History Unit 2 SAQ

What environmental concerns could the poet be worried about? What are the workers — “they” — in the poem — worried about? [The poem by Wang Dayue laments deforestation in southern China caused by growing mulberry and rice cultivation to meet silver tax payments.

The poet worries about ecological destruction — hills stripped bare, loss of timber, and environmental anxiety among laborers who fear shortages of fuel and resources. It shows how China’s silver-driven commercialization produced regional specialization and environmental stress.] //

How did the impact of silver on China differ from its impact on Japan and Spain?

[In China, silver taxes fueled huge demand for the metal, commercializing its economy and linking it tightly to world trade. In Japan, Tokugawa shoguns used silver profits to unify the country, pay debts, and promote reforestation and economic growth. In Spain, silver wealth caused inflation, dependency on imports, and decline in productive enterprise. Thus, China and Japan benefited economically, while Spain suffered instability.] //

Describe the impact of the fur trade on North American native societies.

[The fur trade drew Native Americans into the global economy and supplied Europeans with beaver and deer pelts. Initially it brought useful goods, but it also led to resource depletion, environmental damage, dependency on European tools, alcohol, and guns, and deadly diseases. Rivalries over trade triggered intertribal conflict and social disruption, deeply transforming Native societies.] //

Describe Miantonomo’s concerns about European colonization and explain how his concerns reflect his background.

[Miantonomo, a Narragansett leader, warned that English settlers destroyed the environment and Native livelihoods — cutting grass, felling trees, and polluting rivers. His words reflect his background as a Native chief witnessing English expansion in 1640s New England. He saw colonization as both ecological devastation and a mortal threat to Indigenous survival.] //

How did European trade goods impact native societies?

[European goods — iron tools, guns, textiles, alcohol — became widespread among Native Americans. They improved hunting and warfare efficiency but created dependence on European trade, eroded traditional crafts, and destabilized communities. Alcohol caused addiction and social breakdown, while overhunting for European demand depleted wildlife and altered Native economies.] //

Compare the social and environmental effects of the spice trade in Asia with those of the fur trade in North America.

[Both trades tied distant regions into the global economy and transformed environments. In Asia, the spice trade led to plantation slavery, coerced labor, and ecological destruction on the Banda Islands. In North America, the fur trade caused overhunting, wetland loss, and Indigenous dependency. Socially, both disrupted local populations — through violence in Asia and disease/alcohol in the Americas.] //

How did women’s lives change because of the global fur trade?

[In Native North America, the fur trade often reduced women’s economic roles in food and clothing production but created new ones as cultural intermediaries and wives of European traders. Some women gained status and access to goods, while others lost autonomy as male hunting took priority. Overall, it brought both opportunity and vulnerability for Indigenous women.] //

How does this image help explain how fur assisted Russian diplomatic efforts?

[The image shows Russian envoys offering fur pelts — “soft gold” — as tribute to European courts. Furs symbolized Russia’s wealth and served as high-value diplomatic gifts, strengthening alliances and demonstrating imperial prosperity. The trade in Siberian furs financed Russian expansion and integrated the empire into global diplomacy.] //

How did the North American and Siberian trade systems differ from each other? What did they have in common? 

Both were driven by European demand for furs and caused disease, dependency, and resource depletion among Indigenous peoples. In North America, multiple European powers competed commercially with Native suppliers. In Siberia, Russians imposed a fur tax (yasak) on Indigenous men, using coercion and tribute rather than trade. Both linked remote regions to global markets.] //

What differences can you identify among the spice, silver, and fur trades?

[The spice trade centered on Southeast Asia and was driven by European monopolies using violence and slavery. The silver trade was truly global, connecting the Americas, Europe, and Asia through bullion exchange that fueled China’s economy. The fur trade tied temperate regions into commerce via Native labor and environmental exploitation. Together they illustrate varied routes to early globalization.] //

What factors led to Portugal’s decline as a power in the Indian Ocean trade network?

[Portugal’s empire was small, underfunded, and faced resistance from powerful Asian states like Mughal India and Oman. Portuguese forts were overextended, and Asian traders outnumbered them. Rising Dutch and English competition displaced them, and their violence alienated local partners. By 1600, Portugal’s trading post empire was collapsing.] //

Understand the political and economic roles of Europe’s East India Companies.

[The British and Dutch East India Companies were private joint-stock corporations with royal charters granting them monopolies on Asian trade. Politically, they could wage war, govern colonies, and coin money. Economically, they managed trade in spices, textiles, and tea, fueling Europe’s commercial revolution and colonial expansion.] //

Understand how European trade in the Indian Ocean evolved over time in the era 1450–1750.

[European influence in the Indian Ocean began with Portuguese military control but shifted toward Dutch and British dominance through commercial companies. Over time, Europeans moved from piracy and forts to organized trade monopolies and colonial rule, integrating into long-established Asian markets.] //

Understand the roles of the samurai and the daimyo during the Tokugawa shogunate, as well as the interactions between Japan and European traders in this era.

[During the Tokugawa shogunate (1603–1868), samurai served as administrators and warriors under daimyo lords who governed regional domains. Japan initially welcomed Europeans for trade and Christianity, but after unrest, the Tokugawa restricted foreign contact to Dutch trade at Nagasaki’s Deshima port, enforcing the isolationist Sakoku policy.] //

Understand the main features and effects of the global trade of silver in this era.

[Silver linked the Americas, Europe, and Asia into a single global economy. Spain mined silver in Potosí and Mexico, sending it through Manila to China, where it fueled commercialization. The flow enriched European empires, stimulated trade, and caused inflation and environmental strain.] //

Understand the roles and goals of the British and Dutch trading companies in Asia.

[The British East India Company focused on Indian textiles and established fortified ports in Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta. The Dutch East India Company monopolized spice production in Indonesia through violence and plantation slavery. Both pursued profit, monopolies, and colonial control.] //

Understand how Asian political and economic authority persisted despite European intrusion.

[Strong Asian empires like Mughal India, Ming–Qing China, and Tokugawa Japan retained sovereignty and limited European power. Europeans gained trade access but rarely controlled territory. Asian states managed commerce, imposed taxes, and restricted missionaries, preserving internal control.] //

Understand the factors that led to the expansion of European commerce into Asia.

[European nations sought access to Asian spices, textiles, and luxury goods without relying on Muslim intermediaries. Technological advances in ships and guns, state sponsorship, and mercantilist policies drove exploration. Profit motives and religious zeal combined to push expansion.] //

Understand how the fur trade connected North America and Eurasia to the global economy.

The fur trade supplied Europe and Asia with luxury pelts, linking northern forests to global demand. In North America, French, British, and Dutch traders exchanged goods with Native Americans; in Eurasia, Russia expanded across Siberia for “soft gold.” Both regions became part of early global commerce.] //

Understand how the spread of European influence in Asia differed from their colonization in the Americas.

[In Asia, Europeans faced strong, populous empires and engaged mainly through trade and negotiation. In the Americas, depopulation from disease and weaker centralized states allowed full colonization. Thus, European power in Asia was commercial; in the Americas, it was territorial.] //