APHIS Notes - 1450 - 1750

Dar al-Islam:

• New religious emphasis was rising

• Islamic science continued, but its role diminished

• Landlords begin to seize power as the centralized power of the caliphate declines. Result? Peasants lose freedom (serfs)

• Consequence of point above? 

  • Agricultural productivity goes down - landlords take what they can

  • Tax revenues decline

  • Arabs and other M.E. traders lose ground (especially to Europeans)

• Ottoman Turkish state rises

• Consequence - more challenging to rivals like Russia and W. Europe

Ottomans:

Social:

• Diverse Population: Tolerance under the millet system allowed religious minorities (Christians and Jews) to govern themselves in exchange for loyalty and taxes.

• Role of Women: Limited public roles due to Islamic norms, but women in the harem, particularly Valide Sultans (Queen Mothers), held significant political influence.

• Slavery: Widespread use of slaves in households, agriculture, and the elite military force, the Janissaries (converted Christian boys through devshirme).

Political:

• Absolute power rested with the Sultan, supported by a highly organized administration led by the Grand Vizier.

• Expansionist Empire

• governance and law (Sharia combined with secular laws) were highly advanced.

• Decline: Political corruption and the weakening of the Janissaries led to decentralization by the 17th century.

Environment:

• Controlled key trade routes between Europe and Asia, particularly the Silk Road and maritime routes.

• Relied on a strong agricultural base

• Heavy taxation often led to peasant unrest

Cultural:

• Islamic Golden Age

• Sunni Islam was the dominant religion

Economic:

• Trade Empire: Controlled trade routes connecting Europe, Asia, and Africa. The
  state profited from tariffs on goods like spices, silk, and coffee.

• Relied heavily on taxes from conquered regions.

• European maritime exploration bypassed Ottoman-controlled routes, causing a decline in trade revenues

Technology:

• Pioneered the use of gunpowder weapons like cannons and muskets

• Dominated the Mediterranean Sea during its peak

• By the 17th century, the Ottomans began to fall behind European powers in technological advancements

Safavids:

Social:

• The empire enforced Twelver Shi’a Islam as the state religion

• Non-Muslims (e.g., Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians) were tolerated but faced discrimination. Sunni Muslims were often marginalized or forcibly converted.

Political:

• The Shah was both a political and religious leader. Ismail I (r. 1501–1524) established the empire and declared Shi’a Islam the official religion.

• Frequent wars with the Ottoman Empire

• Golden Age: Under Shah Abbas I (r. 1588–1629)

• Weak leadership and decentralization after Shah Abbas's death

Cultural:

• Shi’a Identity: Unified the empire through religious and cultural cohesion

• Persian miniature painting and calligraphy flourished

• Persian became the language of administration, poetry, and literature

Economic:

• Controlled vital trade routes, exporting silk, carpets, and ceramics

• The rise of European maritime trade routes reduced the importance of overland Silk Road routes

• Self-Sufficient Economy

Technology:

• Shah Abbas introduced gunpowder weapons, with the help of European military advisors, to counter the Ottoman threat.

• Like the Ottomans, the Safavids fell behind Europe in military and scientific advancements during the later period of the empire.

Mughals:

• Aurangzeb (Shah Jahan’s son) - empire was threatened by internal decay and growing danger from external enemies

Social:

• Diverse society with a mix of Hindus and Muslims

• Caste system continued among Hindus, while the Mughals implemented Islamic social norms

• Akbar's reforms promoted social harmony, such as abolishing the jizya tax on non-Muslims and encouraging interfaith dialogues.

• overall, patriarchal norms persisted.

Political:

• centralized, bureaucratic monarchy established by Babur

• Focused on consolidating power and administering a large, diverse empire.

• Decline began under Aurangzeb, whose policies alienated non-Muslims and
  strained the empire's resources.

Environment:

• The empire's wealth relied on exploiting natural resources like spices and precious stones.

Cultural:

• A golden age of art and architecture, blending Persian, Indian, and Islamic styles

• Promotion of religious tolerance under Akbar

• Persian remained the court language

• Aurangzeb's later policies emphasized orthodox Islam, leading to diminished cultural inclusivity.

Economic:

• One of the world’s wealthiest empires, fueled by agriculture, trade, and craft industries (e.g., textiles like muslin and silk).

• exporting goods like spices, textiles, and precious stones.

• Aurangzeb brought back the jizya tax

Technology:

• Advanced military technology, especially gunpowder artillery

• Innovations in agriculture improved productivity,

• Urban centers like Delhi and Agra became hubs for skilled artisans and technological
  advancement in architecture and engineering.

Europe:

Transformation of the West:

• Europe develops in a special way:

  • fragmented, small states allow for a lot of competition

  • Separation of church and state gives more freedom to speak about new ideas

  • These allow for more entrepreneurial endeavours

  • New wealth flowing in helps to fund secular universities (beyond the control of the church)

• Europe is developing at just the right time:

  • Printing press development + navigation tech + military tech = the ability to spread their ideas around the globe

• Secular Humanism: scholars, artists, scientists, philosophers - human beings and the natural world are worth investigating

• gov’t could serve people instead of the other way around

• Scientists wondering about gravity, telescopes are developing, and the heliocentric “universe”

• Secular institutions develop that protect artists and scientists

Technology and the Family:

• Spurred by trading contacts with Asia, workers in the west improved the quality of pulleys and pumps in mines and how to forge stronger iron products.

• Gutenberg and other inventors introduce movable type

• Some books were distributed in greater quantities which helped expand the audience of Renaissance writers and disseminated religious ideas

• Literacy gained ground and became a fertile source of new kinds of knowledge.

• European Style family emerges, particularly in Northern Europe (in Southern and Eastern Europe, larger family size continues)

• Late marriage age

• focus on the nuclear family and the husband and wife relationship

• Goal was to limit birth rates (this is the focus in Northern Europe)

• This also connected people with property holdings, because most people couldn’t marry until they had access to property

• Economic Pressures:

  • in rural areas, delayed marriage until they could afford to establish an independent household

  • delayed marriage to complete apprenticeships

• primogeniture (where the eldest son inherited the family estate)

• Cultural and Religious Norms:

  • The Catholic Church played a significant role in shaping marriage practices, discouraging unions that lacked financial stability or readiness for family life.

• Urbanization:

  • As cities grew during the Renaissance, there was greater access to education, trade, and work opportunities, which required individuals to spend more time preparing for adulthood and marriage.

  • nuclear family model placed a greater emphasis on economic independence, delaying marriage until couples could live separately.

Reformation:

• The Roman Catholic Church owned about 1/3 of the land in Europe before 1525

• Pope considered himself an authority figure above European Kings

• Parish Priests super influential

• Pretty much everybody believed that the church \and the priests, bishops, and the Pope were intermediaries for God

• In 1517 a German monk named Martin Luther issued a document containing 95 theses (or propositions).

• Eventually he started to challenge the authority of the pope

• Many Germans resented being taxed by the Pope

• German Princes see this as a good opportunity to gain power

• The Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (Charles V) remained Catholic, so the Princes who Protested (Protestantism) urged state control of the church as an alternative to papal authority

• Many peasants saw Luther’s rebellion as a sanction to rebel against landlords (Pope = Landlord, Luther = rebels)

• Also paved the road to focusing on earthly work, like money-making, because faith
  alone was the path to salvation

• Henry VIII set up the Anglican Church

Scientific Revolution:

• Science becomes more important in European intellectual life than for any other society.

• Kepler uses scientific research and his own observations to resolve basic issues with planetary motion

• Meanwhile, a Flemish scientist, Vesalius, makes key discoveries about the human body - he’s considered the father of modern anatomy

• New instruments like the microscope and improved telescopes allow for more scientific gains

• Isaac Newton defines the basic principals of all motion, defines the forces of gravity in great mathematical detail

• The Scientific Revolution was popularized among educated Westerners, new institutes were set up (often with government aid) to advance research and disseminate the findings

• John Locke argues that people can learn all that they need to know through their senses and reason - faith is irrelevant

• peeps are naturally good

Commercial Revolution:

• Massive import of gold and silver from Spain’s colonies in Latin America forced prices up

• Inflation and the new trading opportunities led to the creation of giant trading companies that were backed by governments - England, Spain, Netherlands, France

• Dutch East India Company (VOC)

• Colonial markets stimulated manufacturing

• Prosperity increased for merchants and ordinary people

• By 1600, it’s estimated that peasants in Western Europe had five times as many things as their counterparts in southeastern Europe

• Commercialization created the beginnings of a new proletariat

• Proletariat - Working class people without access to wealth producing property

• Peasants and townspeople rose up looking for greater protection from poverty and the loss of property

• Popular rebellions during the 17th century revealed social tensions and new ideas of equality

• At the same time a witch hunt arose in various parts of Western Europe and New England

• Witchcraft Persecution - showed tensions about the changing roles of family life and the role of women, as well as animosity towards poverty

Cottage Industry:

• cottage industry was developed to take advantage of the farmers' free time during the winter months and use it to produce quality textiles for a reasonable price.

• The actual weaving of the thread into cloth was done using a loom operated by hand and foot

• The cottage industry proved to be profitable for the urban merchants, since they could sell the finished cloth for far more than they paid the farmers to make it.

• when industrialization and the Agricultural Revolution reduced the need for farm workers, many were forced to leave their homes and move to the city.

Political Change:

• French kings centralized and consolidated power by:

  1. ending medieval Parliament

  2. blowing up castles of dissident nobles

  3. Appointed a growing and professionally trained bureaucracy

  4. Sent representatives to outlying provinces

  5. Professionalized the army and provided funding

• Absolute monarchy - featured monarchs who passed laws without parliaments, appointed professional armies and bureaucracies, established state churches, and imposed state economic policies

• Louis XIV

• Absolute monarchs didn’t like goods coming from other places (they subscribed to mercantilism)

• Spain copies France, as does Prussia (in Eastern Germany)

Parliamentary Monarchies:

• England and the Netherlands

• There was a central state where kings shared power with representatives selected by the nobility and upper urban classes

• The idea that power comes from the people, rather than from God - so the peeps deserved certain rights

The Nation-State:

• Unlike great empires, that ruled many civilizations, nation-states contained people who shared a common culture and language

• European states viewed war as one of their primary functions

The West by 1750:

• England continues as a Parliamentary Monarchy

• France continues as an Absolute Monarchy

• King of Prussia - Frederick the Great is moving and shaking

• Rulers like Frederick said they were “Enlightened Despots”

• The Enlightenment - Intellectual movement centred in France during the 18th C. (1700s); featured scientific advances, application of scientific methods to the study of human society, and the belief that rational laws could describe social behaviour

• Adam Smith - Wealth of Nations - peeps act in their own self-interest, but through competition, promote general economic advance. Government should avoid regulation of the economy (The Invisible Hand)

• Individualism and the rights of the individual gains new emphasis

• Love and marriage became more connected and women and children were seen as more equal within the family

• The idea that all people are rational and have worth leads to people questioning practices like slavery in the name of human rights

• Mass consumerism - the spread of deep interest in acquiring material goods and services

• The West improves its food supply through new techniques and and the introduction of new crops (particularly the potato)

• The population begins to grow rapidly after 1730

Russia:

Rise of Russia:

• Early Russian Tsar’s (Ivan III and IV) pointed to family trees and claimed that Russia was the “third Rome”

• this gave Russia a Christian mission - to become a truly Christian Empire

• Ivan III organized a strong army, giving the government a military emphasis

• literacy was down, economic life was poor (they’d become purely agricultural,
  depending on peasant labour

• Ivan centralizes power

• Tsars granted hereditary territories to military nobles (boyars) - this included strict control over peasant serfs on the land

• Boyars and the tsars clash as they look for power - eventually the tsars win this power struggle

• Ivan IV (the Terrible) - continues the trends of Russian expansion

• Earns his name by killing or exiling many boyars as he consolidates power for the tsars

• Russia has few natural barriers to invasion - it uses this to its advantage

• Tsars push south to the Caspian Sea and east into the Ural Mountains

• Tsar’s recruit peasants to move into these areas

• Cossacks - Peasants recruited to migrate tonewly seized lands in Russia, particularly in the South; combined agriculture with military conquests; spurred additional frontier conquests and settlements

• Conquest allowed tsars to reward loyal nobles and bureaucrats by giving them new territory

• This helped to create new trading connections with Asian neighbours

• Tsars carefully managed their contact with Western Europe - they knew they were behind the West commercially and culturally

• Italian artists and architects brought to Russia design churches and the Kremlin

• A tradition of looking to the west for emblems of status was beginning

• Russia is still unusually agricultural compared to W. Europe and China

• Peter continued expansion of the empire and tsarist control

• He wanted to move Russia more closely in line with Western military practices and bring it into the European cultural orbit (without becoming completely Western)

• Imitated Western military organization - specially trained fighting force that could put down local militias and started a secret police force to supervise the bureaucracy

• He fought with Sweden and won - gained a port on the Baltic Sea,
  naming it St. Petersburg (it became the new capital)

• He improved the army’s weapons, created a navy

• Eliminated noble councils and replaced them with a streamlined well trained bureaucracy which could collect taxes and administer the country

• He built up mining industries, especially iron

• Subordinated the church to the state, effectively making the Tsar the supreme authority over both secular and religious matters in Russia.

• This integration of church and state helped consolidate autocratic rule in Russia.

• Ordinary people not part of this Westernization

• Serf labour was used in manufacturing and was coerced

• No attempt at a worldwide export economy like the West

• Economic development was used for the development of the military

• Westernization was used to encourage the autocratic state

• During the 17th and 18th century the power the nobility had over the Serfs increased

• 1649 - Serfdom became hereditary

• Serfs were taxed, policed, and even sold by landlords

• 1800 - half of Russia’s peasants were forced into serfdom

• Russia gradually set up a system of slavery, where serfs could be bought and sold, gambled away, and punished by their masters

• This is unique because Russians nobles are enslaving their own people rather than “outsiders”

Africa:

Overview:

• During the age of European maritime expansion, large areas of Africa were brought into the world economy

• African kingdoms animportant element in the shifting balance of world civilizations.

• Initially, Europeans simply wanted to trade with African rulers and the relationship was one of equality and mutually beneficial between advanced and wealthy kingdoms

• The enslavement of people became a central feature in the links formed between the continents that border the Atlantic Ocean. (Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade)

• During this period, almost all of Africa remained independent of outside political control, and most cultural development was autonomous as well

• Cities such as Tunis, Algiers, and Cairo facilitated trade between Africa, Europe, and the Middle East.

• Key goods included gold, ivory, textiles, and enslaved people traded to Mediterranean markets.

• Gold Coast (modern-day Ghana)

• Slave Coast (modern-day Benin, Togo, and Nigeria)

• Senegambia (modern Senegal and The Gambia): gold and later became involved in the slave trade.

• Ports like Kilwa, Mombasa, and Zanzibar connected Africa to European powers (e.g., Portuguese), as well as to Arab and Indian merchants.

• Trade goods included ivory, gold, and enslaved people, with a focus on the Indian Ocean trade network.

• The Portuguese construct Elmina Castle (São Jorge da Mina) in present-day Ghana as a major trading hub for gold and later slaves.

• Vasco da Gama reaches the Swahili Coast (East Africa), opening trade routes for spices and slaves with cities like Kilwa

• Portuguese needed the consent of local rulers, who benefited from European commodities and sometimes military support in local wars

• The Portuguese traded with Africans for items that included ivory, pepper, animal skins, and gold (from the interior).

• Trade (which involved both European and Africans) also included enslaved people - these were needed for labor in the new American colonies

• missionaries were always present

• 1510s: The Spanish begin using enslaved Africans in the Americas after indigenous populations decline due to disease and harsh labor conditions.

• 1518: Spain authorizes the direct shipment of enslaved Africans to the Americas under the asiento system.

• 1621: The Dutch West India Company is established, challenging Portuguese dominance along the Gold Coast.

• 1570s: English and French ships begin trading along the West African coast, competing with Portuguese dominance.

• 1660s: British Royal African Company monopolizes English trade along the West African coast, focusing heavily on the trade of enslaved people.

• 1700s: European demand for enslaved labor spikes due to the growth of sugar, tobacco, and cotton plantations in the Americas.

• Until 1630, the Portuguese controlled most of the coastal trade and were the major suppliers for their colony in Brazil and Spanish settlements in the Americas

• 1680s: The Ashanti Empire emerges as a dominant power in West Africa, engaging in trade with European merchants.

• 1720s: Dahomey (modern-day Benin) becomes a major supplier of enslaved Africans to European traders.

• 1750s: The Oyo Empire (present-day Nigeria) engages in significant trade with Europeans, exporting slaves and importing firearms.

• Missionaries made efforts to convert rulers to Christianity

• In Kongo, Nzinga Mvemba (1507-1543) converted as did the whole kingdom

• Mvemba tried to stop the slave trade but was only partially successful because Portugal controlled Kongo’s ability to communicate with the outside world and its dominance over Kongo’s trade

• Initially most of the enslaved people were used for Portuguese and Spanish sugar plantations on Atlantic islands, but this system moved to the Americas, particularly Brazil

• In many African societies all land was owned by the state or the ruler, so the control of slaves was one of the few ways to increase wealth and status

• In some states, such as Benin and Kongo, slavery was an important institution before Europeans arrived

• Fewer than 10% of employees of the Royal Africa Company ever made it back to England

• Early on, a single slaving voyage might make a profit of as much as 300%

• Older Trans-Saharan, Red Sea, and East Africa slave trades continued during this time

• These were controlled by Muslim traders and focused on women to be used as concubines and domestic servants in North Africa and the Middle East

• The Atlantic Slave trade focused on men - focused on heavy labor as planters and miners

• It is estimated that between 1450 and 1850, 12 million Africans were transported across the Atlantic

• From 1530-1650 Spanish America and Brazil received the majority of African Slaves.

• Europeans took advantage of existing trade in people and were aided by rulers of some African states

• African rulers didn’t enslave their own people, but enslaved their neighbours - this enlarged their states

• Central and Western African states were small and fragmented - this lead to instability because of warfare and competition.

• The endless wars promoted the importance of the military and made the sale of captives into the slave trade an extension of the politics of these regions

• Increasing centralization and hierarchy could be seen in the enslaving societies, but a contrary trend of self-sufficiency and anti-authoritarianism developed among the
  people who bore the brunt of the slaving attacks

• Colonies in Brazil, the Caribbean, and the Southern United States relied on enslaved people to keep their economies booming

• Africa becomes linked to the global trade network and in some situations become dependent on trade with the Europeans, which in turn suppressed the growth
  of other economic activities

• Asante (Ashanti) - one of the states that grew in power because of the slave trade

• By 1700 the Dutch realized they were the dominant power and started dealing with them directly

America:

Early Latin America:

• Spain and Portugal were heavily urban, with many peasants living in cities and towns

• Many commoners who came to America as conquerers tried to make themselves into the new nobility with the native peoples as their serfs

• The conquests of the Americas was two pronged - one prong was directed at Mexico and the the other aimed at S America

• Spanish had to flee, but with the help of traditional enemies of the Aztecs they cut off the besieged Tenochtitlan.

• Disease, starvation, and battles bring the city down in 1521

• By 1535 most of Central Mexico is brought under Spanish control (New Spain)

• Horses, firearms, and steel weapons gave them an advantage over the stone technology of native people

• Tech + ruthless leadership + epidemic diseases + internal divisions among American empires + centralization = advantage Spanish

• Central Mexico the population dropped from 25 million in 1519 to less than 2 million in 1580.

• At the same time European livestock like cattle, sheep, and horses flourished

• Demographic collapse led to the Spanish moving the remaining population into fewer towns and the Spanish seized communal farming lands

• Indigenous nobility was allowed to remain to act as middlemen for the Spanish - collect taxes and enforce labor demands

• By the mid-1500s slavery of the indigenous populations was prohibited - different forms of labor and taxes were imposed

• In many places communities were required to send groups of labourers to work on state projects (mit’a)

• Many native people left their villagesto avoid the taxes and work and went to work for wages on farms or in cities

• Natives learned to navigate the Spanish legal system and litigation became a way of life

• it was mining that was primary and fit Latin America into the developing world economy

• Potosi - largest silver mining town in Peru

• Potosi + Huancavelica = a lot of silver

• Whole economy of Latin America is built around the mines

• Haciendas - Rural estates in New Spain; produced agricultural goods for consumers in America; basis of wealth and power for local aristocracy

• Textile sweatshops emerge (usually involving indigenous women)

• America is becoming self-sufficient - only need luxury goods from Europe

• Silver is the heart of the economy

• Spain only allows Spaniards to trade with America (tight restrictions)

• All trade goes through the city of Seville (in Spain)

• Consulado - Merchant Guild of Seville; enjoyed virtual monopoly rights over goods shipped to America and handled much of the silver received in return

• Two fleets sailed per year from Spain, traded their goods for precious metals and then returned

• Made possible by large, heavily armed ships called galleons

• Two great galleons a year sailed from Manila (Philippines) to Mexico loaded with Chinese silks, porcelain, and lacquer

• Most of Spain’s wealth flowed out of Spain to pay for Spain’s European wars, long-term debts, and the purchase of manufactured goods to be sent back to the West Indies and Latin America - less than half the silver remained in Spain

• Spain’s wealth depended more on the taxes levied on it’s population than on silver from America

• Pope stated that the primary justification of Spain’s rule was to Christianize the peoples of the New World

• There was some blending of Catholic beliefs with existing indigenous religious beliefs - a new Latin American culture was emerging (syncretism)

Asia:

The Ming Dynasty:

• Commercial and population boom

• Yangzi Region and South were given a great boost by crops from the Americas (maize, sweet potatoes, peanuts)

• Commercial and population boom

• Yangzi Region and South were given a great boost by crops from the Americas (maize, sweet potatoes, peanuts)

• Merchant classes in China benefit the most. They take the wealth they earned (mostly in silver) and buy up land

• Thousands would compete for a small number of “degrees”

• If you were successful you were revered in Chinese society and could get a job in the middle levels of the imperial bureaucracy

• More land meant the scholar-gentry class had more and more power

• Used propaganda to justify the gap between them and the peasants - stories and illustrations showed them as hard workers who earned their status with foresight and
  hard work, while the peasants were lazy and stupid

• Hundreds, sometimes thousands, brought to the palace hoping to catch the eye of the emperor - looking to become a concubine or maybe even one of the wives

• Fine arts was funded by the scholarly-gentry and other elites

• novels became popular among the upper classes

• Good leadership gradually gave way and decades of rampant official corruption, isolation of weak rulers by the thousands of eunuchs who gradually came to dominate life in the Forbidden City, ended the dynasty

• Public works (like critical dyke work on the Yellow River) fell into disrepair.

• Eventually peasants turn to banditry and then rebellion