Asia and the World
Slaves, Convicts and Settlers
Slaves
Over 12 million Africans were transported to the slave markets of Europe between the 15th and 19th centuries. Historians estimate that an additional 10 million people were taken captive but perished before reaching the European slave markets. Europeans discussed the cruelty of slavery, but the trade continued because it was argued that the wealth from slavery outweighed the evil.
In 1444 the first Africans to be brought to Europe as slaves were put on display in a marketplace in Southern Portugal. 200 slaves, captured by Berber merchants, had been traded and transported to Europe. By the mid-15th century, nearly a thousand African slaves a year were transported to Portugal. Gold and spices remained the most valued 15th century trade items, but the demand for slaves began to grow. The Portugese were the European pioneers of the slave trade, transporting most to the colonies in the Americas. The valuable trade goods such as sugar, tobacco, cotton, coffee, rice and indigo were produced by slave labour of the plantations.
The wealth that came from slavery attracted traders from other European countries. The Dutch, British, Spanish, and French established their own trade stations taking as many slaves as they could capture or buy from powerful slave trading African tribes. By the beginning of the 18th century approximately 100,000 Africans were shipped across the Atlantic Ocean every year to work plantations from the mouth of the Amazon river to Virginia in North America. By the mid-19th century there were 4 million slaves working in the cotton fields of North America to satisfy the huge world demand for cotton. Slavery dominated the economy of the Southern states of America and the Caribbean.
Convicts
Between 1750 and 1850 the population of Britain grew from 6 to 18 million. With the industrial Revolution, the population exploded in the cities, where people congregated in search for their work. Women and children were employed before men, because they were cheaper to hire. The poor and destitute turned to street theft and house burglary to provide for themselves.
The 18th Century British Government was faced with a sharp increase in crime. Their solution was the death penalty, or transportation to prisons in a distant land. During the 17th century, Britain used transportation to the American colonies as a form of punishment. This ceased in 1775 when the American colonies rebelled against the British rule. The British government the confined the convicts to filthy conditions in derelict warships, known as hulks. A government committee was established to find a solution to the convict problem. In 1779, Botany Bay was recommended as an alternative convict destination. Sir Joseph Banks, who has travelled with Captain Cook to New South Wales in 1770, advised that the escape would be impossible, the climate pleasant, the soil fertile and the natives manageable.
On May 13th, 1787 the First Fleet set sail for Australia under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip. Their number steadily increased from 1815. When the last shipment of convicts finally disembarked in WA in 1868, a total of 162,000 men, women and children had been transported on 806 ships. At this time the population in Australia has risen to approximately 1 million.
While most convicts to Australia were from Britain, the convict population was multicultural, arriving from Canada, India, Hong Kong and the Caribbean.
Settlers
The 19th century was the last great age of global exploration, and the age of migration. Adventurers had willingly set sail for exotic and distant lands, and they were followed by steam powered ships that opened new trade and migration routes across the oceans.
Steam power had given the world mobility, and the opportunity for ordinary people to seek better lives for themselves in foreign lands: The Germans and the Irish flocked to North America, the Italians to South America, the British to Canada, the Chinese to Southeast Asia and the Indians to Fiji.
Settlers headed for America in the hope they would find political and religious freedom and a society that rewarded ability and hard work with success and prosperity. In 1790 there had been less than 4 million settlers in North America; by the 20th century, over 35 million Europeans had migrated to North America.
The number of settlers choosing to travel to the Australian colonies remained very small until the 1820s. In 1820, the adult population on NSW was 17,271. Only 2802 of these colonists had travelled to Australia as settlers, or been born there.
Settlers came to Australia in two waves; 1838-1941 settlers brought 80,000 skilled craftsmen and labourers while 1847-1850 brought 70,000 educated and middle class migrants to Australia.
Intro to Asia and the World
Nationalism
Nationalism is an extreme form of patriotism and loyalty to one’s country. Nationalists place the interests of their own country above the interests of other countries.
Nationalism gave citizens extreme confidence in their nation, their governments, and their military strength. It assured them that their country was fair and without blame.
National identity
National identity and the concept of nationalism emerged in the 18th century as a result of a few key factors:
the movement away from god and king to a sense of belonging to a country
the Napoleonic wars
unification of Germany and Italy
growth of economic power as a result of industrialisation
Nationalism in real life
Citizens of England, France, and Germany had grown accustomed to colonial wars. These conflicts were fought against underdeveloped and under-equipped opponents in faraway places, and were mostly brief and victorious. Europe’s great powers had not experienced a significant military defeat for more than half a century. This indifference to war, along with arms race, contributed to a growing delusion of invincibility. Britain was a key example of this.
German nationalism was a new phenomenon, emerging from the unification of Germany in 1871. It became fascinated with German imperial expansion (securing Germany’s ‘place in the Sun’) and was resentful of the British and their empire.
Rising nationalism was also a factor in Balkans, where Slavic Serbs and others sought independence and autonomy from the political domination of Austria-Hungary.
Nationalism was prevalent in early 20th century Europe and was a significant cause of World War I.
Most pre-war Europeans believed in the cultural, economic, and military supremacy of their nation.
Industrialisation
Industrialisation is the move to machine manufacture of goods on a large scale. This would in turn trigger significant economic and social change. Industrialisation would improve transport and communications, and create powerful and wealthy nations.
Change and continuity
Change is a period of where cultural factors have shifted and can mean a change in culture, laws, technology, and/or sovereignty. Continuity means a period of little to no change, where cultural factors stay the same.
Capitalism
Capitalism is the social system which now exists in most countries of the world. Under this system, the means for producing and distributing goods are owned by a small minority of people. We refer to this group of people as the capitalist class.
The majority of people must sell their ability to work in return for a wage or salary, referred to as the working class. The working class are paid to produce foods and services which are then sold for a profit.
The profit is gained by the capitalist class because they can make more money selling what we have produced than we cost to buy on the labour market. In this sense, the working class are exploited by the capitalist class. the capitalists live off the profits they obtain from exploiting the working class whilst reinvesting some of their profits for the further accumulation of wealth.
Q) How does this relate to our study of Asia and India?
Before the industrial revolution’s beginning, India used to shine in the World Chart for its cotton textile industry. These cottons things used to get exported to different parts of the world, which includes today’s Europe, America and the Middle East, among others. As a matter of fact, India is documented to have dominated the world’s cotton textile markets during the 1750s. As India was the land of cheap labour, production was of high quality with low priced calicoes. It is not a matter of surprise that at the end of the 17th century Indian calicoes were popular in Britain. However, things got changed after the industrial revolution.
Q) What themes can we use to analyse society?
Social: relating to society or its organisation
Political: relating to the government or public affairs of a country
Economic: the large set of interrelated production and consumption activities that aid in determining how scarce resources are allocated
Cultural: relating to the ideas, customs and social behaviour of a society
Religious: relating to or believing in a religion