The ECONOMICS of EMPIRE Building [AP World History Review—Unit 4 Topic 5]

Economic Strategies for Maintaining Maritime Empires

Mercantilism

• Definition: A state-driven economic system emphasizing the accumulation of wealth, particularly mineral wealth, through a favorable balance of trade.

• Concept: View of the world's wealth as finite, resembling a pie. Larger pieces taken by one nation mean smaller pieces for others, leading to competition among empires.

• Objective: Countries aimed for more exports than imports to accumulate gold and silver.

  • Exports increase wealth, while imports drain it.

Role of Colonies in Mercantilism

• Establishing colonies created closed markets for the imperial parent country, allowing for guaranteed sales of exports.

• More colonies equated to more consumers for home country exports, thus increasing wealth influx.

Joint-Stock Companies

• Definition: Limited liability businesses often chartered by the state and funded by multiple investors, which reduced financial risk for individual investors (only risked the amount invested).

• Importance: Facilitated mutual dependence between state and merchants, with states relying on merchants for expansion and merchants depending on state protection for trade.

• Example: Dutch East India Company, chartered in 1621, monopolized Indian Ocean trade, significantly increasing Dutch wealth and influence.

• Contrast: Spain and Portugal primarily used state funding for expansion, leading to diminished global influence compared to mercantile-focused countries.

Changes in Networks of Exchange

Rise of the Atlantic System

• Description: Network for the exchange of goods, wealth, and labor between Eastern and Western Hemispheres.

• Established post-Columbus's voyages, leading to significant shifts in trade patterns.

Key Goods and Their Impact

• Sugar: Major cash crop in Caribbean plantations; demand led to a decrease in prices and an increase in consumption in Europe.

• Silver: Extracted from mines like those in Potosí, key in trade with Asia, satisfying demand and integrating it into European economies.

• Labor: Shifted towards coerced labor, particularly enslaved Africans, as demand for agricultural labor increased.

Continuity in Afro-Eurasian Trade

• Regional markets thrived despite European dominance in maritime routes; Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian merchants continued benefiting from increased traffic.

• Land-based trade routes, such as the Silk Roads, remained under Asian control, managed by powerful empires like the Ming and Qing.

• Peasants and artisans increased production to meet global demand but often continued traditional practices.

Social Effects of Increased Trade and Slavery

Effects of the African Slave Trade

• Gender Imbalance: High demand for male labor in agriculture skewed gender ratios in West Africa.

• Changing Family Structures: Depletion of the male population led to increased practices of polygeny.

• Cultural Synthesis: Enslaved Africans ceased communicating in their native languages, adopting Creole Languages that blended European, African, and indigenous languages.

Influence of Belief Systems

Spread of Christianity by Spanish and Portuguese

• Missionaries aimed to convert indigenous populations, using newly invented printing technology to spread Christian teachings rapidly.

• Conversion efforts varied in success; indigenous peoples often syncretized Christianity with their own beliefs.

• Bartolomé de las Casas: A notable missionary advocating for the rights of indigenous peoples, leading to reforms in the treatment of indigenous labor.

Conclusion

• Analysis of maritime empires from 1450 to 1750 reveals a complex interplay of economic strategies, changes in trade networks, and evolving social structures, all underpinned by the pursuit of wealth and influence on a global scale.