Chapter 16The World Economy

New Toys

• Deep-draft, round-hulled sailing ships, loaded with heavy armaments

• Compass (China-ME-Europe)

• Gunpowder related toys – same chain– European metalwork allows for first guns and

cannons– HUGE advantage

The pioneering explorers• Portugal – excitement of discovery, potential harm to Muslim world,

and craving for wealth “potent mix”• Henry the Navigator• Dias -- Cape of Good Hope (1488) – will become a filling station• Columbus’s voyage in 1492 causes Portugal to up their efforts• Vasco da Gama reaches India in 1498

– Annual visits to India– Sometimes use ship’s guns to intimidate – Blown off course to Brazil – establish colony– Set up Mozambique in E. Africa and Gao in India– Islands of Indonesia– China– By 1542 even Japan

Spanish Explorers

• Christopher Columbus – origin? – Sponsored by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella (Spain,

pushed out Muslims, reclaimed kingdom, Castille and Aragon)– West Indies (Caribbean)

• Amerigo Vespucci (Italian) – “New World” and the Americas– Spain wins papal approval for control of land (Portugal will get

Brazil)• Ferdinand Magellan – set sail in 1519

– Pass Southern tip of S. America – Discover and name Pacific Ocean for Europe for “peaceful”

ocean– Reached Indonesian islands in 1521– Claims the Philippines and names them after King Philip II (will

remain a Spanish holding until 1898)

Spanish Conquistadors

• God, gold, and glory!• Hernan Cortes – Tenochtitlan to Mexico City• Francisco Pizarro – Inca Empire – Equador to Chile• Soon all but Brazil of S. America all the way up to

California• St. Augustine 1519• Catholic Church and the Jesuits – chance to convert and

gain Catholic souls• Silver and gold, silver and gold….FLOODS the

European Economy• Glory! – Well, it’s obvious.

• Easily conquer the Americas– Gunpowder– Diseases– Civil Unrest in the Americas

British, French, Dutch, Spanish

• Spanish Armada 1588• French in Canada – 1534, Samuel de

Champlain – Quebec 1608, Great Lakes region, Mississippi Valley– Restrict protestants

• English – Jamestown 1607, Plymouth, 1622 (but this one wasn’t economic)– Restrict Catholics

• Dutch East India Company – 1602– Taiwan

• British East India Company

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Mercantilism

• Economic concept –

• Import only from empire– Import raw materials, manufacture at home,

export manufactured goods out

• Export as much as possible to as many as possible– Allow own colonies to only buy from your

kingdom

• Exploration

• Conquest when necessary

• Colonization– Emergence of Coercive labor systems

Colonization Perks

• Precious metals and cash crops– Sugar, spice, tobacco, and later on – cotton– All very labor intensive

• Human labor becomes part of the exchange• Encomienda and other systems used, but some

Europeans (Bartolome de las Casas) find these systems morally appalling– European kingdoms turn to Africans and enslave

them

Triangle of Commerce

To Africa:Iron, Muskets, Silver, Textiles

Into Americas:Slaves

To Africa:Rum and Muskets

Into Americas:Axes, Cloth, Furniture, Muskets, Tools

To Europe:Fish, Rice, Tar, Timber and Tobacco

Ottoman Empire

• Established 1453

• Continues trading Arab trading connections with E. Africa, India, and China

• Loses B. of Lepanto in 1571 – setback against Spanish navy in the E. Mediterranean

China

• Participated less actively than Europe• Benefits from world economy – excess of

American money a positive for China• Avoid entering involvement of international trade

on anyone’s terms – limits trade to a trickle– This just keeps China’s stuff in the “rare” category,

Europeans anxious to open China up• Strong export pattern• British government tries to get China to open up

– Effort turned down– Haughtily inform Europeans that the Chinese have no

need for outside goods

Japan and Korea

• Japan – initially attracted by Western expeditions in the 16th century– Pulls back– Show some openness to Christian missions– Fascinated by Western gunnery and shipping– Once they develop the ability to mimic W. weapons

they cut off contact– Forbidden to travel or trade abroad– Enter a period of near complete isolation from 17th-

19th century• Exceptions? – Chinese contact (only a little) and Dutch

enclave in Nagasaki

• Korea – pulls back as well

India

• Mughal India – Persian for “Mongol India”– Proceeded Dehli Sultanate

• Sold goods for New World silver

• British East India Company

• France

• Britain wins control after 7 years war

Russia

• Isolated by Mongols

• Open back up slowly – Ivan the III – capital in Moscow

• Ivan the Terrible (IV)

• Time of Troubles early 1600s

• Michael Romanov appointed – establishes Romanov line

Africa

• West Africa – become victims of the slave trade

• East Africa – still trading with India, China, and ME

• North Africa – still trading