Period 2: Global Interactions, c. 1450 to c. 1750

SUMMARY OF THE PERIOD

         The Early Modern Period grew out of the exploration of the Chinese and Europeans and the expansion and use of gunpowder technology. Gunpowder provided monarchs with new technology and more powerful militaries. It also allowed Early Modern rulers to consolidate greater power away from nobility and to recruit and train a new class of educated and efficient bureaucrats to administer their empires. These empires came in two forms: land-based and sea-based. The European sea-based Empires were Spain, France, England, Portugal and the Dutch (the Netherlands). These empires colonized the New World and created sea-based empires of mercantile trade and production. The French, Portuguese, and the Dutch also focused a great deal of their sea power in the Indian Ocean, taking part in the spice and silk trade fueled by New World silver. In Western Europe, Martin Luther’s 95 Theses critiquing the practices of the Catholic Church, aided by the advancement of the printing pressed, spurred the Protestant Reformation that split Northern and Southern Europe between Catholic and Protestant branches of Christianity. Asian land-based empires also expanded enormously, including the Ottomans, the Safavids, the Mughals, the Ming/Qing Dynasties, and the smaller but significant Tokugawa Shogunate.

         With the connection of the Old World (Afro-Eurasia) to the New World (the Americas), accelerated by the colonization of the New World by sea-based empires, the Columbian Exchange began. This was a biological exchange of plants, people, animals, germs, and diseases. Old World food crops introduced into the New World, such as sugar and rice, and New World food crops introduced to the Old World, such as corn and potatoes changed the diets and the environments of the areas where they were present after the exposure/exchange. Old World animals, such as horses, cows, pigs and goats, impacted the agriculture and environment of the New World. Massive, forced migration of African slaves into the New World (Caribbean, Brazil, southern US) and migrations of European settlers also had massive demographic effects on the New World populations. Additionally, smallpox and influenza brought by Old World migrants decimated New World Native American populations. Silver extraction out of South American and Mesoamerican mines provided significant income to European monarchs, much of which made its way to purchase Asian luxury commodities. Sugar was a major cash crop in the Americas and significant amounts of slave labor; initially Native American and later African migrants were coerced into harsh working conditions on plantations. Internally in Western Europe, the Scientific Revolution, culminating in Newton’s major developments in physics and calculus, provided significant intellectual and philosophical developments and the creation of the scientific method.

         As Europeans continued to expand their sea-based empires, many Asian empires, including the Ottomans, the Ming and Qing Dynasties and the Tokugawa Shogunate began to isolate themselves to prevent cultural influence and to limit trade and technological exchange. This isolation allowed Western Europe to begin to surpass Asian technologies in business, shipping, and agriculture. As European monarchs continued to consolidate power, with the assistance of gunpowder technologies and mercantilist economic policies, many individuals began to question and critique the absolute power that many monarchs were then exercising. This questioning of the status quo culminated in the intellectual and philosophical movement known as the Enlightenment, led by the voices of Voltaire, John Locke, and Montesquieu. This movement influenced the Atlantic Revolutions of the late 18^th century. Additionally, capitalism as an economic system began to take shape, replacing mercantilism and leading to the massive economic change known as the Industrial Revolution in the 19^th century.

Key Concept 3.1. Globalizing Networks of Communication and Exchange

Big Picture: The interconnection of the Eastern (the Old World or Afro-Eurasia) and Western hemispheres (the New World or the Americas) made possible by transoceanic voyaging marked a key transformation of this period. Technological innovations helped to make transoceanic connections possible. Changing patterns of long-distance trade included the global circulation of some commodities and the formation of new regional markets and financial centers. Increased trans-regional and global trade networks facilitated the spread of religion and other elements of culture as well as the migration of large numbers of people. Germs (mainly smallpox and influenza) carried to the Americas ravaged the indigenous peoples, while the global exchange of crops and animals altered agriculture, diets, and populations around the planet. One of the most significant changes in this period is the formation of global trade. Due to Columbus’ (in 1492and later) voyages, the New and Old World were connected, resulting in significant cultural, demographic, commercial and biological exchanges across the globe.

I.       In the context of the new global circulation of goods, there was an intensification of all existing regional trade networks that brought prosperity and economic disruption to the merchants and governments in the trading regions of the Indian Ocean, Mediterranean, Sahara, and overland Eurasia. The key here is the connection of GLOBAL trade. As global trade connections took shape between the Americas and Afro-Eurasia, regional trade networks in the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean increased with the continued expansion of European sea powers. European use of sea-based, gunpowder military often forced Old World port cities into trade agreements with the European merchants. The Mediterranean became dominated early on by Ottomans and Venetians, but Europeans increasingly took control of Mediterranean trade throughout the Early Modern Era. Indian Ocean trade continued to be a commercial network between Arabs, Indians, and Chinese and Southeast Asians, however Europeans such as the Dutch, Portuguese, and French began to make local alliances and force people into trade agreements as they become increasingly involved in the Indian Ocean trade over the period. Trans-Saharan Trade began to slowly be displaced by African coastal trade. Coastal trade was more profitable, so Trans-Saharan trade decreased as African slave trading kingdoms were increasingly built along the West Coast rather than in the interior areas. The volume of trade along the overland Silk Roads network was also decreasing due to the profitability of sea trade; however, the network did not completely disappear.

II.     European technological developments in cartography (professional map making) and navigation built on previous knowledge developed in the classical, Islamic, and Asian worlds, and included the production of new tools, innovations in ship designs, and an improved understanding of global wind and currents patterns — all of which made transoceanic travel and trade possible. The Crusades and the Pax Mongola had helped spread Islamic and Asian technological developments such as the compass, printing, cartography, and the astrolabe to Europe which helped spur navigation in the Early Modern Period. Knowledge of the circular wind and ocean patterns in the Atlantic Ocean and the seasonal monsoon winds in the Indian Ocean helped make sea trade more efficient.

·    Revised maps – Cartography (map making) became much more precise and the printing press helped facilitate the distribution of more precise maps. In 1569, Gerardus Mercator presented this map projection (on the right) and was extremely helpful in navigation because it has true lines of latitude, despite major distortions in land size and distances. This helped navigators be more accurate when sailing because with the help of a compass and astrolabe, these maps

Required examples of innovations in ship designs:

·   Caravels – Caravels (pictured on the right) were a Portuguese ship design that utilized lateen sails from the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean trade. The caravel model was able to sail into the wind, unlike previous European ships. This technique is known as “tacking” and allowed Portuguese and other European sailors to travel southward along the coast of Africa, navigate the Indian Ocean monsoon winds, and cross the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean.

·   Carracks – Carracks were large sailing ships used initially by the Genoese for commerce and eventually used by Spanish and Portuguese for global exploration and commerce.

·   Fluyt – Dutch designed sailing ship that helped significantly expand European commerce in the Early Modern Period and build the Dutch merchant marine and commercial empire. By 1670, the Dutch seaborne empire was responsible for nearly half of all European shipping.

III. Remarkable new transoceanic maritime (ocean-going) reconnaissance (exploration and record keeping; knowledge gathering expeditions, some of which were for trade, but many were just for the sake of exploration) occurred in this period.

A.      Portuguese development of maritime technology and navigational skills led to increased travel to and trade with West Africa and resulted in the construction of a global trading-post empire. The Portuguese led the development of Western European trading. Due to the location of Portugal on the Atlantic coast they had a geographic advantage of venturing into the Atlantic, not to mention that trade in the Mediterranean was dominated by Italian merchants. Portuguese navigation was fueled by Prince Henry’s School for Navigation, in which studies and technological developments were put at the forefront of the school’s efforts. Portugal proceeded to set up coastal trading ports along West Africa for the purchase of slaves as well as all along the Indian Ocean and became major merchants alongside Arabs, Indians and Chinese in the Indian Ocean. Additionally, Portugal established the colony of Brazil, which became the major sugar-producing colony in the world in the Early Modern Period.

B.      Spanish sponsorship of the first Columbian and subsequent voyages across the Atlantic and Pacific dramatically increased European interest in transoceanic travel and trade. The voyages and records of Bartolomeu Dias (to the southern tip of Africa), Christopher Columbus (across the Atlantic), Vasco da Gama (around Africa to India) and Ferdinand Magellan (first to go around the world – “circumnavigate”) created interest to further fuel exploration and commercial ventures across the globe. The Spanish were able to create a vast sea-based empire, particularly in the Americas (Mesoamerica, Peru, Chile, and Southwest Modern-US), as well as the Philippines in Southeast Asia.

C.        Northern Atlantic crossings for fishing and settlements continued and spurred European searches for multiple routes to Asia. French and British Atlantic crossings focused primarily on finding the “Northwest Passage” to Asia. While this search was never successful, it led to commercial ventures and some permanent settlements by the English on the North American Atlantic coast and the French in Quebec and New Orleans. John Cabot, Henry Hudson and Jacques Cartier all led efforts to find new routes to Asia via North America. While there are routes today, they are glacier-filled and were not economically nor were they technologically feasible in the Early Modern Period.

IV.    The new global circulation of goods was facilitated by royal chartered (in other words, done with permission of the monarch) European monopoly (when one person, company or government is over to have complete control over an industry or trade network and able to deny access to other interested parties) companies that took silver from Spanish colonies (major silver mines in Potosi, South America and in Mexico) in the Americas to purchase Asian goods (silk, porcelain, spices) for the Atlantic markets. Regional markets continued to flourish in Afro-Eurasia by using established commercial practices and new transoceanic shipping services developed by European merchants. While Europeans were now (by the end of the Early Modern Period) major participants in the Indian Ocean trade, they did not completely displace Arabs, Indians, and Chinese merchants. Europeans traded alongside other merchants but were able to provide new financial and commercial practices that allowed for expanded trade.  

A.      European merchants’ role in Asian trade was characterized mostly by transporting goods from one Asian country to another market in Asia or the Indian Ocean region. Most people around the Indian Ocean had no interest in European goods, due to the fact that most Asian products were of superior quality. When Europeans discovered the silver mines in the Americas, they were able to trade New World silver for Asian goods. Additionally, European financial and commercial practices as well as navigational technology made them excellent merchants to move goods from various ports along the Indian Ocean. These European Indian Ocean activities were carried out primarily by Portuguese, Dutch and to a small degree French, while the Spanish Philippines provided their access to China and Southeast Asia. By the end of the period, England had also begun to make further encroachments into Indian Ocean trade.

B.      Commercialization and the creation of a global economy were intimately connected to new global circulation of silver from the Americas. Regional markets became tied into the global economy due to the circulation of silver from the Americas (and Japan). Spanish silver, from the Americas (Potosi) provided a near common currency that helped fuel and intensify trade across the globe.

C.      Influenced by mercantilism, joint-stock companies were new methods used by European rulers to control their domestic and colonial economies and by European merchants to compete against one another in global trade. Mercantilism is a state-run economic theory, policy, and practice. Early Modern Period empires attempted to better themselves financially by importing raw materials and gold/silver and by exporting manufactured goods. Mercantilism assumes that wealth was limited, so the only way to increase the wealth of a nation/monarch was to gain a greater share of the market (thereby diminishing the wealth of another nation). The European colonies in the Americas fueled the import of goods and often placed high tariffs on imported manufactured goods in order to protect domestic manufacturers. Mercantilism was relatively new in world history at the beginning of the Early Modern Period because it was the first time that empires/states began to take an active part in long-distance trade and commerce. These were specific attempts by the state to regulate trade. Colonies were forced to trade only with their mother countries.  Sometimes the economic relationship between mother country and colony was not trade at all, but simply extraction of resources, such as in the case of silver mines. Joint-stock companies, usually formed through royal charter, were private corporations that carried out the business interests of stakeholders in order to generate profits. Joint-stock companies were formed in order to share the risk of long-distance commerce. When long-distant commercial ventures were undertaken, people were not often willing to risk lots of money, as these ventures were extremely risky considering all the things that could go wrong (shipwreck, piracy). Joint-stock companies allowed individuals to pool their wealth under a royal charter and share not only the risk, but also share the rewards. These companies greatly increased investment in commercial ventures and led to increased wealth in the hands of European businessmen. The British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company (VOC) were major, competing joint-stock companies in the Indian Ocean, but joint-stock companies also prompted settlement in North America, such as the Virginia Company that established Jamestown and the Massachusetts Bay Company that founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

The above image is a simplification of the theory of mercantilism. Mother countries (Spain, France) wanted to enrich their treasuries with gold and silver to fund domestic military campaigns and to fund further exploration and commercial ventures, all as a part of the consolidation of power carried out by Early Modern monarchs. A key phrase in mercantilism is favorable balance of trade: this illuminating phrase means mercantilist nations wanted to export more than they imported, mainly in terms of manufactured goods. The flow chart demonstrates the functions of the mother countries and the colonies. Colonies were acquired and maintained in order to extract raw materials. Extraction is an important word in mercantilism: colonies did not generally benefit economically from these exploitative extractions. The colonies existed to enrich the mother country, and if the colony suffered economically, technologically, or socially, that was not of concern to the mother countries.

D.      The Atlantic system involved the movement of goods, wealth, and free and un-free (coerced) laborers, and the mixing of African, American, and European cultures and peoples. The Atlantic System is otherwise known as the Triangular Trade. This was the trade network established between Western Europe, Western Africa, and the Americas (3 sides of the triangle – image right). Here are the basic steps in the Atlantic System:

1. Slaves were purchased from West African slave trading kingdoms (such as Dahomey, the Ashanti, and the Gold Coast) where they were transported to the Americas in order to produce raw materials and silver. This is known as the Middle Passage, where death rates at sea were nearly 15%, not including the number of Africans killed while being taken to the coast for transport.

2. Raw materials were extracted from the American colonies by Native American and African labor and then transported to Europe where they were manufactured in the cottage industry part of the mercantilist process.

3. Eventually these manufactured goods were sold domestically, internationally (often to Africa for more slaves), and even back to the colonies.

While the Atlantic System was not always so cut and dry it was a fairly predictable movement of people and goods. European migrants also relocated to the New World, sometimes permanently, as in the Puritans and Pilgrims, but most times with the intention of returning to Europe after financial success (although never did return). Consequently, the Americas were changed culturally (primarily by Christianity, along with some African influences) and demographically. European and African migrants in the Americas increased from zero to millions, while Old World diseases (mainly smallpox and influenza) brought by Old World migrants to the New world decimated Native American populations. Additionally, there was significant racial and ethnic mixing in Latin America among Europeans, Africans and Native Americans creating the casta system. (More on this later) However, English and French North America had a much smaller degree of racial and ethnic mixing.

The Atlantic system was primarily driven by the demand for silver and sugar in the Old World. Sugar was one of the most lucrative cash crops and was in high demand in Europe and across the globe. Most slaves were transported to the New World in order to produce sugar in Brazil and the Caribbean islands. Most slaves did not survive for more than a few years when working on sugar plantations, due to a combination of the backbreaking work, the climate, and the tropical diseases. The need to replenish this labor force required a constant flow of slaves from Africa. Attempts by Europeans to use Native Americans as the main labor source had already been tried and had failed due to incredibly high death rates among the Natives (Old World diseases).

V.      The new connections between the Eastern (Old World – Afro-Eurasia) and Western (New World - the Americas) hemispheres resulted in the Columbian Exchange. The Columbian Exchange was the biological exchange of plants, animals, people and disease between the Old and the New World. Due to their extended geographic isolation from one another, the two major landmasses of the New World and the Old World developed very different ecosystems, pathogens, and plant and animal species. With the connection established initially by Columbus’ voyages, the biological transfer began and had major consequences on plant, animal and human lives in both the Old and New Worlds.

A.        European colonization of the Americas led to the spread of diseases — including smallpox, measles, and influenza — that were endemic (originally from) in the Eastern Hemisphere among Amerindian (Amerindian is another term used by historians for Native Americans, combining American Indians) populations and the unintentional transfer of vermin, including mosquitoes and rats. The question here is “why did Native Americans die of European diseases in such massive numbers and not the other way around?” The multiple answers to this question are significant. First, Afro-Eurasians have had a greater deal of contact between one another than Native American populations did. All of the commercial and military contacts between Old World peoples led to the spread of diseases that decimated Old World populations at various earlier times (end of the Classical Period, Black Death in the Post-Classical period). Due to this prior exposure, the surviving people of the Old World had developed some immunity to smallpox and influenza. Second, Europeans have been in closer contact with pests and animals through intensive agriculture, particularly because of the use of large animals in agriculture. This exposed Europeans to various disease pathogens and helped build immunity over the thousands of years.   On the other hand, the Americas did not have large animals useful for agriculture prior to the arrival of the Europeans, and therefore had less exposure to disease pathogens and a lower ability by the immune system to respond to incoming diseases.

B.      American foods became staple crops in various parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Cash crops were grown primarily on plantations with coerced labor and were exported mostly to Europe and the Middle East in this period.

Required examples of American foods:

·   Potatoes, Maize, and Manioc – These foods were indigenous to America (the New World) prior to the Columbian Exchange. These are staple crops (reliant upon for food, not luxury or cash crops). Due to the Columbian Exchange these crops and their seeds were transported back to the Old World where they were planted and sharply increased food supplies, which increased populations across the Old World. Due to the nutrition of the newly introduced maniac and peanuts, the population of Africa was able to increase in this time period despite the exportation of millions of Africans in the slave trade. Potatoes became a staple food in Ireland (think future Irish potato famine – 1840s) and maize (corn) supplemented diets across Eurasia.

Required examples of cash crops: Cash crops are raw materials that are not used for subsistence. These types of crops are typically grown on large plantations by coerced labor and yield very large profits.

·   Sugar – Sugar was primarily produced in Brazil and the Caribbean with the use of African slave labor, although Native American labor was initially attempted by high death rates among workers made it impossible. In Brazil, sugar plantations and the sugar processing mills were known as engenhos where massive slave labor was required (Brazil was the largest slave importer). This sugar could be refined into granulated sugar, but could also be turned into rum for large profits.

·   Tobacco – originally a New World crop, tobacco found a place in European and Middle Eastern culture. Initially, tobacco was tried in tea, dried, used as a spice, and even used as incense, but ultimately it was used as a smoke-able product in coffeehouses in Europe and the Middle East.

C.      Afro-Eurasian fruit trees, grains, sugar, and domesticated animals were brought by Europeans to the Americas, while other foods were brought by African slaves. This is part of the Columbian Exchange.

Required examples of domesticated animals: These are self-explanatory. These animals provided new food sources and were used as beasts of burden. Horses spread rapidly across the American frontier, and many Native American groups quickly adopted horse riding into their culture. Cattle and horses also provided for agricultural labor in the form of beasts of burden, increasing agricultural productivity in the Americas.

·   Horses, Pigs, Cattle

Required examples of foods brought by African slaves: You need to be able to connect Okra and Rice agriculture with African slave labor. As Africans were brought to the New World as the Middle Passage as part of the Triangular Trade system in the Atlantic Ocean, they were used as the primary labor force on cash crop plantations. Their knowledge of okra and rice as food products from Africa allowed them to transport that knowledge to the Americas.

·   Okra, Rice

D.      Populations in Afro-Eurasia benefited nutritionally from the increased diversity of American food crops. This is a standard in World History. As food production and availability increases, population does as well. More food = more people. So, one major demographic effect of the Columbian Exchange was that Old World Populations (in Afro-Eurasia) increased due to the introduction of potatoes and maize (corn).

E.         European colonization and the introduction of European agriculture and settlements practices in the Americas often affected the physical environment through deforestation and soil depletion. Agriculture because the primary activity in the Americas during colonization by the Europeans. Plantation Agriculture was particularly land intensive as large areas of forested land were cleared for agriculture (deforestation). Because land was so abundant early on, many agricultural practices wore out the nutrients in the soil quickly (soil depletion), thus agriculture continued to expand into new territories, continuing deforestation and soil depletion.

VI.    The increase in interactions between newly connected hemispheres (Old World to New World) and intensification of connections within hemispheres expanded the spread and reform of existing religions and created syncretic (blending) belief systems and practices.

As Islam spread to new settings in Afro-Eurasia, believers adapted it to local cultural practices. The split between the Sunni and Shi’a traditions of Islam intensified, and Sufi practices became more widespread. The split between Sunni and Shi’a Islam occurred after the death of the prophet Muhammad over the disagreement of who should succeed the Prophet as the Caliph. Shi’a Muslims wanted Muhammad’s nephew, Ali, to rule, and thought caliphs should continue to come from Muhammad’s bloodline. However, Sunni Muslims wanted religious leaders to elect the new caliph from any of the higher members of Islam. The growing rift in Sunni and Shi’a Islamic traditions was intensified by state adherence of the Ottomans to Sunni Islam and the Safavids to Shi’a Islam. This militancy, tied to Turkic militant traditions (ironically) on which both empires were founded, continued to separate Sunni and Shi’a Islam as well as the internal persecutions carried out on Shi’a inside the Ottoman Empire and Sunni inside the Safavid Empire. Sufism also grew significantly in size and helped spread Islam. Sufi poets, writers and advisors were also often held in high regard in Islamic societies in Afro-Eurasia.

The practice of Christianity continued to spread throughout the world and was increasingly diversified by the process of diffusion and the Reformation. The Protestant Reformation began around 1517 CE when a German monk named Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses to a church door in Wittenberg, Saxony (modern Eastern Germany). These were 95 complaints that Martin Luther had with the corrupt Roman Catholic Church at the time. Chief among his complaints were the Catholic use of indulgences and simony. The Catholic Church had been selling indulgences across Europe in order to raise revenue in which people could pay for their salvation and forgiveness, or even pay for the salvation of those already in hell/purgatory. Simony was also seen as a corrupt practice in which individuals could pay to hold Church offices (jobs within the Church), which often guaranteed great wealth and security. Luther’s writings, along with the teachings of John Calvin, led to a schism in Christian Europe. Northern areas of Europe, such as Germany, the Netherlands, and eventually England under Henry VIII, became some form of Protestant Christian (as in protest to Catholicism). These Lutherans, Calvinists and Anglicans (Church of England) moved away from the authority of the Pope and the Catholic Church and began setting up national and local churches, with much less hierarchy. The Protestant Reformation was most importantly fueled by the newly developed printing press by Johann Gutenberg in the 15^th century. Combined with Martin Luther’s translation of the Bible into the vernacular German, as opposed to Latin, more common people had the ability to read and interpret the Bible for themselves.

         Remember, the Americas had been “discovered” in 1492 and the Christian churches of Europe set their sights on converting the Native Americans to Christianity. With efforts to address the corruption and concerns of the Protestant Reformation, the Catholic Church set about the Catholic Reformation (also known as the Counter-Reformation). Spear-headed by the founder of the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits, Ignatius Loyola emphasized missionary work and setting up missions in the Americas and Asia in an effort to increase Catholic followers. Most Spanish settlements in the New World had missionary components and Franciscan and Jesuit churches were often focal points of settlements. Matteo Ricci missionary work in China and Francis Xavier’s missionary work in Japan also saw early successes of conversion by blending Catholicism with some local practices, often to the chagrin of more hardline Catholics.

         As the new forms of Protestantism and Catholicism spread over the globe, they took on regional differences, often as a result of syncretism. In Spanish America (and the Philippines), Catholicism blended with Native American traditions in Mexico and the American Southwest. The Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico became a venerated image of the Virgin Mary, and continues to be a powerful image in Mexican Catholicism. With English expansion in the New World, various forms of Protestantism began to take hold, such as Puritanism, Quakerism and then even greater varieties, such as Baptists, Methodists and others. Matteo Ricci made considerable efforts to convert the Chinese upper class to Catholicism by adopting Confucian mannerisms and continued the Chinese practice of the ancestor veneration as well as using traditional Chinese terms for heaven and God.

While the practice of Buddhism declined in South Asia and Island Southeast Asia, different sects of Buddhism and Buddhist practices spread in Northeast Asia and mainland southeast Asia.. This is a little misleading. Really, Buddhism had already spread geographically throughout Central, East and Southeast Asia. During the Early Modern Period, Buddhism intensified its missionary efforts, particularly in rural areas and with some imperial sanction. Theravada Buddhism in Southeast Asia and Zen Buddhism in Japan continued to spread among the lower classes, while Southeast Asian empires such as Siam (modern Thailand) were almost uniformly Buddhist. To sum up, Buddhism spread in numbers and missionary efforts, but geographically was in the same areas it had reached in the Post-Classical Period.

Syncretic and new forms of religion developed. Required examples of syncretic and new forms of religion:

·   Vodun in the Caribbean – Vodun (or commonly known as Voodoo, or Vodou in Haiti) is a result of the African Diaspora to the New World. As African slaves were transported to the New World, they brought their traditions with them. Vodun has a tradition in West Africa, and blended, to a small degree with Catholicism in the Caribbean. The Creator god Bondye became associated with the Judeo-Christian God, and the loa, or lesser spirits, became associated with the Catholic saints. African migrants were forced to convert to Christianity, and used Christian iconography and religious practices to disguise the West African traditions.

·   The cults of saints in Latin America – The cults of the saints were a traditional European/Catholic practice prior to the Early Modern Period. As Catholicism spread to the New World, saints continued to play a prominent role in Latin American Christianity. The Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico held the Mother of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, as a saint through which to communicate with God. St. Rosa de Lima in Peru is a patroness of the Americas and of the indigenous people of the Americas. St. Philip of Jesus was the first Mexican saint and patron saint of Mexico City as one of the 26 Martyrs of Japan that was crucified in Japan when the Tokugawa Shogunate eliminated Christian practices within its borders.

·   Sikhism in South Asia – Sikhism, developed in the Punjab region of Northwest India, grew out of the teachings of Guru Nanak, who was heavily influenced by the ideas and practices of Jainism, Hinduism and Islam. While those are the influences, it is a religion of its own, not simply a syncretic blend. Guru Nanak emphasized the pursuit of a spiritual union with the timeless, shapeless and sightless monotheistic God, without emphasis on heaven. Salvation could be achieved through meditation and performing good deeds in society.

VII. As merchants’ profits increased and governments collected more taxes, funding for the visual and performing arts, even for popular audiences, increased. This is the patronage of the arts and is facilitated by the upper class (elites).

A.      Innovations in visual and performing arts were seen all over the world.

Required examples of innovations in visual and performing arts:

·   Renaissance art in Europe – Renaissance art is complex and thorough, but we will stick to the basics. The Renaissance was a massive cultural revival of Greco-Roman thought, philosophies and traditions in Western Europe. Strictly discussing innovations in art, we can keep it relatively simple. Major Renaissance innovations in art include the use of linear perspective, and an increase understanding and study of human anatomy.  One of the major patrons of Renaissance art was the Florentine leading family Medici, namely Lorenzo “the Magnificent”.

·   Miniature paintings in the Middle East and South Asia – miniature paintings are images or pictures created in manuscripts. Under the Mughals in India and under the Safavid in Persia, miniature paintings in manuscripts increased significantly. Additionally, the paintings took on greater detail, and plants and animals were more realistically portrayed.

·   Wood-block prints in Japan – wood block prints in Japan were a development that was not possible without printing. As opposed to traditional painting, where there is only the original, wood-block printing allowed for numerous duplicates to be produced. This was used to emphasize greater authority by the Tokugawa Shogunate, and helped spread Japanese popular and literary culture.

·  Post-conquest codices in Mesoamerica – similar to other stylistic innovations in painting and art in this time period, post-conquest codices in Mesoamerica took on more realistic images of people and inanimate objects. With the use of greater detail, greater color and use of space with some use of linear perspective, the codices were a major improvement over previous codices.

B.      Literacy expanded (the printing press played a major role in this in Europe, East Asia and the Americas) and was accompanied by the proliferation of popular authors, literary forms, and works of literature in Afro-Eurasia. Required examples of popular authors, literary forms and works of literature:

·   Shakespeare – Famous English playwright, poet, and author, Shakespeare had tremendous influence on expanding characterization, plot, the English language and genre. The depth of his characters’ emotions, the twisting of his plots, his creative and innovative use of the English language, and the combination of various genres made his writings truly innovative. For example, Romeo and Juliet was one of the first tragedies to use romance as the topic, previously seen as an unworthy topic of a tragedy. Shakespeare’s use of the English language helped standardize the spelling and pronunciation of the English language. While not immediately revered in his time, the popularity of his works helped increase literacy, literature, poetry, and theatre in the Early Modern period.

·   Cervantes – Miguel de Cervantes was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright, most famous for his fictional novel Don Quixote. Like Shakespeare with the English language, Cervantes had a tremendous influence on the standardization of the Spanish language. The title characters’ fanciful notions of medieval chivalry, which Cervantes is actually poking fun at, illustrates a changing of times in Europe, as Don Quixote speaks in Old Castilian, but everyone else speaks in modern Spanish.  The characters are therefore often unable to understand Don Quixote, thus demonstrating that times have changed. Don Quixote is considered one of the first modern European novels, and when published, grew tremendously in popularity and was translated into numerous languages.

·   Sundiata – Historically, Sundiata was the founder and leader of the West African Mali Empire. The “Epic of Sundiata” became an epic oral poem that became widespread around West African in the 15^th and 16^th century. The oral historians, or griots, passed the legend of Sundiata’s conquest and reign through the generations by the telling of the Epic Poem.

·   Journey to the West – Written during the 16^th century Ming Dynasty in China, Journey to the West is a fictionalized account of the Buddhist monk Xuanzang’s 7^th century pilgrimage through central and South Asia. By combining Chinese folk traditions and religions, Chinese mythology and value systems, Daoist immortals and Buddhist bodhisattvas, as well as various themes such as a combination of adventure, insight and Buddhist Enlightenment allegory, Journey to the West has become one of the four Great Classical Novels in Chinese literature. 

·   Kabuki - Kabuki is a type of Japanese theatre that was developed during the 17^th century. Featuring colorful costumes, dynamic sceneries, and passionate scripts of violence and romance, these plays were designed for the increasing urban population. Men played all of the roles (male and female) and this theatre is the most widely known in Japanese tradition.

Key Concept 3.2. New Forms of Social Organization and Modes of Production

Big Picture: Although the world’s productive systems continued to be heavily centered on agricultural production throughout this period (continuity), major changes occurred in agricultural labor, the systems and locations of manufacturing, gender and social structures, and environmental processes. A surge in agricultural productivity resulted from new methods in crop and field rotation and the introduction of new crops. Economic growth also depended on new forms of manufacturing and new commercial patterns, especially in long-distance trade. Political and economic centers within regions shifted, and merchants’ social status tended to rise in various states. Demographic (population) growth — even in areas such as the Americas, where disease had ravaged the population — was restored by the eighteenth century and surged in many regions, especially with the introduction of American food crops (via the Columbian Exchange) throughout the Eastern Hemisphere. The Columbian Exchange led to new ways of humans interacting with their environments. New forms of coerced (forced) and semi-coerced labor emerged in Europe, Africa, and the Americas, and affected ethnic and racial classifications and gender roles.

I.       Beginning in the 14^th century, there was a decrease in men temperatures, often referred to as the Little Ice Age, around the world that lasted until the 19^th century, contributing to changes in agricultural practices and the contraction of settlement in parts of the Northern Hemisphere.  While the causes and effects of this are still debated by historians, the cooler climates had negative impacts on agriculture, health, economics, social strife, emigration and even art and literature. Increased glaciation and storms also had a devastating affect onthose that lived near glaciers and the sea.

II.     Traditional peasant agriculture increased and changed, plantations expanded (especially into the New World), and demand for labor increased (cash crop production in the New World). These changes both fed and responded to growing global demand for raw materials and finished products.

A.      Peasant labor intensified in many regions. Primarily as a result of growing global populations from the Columbian Exchange, peasant labor increased and governments required an increase in number of peasant laborers. Therefore, the raw number of peasants increased as their productivity increased.

Required examples of the intensification of peasant labor:

·   The development of frontier settlements in Russian Siberia – As the Russian Empire began pushing into Siberia during the 16^th and 17^th century, they encountered numerous indigenous groups that lived in the area and had little contact with world trading networks. As Russian merchants and fur traders pushed into Siberia, they began setting up military outposts and peasant communities in order to sustain larger populations. Siberian landowners often offered better working conditions than their Russian counterparts, so disgruntled peasants often fled to Siberian communities. Over time, this influx of Russians changed the language (Russian), culture (Eastern Orthodox) and demographics of Siberia to be more Russian.

·  Cotton textile production in India – For centuries, India had been a major producer of fine cotton cloths (textiles). With the development of greater maritime commerce, Europeans demanded greater amounts of Indian-produced textiles. With the increasing demand for cotton cloth, the demand for the production of greater raw cotton increased, therefore increasing the demand for peasant labor on cotton farms/plantations in India. Trade had increased so tremendously during this period that the Mughal Emperor Akbar undertook a massive road-building project to connect the coastal export cities with the cotton-producing areas in the interior.

·   Silk textile production in China – The Chinese population had exploded after its recovery from the Bubonic Plague, and silk production and manufacturing increased alongside the population. With the low cost of labor, businessmen and merchants were able to hire cheap workers to work in well-organized silk factories, where they received a regular wage for producing silk satins and brocades for export to the global market. Global demand for Chinese silk increased during the Early Modern period, and the Chinese primarily traded their expensive and highly prized silk for silver bullion (coins), many of which came from Spanish mines in the Americas. To the right, a Ming Dynasty-Era painting on a vase depicts a woman weaving silk as an attendant poured tea. Women were often most responsible for silk weaving in the home. By the Early Modern Period, many other regions of world could produce silk, such as the Eastern Mediterranean (Byzantine and Ottoman lands), Western Europe (Italians) and India (Mughals), but Chinese silk was still among the most valuable in the world.

B.      Slavery in Africa continued both the traditional incorporation of slaves into households and the export of slaves to the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. This statement is here to clear up one of many misconceptions of world history. The African slave trade that developed in the Atlantic Ocean was not a new labor system to Africa. Africa, like many places around the world, had been practicing some form of slavery for millennia, certainly since the Bantu migrations had spread agriculture across Sub-Saharan Africa. Slavery in Africa however, was different than the slavery found in other places. In many parts of Africa, land was not recognized as private property, but rather the possession of a community. Therefore, the ownership and control of laborers was seen as a more valuable/wealthy investment. More workers meant that an individual who owned/controlled more laborers could produce more, thereby accumulating more wealth. Slaves were also used as domestic servants and sometimes, although rarely, they were used as administrators, soldiers or advisors, as wealthy, free nobles were often too ambitious and made leaders trust their slaves more than the nobles. Songhay Emperors were a good example of this.   For nearly 500 years before the arriving of the first Europeans on the west coast of Africa, the Islamic slave trade in Mediterranean (in the Trans-Saharan Trade) and the Indian Ocean (off of the Swahili/East Coast) had been established. Raiding and capturing individuals or tribal rivals had been commonplace and part of the Afro-Eurasian slave trade. The Atlantic Slave Trade of Africans into the Americas is not the first slave trade in world history, nor the first in Africa. The Atlantic Slave Trade gets lots of attention, but it is important to keep in mind it was not entirely new, although its brutality was arguably new.

(Left image) – This 19^th century engraving depicts an Arab slave-trading caravan transporting African slaves across the Sahara desert, where they would end up in Mediterranean markets, particularly the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East and the Mughal Dynasty in India.

C.      The growth of the plantation economy increased the demand for slaves in the Americas. As Europeans began to set up colonial empires in the Americas, their main goal was to extract wealth from the land (their colonies) through the production of resources, such as sugar, rice, indigo, tobacco, and, increasingly, silver. Plantations had been immediately set up in the Caribbean, Brazil, and the Southern English colonies (now Southern US). These plantation economies initially tried to use the Native Americans as laborers in the encomienda and mit’a systems; however, due to death from diseases, rebellions, and escape, Europeans began to rely more on chattel slaves brought from African as part of the Atlantic Slave Trade network. Thus, the global demand for raw materials drove the demand for cheaper labor in the Americas, and African slaves fulfilled that demand for labor.

         This exploitation of colonial lands serves as a good reminder of the tremendous change the environmental and geographic change the Americas had undergone since the “discovery” by Columbus and future Europeans. Agriculture had never been practiced on this scale in the Americas prior to the arrival of the Europeans. While Mesoamerica under the Aztecs, and Andean South America under the Inca, had experienced widespread agriculture, it was never this intensive. The changing of the landscape to fit plantation agriculture changed the environmental drastically, mirroring the major social and demographic impacts on the Native Americans as a result of the arrival of the Europeans.

D.      Colonial economies in the Americas depended on a range of coerced labor.

Required examples of coerced labor: Coerced labor, or unfree labor, are labor systems that use threats of violence, detention, or other forms of hardship in order to compel laborers to perform tasks. Coerced laborers are not paid and almost always forced into work involuntarily, with the occasional exception of indentured servitude.

·   Chattel slavery – Chattel slavery is the most recognizable form of coercive labor. This is the type of slavery that developed in the Americas with the use of African slaves. Although chattel slavery was not new in world history, it was practiced on a much wider scale in the Early Modern period, particularly in the Americas. This type of slavery treats the laborer as physical property, without any human or civil rights, equating the slave basically to the equivalent of cattle that could be bought, sold and traded as any other commodity. With the development and expansion of plantation systems in the Americas, particularly for the production of sugar, tobacco, rice, indigo and later cotton, chattel slavery increased throughout the Early Modern period. While Native Americans had been initially tried as a source of chattel slaves, their death rates from disease made them unfit for plantation slavery. However, West Africans had already been exposed to Old World diseases (smallpox, malaria, typhoid, and measles) and knew Old World farming techniques for sugar, rice, and okra and were therefore the ideal laborers for plantations in the Americas. African slaves were captured by coastal African slave trading kingdoms, such as Dahomey or Kongo, and traded to European merchants on the African Atlantic coast for guns, liquor or other goods. The slaves were then transported across the Atlantic Ocean in the Middle Passage crammed into ship holds with appalling death rates due to disease and malnutrition. Upon arriving in the Americas, the slaves would be auctioned off to the highest bidder and sent to work. Most prized were male workers for the agricultural capabilities, however female laborers and domestic servants were also common. Global demand for sugar was by far the largest contributor to the importation of African slaves and the use of chattel slavery, as death tolls were very high among sugar slaves, thus needing a constant resupply.  The chart on the left gives an indication of the number of slaves that arrived in the Americas beginning in the Early Modern period, with the largest recipient being the sugar producing areas, namely Brazil and all of the West Indies.

·   Indentured servitude – Indentured servitude is a system of debt labor used to recruit laborers from other places. During the Early Modern Period, the American colonies in North America, particularly Virginia, used indentured servitude in order to recruit laborers for tobacco plantations. Poor, indebted or criminals from England would sign a 5-10 year contract of labor on a plantation in the Americas. Their passage would be paid and if they survived their term of service, they were freed (in theory, although many employers found ways to continue to add to the indentured servant’s debt, forcing the worker to stay on well past the original contract date). Contracts would be negotiated on in the Old World; the ship captain would take ownership over the worker, and upon arrival in the Americas, would negotiate a price for the contract of that laborer. This was the primary method through which the English North American colonies were populated early on, although death rates were often staggeringly high.

·   Encomienda and hacienda systems – These labor systems were part of Spanish colonial America in Mexico, the Caribbean and Andean South America. These are labor systems used to force Native Americans into agricultural labor. Haciendas were large estates (large house, supporting buildings, farm land, forests, and other craft facilities such as a winery, blacksmith, etc.) set up by the Spanish conquerors and governors of the colonies. These estates were set along-side mining towns and were essentially feudal estates that produced agricultural and manufactured goods. Blacksmiths, bakers, furniture makers and other craft productions were found in colonial haciendas. Initially, the Spanish used the encomienda system of labor, which essentially forced Native Americans into serfdom. The colonial overseers were theoretically in charge of Christianizing and “civilizing” the natives under their control. This makes these systems closer to serfdom than slavery, due to the landowner’s inability to buy and sell laborers.  Once again, due to the high death rates and constant rebellions by natives, the encomienda system declined in use by the middle of the 16^th century. A system of tribute began to replace the encomienda system, as villages of natives would pay colonial leaders in tribute of goods instead of labor.

·   The Spanish adaptation of the Inca mit’a – The mit’a system was a system of labor originally established by the Inca Empire during the Post-Classical period in order to extract labor from the people the Inca had conquered. Under the Inca, this system was a reciprocal arrangement, in which laborers from villages would work on imperial projects, such as roads that would benefit their entire empire, such as connecting villages into commercial networks. However, under the Spanish, this system was revived, reinterpreted, and resembled temporary slavery rather than the mutually beneficial system under the Inca. Villages were required to send men of age to work for 2-4 months in the silver mines of Potosi. This was agonizing work, in which the death rates were incredibly high. Some died due to the mining and hauling of the silver, while others died from handling the mercury that was used to separate the silver from the ore. This system provided the Spanish Empire with enormous amounts of silver, which was spent most heavily on building the Spanish army in Europe as well as importing vast amounts of East, South and Southeast Asian luxury goods. 

III.    As new social and political elites changed, they also restructured new ethnic, racial, and gender hierarchies. The development of new empires (along with the transformations of existing empires) during the Early Modern period changed the social dynamics of the globe on a large scale. As new empires developed and global trade prospered, there were groups that emerged as new social elites while other social groups, mainly some ethnic and racial minority groups, were subjugated in new ways. Political elites are those typically in charge of government, or, are so wealthy that they have significant political influence. Social elites are people who are wealthy and are among the top of the social hierarchy, but may or may not have political power. A person can be both a political and social elite, but in some cases, they are only one at a time. Racial and ethnic hierarchies are nearly synonymous terms throughout world history (although not always). Additionally, in some cases, women were able to exert greater power, although patriarchal relationships remained dominant.

A.      Both imperial conquests and widening global economic opportunities, generated by increased global trade, contributed to the formation of new political and economic elites.

Required examples of new elites:

·  The Manchus in China – The conquest of the Ming Dynasty by the Manchus (or Qing Dynasty) allowed the Manchu people to exert their control over the indigenous Chinese people. The Manchu people were horseback conquerors from Central Asia that were able to defeat the Ming Dynasty in the 17^th century. After their conquest, the Manchu wanted to preserve their ethnic and cultural identity as separate from the Chinese people. The Chinese were forbidden from intermarrying with the Manchu and from learning the Manchu language.  Also, Chinese citizens were forced to grow/maintain a Manchu-style queue (see image to the right) and could be punishable by death for failure to comply with these restrictions.

·   Creole elites in Spanish America – With the conquest of the Americas by the Europeans, Native Americans were subjugated under European authority. In the context of world history, the term Creole means someone of European descent/blood, but born in the Americas rather than in Europe itself. As the Spanish began building their colonial empire in South America and Mesoamerica, Creole elites emerged as wealthy landowners, political leaders, and as leaders of American craft industries.  However, the higher-status peninsulares always exerted more control and had more power than the Creoles. Peninsulares were those individuals of European descent/blood that were actually born in European. Therefore the peninsulares were considered ethnically and socially superior to the Creoles, who were of the same descent, but not born in the Old World.

·   European gentry – As monarchies began to consolidate greater amounts of power throughout the Early Modern period, the monarchs did so by taking control from the former elites (nobility). The gentry, or lesser aristocracy, would often purchase offices, such as judges, sheriffs, tax collectors or any other administrative/bureaucratic positions, with large sums of money in order to help manage the monarch’s state (country). This gave the monarch more power and money, but it also made the gentry more loyal to the monarchy. This new political class helped consolidate state authority with the monarch away from the upper-class nobles, who had traditionally carried out these types of administrative tasks.

·   Urban commercial entrepreneurs in all major port cities in the world – There was a LOT more global trade in the Early Modern Period than previously in world history. Because of this increase in the volume of trade, port cities became immensely wealthy, thus people who helped facilitate global trade (the entrepreneurs) also became wealthy, often attaining political power through financial influence. These entrepreneurs were often bankers, ship-builders, owners of harbors, and merchants who helped connect merchants on the coast with merchants in the interior. A large factor in this trade and development of port city elites was the discovery, mining and expansion of the flow of Spanish America and Japanese silver.  Silver became a currency in many places across the globe as it facilitated the sales of new goods as well as the movement of goods across the planet.

B.      The power of existing political and economic elites fluctuated as they confronted new challenges to their ability to affect the policies of the increasingly powerful monarchs and leaders. As discussed previously, the monarchies of the Early Modern Period were consolidating authority. That authority had to come from someone; which often meant the traditional nobility. In each of the following examples (Mughal India, the Nobility in Europe, and the Daimyo in Japan) the increasingly powerful monarchs were taking power away from the traditional, landowning nobility and appointing people to administrative positions that were considered more loyal (or more likely to be loyal) to the monarchs.

Required examples of existing elites:

·   The zamindars in the Mughal Empire - Zamindars were the traditional land-holding elites of India. As Mughal emperors gained greater power over the Indian sub-continent during the Early Modern period, they increasingly relied more on appointed administrators rather than on than the traditional nobility, the zamindars. This practice of replacing zamindars with loyal administrators was much more common in Northern India (Ganges Valley) than Southern India due to the Mughal’s inability to reliably control Southern India.

·   The nobility in Europe – As the gentry began gaining administrative/bureaucratic positions in Europe, they were replacing the functions previously performed by the upper-nobility (upper-nobility/old aristocracy = nobles of the sword). Nobles of the sword were gradually usurped by the nobles of the robe (nobles of the robe = usually purchased offices; made up of gentry) in France under Louis XIV.   Similarly, the Table of Ranks created by Peter the Great in Russia had the effect of reducing the power of the older aristocracy. When Louis XIV of France moved his court and seat of rule to his palace at Versailles, the move required nobles to establish residences away from Paris and their own seats of regional power and attend his court in Versailles in an effort to try to gain favor and influence with the king. The lavish accommodations of the palace at Versailles kept the nobles happy while Louis and his administrators were able to administer the empire without their influence or interference in government affairs.

·   The daimyo in Japan – In feudal Japan, the daimyo were the traditional, landowning nobles. As the Tokugawa Shogunate began to consolidate power in Japan in the 17^th century, the daimyo lost power to administrators. Additionally, the Shogun required the daimyo to maintain their families in Edo (the capital) and spend every other year themselves at the capital (this is a similarity with Louis XIV’s strategies in France). The Shogun was not only able to keep a close eye on the nobles, but also was able to encourage the nobility to spend their money on estates in Edo, rather than spending their money on raising militaries in their own home districts.

C.      Some notable gender and family restructuring occurred, including the demographic changes in Africa that resulted from the slave trades. The Atlantic Slave trade demanded a disproportionate number of men over women, due to men’s greater agricultural productivity. Of the slaves exported from African, 2/3rds of them were men, creating serious gender imbalances in some slave-trading regions. For example, at the height of the slave trade, there were 2/3rds more women in Angola than men. This led to the practice of polygamy (marrying more than one woman) and forced women to take on tasks that had traditionally been the responsibility of men, such as agricultural labor. Overall however, the population of Africa actually increased in the Early Modern period due to the introduction of American food crops, despite the 16 million (at least) slaves exported.

Required examples of gender and family restructuring:

·   The dependence of European men on Southeast Asian women for conducting trade in that region – This is self-explanatory, although it is a major new development. As European men traversed the globe with trading companies and other commercial ventures, they often married local women or took them as concubines. Often these men were denied access to regional markets without their female companions.  Also, most didn’t know the language and had to rely on local women for commercial activities. Most famously, a woman named Soet Pegu, who virtually monopolized trade relations between the Dutch and Thailand (Siam at the time).

·   The smaller size of European families – Families in Europe (English, Dutch, and French) began to decrease in size as families became more independent economically. Childhood now began to be recognized as a separate phase of life, as opposed to seeing children as small adults.  Love became a more common reason for marriage, as opposed to arrangement or as a business transaction. As men’s wages increased more than women’s and greater consumer goods were available for purchase, women were left with a lesser an economic role than in the past.  Urbanization also contributed to smaller families, as urban life isn’t as suitable for large families.

This section (D) is NOT Explicitly on the test, but these are helpful in analysis of demographic developments in the New World resulting from global trade and the Columbian Exchange.

D.      The massive demographic changes in the Americas resulted in new ethnic and racial classifications.

Required examples of new ethnic and racial classifications: As Europeans migrated to the Americas and African slaves were brought across the Atlantic in the Middle Passage, significant racial/ethnic mixing took place. These classifications were most common in Spanish and Portuguese colonies and the Spanish went so far as to begin classifying them in a casta system known as the “Republica de Indios.” This system developed more so in Latin America than North America because Spanish migrants were overwhelmingly men, while English migrants came more commonly in families. Simple classes are described in the image to the right, although there were numerous other breakdowns between those classes, as well as variations of the specifics between regions.

·   Mestizo – Mestizos, most commonly developed in Central America, were the children of someone of pure European descent and someone of pure Native American descent. Some mestizos were able to wield limited economic power, although political power rested almost exclusively in the hands of the peninsulares for most of the colonial period. 

·   Mulatto – Mulattos were the children of someone of pure European descent and someone of pure African descent and they most were commonly found/conceived in areas of sugar producing areas such as the Caribbean and Brazil.

·   Creole – As stated previously, creoles were people of pure European descent, however, unlike the peninsulares; Creoles were not born in Europe, but were born in the Americas. While many creoles were economic elites, they were typically denied political power and later led the independence movements of the 19^th century.

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Key Concept 3.3. State Consolidation and Imperial Expansion

Big Picture: Empires expanded and conquered new peoples around the world, but they often had difficulties incorporating culturally, ethnically, and religiously diverse subjects, and administrating widely dispersed territories. Agents of the European powers moved into existing trade networks around the world, such as the lucrative and long-standing Indian Ocean trade. In Africa and the greater Indian Ocean, nascent (new or emerging) European empires consisted mainly of interconnected trading posts and enclaves. In the Americas, European empires moved more quickly to settlement and territorial control, responding to local demographic and commercial conditions.

Moreover, the creation of European empires in the Americas quickly fostered a new Atlantic trade system (often called the Triangular Trade) that included the trans-Atlantic slave trade, or Middle Passage. Around the world, empires and states of varying sizes pursued strategies of centralization, or giving more power to a single ruler/monarch, including more efficient taxation systems that placed strains on peasant producers, sometimes prompting local rebellions. Rulers used public displays of art and architecture to legitimize state power (so they could project and give greater authority to their rule or to make it more official, thus leading to fewer challenges to their authority. African states shared certain characteristics with larger Eurasian empires, including centralization, expansion and competition. Changes in African and global trading patterns strengthened some West and Central African states — especially on the coast; this led to the rise of new states and contributed to the decline of states on both the coast and in the interior.

I.       Rulers used a variety of methods to legitimize and consolidate their power. As rulers of large empires were able to seize power in the Early Modern period, mostly through the incorporation of gunpowder technology, they needed to demonstrate their new/heighted power. To “legitimize” power means to make a monarch’s rule “official” or to justify a monarch’s rule and have subjects and elites accept the monarch as the “rightful” ruler. They needed to answer some basic questions about their leadership: Why are you in charge? What gives you authority over your subjects?

         To consolidate power means to take power away from other people and to give more of it to the monarch and its bureaucracy. Much like the pharaohs of Ancient Egypt, monarchs of the Early Modern Period sought to take power away from the traditional economic and political elites, or aristocracy, and build a new, devoted, loyal bureaucratic class that would not challenge the authority of the monarch. By creating revised/new bureaucratic institutions, building large armies and massive architectural projects, leaders were able to create an air of power, prestige and legitimacy.

A.      Rulers used the arts to display political power and to legitimize their rule. – Louis XIV of France exemplifies the rulers of this time period in this category. He was probably one of the most effective Early Modern rulers in consolidating power, and his palace at Versailles is the physical embodiment of that power.

Required examples of the arts as displays of political power:

·   Monumental architecture – As leaders set about trying to assert and consolidate their authority, many of them began massive building projects that would display their authority. These monuments often served as administrative palaces, but could also be religious and/or sacred sites to bolster political power. The most significant example was Louis XIV’s palace construction at Versailles, France. At Versailles, Louis could effectively control the power of the nobility by forcing them to live at his palace and make his bureaucrats administer the empire instead of the nobility. The elaborate ceremonies and banquets at the royal court served to keep the nobles away from their estates where they might plot rebellion. Versailles is only one example of this during the time period. Here is a brief list of other major building projects by leaders in the Period:

o  Spain – Escorial built by Phillip II of the Spanish Hapsburg Empire/Dynasty.

o  England – Whitehall Palace built and used by the Tudor Dynasty (Elizabeth I).

o  Russia – Peterhof Palace built by Peter the Great (Romanov Dynasty) in the new capital of St. Petersburg.

o  Ottoman – Suleymaniye Mosque built by Suleyman the Magnificent in Istanbul, Turkey (Constantinople).

o  Safavid – Shah Mosque built by Shah Abbas I in the new Safavid capital of Isfahan.

o  Mughal – Taj Mahal built by Shah Jahan.

o  Ming China – The Forbidden Palace/City built by Yongle of the Ming Dynasty.

o  Tokugawa Japan – Edo Castle used by the Tokugawa Shoguns as the administrative and military capital.

·   Urban design - With greater concentrations of power and wealth, monarchs and their administrations set out to purposely design cities to emphasize the authority of the monarch. From the layout of the streets, to the location of the residential and commercial areas, each part was laid out to put the monarch and their palace in the urban center, or at least the point from which all other areas orient.

·    Courtly literature - Two major writers in this period set out as the example of how rulers would go about obtaining, justifying and legitimizing their rule. \

o    Machiavelli – This political author from Florence created the “how-to” manual for monarchs in the political manual The Prince. In it, Machiavelli urges monarchs to keep the end goal of their rule in mind, and if need be, employ ruthless policies in pursuit of those goals. This could involve deception and violence, but he warns rulers also need to be seen as being pious, faithful, humane and just, in order to maintain the confidence of their subjects.

o   Jean Bodin – Jean Bodin is often credited with developing the notion of “divine right of kings” in which he argues that political power should be absolute and unchecked. With the rise of nation-states in the wake of the Protestant Reformation, and the breakdown in Catholic conformity, new nations and their monarchs sought to assert their authority. The divine right of kings, unlike the Chinese Mandate of Heaven, never justified rebellion, as a ruler’s authority could not be questioned. This is in line with the consolidation of power and gave many leaders, most significantly Louis XIV the justification for doing so.

·   The visual arts – As leaders determined to establish themselves as absolute rulers, monarchs would commission artists to write literature, paint portraits and create monuments that displayed the magnificence of the rulers. Exemplified by the famous portrait of Louis XIV of France, portraits or monarchs set out to establish the ruler as regal and detached from his subjects, while still demonstrating the full power and prestige of the royalty.  Much like European monarchs, other monarchs around the world at this time set to patronize the visual arts to enhance royal power and prestige. Under Shah Abbas, Persian art flourished, with its inclusion of Chinese porcelain, and the Ottoman Empire under Suleyman created the “Community of the Talented” that produced artists and architects that were under royal commission, thus legitimizing Ottoman rule.

Rulers continued to use religious ideas to legitimize their rule. Religion during the Early Modern Period took on an increasing role as the right hand of state authority. Rulers would emphasize and develop state institutions of religious authority to help bolster their claims to power. This reciprocal process of the state supporting religious institutions (usually one religion in particular, but not always) in return for the religious institutions’ support of state authority made church and state often go hand in hand (as in each looking out for the other’s best interests, not as in one controlling the other).

Required examples of these religious ideas:

·   European notions of divine right – As European monarchs began to consolidate and legitimize authority many used the divine right of kings as justification of rule. The divine right of kings states that monarchs are not subject to the will of the people, the nobility, or even man-made laws, but only to the will of God. In other words, any attempt to overthrow the monarch was not only unjust but could be seen as sacrilegious (going against the religious teachings) because the monarch’s leadership was perceived as ordained by God. Louis XIV of France again best exemplifies this idea due to his ability to consolidate power and control nobles.

·   Safavid use of Shiism – Shah Ismael, the founder of the Safavid Dynasty in Persia, mostly for propaganda purposes, traced the roots of his imperial family back to a religious leader of the Sufi order in Northwest Persia. At this leader’s tomb and shrine, Shah Ismael established his family and set out to conquer Persia as a whole, through conquest and religious conversion. As the nomadic Turkish tribes were moving into Persia, Shah Ismael set out to use Shiite Islam to reinforce his political power. By converting his family and court to a branch of Islam popular among the Turks, known as Twelver Shiism, he was able to recruit a fighting force and emphasize Shiism throughout the Iranian plateau.

·   Mexica or Aztec practice of human sacrifice – Mesoamerican culture and religions have had a long tradition of sacrificial bloodletting and sacrifice in an effort to appease the gods and provide nourishment for the earth. As the Aztec (also known as Mexica) conquered their neighbors, many of the warriors worshipped the god Huitzilopochtli and their success as a group led to an increased desire by other warriors and priests to keep the god appeased through human sacrifice, sometimes from Mexica criminals, sometimes as tribute from conquered peoples, and sometimes as captured warriors.  These sacrifices were not a form of entertainment, like Roman Coliseum games, but a way to appease the gods and ensure the world’s survival. Additionally, these mass sacrifices helped leaders maintain religious authority/legitimacy.

·   Songhay promotion of Islam - As the final Sudanic kingdom (Ghana, Mali, Songhay), like its predecessors, the Songhay took control of the gold and salt trade as well as the strategic trading cities of Timbuktu and Gao, and it adopted Islam, like Mali. While maintaining some traditional religious practices, the conversion to Islam allowed the Songhay kingdom to make greater connections with Trans-Saharan merchants as well as sparked the construction mosques and institutions of learning based around the Quran.  Conversion also led to a syncretic blend of Islamic and Traditional values/culture.

·   Chinese emperors’ public performance of Confucian rituals – Under Confucian ideals of governance, the ideal leader was one who adhered to Confucian values and attended to the rituals that exemplified good rule. With the Manchu/Qing conquest of the Ming Dynasty, Qing rulers sought to use Confucian values and rituals to assist their assertion of authority over their indigenous Chinese subjects. The most important of these leaders was Kangxi (ruled from 1661-1722) who actually wrote his own Confucian poetry, oversaw administrative projects, and publically demonstrated his Confucian values to the Chinese people at his lavish birthday celebrations. These public displays reinforced and legitimize his rule through Confucianism even though he was not technically an indigenous Chinese ruler.

B.      States treated different ethnic and religious groups in ways that utilized their economic contributions while limiting their ability to challenge the authority of the state. To put this plainly, governments (states) needed their subjects to pay taxes/tribute and maintain the economy while preventing them from generating too much power as to be able to oppose the leader/monarch.

Required examples of the differential treatment of ethnic and religious groups:

·   Ottoman treatment of non-Muslim subjects – Due to the diverse nature of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman leaders had to deal with multi-ethnic and multi-religious issues. Unlike many European empires, the Ottomans tended to allow religious tolerance within communities. The millet system was a system of granting communities of minorities, say Orthodox Christians, religious tolerance and independence within their communities. This allowed these communities to continue to thrive while still keeping them content within the Ottoman system and preventing rebellion.

·   Manchu policies toward Chinese – While the Qing Dynasty (of Manchu origin) maintained many of the Chinese institutions that preceded their conquest of China, such as the civil service examination system, the written language, Confucian values of governance, and Chinese popular culture, the Qing dynasty treated the indigenous “Han” Chinese as second-class individuals in society. For instance, the Qing government outlawed marriage between Manchu and Chinese, forbade Chinese travel to Manchuria and forbade the Chinese from learning the Manchurian language. Chinese men were also forced to shave the front of their heads and grow a Manchu-style queue (close to a ponytail – see the image to the right) as a sign of submission to authority.

·   Spanish creation of a separate “República de Indios” – The “Republica de Indios,” or casta system, was the Spanish systematic classification of the various ethnic groups that developed and lived in Latin America. As described above, these various groups, ranging from the people of pure ancestry from Europe, the Americas or Africa, as well as the significant ethnic mixing that occurred once in the Americas.  The juxtaposition of diverse ethnic/racial groups in the New World led Spanish colonizers to create to a legal system that tried to control and categorize every individual. These classifications systematically laid out the legal and economic roles for individuals and played a tremendous role in shaping people daily lives. Much like the caste system in India that developed social and economic roles, this was the same function of the “Republica de Indios” developed by the Spanish in the New World.

C.      Recruitment and use of bureaucratic elites (bureaucratic elites are the wealthy people that helped administer the empire), as well as the development of military professionals (as gunpowder technology because integrated with state power and consolidation, leaders needed to train and maintain standing armies. This is a change from previous time periods, because most armies were developed only when needed, not maintained continuously. With gunpowder technology, monarchs and empires set out to create standing armies, made up of trained professionals) became more common among rulers who wanted to maintain centralized control over their populations and resources. As stated numerous times, the emphasis in this period is on greater consolidation of power at the expense of the existing nobility with the promotion of new bureaucratic elites, brought about because of the development of gunpowder technology.

Required examples of bureaucratic elites or military professionals:

·   Ottoman devshirme – The devshirme system created by the Ottoman Empire is by far the most direct example of an institution that created both bureaucratic elites and military professionals. As the Ottoman Empire expanded into the Balkans (Southeastern Europe), the Ottomans created a supremely important force composed of slave troops. Through the devshirme institution, the Ottomans required the Christian population of the Balkans to contribute young boys to become slaves of the sultan. The boys received special training, learned Turkish, and converted to Islam. According to the individual’s abilities, they either entered the Ottoman bureaucratic class as administrators or went into the military. Those who became soldiers were known as Janissaries. The Janissaries quickly gained a reputation for devotion, loyalty to the sultan, and the readiness to employ new military technology. Besides building military professionals such as the elite Janissaries, the Ottoman also equipped these soldiers with gunpowder weaponry and employed them effectively in battles and sieges.

·   Chinese examination system – Like the Han, Sui, and Tang Dynasties of before, the Ming and Qing Dynasties continued to use the Confucian examination system to train and recruit bureaucratic professionals for the imperial administration. The civil service examination system was theoretically open to any social class, although the cost of training was prohibitive to all but the wealthiest families. Social and economic wealth and social status were almost immediate once one was appointed a position (after having achieved certain ratings on the exam). This system created not only an educated, merit-based system of bureaucracy, but it ensured that the members of the bureaucracy would be loyal to the Confucian and Imperial system, because their livelihood was so wrapped up in it. Loyalty to the Emperor meant better opportunities for oneself and one’s family.

·   Salaried samurai – As a part of the consolidation of Japan, the Tokugawa Shogunate sought to limit the military power of the daimyo (landowners) and the samurai to prevent challengers to imperial rule. One way to accomplish this was to turn many samurai, who traditionally were loyal to a daimyo or shogun of their region, into mercenaries, or a military for hire. This made the samurai more loyal to the Tokugawa rulers rather than to their former daimyo, while many other members of samurai orders were encouraged to seek bureaucratic positions or to become government functionaries. Some were even pushed to scholarship and more traditional learning, something of which would have been completely antithetical to the samurai of old.

D.      Rulers used tribute collection and tax farming to generate revenue for territorial expansion. As empires in history have done, tribute and taxes is standard practice.  Tribute is the imperial collection of goods from a region that has been conquered or is under imperial control. Tax farming is similar, but specifically refers to farming goods, while tribute can be luxury goods, slaves, or anything else the empire demands. This is a continuity dating back to the Classical Period.

II.     Imperial expansion relied on the increased use of gunpowder, cannons, and armed trade to establish large empires in both hemispheres. The Chinese first developed Gunpowder technology in fireworks. The Mongols in the 13^th century were among the first, borrowing from Chinese military engineers, to harness the power of gunpowder in cannons and weaponry. With diffusion and trade accompanying the Pax Mongola, gunpowder and gunpowder technologies, especially cannons, made their way west across Asia, where Turkish, Arab, and European armies subsequently harnessed them. These gunpowder cannons rendered fortified castles and palaces less useful, because the cannons could blow holes in the sides of them. These gunpowder technologies, when utilized by particular monarchs, allowed the monarchs to conquer and control much larger areas and consolidate power, marking this a new period in history.

A.      Europeans established new trading-post empires in Africa and Asia, which proved profitable for the rulers and merchants involved in new global trade networks, but these empires also affected the power of the states in interior West and Central Africa.

·       New trading post empires in Africa and Asia – As the European empires gained power, they deployed merchants with military backing (merchant marine) to expand their commercial interests to the coast lines of Africa and Asia. Unlike European colonization of the Americas, which subjugated the population and set up administrative centers, Europeans were only able to create trade agreements with the Swahili coast, the Ottoman Empire, the Safavid Empire, Mughal India, China and Japan. Some, such as the Mughal, welcomed the European trading partners, while others (the Ottoman, Chinese and Japanese) went to great lengths to prevent European culture and commercial ventures from encroaching into their society. However, New World silver brought by the Spanish Empire into Asian markets, played a significant role in European trade with the Ming Dynasty in China, although European merchants were not physically allowed into mainland China, hence the role of Hong Kong and Macau.

·   Profits to rulers and merchants involved in new global trade networks – As European Empires expanded, merchants profited greatly from resulting exchanges. Europeans willing to finance trade ventures to bring luxury goods back to Europe to sell were able to make tremendous profits. These arrangements allowed the Europeans to cut out the middlemen of the equation, which had traditionally been the Middle East. Since Islamic empires controlled the Middle East in the Early Modern period, instead of the Christian Byzantine Empire, Europeans sought the source of the wealth themselves and were able to gain the profits themselves.

·   The Decline in the power of the states in interior West and Central Africa – With the development of greater coastal trade, facilitated in large part by European merchant marines, trading centers in the interior parts of Africa declined significantly. Most obviously, the Trans-Saharan Trade was practically replaced by this new coastal African trade.  Therefore places like Timbuktu and the Sudanic kingdoms lost power to new coastal kingdoms, such as Benin, the Ashanti, and Dahomey, who were then able to trade more easily and frequently with coastal partners, which was quicker than the overland routes of the Sahara desert. The map on the right shows the flow of African slaves from the coast of West Africa across the Atlantic, which in turn would diminish interior African trade across the Sahara Desert.

B. Land empires expanded dramatically in size. The implementation of gunpowder technology allowed Asian empires to conquer vastly larger territories and subdue larger numbers of people than typical previous empires. By developing standing armies with superior technology based on gunpowder, these empires expanded largely beyond their traditional borders and empires previously in these areas and were typically able to maintain them through the development of bureaucracies and militaries.

Required examples of land empires:

·   Manchus - Known as the Qing Dynasty. Came from Manchuria and brought East Asia under their control.

·   Mughals – Also conquerors like the Manchu. Turkish origin. Controlled India/South Asia.

·   Ottomans – Also conquerors like Manchu and Mughal. Captured Constantinople ending the Byzantine Empire in 1453 and controlled most of the Middle East until the 20^th century.

·   Russians – Spread out from modern-day Moscow and conquest mostly pushed them east to 1) protect against future steppe invasions and 2) to control the fur trade across Siberia and 3) in search of a warm-water seaport in which to conduct trading and military expeditions like Western Europe.

 C.     European states established new maritime empires in the Americas. The European countries, particularly Western European nations, developed sea-based empires that used a merchant marine organization to colonize large portions of the Americas and to establish trading posts along the coasts of Africa and Asia.

Required examples of maritime empires:

·   Portuguese – colonized Brazil and set up numerous posts in the Indian Ocean. Really were among the first Europeans to take part in the Indian Ocean trade system.

·   Spanish - colonized Mesoamerica, Western North America and Western South America. Additionally, the Spanish had control of the Philippines (Manila) to have greater access to trade ports with China.

·   Dutch – The Dutch were particularly effective at developing commercial interests, mainly through the activity of the VOC joint-stock company. While not holding large colonies, the Dutch were very active in the Indian Ocean, replacing early Portuguese efforts and were the main European contact with Japan.(trading-post empire)

·   French – The French had some basic outposts in the Indian Ocean, but most of their activity focus on sugar cultivation in the Caribbean (Haiti/Saint Domingue) and the fur producing areas of the Mississippi and Quebec.

·   British – the British were really among the last to create commercial and colonial interests. Eventually, they created trade posts in the Indian Ocean (although more important in the next time period) they were able to develop some Caribbean colonies and settler colonies in North America.

III. Competition over trade routes, state rivalries, and local resistance all provided significant challenges to state consolidation and expansion.

Required examples of competition over trade routes:

·   Omani-European rivalry in the Indian Ocean – As Europeans expanded into the Indian Ocean, they disrupted the power dynamics of trade that had existed in the region for many years. The monsoon season continued to drive Indian Ocean commerce as it had for nearly 2000 years, but with gunpowder technologies, the competition of this trade increased. The Omani coast is the Southern coast of the Arabian Peninsula that is ideally situated for Indian Ocean, Persian Gulf and Red Sea trade. For years, the Omani had claimed power over the Swahili city-states, but as European power increased in the region and Europeans began setting up fortifications along the African coast, they frequently came into conflict with Arabs of the Omani coast over trade goods, trade routes, and rights to taxation. This competition made it difficult for both Europeans and the Omani to maintain state control or continued expansion.

·   Piracy in the Caribbean – Most of the competition in the Caribbean was carried out between the Spanish, who generated wealth in the form of silver from their Central and South American colonies and the English, who wanted access to that wealth. The Caribbean was really the choke point of all goods traveling from Central and South America back to Europe. If you could control the Caribbean, then you could control the flow of goods and taxation of the trade routes. This led to centuries of intense competition over control of this area, sometimes by individuals in the form of pirates acting alone or in small groups, as well as state-sponsored piracy, particularly by the Dutch and the English. This competition demonstrated the limitations of state power as well as competition bred by increased trade.

Required examples of state rivalries:

·   Thirty Years War – The Thirty Years War (from 1618-1648) was a long, complicated religious political conflict waged across Western Europe. Most of the conflict was fought between monarchs who were pushing for the Catholic and Protestant forces in the battleground areas of modern Germany. Without too much detail, as most of it is not relevant to the greater issues of world history, the Thirty Year’s War is a specific example of how state competition and rivalries would limit consolidation of power and expansion. While places like China, or the Ottoman Empire were able to bring large areas around them under their control, Europe was unable to unify. The state system that was developed at the end of the Thirty Year’s War, which created the modern idea of a state (country), made it difficult, if not impossible for European countries to expand any further over European land. With the goal of maintaining a balance of power in Europe, monarchs essentially agreed over territorial claims, and would use these state forms of legitimacy to limit state expansion.

·   Ottoman-Safavid conflict – The conflict between the Ottoman and Safavid Empire was primarily caused by two issues: The Ottoman Empire was Sunni Muslim and the Safavid was Shi’a Muslim. This religious tension provided a lot of rationale and justification for ongoing conflict. Additionally, the border between the two empires has historically been at a crossroads of the Eurasian trade networks, so control over this region contributed to the volatile relations between the Ottomans and Safavids. Overwhelmingly, the Ottomans were able to dominate the Safavid due to their superior military power and technology.

Required examples of local resistance:

·   Food riots – As capitalism continued to expand across Early Modern Europe, merchants and businessmen often upset commoners when “messing” with the price or supply of food (ironically, “messing with” meant leaving prices of goods to find their own equilibrium, rather than the tradition of government setting the price of essential goods, such as bread). The typical means of bargaining and protest peasants had were food riots, which erupted when traditional sources of market stability, such as price ceilings (the government-imposed prices) were removed or even threatened to be removed. These riots could be costly to subdue and would have to be put down by monarchs, elites, and bureaucrats, creating challenges for imperial expansion. Food riots were a way for commoners to demonstrate frustration and unhappiness, although the riots were rarely targeted at monarchs themselves and instead at business and administrators.  

·   Samurai revolts – As the Tokugawa Shogunate was consolidating power, many daimyo and samurai challenged Tokugawa rule. Many refused to adhere to new imperial policies and built their own palaces, refusing to attend court at Edo. Often exacerbated in this time period because of the introduction of European culture and technology, the Tokugawa would have to use force in order to suppress these challenges to their authority. One such example was the Shimabara Rebellion in southwestern Japan in which the Tokugawa were forced to raise an army of 125,000 troops to put down the rebellion. In the wake of this rebellion, because the Tokugawa suspected Catholic missionaries of encouraging the rebellion, Christianity was expelled from the country and the persecution of all Christians continued in Japan until the 19^th century.

·   Peasant uprisings – Peasant uprisings happened in all empires, and only a general understanding of why peasants revolted is needed for APWH, so it will simply warrant a brief explanation. As empires expand, control more territory, and demand greater tax and tribute, many peasants end up disenfranchised (loss of land, indebtedness, etc.).  Frustration with social and economic position and the increasing hardships often brought about by economic changes, peasants sometimes organized, mobilized, and rose against the state. In most cases, these rebellions/uprisings are swiftly defeated by imperial forces, as they increasingly had trained, professional militaries in the Early Modern period.  However, ending peasant revolts typically came at great costs to monarchs, who then had a hard time exercising greater control over their territory, causing further problems for expansion goals. One such example was the peasant uprising that developed out of the Protestant Reformation. Backed by Protestant clergy, peasants sought to challenge Catholic monarchs/aristocrats in the German-speaking areas of Central Europe. Somewhere between nearly 100,000 and 150,000 deaths occurred during in the suppression of the rebellion. Ultimately, this revolt prevented the nobility of the area from unifying into a larger German kingdom, as each regional noble was seeking to strengthen control over his own territory.