Early Modern Africa

the catholic church will take a time of reflection and look into the flaws of itself- Counter-Reformation

there will be a series of new monastic orders ⬇

Jesuits- means the “society of Jesus”, basically the green berets of clergy and there are very strict intellectual and physical requirements; they would be sent on very hard mission work in the world (this is the time of european expansion which is where this will come in)

Ignatius Loyal

The Council of Trent (1545)- this is the formal response of the catholic church to the reformation- the purpose is to study the protestant and calvinists in what they are saying in order to seriously reflect on the sources of catholic theology and power

catholic doctrine is not gonna change but they do assert why they believe what they believe and as a result they are going to affirm the papacy and affirm the doctrine using the reason of scripture and tradition

there will however be an effort to root out corruption, and they will realize they are not connecting with the people and that people are not getting much out of the services- church is too ritualistic

leads to the confession booth to encourage a genuine approach to penance so people will actually reflect on their sins

Overall the Council of Trent will make Catholicism a lot more personal and genuine to reach more people’s hearts

By this point the theological breakaways in Protestantism have stopped

Largely polytheistic before the spread of monotheism- this is mainly in Sub-Sahara Africa

due to the romans and the spread of islam there was a deep history of christian and islam in Northern Africa (islam is gonna stay very close to the mediterranean due to the Sahara desert acting as a barrier)

Northern Africa and Sub-Sahara would develop in relatove isolation but the Berber indigenous group would get good at crossing rthe desert (comparable tot he Bedouins)

they would travel in large groups at night

out of sub-sahara africa they are getting gold, ivory, slavery, and different nuts and gum to get across the desert and sell in markets

they will be able to connect to West africa and link west africa to the trade of the islamic world but also india and china

majority of Berber groups would convert to Islamic and the other polytheistic tribal leaders would see their organization as a result of their faith and hire them to work in their government (Muslims are now seen in a few high ranking positions throughout africa) (will also start to see some officials, leaders, nobles, and a few rulers converting to islam and will start to slowly trickle down to lower class people)

this is going to lead to an increase in literacy in africa and the transformational effects that result as such- both religious literacy and governmental literacy→ the kingdoms are going to become more modern governments around 1000CE in Africa (modern and efficient government)→ Literacy and government go together A LOT

Trade and Commerce are gonna go crazy man- west africa is going to be an increasingly bigger part to the islamic economy and trade. West Africa is linked to the larger mediterranean world

Gold and Ivory is major and there will be merchants and traders becoming VERY wealthy

Political Cohesion- with the spread of Islam, now everyone is under God leading to political unity and there would be a common cultural understanding

Kingdom of Mali (1200-1450)

Few things cause the kingdom to grow big time:

Trade

commerce

agriculture

big population boom

Sundiata (1230-1255) is the leader of this kingdom and they are going to conquer the economic heartland leading toi the edevelopment of an empire

Sundiata’s processor would be Mansa Musa- incredible wealth and would become legendary even in his own time- his empire of Mali

he will keep track of this massive territory by dividing he land in provinces and putting his family members as the heds

Militarily he will be feared

Will go to Cairo for Hajj and people are blown away that this guy is real

hes gonna spend so much money hes gonna crash the economy and devalue their currency by 12%- even 12 years later Cairo will still not be recovered

he will bring back a lot of Arabic culture and will hire archotects to build Mosques (Timbuktu) leading to more conversions and economic center→ Timbuktu would become the economic center of the world and would later be the most educated city in the world with literacy rates off the charts and now Timbuktu would be the place to go for education and religion, competing with Cairo

Ibn Battuta- legitimate explorer that traveled almost everyone and kept journals of his findings and they were extremely educational

he would describe Timbuktu as a diverse, tolerant, multiracial society in the heart of Mali, Africa where justice was very much upheld

Catalan Atlas- map that will testify the economic and cultural importance of africa

Economics- Africa would be a very desirable as a trading post,and there would be some trade with Europe. Africa is very strong and Europeans could not jsut come there and give order so africans can easily defend their waters and their land- Africans would dictate the terms of trade

Europeans had to get African permission to trade and pay them for protection

The Europeans could not cheat the africans as africans are just as good if not better at trade- this is very lucrative for the Europeans, Africans were relatively indifferent

There was nothing the europeans could trade that the africans couldn’t produce themselves but a few goods had cache so they traded

Europeans especially traded for their iron and steel because Africans had the most efficient smelting furnace due to low fuel resources so they would develop very efficient furnaces and as a result have VERY high quality steel and iron

Europeans HAD to do things by the Africans terms

The Portuguese had ports on the coasts of Africa as a way to keep other europeans out

Europeans did not create the market, but they tapped into an already existing market

Slavery was deeply imbedded in the culture but it was not the Chattel slavery as seen in the americas- these slaves were prisoners of war

there was a big Arabic market mainly because after two years the slaves were often let go meaning there would be a consistent demand

There was no concept of private property in west africa so land was a private investment

slavery was not permanent, race based, nor social death

slaves in Africa had about the same daily life as agricultural peasants in Europe

was more legally and culturally practiced here and existed without a stigma until the new world

China would not have a Medieval/ Dark Ages→ there would be a 100 years of down period

Sui Dynasty (581-618) before ⬆ they are a short lived dynasty that be the first to claim the mandate of heaven after the fall of the Han followed by the Tang

Li Yuan is the founder of the Tang Dynasty and would found the capital city

his son is Li Shimin who would go off tofight the very fierce warrior nomads in East China where he would stabilize the territory and claim a lot of territory fir the dynasty

Li Shimin would kill his brother and threaten his father for the throne- his father would hand over the throne to him when he is 26 yo

he would be very good at gaining allies and convincing people to join the empire which will stabilize the territory

he would conquer part of the silk road (the part of territory that juts out

Li Shimin was so powerful that he was able to send his people to arrest and Indian King that insulted him→ testement to his military power

Politics

they would develop departments in their government- unheard of and very modern for this time period

they will revive the civil service exam system to ensure they have very intelligent, reliable people in their government-. passing these exams is prestigious and automatically makes you an elite

the exams would be on the confucian classics plus administrative and bureaucratic issues

Buddhism

this would be the time under the Tang Dynasty where Buddhism would flourish- still a minority religion but it will be much more integrated and will become part of Chinese culture

the buddhists would provide school for children and host verious Inns for traders→ this will better their reputation

there is a lot of trading between China and India with Buddhist monastarties kinda becoming like banks because they would allow merchants to store some of their goods while the travel→ they would also gain a lot of donations and tax free land→ they will become land lords

HOWEVER, by the end of the Tang dynasty there will be a lot of discomfort with the buddhists because of the amount of land they have and the confucian elites. there will also be concern that Buddhism is a foreign idea that is not being taxed and is believed to be hurting the state→ foreign idea that has influence is hurting the state so violence would erupt and be directed at monastaries forcing 40,000 monks and nuns to convert and return to secular life.

Buddhism will be temporarily outlawed but never whiped out, there is just a retreat

Culture

the elites would be patrons of the arts (similar to the wealthy europeans during the renaissance)

they would value education A LOT

people form all over the world would want to travel to Shanghan to trade→ enormously diverse city with a lot of varying philosophical and theological history

Poetry would become a major part of culutre to the point that men of a specific higher class would be expected to recite poems at gathering for the entertainment of guests

Thriving cosmopolitan

An Lunshan Rebellion

would weaken the Tang Dynasty significant

Xuanzong (713-756) was the emperor at the time thought of as a just, great ruler, and was even a patron of the arts until he would fall obsessively in love with a young lady that je stopped caring about the empire and would start bypassing the civil service system to help her friends and family get elite positions

the young lady is friends with An Lunshan~drama happens~ the rebellion is already so powerful that the Chinese government calls in Turkish mercernaries who would also be major problems as they would extort the government

Later Tang Dynasty- the empire would never really recover from the rebellion and corruption

Eunuchs (a castrated male) who were in charge of guarding the concubines would conquer the court creating a feud between the them and the civil servants (evidence of lack of function and stability) and the Tang Dynasty will be finished off by a famine

Sung Dynasty (960-1279)

Taizu (960-979) would claim the mandate of heaven and would try to figure out a way to mitigate the power of generals so possibly prevent a nother geneal from also claiming the mandate of heaven; jhe wopuld also bring the army under the authority of the civil servants→. Leads to the Golden Era of the Scholar Gentry

as much as the exams helped social status, really only the elites and upper middle class would be able to afford and commit to the education required to pass the exam

the number of people that would take the exam would increase drastically but the people that would pass would not→ increases the pressure and the prestige of those that could (howveer this would create a mania for education in society)

the more an educated society the more science and technological developments happen (like the movable type=more books)

an educated society that is proud for its education

the things that eductaed elites liked were the markers of cstatus in elite society→ leads to the decision in what was invented

China would join the Caliph faith in being a major center for science and technology development

Neo-Confucianism- Confucianism in response to Buddhism

scholars are now having theological and philosophical debates so they are talking about buddhism

buddhism is “going to scratch an itch that confucianism does not” for the scholars because Buddhism is going to answer the esoteric questions that confucianism does not

Confucian scholars will need to create a response and look inward to answer the questions that Buddhism is answering

passing the test is no longer the goal but enlightening and achieving wisdom is the goal of the exams

Confucians would claim that the only way to understand reality and the meaning of life is through education→ Neo Confucianism

Zhu Xi (1130-1200)- will be a mentor that will make confucianism more systematic and elevate it; some of his writings would be excepted as confucian cannon and would be added to the exams

Politics

Sung- not a very strong empire at all and would never match the power of the Tang and would have to pay tribute to invading nomads due to noty beong militarily powerful

The Jurchens would defeat the nomads and would take 1/3 of their territory along with their emperor?? :0

Sung’s Leader’s son would escape and set up the Southern Sung Dynasty until that would be conquered by the mongols in 1279

Mongol Empire

Sung empire would collapse abruptly due to the Mongols

Nomadic peoples, largest continuous empire in history, large tents and lived in very inhospitable environments→ lived of of animal products, rarely ate grains

Constant threat to china

The little Ice age will play a role in shrinking the pastures for their animals causing more competition leading to a path for the strongest group to emerge dominant

Genghis Khan (1206-1227)

He will conquer and unite the Mongols, he would structure his army among tribal lines- creates the loyalty to be aimed to the unit and more cohesion

Mongols would come to China in 1215 and conquer the northern regions first (not in control of the Sung but rather the Jurchens)

Mongols did not fight in any conventional way- enter, pillage, and burn ton the ground (allowed them to take a lot of land quickly)

used terror to their advantage; Jurchens would be bullied into paying tribut to the Mongols

Threatened mass slaughter to the Jurchen towns to gain access

Used HIt and run tactics

Bred Horses to have specific characteristics (ex: ability to turn very fast- its that horse power)

Would learn to use catapults and exploding arrows

Khan is notoriously brutal loved war- would reek havoc on the Persian empire when they resist control

Khan will die in 1227- make it into Central Asia, Russia,

Genghis’s Successors

they would attack and murder the Caliph in the middle east along with wipe out the majority of the population in Bagdad

Khan’s empire would go to his son Kublai Khan (1260-1294) who would tuyrn his attention back to China- horses previosly not able to cross Chinese terrain leading a pretty goof defensive position

China Under Mongol Rule (1279-1368)

They would finally conquer the Sung Dynasty in 1290 and for the first time China would fall under foreign rule however there would not be a lot of social cultural change

they did not like the social mobility in the kingdom because they felt that someone of a middle class should not be abler to grow to have so much power in society

As a result they will divide up people into hereditary occupational categories to create stability (if you were a farming family you're children would be in the farming)

They would also rank the various ethnic groups to impose order and to stop social mobility

Mongols are first

Han second

Southern last

Confucian officials would be removed from government officials causing them to seek out other jobs in the empire

the education frenzy would not end however and Confucian officials would eventually be hired as teachers

The Mongols lacked the experience to regulate the economy so inflation got pretty bad and the Black Plague would spread to China as well

By the 1360s the combination of war and the plague the population in China would decline by tens of millions of people

Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)

by this point the Mongols grasp on power was slipping and it was the perfect opportunity to claim the mandate of heaven which would be done by Hung Wu (1368-1398)

Hung would live in poverty due to the Mongols until he was finally able to get into a monastery and would learn to read

he would join the rebels in the monastery and later become a great general who would eventually start to eliminate his rivals where he would then go on campaign and eventually declare himself emperor after conquering Beijing

will conduct a full scale registration of all cultivated land and a census to fairly distribute taxes and labor

General census that he wasn’t a great emperor due to erratic behavior and tendencies to publicly humiliate the scholars

Imperial Governance

the kingdom will stabilize once Hung Wu dies and the capital will move to Beijing

Ming emperors will tend to be very string willed and will tend not to listen to scholars or advisers

the remnants of the mongol empire will still be a threat leading to the building of the Great Wall of China as this is the only way they know to control the threat of invaders (testament to military technology and militarism for this time period)

Ming Society

Ming China does not have rigid social barriers and there is not aristocracy to enforce hereditary titles so there were none

Agricultural land was still a form of wealth just not as much as antiques and books and paintings and calligraphy

An elite status would come through learning

If you wanted social mobility at this time you had to marry into a scholarly family

In order to get into government you had to take a civil service exam but now there are three levels (prefecture, prevential, and capil)

the Ming was worried that the wealthier the families would dominate the exams and threaten their power so they would set quotas on the number of candidates from each province

Often clans or lineage groups would found schools to educate specific members to pass the exams and elevate the family name

This time is considered the golden age for Chinese civilization

literature flourished and printing houses would be huge

would get Tobacco from Virginia

Economically Ming China was enormously successful and was a time of real prosperity

Exploration

roughly same time as european exploration but the Chinese were also exploring under the Commodore Zheng He (1371-1433)

Was a Muslim Eunuch; voyages started in 1405-1433 and led 7 voyages along the old Arabic trading routes with 62 ships that were 3-4 times bigger than Columbus’s (Zheng really said “mine’s bigger” )

Zheng essentially dominated the Indian Ocean and traded all the way in Africa- looks like China is prime to dominate the world politically and economically until the voyages suddenly stop (not super clear why but it was suspected the voyages were too expensive and foreign goods didn’t compare to China’s

From here there the advisors would suggest turning inward:

they would look towards preserving tradition rather than looking for influence from outsiders

Ming expanded the use of Eunuchs allowing the eunuchs to gain a lot of power and wealth

the Eunuchs and scholars would be in conflict and the emperor would set up a secret service of Eunuchs to root out corruption

the role of emperor would become unreliable

merchants never had a high standing in society

Mongol rule would not last very long inthe Middle East and after the fall would emerge three islamic Empires: The Ottomans, the Safavid Empire, and the Mughal Empire

Turks

Ottoman EmpireOrigins

the longest lasting empire of the three islamic empire

they start out as one of the nomadic groups feuding with china

will settle down in the region of Anatolia (modern state of Turkey/ Asia minor)

Tamerlane (1336-1405) was a notoriously violent Turkish general which cause people to fear the Ottomans and effectively helped them build an empire with a reputation

Ottoman empire would be named after Osman the First (1299-1326) who would found the empire in 1299 but before he was the head of a nomad group that would discover and found Anatolia

he would claim to be the protector of the group and would conquer land around the Byzantine empire, gradually taking land away from them

Expansion

Osman would claim a lot of what is modern day Turkey

in 1453 they would get the biggest Prize under the Sultan Mehmet II (1451-1481) and conquer Constantinople, finally destroying the last remnants of the eastern roman empire

They would then rechristen the City of Constantinople to be Istanbul

They would transform the declining city improving infrastructure and making it overall more ottoman and a hub for business and commerce

they would build up public facilities and would control the eastern half of the mediterranean

Under the emperor Suleiman (1520-1566) they would conquer the major holy sites (Medina, Mecca, etc)

They wouldn’t dominate ocean traffic but they were really good at fighting on land and were the dominant force in Europe at the time

Politics and Society

Their emperor would be referred to as Sultans and all deferred to his power- Suleiman would be called “the law giver” (or Suleiman the Magnificent) as he would write a merit based legal code with the help of scholars on criminal proceedings, which would have the added benefits of abolished imprisonment without trial, mandated a balanced budget, promotions in government was based on merit and non favoritism

Suleiman’s legal code would be influential around he world (evidence in our founding fathers)

Slavery was very important to the Ottoman empire (not race based however)

Ottoman government would compel some Christian families to sell their sons into slavery under the Turkish government where they would be converted to Islam and trained to be administrative officials

In other cases they were prompted for sons to be sold to farms where the idea was to prepare them/ harden them for the military→ Janissaries (Turkish foreign recruits) known for being expert soldiers and experts with firearms

the ottoman’s system of enslaving christian boys allowed them to create a merit based system in the military and help assimilate christians into Islamic Culture

the sultan technically owned all the land in the empire but families were allowed to borrow or use the land but they did not own it ( this was a way for the sultan to maintain control)

the Sultan would maintain a ruling home through concubines→ in Ottoman society a concubine was a woman religiously and legally recognized as a spouse but at a lower status than a wife (until she gets pregnant then her status elevates) (she had a say raising him until the age of 10)

after around the age of 10 the son would be sent to manage a province himself which would help him learn the ropes of governing and helped the ottoman manage their society

Safavid Empire (1501-1736)

Tamerlane’s empire would collapse around 1450 and Persia would then fall under the control of a lot of Turkish lords until a group called the Safavids would rise to power

the Safavid empire would be founded by a 14 years old named Isma’il (1487-1524) lead an army to conquer his enemies and then declare himself emperor

The empire would reach its peak under the rule of Abbas (1587-1629)

Was a military leader but supported trade and commerce; was a patron of the arts, built the army through enslaved people, increased the use of gunpowder weapons, made alliances with European powers against the Ottomans and even waged war against the ottomans and captured Bagdad- however the Ottomans were just a greater power so the Safavids had to constantly protect their border

Origins and Expansion

The Turkish people would be very loyal to the Shas (their name for a king)

the Shas would give grazing land to peasants on the edge of the ottoman territory giving the people land and the king a buffer zone/ first line of defense

had very effective bureaucrats

the Safavids would be Shi’ites (Shi’a Islam would even be enforced and considered themselves the rightful descendants of Muhammad- the founder of Ismail would be considered Muhammads representative on Earth) (Ismail would recruit Shia scholars from across the islamic world and would kick out all the Sunni religious leaders)

Mughal Empire (1526-1857)

were the largest of the islamic empires and had the greatest population

all of modern India and parts of Pakistan, Bangladesh, and part of Afghanistan.

They had a Turkish ruler named Babur (1483-1530) would capture Kabul, and establish a kingdom in Afghanistan where he would then move south and capture important cities of India.

Babur and the ruling class were muslim but the majority of India was still Hindu- very opposite to each other

His successor Akbar (1556-1605) was one of India’s most historically successful reigns

he would expand the empire’s territoy and would conquer a majority of the sub-continent

would unite the majority of the Indian subcontinent for the first time in hundreds of years

developed a complex bureaucracy to make the government more centralized and streamlined

the created a unified tax code and different bureaucratic departments

let local villages run things without too much interference

they don’t make the same use of slaves and the ottomans and the Safavids did- instead used the services of the pre-existing elites

would eventually start recruiting Persians and Hindus to promote diversity in the kingdom

as a result there is no one minority that would dominate the emperor so no one could really push the emperor around and contest his power

now muslim rulers over majority Hindu empire- Mughals willl be incharge when the British colonize India

Islamic Culture in the Early Modern Age

Visual Arts

Concurrent with the European renaissance when the arts would be revived after the numerous wars

the three islamic empires would not necessarily get along however they shared common educated languages (Persian and Arabic) so there are established intellectual and cultural interconnections

Example of this are the Persian Rugs- each location had its own different, style, designs, and weaving techniques

these would become the gold standard for rugs and would be highly sought after around the world

they would often employ women and children for their smaller hands and ability to tie more intricate patterns

the Mughals would be known for Miniature paintings and book illustrations→ these and the rugs speaks to the cultural integration

Architecture

Every empire had impressive and fantastic buildings and houses in terms of architecture→ architecture had the intention to inspire awe in people

Istanbul had a lot of impressive infrastructure (water systems and bridges)

Ottomans known for their architecture in the Hagia Sophia and their renovation from a church to a mosque

Mughal emperor Sha Jahan would build the Taj Mahal to honor his favorite wife→ brings both Hindu and Islamic design elements together; Taj Mahal suggests that India is very wealthy at this time despite the assumptions that arise as Europe starts to grow in wealth and power

Intellectual Life

There will be intellectual recovery despite the effects of the Mongols

Piri Reis- a key figure to the development of cartography and is going to create an atlas that included a lot od details and descriptions of shore lones and common weather [patterns and combines both Islamic and western knowledge- they will

Under Suleiman, Istanbul will become the head of medicine

The plague will be a reoccurring problem as the Quran has specific rules about what to do in the situation of a plague→ rulers do not enforce quarantine

there is a struggle with the development of knowledge pf science and the conflicts islamic rules

The Ottomans and the Safavids tend to be more insistent of enforcing Islamic religions

the Mughals are different than the other two empire however because of the Hindi majority

the idea of the Coffee House will arise because of the Ottoman empire

it would become a staple of social etiquette to offer coffee

it would then become standard for men to meet and talk but some rulers would look at them as a threat because they saw it as an opening for government criticism

the coffee house would become a common practice because the rulers could get revenue→ the coffeehouses would have some social effects because now socializing can be done outside the house and now science and politics and education are being discussed more often

Economics

The argument that the European expanding out would immdiately hurt these empire is not factually true→ there would be a mark in political decline but not economic decline

European Rivals

the Portuguese would take over a port of India called Goa

the Dutch would show up and establish the Dutch East India Company to take the control of spices out of the hands of the Portuguese

Then the British would show up and establish the British East India Company as a money grab

they cannot trade with china but through India they can now have access to Chinese goods

European demand was increasing as the growing european middle class grows

textiles was the main sought after item from India by Europeans

Merchant Networks

at this point, control of the subcontinent is still in the hands of the rulers/ Indians

the europeans wanting Indian Textiles is not detrimental in any way and rather gives them a fairly robust economy

there would be the development of the textile brokers who would go to manufacturers with specific wants from the europeans

banking families would become key figures in India and play a role similar to the Medici family during the Renaissance

markets would create complex inter-country relationships and India will remain a major economic force for awhile

The Americas Before the European Contact

the political organization of these places would be just as advanced as the rest of the worlds

there would me some major religious diversity

we think the first humans crosse the bering strait

the strait was a cold desert and people and animals would cross it

there would be a period of the Little Ice Age leading to the Americas being cut off from the rest of Eurasia

there would be parallel developments happening here that would happen in middle east

large religious structures would go up along economics combining in some way with these religious institutions

they would have complex markets and people would have access to a wide variety of good

there would be literacy and legal codes, there would be complex govenrment empires

the europeans and native Americans were on the same ground→ equally virtuous and equally flawed

some of the biggest cities were in the americas- NOT Europe

variety of different agricultural, urban, and rural areas

there would be a lot of political cohesion in these different groups

when the europeans arrive there would be geopolitical change that would cause them to have to adapt form their complex government and resort to a less sophisticated and more tribal form of organization

European Expansion

Motives

the europeans needed something they could trade with in order to trade with the Turks hence why they expand out \

the ottomans turks know they are the Europeans only connection to India so the Europeans want to sail around the horn of africa

In the 1400s China’s paper money currency would collapse and so they would use silver as a currency instead→ extremely high demand for silver so the Europeans will start looking for silver (they will find it in Peru)

Also looking for intellectual expansion

the Spanish would kick the Moors/ Muslims out of Spain for good

political rivalry between European ruling families will also be a powerful motivator

also the interest in the exploring the new world and the economic opportunities in the Americas that were not available to the average European would be a big motivator

Innovations in Technology

because the population was reduced by a third in europe, there would be a demand for better sailing technology that was more efficient→ invention of the Caravel (a ship with more sails that can handle the rough seas of the Atlantic)

Ptolemy’s Geography would be a basis for Europeans in navigation as previously they did not have good cartography→ this combined with the knowledge of old European mariners creates

They will also be introduced to the magnetic compass by the Chinese

an old greek invention the Astrolabe will also be used to help with navigation- will be improved and perfected by muslims at sea needing to know which direction to pray

Columbus’ Voyages

Christopher Columbus (1451-1506)- had some knowledge about the sea from where he grew up; not particularly smart but fairly adventurous

would get the idea to sail west to attempt to sail to India after a german scientist wrongly guessed the circumference of the earth

would be granted by the Spanish king and queen after striking a deal and would set sail the fall of 1942

he would see the natives wearing precious metals, take some back as captives and claim he’s been to India

Europeans are not totally uneducated so they know the natives aren’t Asian so now there’s a lot of talk about him- his reputation takes a hit

Goes back and finds his men had brutalized some natives which will but him on the track of enslaving natives

when he returns to Spain again, he will have no gold

because he was very stubborn in believing he was in Asia despite people proving him wrong over and over again, causing him to be stripped of his title and ties cut from the king and queen- will die of disgrace (good :) )

will start the origin of “Columbus was trying to prove the earth was round” after satirist wrote that about him

Demographic Effects

when Cortes arrives, the Aztecs were very clean, organized, and wealthy. He will have to exploit the political flaws in order to conquer them

Europeans fight to kill, Aztecs fought to take captives

Europeans were only able to take over because the Aztecs were severely weakened by diseases brought over (smallpox would be the major killer- MAJOR demographic cataclysm ) Native population will decline by 82-96% (not necessarily because of all disease but overall )

this has MAJOR psychological effects in addition to immense turmoil and painful suffering under the disease (they essentially believe their gods had abandoned them)

Columbian Exchange

the name for the exchange of goods, animals and diseases between Europe/ middle east and the New World

horses will get loose and their population will spread→ major effects on native American culture and the horses will help them turn the Columbian Exchange around as a way of sovereignty

Corn will also be a new food for the europeans and will radically transform European diet

there will also be a population boom in Europe because they will start growing corn

the potato will have a similar effect on Europeans because it is nutritious and high in calorie (example is Irish culture)

Tomatoes will have a similar effect as well in Italians

Sugar and Tobacco will become cash crops (Cash Crops are a crop grown for its commercial value rather than for use by its owner)

Spanish Colonization

Colonial Administration

they used preexisting power structures to help with the power transition (and manipulation)

Viceroyalty- large territorial units divided up by the Spanish king; the Viceroy would essentially be the governor of these territories- had the task to turn the king’s wishes into realistic policy

there will later be a whole system of of imperial government

Labor and Taxation

would set up large estates called Haciendas that will be set up around the gold and silver found in the area

would rely on the indigenous people to work the land on Encomiendas (land offered to people to manage to encourage people to move over ) and they will essentially set up a system of slavery.

Religion

the Spanish will try to sell Christianity to the indigenous people but they will struggle to understand the concept of monotheism

they will compare and explain Christianity in a way that compares God the father to their polytheistic gods

a lot of people will convert to christianity due to politics

Jesuits will be very critical to how the natives were treated but would be granted and would accept their own encomienda to come over to spread the religion

the church would act like a bank for credit

Social Structure

they would build a social ladder based off of skin color

Peninsulares- people born in Spain

Criollos- white people born in the western hemisphere- couldn’t occupy upper government

Mestizos- people born of mixed, indigenous- Spanish relations- could have certain legal status and rights

eventually black slaves would be brought over but for now the social hierarchy is these three

this would be the first look at social constructed idea of race

Transatlantic Slave Trade

The Process of Enslavement

the social fabric of Africa involved the enslaving of enemies from rivalries- NOT chattel slavery. They were not selling their “own people” they were selling their enemies and outsiders

the Portuguese set up a town on the coast where there would then be a lot of mixed race people born that would act at the brokers and would be the buyers of these slaves who would then sell it to the Europeans

This massive forced Migration will be nicknamed the African Diaspora

60% will go to sugar plantations before the 1800s

slaves with special skills commanded higher prices

The Middle Passage

they would be put in basically open aired pins and shackled, waiting for ships and for people to completely fill the ship

across the ocean is about 7weeks, but they were often on the boats for even longer

they were forced to endure extreme inhumane conditions, unsanitary conditions, torturous conditions, humiliating conditions, approx. 15 % mortality rate- sometimes as high as 30% ‘

Slavery in America

Linguistic and Cultural Diversity

condition of profound isolation due to language, and cultural barriers- you don’t forget your old loyalties

they often stuck people of different languages together so they couldn’t organize and would stay feeling isolated

hybrid languages would develop like Gullah (mainly english with African grammatical structures)

It will take 100 years before the idea of African American, African Brazilian and more develop because as long as Europe is consistently importing slaves there will always be more Africans than African Americans

Resistance

there will be armed revolts and interpersonal violence- the most common form was running away

some people would run away to Florida and convert to Christianity to not be enslaved by the Spaniards

Maroons- independent African countries; established political structures; had their own huts and houses; own military dictators; the europeans would try to break these up but wouldn’t always be successful; these Maroons would be a beacon of freedom and would often have someone communicating with someone on the plantation to be notified if the whites were planning something