Period 2 Study Guide

Empires of the Islamic World

Islamic civilization crystallized into 5 major states or empires:

• Mughal (India)

• Safavids (Persia)

• Ottomans (E. Europe, Middle East, some parts of N. Africa)

• Minor Empires:

  • Songhai

  • Moroccan

The Ottoman Empire (1300-1922)

Major Islamic state centered on Anatolia that came to include the Balkans, parts of the Middle East, and much of North Africa; lasted in one form or another from the fourteenth to the early twentieth century.

• Islamic world’s most significant empire

• Capital: Istanbul (before was Constantinople)

• Sultan combined the roles of a Turkic warrior prince, a Muslim caliph, and a conquering emperor

• Mid 1550s: empire reached its greatest height

Emperors:

• Sultan Mehmed II — The Conqueror: conquered Constantinople in 1453

  • Had responsibility and the prestige of protecting Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem

• Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent: oversaw Golden Age

  • doubled the size of the empire

  • known as the “lawgiver”; created legal codes that outlasted him for 300 years

Culture and Society

• Did not allow printing press

• 3 categories

  • Men of the Sword/Men of the Pen

    • Ghazi

  • Men of Negotiation

    • Merchants

  • Men on Husbandry

    • Peasants

    • Tend animals/agriculture

• Women had more freedoms in the Ottoman Empire than other Muslim territories

• Central Asian pastoral women:

  • lost rights as Turks adopted Islam

  • elite Turkish women found themselves secluded and often veiled

  • imperial censuses didn’t count women

  • restriction of women religious gatherings

• 1550-1650: women of the royal court had such an influence in political matters that their critics referred to the “sultanate of women.”

  • women actively used the Ottoman courts to protect their legal rights in matters of marriage, divorce, and inheritance

• Harem politics refers to the significant influence wielded by women within the imperial court, particularly in Ottoman and other Islamic empires.

  • These women, including the sultan's wives, concubines, and female relatives, used their positions to navigate the political landscape, often vying for power and manipulating events to their advantage. 

• 1500: 90% of Anatolia’s inhabitants were Muslims and Turkic speakers.

• In the Balkans, only about 19% of the area’s people were Muslims, and 81% were Christians.

• Christians had welcomed Ottoman conquest because taxes were lighter and oppression less pronounced than under their former Christian rulers.

Government

• Jewish refugees left Spain, went to the Ottoman Empire where they became prominent in trade and banking circles.

• The Ottoman Siege of Vienna, 1683

  • Under Suleiman the Magnificent

  • The siege marked the end of a serious Muslim threat to Christian Europe.

  • it marked the beginning of the decline of the Ottoman Empire's westward expansion into Europe. 

• The devshirme also represented a means of upward mobility within the Ottoman Empire.

  • Devshirme - Ottoman Empire’s practice of removing young boys from their Christian subjects and training them for service in the civil administration or in the elite Janissary infantry corps.

  • Christian men became part of the Ottoman elite, sometimes without converting to Islam.

  • Others were inducted so young that they fully converted to Islam and the empire’s native tongue.

• The French government, ally with the Ottoman Empire against its common enemy of Habsburg Austria

• European merchants willingly violated a papal ban on selling firearms to the Turks.

Economy & Architecture

• Timar: sultans granted land and tax revenues to individuals in return for military service.

• All land belonged to the Sultan. newly conquered territories were recorded in the tahrir, or census.

• Government would receive money via tax farming:

  • practice where the government auctions the right to collect taxes to private individuals or companies

• Ottoman architecture and the arts created by Sinan Pasha

  • Sinan Pasha built 81 mosques — most famous: Suley maniye

Decline:

• After Suleiman, sultans became less involved in government

• Europe becomes more powerful; the Ottomans fall behind in technology

• Sultan is dependent on the ruling classes for his power

The Safavid Empire (1501-1736)

• Shah: absolute monarch

  • claimed direct descendant of Muhammed

• Shah Ismail: founder

• Shia version of Islam as the official religion of the state

• Internal tensions of the Safavid Empire were greater than those of the Ottoman Empire:

  • Man of the Pen: bureaucrats, civil servants, and government workers of the Safavid Empire (Persian)

  • Man of the Sword: Qizilbash — fanatical warriors who kept the Shah’s in power (Central Asian)

• Important trade product: silk products such as luxurious Persian carpets

• Culture flourished in art, literature, philosophy, architecture, and formal gardens

  • Persian culture in poetry, painting, and traditions of imperial splendor were important in the eastern Islamic world

• 1534–1639: military conflict erupted between the Ottoman and Safavid empires (territorial and religious conflict)

  • Safavids were weak and could not win against Ottomans

  • Ottomans had better cannons, military organization, and economy

• the Safavid-Mughal war between 1649 and 1653:

  • Sunni Islam prevailed, and resulted in a sharp military encounter

• Decline:

  • couldn’t trade and was blocked by neighbors

  • had a weak bureaucracy

  • late 1700s, the Safavid dynasty ceased to exist

The Mughal Empire (1526–1750s)

A successful state founded by Muslim Turkic-speaking peoples who invaded India and provided a rare period of relative political unity. Invaders were Central Asian warriors who were Muslims in religion and Turkic in culture.

• Founded by Babur

• Zamindars played a crucial role in extending imperial authority by collecting taxes on behalf of the emperor.

• Central division within Mughal India was religious

  • 20% of the population were Muslims

  • Rest were Hindus

Akbar the Great

• Led conquest of almost all of India

• Married several Hindu-Rajputs’ princesses but didnt force convertion

• incorporated a substantial number of Hindus into the political-military elite

• supported the building of Hindu temples as well as mosques, palaces, and forts

• Softened some Hindu restrictions on women

  • encouraging the remarriage of widows and discouraging child marriages and sati

• Imposed a policy of toleration

• deliberately restraining the more militantly Islamic ulama (religious scholars)

• removed the special tax (jizya) on non-Muslims.

• House of Worship creation

• The overall style of the Mughal Empire was that of a blended elite culture in which both Hindus and various Muslim groups could feel comfortable.

• Nur Jahan

  • widely regarded as the power behind the throne of her husband, Emperor Jahangir

• Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi; philosopher

  • a “renewer” of authentic Islam in his time, strongly objected to this cultural synthesis.

  • “Women: introduces these deviations from Sufi Islam and Hinduism

Aurangzeb

• reversed Akbar’s policy of accommodation and sought to impose Islamic supremacy

• Forbade sati

• Music and dance were now banned at court

• Some Hindu temples were destroyed

• Dancing girls were ordered to get married or leave the empire altogether

• The jizya was reimposed.

• He demanded high taxes

• Hindu Maratha Confederacy (1680-1707)

  • opposition movements,

  • fractured the Mughal Empire and opened the way for a British takeover in the second half of the eighteenth century.

Mughal Culture

• Muslims from Central Asia brought Persian culture to India

• Hindus and Sikhs were allowed to pay jizya and continue worshipping their faith

Mughal Society

• Women were treated better by Mughal rulers than by traditional Hindus:

  • allowed to own property

  • generally more respected

  • Mughals tried to end the practice of sati and child marriages

Decline

• 1600s: the Mughals had overexpanded, and a series of weak Shahs lead to division and rebellion in India

• 1650: British begin to arrive in India

• Robert Clive, British representation of the East India Company, helped the British fight off the French attempt to take over India in the 1750s

• After fighting the French, Clive and an army of 3,000 defeated a Mughal army of 62,000, ending Mughal Rule in India in 1757

• The British Empire in India was created afterward under the control of the East India Company.

The Songhai Empire (1460s - 1580s)

Major Islamic state of West Africa that formed in the second half of the fifteenth century.

• Founder: Sonni Ali

  • Declared himself a Muslim to accomodate to the merchants

  • Was a lukewarm believer in order to appear neutral to rural subjects

  • Muslim scholars regarded him as tyrannical, cruel, and impious and labeled him an infidel or unbeliever.

• Largest and the latest of a series of imperial states

• Relied on trade

  • dominated the Sand Road Commerce

  • Gold and salt were traded; horses were needed for cavalry

  • trans-Saharan commerce in enslaved people took thousands of Africans across the desert to new lives in Islamic North Africa.

• Gao and Timbuktu

  • major cosmopolitan cities

  • centers of both commerce and Islamic learning.

• Islam in Songhay was largely limited to urban elites

• majority of the population in the countryside remained loyal to older ways of living and religious practices.

• conversion in the Songhay and Mughal empires was less widespread than in the Ottoman and Safavid empires.

• Askiya Muhammad

  • Did the Mecca and got the tittle of Caliph

• Islam flourished in the major cities of the empire, especially Timbuktu.

• early 1590s, the Songhay Empire was weakening.

  • Political instability, succession conflicts, rebellion in outlying regions, and continued tension between Muslims and traditionalists made Songhay vulnerable to external invasion

• 1591: Moroccan sultanate defeated Songhay

  • had possession of gunpowder weapons, which the Songhay forces lacked.

The Saadi Sultanate of Morocco (c.1580s — 1650)

• Played the Ottomans against the Spanish and the other Europeans to avoid war with their powerful Muslim neighbor in the East

• 1578: the sultanate’s army defeated Portuguese in the Battle of Alcassar (Battle of the Three Kings)

  • Moroccans had significant firepower and the battle was relatively short

  • the Portuguese king was killed, his army wiped, and Portugal began a long slow decline from status as world power

• 1590: the Saadi’s invaded the Songhai Empire and defeated their much larger army; the Saadi’s use of muskets and cannons was decisive

• 1600s: plague and succession crisis created a civil war in Morocco, and the Saadi Dynasty came to an end

Role of the Printing Press

• Printing Press Impact:

  • Martin Luther's ideas disseminated due to printing, leading to the spread of Lutheranism.

  • Ottoman Empire and Islamic states prohibited use of printing to copy the Qur’an

European Exploration (c. 1450)

Motives for exploration

1. To find new routes to Asia (lacked access to the Silk Roads because of the Ottomans)

2. To cultivate new lands with cash crops (sugar)

3. To spread Christianity

Early Attempts

• The Irish monk St. Brendan made voyages to Iceland and perhaps even Greenland c. 500 CE.

• Vikings make numerous voyages to Iceland and Greenland, establish colonies, and briefly create a settlement in North America c. 1000s CE.

• Vivaldi Brothers set out, from Venice in two ships to find a route around Africa in the 1290s. They disappeared and were never heard from again.

Sailing Innovations

• European sailors adopted these innovations (southernization) to allow them to sail great distances beyond the sight of land.

  • Portuguese were first Europeans to venture fur into Atlantic

1. The compass (From Song Dynasty China): direction

2. Astrolabe (Islamic civilizations) : position

3. Lateen, or triangular sail (Mediterranean/ Islamic cultures) : allowed ships to sail into the wind

4. Caravel (Arab and Northern European combination types): sturdy ship for long distance journeys

5. Rudder (Han Dynasty China): allowed for precise steering and sailing

• Volta do Mar - Portuguese for " turn of the sea"

  • Portuguese, and later other European sailors use wind and sea currents to speed their journeys overseas

The Portuguese: 1420s to 1500

• Beginning in the 1450s, the Portuguese Prince Henry the Navigator encouraged his captains to sail further down the coast of Africa with rewards of gold.

• They set up factories of trade (warehouses) and forts along the coast of west Africa. (Feitorias)

• Did not establish large colonies in West Africa, or later, in East Africa.

  • Dutch were the first to establish colonies in Africa

• In 1488, Bartolomeu Dias discovered the trip of Africa, the Cape of Good Hope.

• Portuguese would rather trade with Africans for gold/slaves in return for gunpowder/muskets /alcohol/ cotton textiles

• European trade goods were crude and unattractive in Asian markets so they sought to control Indian Ocean after the Ming China fleet had left in the 1400s

Portuguese in the Indian Ocean

• Vasco De Gama made the trip from Portugal, around Africa, and to India in 1497-1448.

• His trip begins the fist phase of globalization; linking the western and eastern hemisphere by sea.

• Portuguese authorities in the East tried to require all merchant vessels to purchase a cartaz, or pass, and to pay duties of 6 to 10 percent on their cargoes.

• Afonso de Albuquerque

  • Portuguese general- expanded Portuguese influence across the Indian Ocean

Consequences of Portuguese explorations West Africa

• In West Africa, Portuguese brought missionaries which tried to convert West Africans kingdoms to Christianity

• They also tapped into the already existing slave trade and encouraged local Africans kingdoms to provide more slaves.

• Traded: gold, slaves

Consequences of Portuguese exploration: East Africa

• Aggressively took over the Monsoon trade routes from Muslim Arab traders

• Bombarded Muslim held cities such as Mombasa with cannon fire in order force the local rulers into trade deals.

• Tried to tax and regulate all trade in the Indian Ocean but were unsuccessful

European Colonization (1500-1800)

Iberian Empires

• Spain and Portugal led Europe in establishing colonies and empires oversees.

• Began with Columbus first voyage in 1492, and Vasco da Game's arrival in Calicut, India in 1448.

• European nations established their colonies on their basis of mercantilism.

New Colonies, New Economies

Mercantilism— the belief that the more economic activity a nation controlled , the more powerful it was.

• The more a country exported, the wealthier it became in gold.

• The more colonies a country had, the more gold it earned through exports.

• More gold meant power a nation had versus other nations.

Closed Trade

• To maintain mercantilism, nations went to

  extremes to control trade.

  • Forbidding colonies to trade with other nation

  • Forbidding gold and silver to flow out of a country.

  • Forcing colonies to export raw materials at low prices, and import goods from the “mother country” at high prices.

Early efforts at globalization

• By colonizing the Americas and the Philippine Islands, Spain had a trade network that spanned the world.

• It was possible to sail from Spain, to Mexico, cross overland by mule to Acapulco, take a galleon to the Philippines and return.

• The Spanish create the first global trade and economic network in the late1500s.

  • La Flota de India: A fleet of ships that carried

    European goods to the Spanish colonies in the

    Americas exchange for silver, gold, and raw

    materials

  • Galeón de Manila: Ships that carried silver from Mexico across the Pacific to the Philippines in exchange for Chinese silk, porcelain, and lacquer

    goods.

English and Dutch

• English East India Company

• The Dutch V.O.C

• English and Dutch corporate sponsored colonization vs. Spanish and Portuguese government sponsored.

• The English East India Company and the Dutch East India Company were joint stock companies.

  • Not affiliated with their country's government.

  • The companies were controlled by investors

  • The companies had armies and warships

  • The companies could wage was on other kingdoms and people.

The Columbian Exchange

• diminishing the population of the Americas created an acute labor shortage and certainly did make room for immigrant newcomers

• Deforestation occurred, as the land was burned, logged, and turned into fields and pastures by Europeans,

  • 90% of the old growth of the USA have been destroyed since 1600s.

• European crops such as wheat, barley, rye, sugarcane, grapes, and many garden vegetables and fruits, as well as numerous weeds

  • human numbers from some 60 million in 1400 to 390 million in 1900. (from corn/potatoes)

• American food crops such as corn, potatoes, and cassava spread widely in the Eastern Hemisphere

• African varieties of rice, castor beans, black-eyed peas, okra, sesame, watermelons, and yams.

  • Corn became cheap for enslaved Africans

• New to America: horses, pigs, cattle, goats, sheep

  • Horses caused women to loose much of their earlier role as food producers as a male-dominated hunting and warrior culture emerged

• In China, corn, peanuts, and especially sweet potatoes supplemented the traditional rice and wheat

  • American origin represented about 20 percent of total Chinese food production.

• The wealth of the colonies — precious metals, natural resources, new food crops, slave labor, financial profits, colonial markets built foundations on which Europe’s Industrial Revolution was built.

• “Without a New World to deliver economic balance in the Old, Europe would have remained inferior, as ever, in wealth and power, to the great civilizations of Asia.”

General crisis

• The near-record cold winters experienced in much of China, Europe, and North America in the mid-seventeenth century, sparked by the Little Ice Age; extreme weather conditions led to famines, uprisings, and wars.

  • the tropics and Southern Hemisphere also experienced extreme conditions and irregular rainfall,

  • Wet, cold summers reduced harvests dramatically in Europe

  • severe droughts ruined crops in many other regions, especially China

  • the collapse of the Ming dynasty in China, nearly constant warfare in Europe, and civil war in Mughal India all occurred in the context of the General Crisis,

  • human activity — the importation of deadly diseases to the Americas

• Our Lady of Guadalupe, a Catholic representation of the Virgin Mary, who had gained a reputation for producing rain.

  • El Niño weather patterns: weather for yellow fever and malaria

Africa and the Atlantic world

Atlantic World Trade Networks

Network of communication, interaction, and exchange between Europe, Africa, The Americas

Triangle Trade

• Goods Transported

  • From Europe to Africa

    • Textiles, weapons, alcohol, beads, and metal tools were traded to Africa.

  • From Africa to the Americas

    • Enslaved Africans were captured and sent to work in plantations in the Americas.

  • From the Americas to Europe:

    • Raw materials like sugar, tobacco, cotton, and other crops were sent to Europe in exchange for European goods.

Fur Trade

• Impact on Europe

  • Provides warmth in the colder regions of Europe

  • Enormous quantities go into Europe—>enhances the living standard

  • Very competitive industry

  • Caused environmental imbalances(population decline, etc.)

  • Women lose authority & prestige

• America Natives:

  • They did the trapping and hunting

  • Europeans would pay them by trading goods

  • Were a cheap labor force

  • Benefitted from European Power Competition since it allowed them to set their own prices

  • Industry protected them from enslavement, extermination, displacement, etc.

  • Caused warfare/conflict/competition between different societies as economic stakes grew

  • They would many times get involved in European conflicts where they would have to take sides & die.

  • European diseases caused severe population decline

    • Smallpox, influenza, measles, bubonic plague

• Little Ice Age

  • Increases demand for furs—>increases prices—>provides economic opportunity for European Merchants to invest in fur-tearing activities at North America

Silver, Silk, and Manila (16th-19th Century)

• Manilla Galleons(1)-Flota de India(2)-Galeon de Manila(3)

  1. Large Spanish trading ships that facilitated trade between Mexico (New Spain) and Manila (the Philippines)

  2. The overall fleet that included the galleons traveling between Asia and the Americas.

  3. The Manila Galeon Trade Route

• Relationship Rooted In

  • Chinese heavy desire for Silver

  • New Spain/Spanish Desire for Silk

• China

  • Silver

    • Early Ming’s attempt to revive/reestablish paper currency supplemented by bronze failed due to rampant inflation and counterfeiting that made it unreliable.

      • Shortage of copper coins

        • cost to produce was higher than actual worth

        • Neighboring were not capable to mint these coins

        • Scarcity of coins

      • Loss of faith in paper money system

    • Unminted silver gains popularity as main form of payment for major transactions (Copper still used for low-key day to day transactions)

    • Single-Whip reform:

      • Allows for the consolidation of taxes into the universal payment of silver

      • Before, taxes were collected in different days with different types of commodities- this simplified the payment method + provided more stability to the Ming fiscal administration

    • Problem: China was not able to mine the amount of silver needed to fulfill this further escalation

  • Silk

    • Ming Dynasty policies allowed for further expansion/rapid growth of this commodity

      • Government would provide benefits for those who chose to grow silk

        • Ex: Relieved of paying land tax

      • Encouraged production by peasant class

        • Some were able to accumulate wealth

    • Soochow: Main center for the Chinese silk industry- big population/ major urban center

• New Spain

  • Silver

    • Mountains held the majority of the worlds silver

    • Mexico/South America produced 80% of the worlds silver

      • Potsi(1545):

        • Viceroyalty in Peru where most silver was mined

        • Population grows rapidly

    • Mercury Amalgamation Process

      • Method used to extract precious metals(gold, silver) from ores

      • (Chemical ability of mercury to form an amalgam with these metals, making extraction easier)

      • Very effective- Fueled global trade

      • Caused severe environmental damages: mercury poisoning of workers and local ecosystems

    • Vast amount of silver devaluates it in relation to gold

  • Silk

    • Raw silk was getting produced at dramatic scales in colonial Mexico—>

    • A series of laws enacted to free illegally enslaved Native Americans & prohibit encomenderos from using the slaves for their own personal services brings issues to system—>

    • Price skyrockets due to labor accessibility issues—>

    • Causes Chinese silks to be more favorable(ridiculously way cheaper-common person was able to afford it)—>

    • China becomes main source of silk since it could not compete with the Spanish American silk

• Phillipines-Manila

  • Needed point of exchange where these goods could be traded

  • Spanish expansion in the East was limited (Treaty of Zaragoza- gave Portugal the right to most of Asia)

  • Capital is moved to become Manila

    • Outstanding harbor/port

    • Strategic geographical location

    • Spanish trade goods with Asia

• Slavery

  • Europeans would buy goods from Eurasia with the silver they got from the Americas and would then trade these goods for African Slaves from India

Slave Trade System (1500-1806)

Basics

• Stats:

  • Took ~12.5 million people from African Societies

  • Killed ~1.8 million during the crossing

  • Deposited ~10.7 million in the Americas

• Life involved:

  • Enslavement, violence, brutality, forced capture. repeated sale, beatings, branding, rebellions, forced unpaid labor, broken up families, humans treated as property, etc.

  • Most slaves ended up in the Caribbean & Brazil where plantation agriculture was major

  • The slave trade created dependencies on European goods, undermining traditional economies

• Impact on economy

  • Boom in American plantation economies = peak in slave trade

  • American crops like maize, cassava, and peanuts became staples, transforming diets and agricultural practices in Africa.

  • These crops supported population growth, but the increased population also fueled the transatlantic slave trade

• Gender Impacts

  • Slave trade corrupted morally African societies

  • More Men were transported so labor demands on Women who remained increased

  • Men could marry many women. Since there was “lack” of enslaved women, powerful/rich people would have them to distinguish themselves

  • A few African women were able to take benefit from this and accumulate wealth and power

  • Signares: Women involved in these cross culture marriages that became wealthy

• Demographic Impacts

  • Slave trade drained populations in Africa

  • Slowed Africa’s growth at a time were other regions were significantly advancing demographically

  • High demand of people caused social disruption, economic stagnation, no major technological/agricultural breakthroughs

  • The exchange brought new crops which improved diets, increased food security, and supported population growth but it led to greater demand for labor, fueling the transatlantic slave trade and further disrupting traditional African societies.

  • Entire villages and regions lost large numbers of people due to the constant capture and sale of enslaved individuals

  • Families were torn apart, and societies lost key members(leaders, artisans, warriors)

  • Causes for there to be more men than women

• Kingdom of Dahomey

  • Located in modern-day Benin

  • The kingdom was at the height of its power during the Atlantic slave trade in the 18th and 19th centuries.

  • Captured enslaved people through raids and wars, selling them to European traders in exchange for goods like firearms and textiles. The slave trade became a major source of revenue, fueling Dahomey's military expansion and economic growth

  • Significantly participated in the transatlantic slave trade during the 18th and 19th century

  • Sought to control African slave trade in their own interest and to take advantage of new commercial opportunities

  • Established a royal palace housing thousands of women

    • A unique in its integration of women into military, political, and ceremonial life, highlighting a complex and highly structured society where women could wield considerable power and influence.

The Middle Passage(Triangle Trade)

• The voyage where millions of Africans were taken from Africa to the Americas.

• Enslaved people were packed tightly on ships, often in chains, without enough food or clean water

• Many died from disease, starvation, abuse, or even by trying to escape.

Inland Pre-Existing Slavery System

• Slavery industry in Africa had already long existed before it got revolutionized into what became known as the trans-saharan trade

• Differences in culture, groups, and overall disunion of African communities led one community to enslave the other

• No sense of “African identity”

• Africans would sell to Europeans African War Prisoners/Criminals/Rivals/etc.

• Origins:

  • Black Sea Salvic people used to supply Europe with enslaved people—>

  • Ottomans Take Over Constantinople→ Slave supply cut off—>

  • Portugal is exploring West African Coast—> Realizes slavery is a major already existing system—>Link to new supply of slaves—>

  • Pope allows kings to pull through with this since Africans were not Christian—>

  • Over time racism gets tied into slavery

  • Africans suited all the conditions: Skilled Farmers, had some immunity to Tropical Climate and European diseases, not Christian, close at hand, readily available in substantial numbers

Forms of Revolt

• Maroon Societies:

  • Slaves would flee to these to remote regions in the Caribbean & south America

  • At the mountains, slaves would create communities

  • Largest: Palmares in Brazil (10,000 People)

  • Suriname: Dutch Country

    • Notable site of resistance and revolt against slavery

    • Had maroon communities and direct rebellion

• Sainte Domingue(Haiti)

  • Successful slave revolt

Slavery In Different Regions

• Indian Ocean:

  • Enslaved Africans would assimilate to societies

  • Slave Status was Inherited

• Islamic World:

  • Preferred Women

  • Mostly domestic work

  • Some acquired military/political status

• Transatlantic

  • Immense slavery system

  • Economy depended on it

  • Preferred Men

  • Slave Status was Inherited

  • Little opportunity to escape to freedom

  • Slavery completely associated with blackness

  • Plantation Agriculture

African Society

Sao Jorge da Mina 

• Portuguese fort and trading post in West Africa

• Modern day Ghana

• Trade in gold, slaves, and other goods in West Africa.

• It became a central hub for slave trading

Kingdom of Kongo

• A centralized African state with a strong hierarchical structure

• Influence of Portuguese traders introduced new social dynamics, especially due to the slave trade, which disrupted traditional social orders and increased class inequalities

• (Portuguese)African-European diplomacy:

  • Kingdom of Kongo became a client state of Portugal through economic and military dependence

  • Relationship solidified by King Afonso I’s adoption of Christianity and Portuguese customs

  • He attempted to Christianize his kingdom while maintaining African traditions, creating a hybrid culture.

  • Introduced new trade opportunities(firearms and textiles)

  • These exchanges were deeply tied to the slave trade=economic dependence on human trafficking.

  • Portuguese eventually undermined the Kongo and achieve control by inciting conflict and exploiting the slave trade, destroying the Kongo’s centralized authority

Kingdom of Ndongo (Angola) & "Warrior" Queen Nzinga

• A neighboring state to the Kongo

• Faced Portuguese invasion but fiercely resisted colonization

  • Under Queen Nzinga

• Allied with other African states and even the Dutch to challenge Portuguese dominance.

• Portuguese missionaries tried to spread Christianity, but resistance movements often blended traditional beliefs with new religious influences.

• Nzinga defied gender norms by taking on male roles in court ceremonies, dressing as a man, and leading her armies personally, symbolizing resistance to colonialism and patriarchy.

Islam and Christianity in Early Modern Africa

• Both Islam and Christianity were adapted to local African contexts.

  • Islam: Mostly found at West Africa

  • Christianity: Spread in Central and Southern Africa due to European missionaries.

• Antonian Movement “Antonism” c.1700

  • An Afrocentric Christian movement in the Kongo that emphasized African interpretations of Christianity and challenged Portuguese religious dominance

  • “Afro-centric Christianity”

• Fulani Sect of Islam

  • A conservative Islamic movement in West Africa that sought to purify Islam of local syncretic practices. Led to reforms and jihads in the region.

  • Promoted strict adherence to Islamic law and practices, influencing political structures in the region

African Americans

Languages: creole language- Gullah (spoken in S.C/Georgia)

Music: drums shaped community identity; banjo as well

Religions: syncretism- Voodoo, Santeria, candomblé

The Colonies in America

Lands of the Aztecs and the Incas

Economy & Society

• economic foundation for this emerging colonial society lay in commercial agriculture, much of it on large rural estates, and in silver and gold mining.

• Encomienda system: a forced labor system not far removed from slavery. Native Americans were the slaves

• Hacienda system had taken shape, by which the private owners of large estates directly employed native workers.

• Spanish settlers were at the top of the colonial society

  • “I obey but I do not enforce”

  • Spanish minority, never more than 20 percent of the population, was a divided community between creoles and peninsulares

• Creoles: Spaniards born in the Americas

• Peninsulares: those born in Spain

• Landowning Spaniards felt threatened by the growing wealth of commercial and mercantile groups practicing less prestigious occupations.

Women

• Many Spanish men married elite native women

  • more women experienced sexual violence and abuse and This was a tragedy and humiliation for native and enslaved men as well because they weren’t able to protect them

• Spanish women: “bearers of civilization,” and through their capacity to produce legitimate children and keep a “purity of blood”

  • the problem with Spanish women was that there were very few of them.

• Mestizo: product of unions between Spanish men and Native American women

• Mestizos were largely Hispanic in culture, but Spaniards looked down on them during much of the colonial era

Miscellaneous and Important facts

• Maize, beans, and squash persisted as the major elements of Indigenous diets in Mexico.

• The Tupac Amaru revolt in Peru during 1780–1781 was made in the name of the last independent Inca emperor.

  • Micaela Bastidas, was referred to as La Coya, the female Inca, the wife of the emperor

• Colonial Spanish America was a vast laboratory of ethnic variety and cultural change.

• more fluid and culturally blended society than the racially rigid colonies of British North America.

Colonies of Sugar

• Sugar was used as a medicine, a spice, a sweetener, a preservative, and in sculptured forms as a decoration that indicated high status.(by europe)

• these sugar-based colonies produced almost exclusively for export,

• Large-scale sugar production had been pioneered by Arabs, who had introduced it in the Mediterranean.

• For a century (1570–1670), Portuguese planters along the northeast coast of Brazil dominated the world market for sugar.

  • Then the British, French, and Dutch turned their Caribbean territories into highly productive sugar-producing colonies

• Sugar was the first modern industry in that it produced for an international and mass market

• Sugar Plantations:

  • Workers: the African captives transported across the Atlantic, some 80 percent or more, ended up in Brazil and the Caribbean

    • More males than females were imported from Africa into the sugar economies of the Americas

    • Women made up about half of the field gangs that did the heavy work of planting and harvesting sugarcane.

  • High death rate: perhaps 5 to 10 percent per year, which required plantation owners to constantly import more enslaved people.

• Mulattoes: A derogatory term commonly used to describe people of mixed African and European origin.

• Passing: A light-skinned person of biracial or multiracial background who had acquired some wealth or education might well “pass” as a white.

  • the perception of color changed with the educational or economic standing of individuals

Settler Colonies in North America

• The easy availability of land and the outsider status of many British settlers made it even more difficult to follow the Spanish or Portuguese colonial pattern of sharp class hierarchies, large rural estates, and dependent laborers.

• British settlers were far more numerous than their Spanish counterparts

• men in Puritan New England became independent heads of family farms

• Women were subordinate to their husbands

• Devastating diseases and a highly aggressive military policy had largely cleared the colonies of Native Americans

• slave labor was not needed in an agricultural economy dominated by numerous small-scale independent farmers working their own land, (only the elite used servants)

• Settler colonies: Imperial territories in which Europeans settled permanently in substantial numbers.

  • they lacked the substantial presence of Indigenous, African, and multiracial people who were so prominent elsewhere.

• The Protestant emphasis on reading the Bible for oneself led to a much greater mass literacy than in Latin America,

• British settler colonies evolved traditions of local self-government more extensively than in Latin America.

• Britain had nothing resembling the elaborate imperial bureaucracy that governed Spanish colonies.

  • Instead, they used joint-stock companies or wealthy individuals

• power struggle between the English king and Parliament meant that the British government paid little attention to the internal affairs of the colonies

• Suddenly North America became the United States, more politically stable, more democratic, more economically successful, and more internationally powerful than a divided, unstable, and much less prosperous Latin America.

Tradition and Change in East Asia

Overview of East Asia and European Relations

• China and Japan's Isolation

  • Neither country was directly involved in the Atlantic world but were greatly desired by Europeans.

  • Significant European interest, especially from the Spanish, who sent half their silver to Manila for Asian trade.

• Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)

  • Restored Chinese governance following the Mongol rule (Yuan dynasty).

  • Revitalized traditional practices, reinforced legitimacy through projects like the Forbidden City.

  • Expanded the Great Wall to protect against incursions.

• Manchu/Qing Dynasty Policies

  • Continued Ming policies, integrated Manchus into governance.

  • Demanded visible symbols of their rule, such as the queue hairstyle requirement for Chinese men.

• Trade and Cultural Exchange

  • Chinese merchants flourished along Afro-Eurasian trade routes, benefited from new crops due to the Columbian exchange, resulting in population growth and cultural prosperity.

  • Religions like Buddhism and neo-Confucianism thrived during this period.

• Tokugawa Japan

  • The Tokugawa shogunate centralized power after winning civil wars.

  • Restricted the daimyo's power, leading to stable governance.

  • Limitations were placed on European presence in Japan and severe restrictions were enacted against Western religions, emphasizing the perceived inferiority of foreign cultures.

Decline of Chinese/Japanese and Islamic Civilizations

Ming and Qing Dynasties:

• Lack of innovation and development.

• Large population reduced the need for technological advancements.

• Preference for social and political stability; fear of change hindered progress.

• Columbian Exchange: led to population increase with key crops like sweet potato, peanuts, and corn.

Japan - Tokugawa Ieyasu:

• Suspected Europeans (Spanish and Portuguese) of ulterior motives, especially relating to conversion.

• Banned trade and travel except regulated trade with the Dutch in Nagasaki:

• Foreigners were restricted to an island in the port city.

• Dutch were driven primarily by profit, criticizing conversion efforts.

• Information about Europe predominantly came through Dutch learning and trade.

Trade Dynamics and Influences

• Mercantilism in China

  • Wealth generated from trade largely benefited merchants and the government; silver influx facilitated trade.

• Technological Stagnation

  • The Ming and Qing period marked a slowdown of technological innovations compared to earlier dynasties.

• Trade and Global Markets

  • Influx of Japanese and American silver stimulated trade and financed commercial expansion.

  • Traded in Manila porcelain and silk for American silver

  • Traded in Batavia (Dutch) for silver and Indonesian spices

• Qing Trade Policy

  • Trade with Britain was restricted to Guangzhou, leading to conflicts and misunderstandings about trade rights.

• Migrant Issues

  • The Qing tried to end maritime activity

  • Kangxi ordered evacuation of the southern coastal regions

  • Only allowed Portuguese trade through the port of Macau, and the British through Guangzhou

Eyewitness Accounts

• Matteo Ricci's Mission:

  • Matteo Ricci, a Jesuit missionary, made significant efforts to bridge cultural gaps between Europe and China during the late Ming Dynasty. Driven by both curiosity and a desire to forge connections, he introduced European mechanical clocks to China to impress the emperor Wanli. His interactions with Chinese officials were marked by discussions of religion, science, and governance, creating an environment ripe for cultural exchange. Despite the technological marvels he presented, widespread conversion to Christianity remained elusive, illuminating the complexity of his mission.

• Tokugawa Japan:

  • Eyewitness accounts from the Tokugawa shogunate era depict a society in flux. The rigid social structure enforced by Confucian ideals often created tensions; for example, while merchants could accumulate wealth, they were socially viewed as inferior. The experiences of merchants during this time reveal a struggle for recognition and influence in a world dominated by samurai and scholars. The introduction of Western ideas via early Jesuit missions initially led to intrigue but soon transformed into suspicion and eventual expulsion as the Tokugawa regime sought to assert control over foreign influences and preserve Japan's cultural integrity. However, artistic expressions flourished, notably in the form of kabuki and bunraku, showcasing the complexity of societal interactions and the resilience of popular culture amidst growing restrictions

China

Matteo Ricci and Chiming Clocks

• Matteo Ricci's Mission

  • Introduced European mechanical clocks to China, aiming to impress the emperor Wanli.

  • Traveled to the Port of Macau (Beijing)

  • Developed a diplomatic relationship with Chinese officials by showcasing technological advancements.

• Cultural Exchange

  • Mechanical devices created curiosity and engagement with local authorities but did not result in widespread conversion to Christianity.

    • Ricci's efforts highlighted the complex interaction between European technology and Chinese traditional authority.

• Christianity in East Asia

  • Christian missionaries largely failed to gain traction in China despite technological offerings

  • Papal insistence on following traditional Catholic beliefs on the afterlife and church services led to failed conversions

  • Ricci began to blend Confucian/Chinese ideals into Christianity and the Pope did not like that; therefore, the mission failed.

  • Matteo Ricci's strategy reflected a blend of diplomacy and cultural engagement, focusing primarily on technological gifts.

• Government Structure

  • Ming emperors initially expanded their influence abroad through maritime expeditions, but this was curtailed by cost and focus on internal stability.

The Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)

• Ming Dynasty Consolidation//management of Mongol invasions to creating a central state bolstered by Confucian values.

  • revived civil service staffed by Confucian scholars

  • worked to eradicate Mongol influence

  • encouraged individuals to abandon their Mongol names and clothing

• Ming emperor placed great trust in eunuchs

  • Led to government corruption

• Main focus was to maintain stability in a large agrarian society

• Emperor Yongle: launches naval expeditions with Zheng He, moved capital to Beijing, created the Forbidden City

• The Great Wall served as a symbol of national unity and defense.

  • project to continue the wall

• Ming Decline

  • Struggled against corruption, piracy, and domestic unrest, leading to loss of control over the territories.

  • Corruption and inefficiency spread throughout the government

  • The Ming lost military control of the Northern nomadic groups

  • 1630s: Peasants organized revolts around Chinas

  • Manchu forces invaded in 1644, leading to the collapse of the Ming dynasty.

The Qing “pure” Dynasty (1644-1911)

• Manchu Ascendancy

  • Unified disparate Manchu tribes under Nurhaci and developed military strength.

    • The Manchus manipulated Ming loyalist into helping them, then they were expelled.

  • Qing dynasty established a legacy of conquest and cultural integration across a vast empire.

• Cultural Legitimacy

  • Manchus preserved their own ethnic and cultural identity

    • they did not allow intermarriage between Manchus and Chinese

    • Chinese were not allowed to learn Manchurian language or go to Manchuria

  • Even as outsiders, the Manchus embraced Chinese culture and sought to maintain stability through Confucian administrative practices.

• Geopolitical Landscape

  • The Qing dynasty expanded its territories toward Mongolia, Vietnam, Burma, Nepal, Tibet, and Central Asia for strategic control.

• Continuities:

  • kept the same government apparatus as the Ming

  • tightly centralized state, staffed by Confucian scholars

  • “Son of Heaven”

    • the emperors clothes and name are forbidden for anyone to use

  • Kowtow: 3:9

  Key Emperors

  • Emperors like Kangxi and Qianlong fostered agricultural projects, education, and continued territorial expansion during their reigns.

  • Kangxi reigned for 61 years: longest ruling emperor in Chinese history

  • Qianlong reign = height of the Qing dynasty

    • cancelled tax collections

    • delegated work to eunuchs

Governance and Society

• Scholar-Bureaucrats

  • Civil service exams, based on Confucian texts, dominated the pathways to power.

  • Exams encouraged education, but access to higher positions often favored wealthier families.

  • A degree did not ensure government job; you would have to move up the ranking of imperial jobs

• Neo-Confucian tradition reigned imperial ideology.

• Cultural Cohesion

  • Confucianism structured societal values, enhancing stability while limiting rapid economic change.

Social Structure, Economic Improvements, and Women’s Roles

• The Confucian Hierarchy

  • Rigid class structure with scholars at the top and merchants at the bottom due to moral scrutiny.

  • Merchants often blurred the lines by gaining wealth through their son’s education or connections with the elite.

    • However, the Chinese government did not promote economic development through trade

    • Social structures began to adapt to urban growth, with merchants rising in influence and status, challenging traditional Confucian roles.

  • Lower Classes: “mean” people included; slaves, indentured servants, entertainers, prostitutes, and other marginal groups

• Agricultural Advances

  • Agricultural production increased dramatically

  • Population grew

  • Introduction of American crops: sweet potato, maize, peanuts

• Impact on Women

  • Confucian values reaffirmed patriarchal roles; foot binding was a painful cultural practice symbolic of status.

• Missionary Efforts

  • Jesuit missions in Japan experienced initial success but faced backlash from local authorities and cultural obstacles.

• Popular culture emerged as a significant aspect of life contrary to Confucian theories, providing a space for artistic expression.

• Christianity never stuck in Japan due to the Pope’s disagreement on the way Christianity was being incorporated in China

Japan

The Last Shogunate: The Tokugawa (c.1600-1868)

• Tokugawa Shoguns

  • the Tokugawa leyasu seizes power from warring Daimyos at the Battle of Sakhigahara (1800)

  • Sengoku ends - “country at war”

    • Japan grows economically and culturally at the expense of most trade with the outside world.

  • Era known as: the Edo period

    • Edo was Tokyo’s old name

  • 1500-1600s: sengoku begins again

Native Learning Movements

• This period saw a marked change as native learning sought to elevate Japanese cultural identity above foreign influences.

• Importance of Confucianism and Chinese traditions in Japan

• “Native learning” movement

  • xenophobia; pro Japan

  • sakoku - the country in isolation

Foreign Relations, 1600s

• Tokugawa leyasu was suspicious of Europeans, especially Spanish and Portuguese.

• Portuguese introduce firearms to the Japanese to encourage daimyo conversion to Catholicism (kirishitan)

  • Initially successful with 200K + Japanese Catholics by 1600; created much conflict with Buddhists.

• The Tokugawa shogunate was suspicious of foreigners, especially the Spanish and Portuguese.

  • After c. 1600s,Tokugawa violently repressed Japanese Christians. Some are executed by crucifixion.

Trade: The Dutch, Nagasaki and the Red seal ships

• Before c.1630, Japanese engaged in overseas trade in 5.6. Asin and Ching using Red Seal Ships.

  • Red Seal Ships were Japanese built trading ships influenced by the design of junks and galleons.

  • Trade with China at Okinawa off the Japanese coast.

  • Required a trading license from the Shogun.

• After 1630, the Tokugawa Shogunate issued a ban on trade with all foreign (European) ships. The ban includes

  • Travel abroad by Japanese punishable by death/banishment

• Exceptions:

  • Trade with VOC ships may continue on an island in the port city of Nagasaki. Foreigners may not leave the island in the port.

• Effects:

  • Positive: political stability in Tokugawa era Japan ( 1000- c. 1860); peace and prosperity

  • Negative: military and industrial technology frozen in c.1600; were unable to defend themselves against Western demands by the 1850's.

Society

• Because of the stability of Tokugawa era Japan, the population grows:

  • internal trade increases

  • growth of towns

• Growing merchant class (middle class)

  • many are rice merchants; become wealthy

• Daimyo and samurai were in debt with rice workers

  • daimyo used a portion of their income from taxation of peasants to pay the samurai, usually in rice.

• Restless samurai

  • wealthy merchants and samurai are in conflict over wealth

  • with the end of domestic civil war and conflict, samurai have a less defined role in society.

  • the shogunate pays me samurai a salary

    • the warriors become a bureaucrats

Culture - Edo: capital of Japan

• Tokugawa growth of cities and towns

• Ukiyo: "Floating worlds,” or entertainment houses in Japan

• Kabuki treater: exaggerated poses, over the top acting and performance style.

The Protestant Reformation

Martin Luther and Lutheranism (1517)

• German monk who wrote the Ninety-Five Theses and published it a Wittenberg

• Believed the sale of indulgences constituted a huge fraud perpetrated on an unsuspecting public; the Roman Church became corrupted

• Luther translated the Bible into German and stimulated printing and distribution, and literacy spread

• Advocated for closure of monasteries, translation of the Bible from Latin into vernacular languages

• Main believe: “Sole fide” aka Justification: faith alone could save you from damnation

  • The Bible is the only source of Christian authority

• Result: the most important German cities prohibited Roman Catholic observances and required Lutheran doctrine.

• Conversion: many of the cities at Switzerland and the Low Countries

John Calvin and Calvinism (1530s)

• French lawyer who moved to Geneva, Switzerland and created the Calvinist faith

• He organized a Protestant community and worked with officers to impose a strict code of morality an discipline on the city.

• Main believe: Predestination - God has already chosen those He will save from damnation, even if they have yet to be born.

• Calvinist had to: dress simply, study the Bible regularly, and refrain from activities such as dancing and playing cards

• Conversion: France, Germany, the Low Countries, England, Scotland, and even distant Hungary

Henry VIII and the English Reformation (1500s)

• King Henry VIII wanted a divorce from his wife, but the Catholic Church would not grant him one.

• Henry decided to leave the Roman Church and name himself, the Supreme Head of the Anglican Church

• 1560: England permanently left the Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Reformation

• The Catholic Church began a process of reformation, define point of doctrine, and persuade Protestant to return to the Roman church.

• The Council of Trent

  • Bishops, cardinals, and other high church officials

  • Focused on doctrine and reform

  • Demanded that church authorities observe strict standards of morality, and it required them to establish schools and seminaries in their districts to prepare priests properly for their roles.

• The Society of Jesus

  • Known as the Jesuits

  • Extended the boundaries of the reformed Roman church, served as counselors to kings and used their influence to promote policies that benefitted the Roman church

  • Founder: St. Ignatius Loyola

Religious Wars

• 1588: King Philip II of Spain attempted to force England to return to the Roman Catholic church by sending the Spanish Armada to dethrone the Protestant Queen Elizabeth (Spain failed)

  • Spanish Armada: huge flotilla consisting of 130 ships and 30,000 men

• 1610: the Dutch revolted against Spain, forming the United Provinces, the Spanish lost the Netherlands (Calvinist movement had spread to Netherlands)

• Innovations:

  • lighter muskets

  • new types pf cannon required fewer horses to pull

  • new designs in fortifications made taking order a walled town or city much more difficult

• Thirty Years War (1618-1648)

  • Where: Germany

  • Who: Spain, France, United Provinces, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Bohemia, and Russia

  • Religious causes:

    • Hostility between Catholics and Protestant faiths

    • Peace of Augsburg (1555): whatever religion the leader of that region followed, his followers would do the same

  • Political causes:

    • Suspicion that the H.R.E wanted to create a centralized imperial state

    • Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs surrounded a newly centralized and ambitious France

    • Protestant Swedish King, Gustavus Adolphus, was Protestant protestor in the German states

  • France chose to ally with the Protestants in order to weaken and destroy the power of the Habsburgs

  • 1/3 of German population died

  • The most devastating war of Europe until the 20th century

• Peace of West Phalia (1648)

  • Both sides were nearly bankrupt

  • Results:

    • Religious conflicts were resolved

    • H.R.E would remain intact

    • Not one European power would be allowed to dominate all Europe

  • Winners:

    • France: boundaries extended and Spain was neutralized as a threat; became major continental military power

    • Sweden: won control of major ports of N.Germany and land in the Baltic sea

    • Dutch: were now formally independent; temporarily captured N.Brazil and Portuguese ports of W. Africa

  • Losers:

    • Spain: was bankrupt; lost Dutch territory and land to the French

    • H.R.E was devastated

    • The Pope lost some credibility/authority, and there was no hope that the Catholic church could regain the Protestant territories

New Monarchs

• Most powerful states: England, France, Spain

• Kings: Henry VIII of England, Louis XI and Francis I of France, Fernando and Isabel of Spain

• Finance

  • French kings levied direct taxes on sales, households, and the salt trade

  • Spain introduced a new sales tax that boosted royal economy

  • English kings did not introduce new taxes in fear of rebellion; he dissolved the Catholic monasteries and took their wealth (supported orphans and the poor)

• Spanish Inquisition

  • Meant to ferret out those who secretly practiced Judaism or Islam

  • Charles V gave them responsibility to detect Protestant heresy in Spain

  • A strict Roman Catholic orthodoxy prevailed in Spain

Constitutional States

• England ( constitutional monarchy) and the Netherlands (republic)

  • No written constitutions, governments claimed limited powers, recognized rights

  • Strengthened state, prosperity, merchants and entrepreneurs flourished

  • Minimal interference from authorities

  • Both lands favored maritime trade and building commercial empires overseas

• Monarchs in France, Spain, Austria, Prussia and Russia concentrated power in their own hands and created an absolute monarchy

  • Divine right of kings- kings derived authority from God, served as ‘god’s lieutenants upon earth’

  • No role for subject or nobility in public affairs but monarchs relied on support from them

• France

  • Cardinal Richelieu- architect of French absolutism

  • Louis XIV- known as the sun king, said he was the state, built Versailles- largest building in Europe.

• Russia- tsars of the Romanov dynasty

  • Most important:

    • Peter I or Peter the Great- desired to make Russia a military power on the model of Western European lands

      • Reformed army and navy

      • Commanded subjects to shave beards and wear western clothing- removed beards of subjects himself

    • Catherine the Great (Catherine II)

      • wanted to improve efficiency by dividing the empire into 50 provinces

      • the enhanced power of absolutism became clear when Russia, Prussia and Austria picked kingdom of Poland apart, wiping it off the map

Capitalist Society

• Capitalism: an economic system in which private parties make their goods and services available on a free market and seek to take advantage of market conditions to profit from their activities

  • rapidly expanding population and economy led to capitalism

• Western Europe: economic development and prosperity

  • English and Dutch states recognized individuals’ rights to posses private property, enforced their contracts, protected their financial interests, and settled disputes between parties to business transactions

• Eastern Europe: much less

  • Poland and Russia became suppliers of grain and raw materials rather than centers of trade and production

• Private parties: own land, equipment, and resources + freedom of choice of who to hire and what to produce

  • not government-controlled, competition of businesses with other businesses and forces of supply and demand determine prices

• Businessmen built efficient networks of transportation and communication

• Institutions: appearance of banks in all major commercial cities

  Guilds- inflexible- monopolized manufacture of goods, discouraged competition, resisted technological innovation, fixed prices and wages, anti-consumer

• Entrepreneurs sidestepped them and moved production to the countryside

• ”Putting out system”- delivered unfinished materials such as raw wool to rural households, and then men and women would spin that wool into yarn and then weave it into cloth and make garments. The entrepreneur paid for their services, and sold the finished goods on the market

• Rural labor- plentiful and cheap