portuguese sent disruptive slaving expeditions into Angola from established coastal centers. • The Dutch in South Africa established Cape Town in 1652 as a settlement for supplying ships on their way to Asia, and the settlers expanded into nearby regions, later fighting indigenous people and beginning wars with the Bantu • Spain moved into the Philippines and began successful Christianizing activities • The British East India Company had gained a station at Calcutta, which gave it access to the great wealth of the Ganges valley. • France and Britain fought over control of India, and British victories in 1744 increased their power • Unlike the Americas, European administration was limited and often officials were satisfied with agreements with indigenous rulers. • As a result European cultural effect was slight and few settlers took up residence

20. e) Impact on Western Europe • Colonial development affected western Europe economically and diplomatically • Colonial rivalries added to the persisting hostilities between nations • The Seven Years’ War between France and Britain became the first worldwide conflict when it was fought in Europe, Asia and America • The colonies brought new wealth to Europe, profiting merchants and manufacturers • New products changed lifestyles, once costly sugar became available to ordinary people

21. f) The Impact of a New World Order • European colonization and the development of a world economy had major effects, economic pressures brought important changes. • New labor systems formed in many regions, Indian manufacturing levels declined • Interaction between civilizations was significant, African populations were disrupted by the slave trade • Indigenous response combined their ideas with arriving influences such as Christianity • Despite hardships, some benefits resulted such as new crops and increased trade allowed population growth. • Innovation was required of all civilizations to meet the new challenges

22. g) Global Connections: The World Economy and the World 20Visual • The relationship between Europe’s and the world’s economy were complex • Tempting to see other societies as watching Europe in awe or playing supporting roles • In fact relationships ranged from conscious isolation to controlled participation to dependency • Many societies retained their own vibrant political and economic systems, wanting to stand apart from European values and institutions • Even regions like Latin America that had change thrust upon them were hardly passive, and blended in their traditional beliefs and practices • The world was growing closer, but not simpler.