History Notes: Period 4

1450 CE - 1700 CE
Imperialism and Global Conflicts

4.1

Globalizing Networks of Communication and Exchange

- The interconnection of the Eastern and Western Hemispheres made possible by
transoceanic voyaging marked a key transformation of this period

Key Terms

Transoceanic
Crossing an ocean

Interregional
relatin to or occurring between different regions

Columbian Exchange
refers to a period of cultural and biological exchanges between the New
and Old Worlds. Exchanges of plants, animals, diseases and technology
transformed European and Native American ways of life.

Merchant
a person or company involved in wholesale trade, especially one dealing
with foreign countries or supplying merchandise to a particular trade.

Long-Distance Trade

- Changing patterns of long-distance trade included the global circulation of some

commodities and the formation of new regional markets and financial centers.
- Technological innovations helped make transoceanic connections possible.
- From this point on, empires would rise and fall based on the stability of their
economy

New Maritime Exploration

- There are so many Atlantic trade routes because it is a much shorter distance for
almost everyone. Theres only one Pacific route as it goes south because the
curvature of the Earth makes it a shorter route.

Religion

- Increased interregional and global trade networks facilitated the spread of

religion and other elements of culture as well as the migration of large numbers
of people.
 - Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam
Germs

- Germs carried to the Americas ravaged the indigenous peoples, while the global
exchange of crops and animals altered agriculture, diets, and populations around
the world. (Its all about the Geography)
- Guns and Germs helped the Europeans colonize the Americas to expand their
trade.

Trade

- In the context of the new global circulation of goods, there was an intensification
of all existing regional patterns of trade that brought prosperity and economic
disruption to the merchants and governments in the trading regions of the Indian
Ocean, Mediterranean, Sahara, and overland Eurasia.
- Money rules the world.

Technology

- European technological developments in cartography and navigation built on

previous knowledge developed in the Classical, Islamic, and Asian worlds.

- Developments included the production of new tools, innovations in ship designs,

and improved understanding of global wind and oceanic patterns (currents in the
water).

- This all made transoceanic travel possible

Types of Ships

- Caravel
- Speedy ship

- Carrack
- Large and heavy cargo and troop ship

- Flyut
- Cargo ship designed by the Dutch

Transoceanic Travel

Remarkable new transoceanic maritime empires economies occurred in this period.

- Portuguese
- Spanish
- French
- English
The Portuguese

- Portuguese development of maritime technology and navigational skills led to

increased travel and trade with West Africa and resulted in the construction of a
global trading-post empire.

The Spanish

- Spanish sponsorship of the first Colombian and subsequent voyages across the
Atlantic and Pacific dramatically increased European interest in transoceanic
travel and trade.

Search for Asian Routes - Development of Fishing Settlements

- Northern Atlantic crossing for fishing and settlements continued and spurred
European searches for multiple routes to Asia.

4.2

The New World Circulation of Goods was Facilitated by Royal-Chartered European

Monopoly Companies

These companies took silver from Spanish colonies in the Americas to purchase Asian
goods for the Atlantic markets.

Key Terms

- Mercantilism
- belief in the benefits of profitable trading; commercialism

- Joint-Stock Companies
- a company whose stock is owned jointly by the shareholders.

- Colonial Economies
- Mix of mercantilism and bartering, own unique style of trade.

- The Triangular Trade

- a multilateral system of trading in which a country pays for its imports
from one country by its exports to another.
- Three points of trade; Europe, Africa, and America
Markets

Regional markets continued to flourish in Afro-Eurasia by using established commercial

practices and new transoceanic shipping services developed by European merchants.

Merchants

European merchants role in Asian trade was characterized mostly by transporting

goods from one Asian country to another market in Asia or the Indian Ocean region.

Commercialization

Commercialization and the creation of a global economy were intimately connected to

new global circulation of silver from the Americas (The Columbian Exchange)

Joint-Stock Company

Influenced by mercantilism, joint-stock companies were new methods used by

European rulers to control their domestic and colonial economies and by European
merchants to compete against one another in global trade.

Monopoly Companies

The new global circulation of goods was facilitated by royal-chartered European

monopoly companies that took silver from Spanish colonies in the Americas to purchase
Asian goods for the Atlantic markets. Regional markets continued to flourish in
Afro-Eurasia by using established commercial practices and new transoceanic shipping
services developed by European merchants.

The Atlantic System/Triangular Trade System/Slave Trade *Columbus sailed in 1492*

The Atlantic system involved the movement of goods, wealth, and free and unfree
laborers and the mixing of African, American, and the European cultures and peoples.

Diseases
Jared Diamond - Guns, Germs, and Steel

The new connections between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres resulted in the
Columbian Exchange. European colonization of the Americas led to the spread of
diseases -- including smallpox, measles, and influenza -- that were endemic in the
Eastern Hemisphere among Amerindian populations and the unintentional transfer of
vermin, including mosquitos and rats.
Food

American foods became staple crops in various parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Cash
crops were grown primarily on plantations with coerced labor and were exported
mostly to Europe and the Middle East in this period.

- Examples Taken to Europe

- American Foods
- Potatoes
- Maize
- Manioc

- Cash Crops
- Sugar
- Tobacco

Animals, Trees and, Grains

Afro-Eurasian fruit trees, grains, and domesticated animals were brought by Europeans
to the Americans, while other foods were brought by the African slaves.

- Examples Brought to Americas

- Domesticated Animals
- Horses
- Pigs
- Cattle

- Foods Brought by African Slaves

- Okra
- Rice

Deforestation

European colonization and the introduction of European agriculture and settlements

practices in the Americas often affected by the physical environment through
deforestation and soil depletion.
4.3

The Expanded Spread and Reform of Existing Religions Created Merged Belief
Systems and Practices
- The increase in interactions between newly connected hemispheres and
intensifications of connections within hemispheres expanded the spread and
reform of existing religions and syncretic belief systems and practices.

Key Terms
- Hemispheres
- a half of the earth, usually as divided into northern and southern halves by
the equator, or into western and eastern halves by an imaginary line
passing through the poles

- Belief Systems
- a set of principles or tenets which together form the basis of a religion,
philosophy, or moral code

- Sufi (Sufism)
- a Muslim ascetic and mystic

- Ottomans
- a Turk, especially of the period of the Ottoman Empire

- The Reformation
- a 16th-century movement for the reform of abuses in the Roman Catholic
Church ending in the establishment of the Reformed and Protestant
Churches

- Sunni vs. Shia

- The Shia wanted power to stay within the Prophets family, the Sunni
want it to be the close friends of the Prophet.

- Vodun
- Another term for voodoo

- Sikhism
- a monotheistic religion founded in Punjab in the 15th century by Guru
Nanak

- Buddhism
- Buddhism is a religion and dharma that encompasses a variety of
traditions, beliefs and spiritual practices largely based on teachings
attributed to the Buddha.

- Literacy
- the ability to read and write
Examples of Changing Religion (7 Examples)

1 - Sufi
The continuing importance of Sufi practices contributed to the further spread of Islam in
Afro-Eurasia as believers adapted to Islam to local cultural practices.

2 - Sunni vs. Shite

The political rivalry between the Ottomans and Safavids intensified the split between
Sunni and Shia
Freeprintstoday.com?

3 - Safavids vs. Ottomans

The political rivalry between the Mughals, Ottomans and Safavids intensified the split
between Sunni and Shia

4 - Christianity
The practice of Christianity continued to spread throughout the world and was
increasingly diversified by the process of diffusion and the Reformation.

5 - Vodun
Vodun developed in the Caribbean in the context of interactions between Christianity
and African religions.

6 - Sikhism
Sikhism was developed in South Asia in the context of interaction between Hinduism
and Islam (Is currently the worlds fifth largest religion)

7 - Buddhism
While the practice of Buddhism declined in South Asia and island Southeast Asia,
different sects of Buddhism that Buddhist practice spread Northeast Asia and mainland
Southeast Asia.

4.4

New Forms of Social Organization and Modes of Production

Although the worlds productive systems continued to be heavily centered on
agricultural production throughout this period, major changes occurred in agricultural
labor, the systems and locations of manufacturing, gender and social structures and
environmental processes
 - Little Ice Age
- a period of colder climate and increased glaciation occurring between
warmer periods, in particular one such period which reached its peak
during the 17th century

- Northern Hemisphere
- is the half of Earth that is north of the equator

- Demographic Growth
- How population changes, specifically how it increases

- Manufacturing
- To make something on a larger scale

- Agricultural Production
- Vegetable and animal production that is made for human consumption
and animal feed.

- Semi-coerced labor
- Basically slavery

- The Columbian Exchange

- was the widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, human
populations, technology, and ideas between the Americas and the Old
World in the 15th and 16th centuries

- Chattel Slavery
- The most severe form of slavery

Little Ice Age

- Beginning in the 14th century - 19th century
- Decrease in temperatures
- Contributed to changes in agricultural practices
- Contraction of settlements in the Northern Hemispheres

- Adapting to the Ice Age

- Farmers increased agricultural productivity
- Introduced new crops
- New methods of crop rotation

Traditional Agriculture Changed

Traditional peasant increased, locations expanded and demanded for labor increased.
Economic growth depended new manufacturing and commercialism using long
distance trade.
These changes fed on the growing global demand for raw and finished products.
Peasant Labor Intensified in Many Regions
- Frontier settlements in Russian Siberia
- Cotton textile in India
- Silk textile production in China

Slavery and Plantations

- The growth of the plantation economy increased the demand for slaves in the
Americas.
- Slavery in Africa continued household slaves to the Mediterranean and the
Indian Ocean.

Colonial Economies in the Americas = Coerced Labor

- Chattel Slavery
- Indentured Servitude Hacienda systems
- The Spanish adaptation of the Inca mita

Political and Economic Centers Changed

Both conquest and global economic opportunities contributed to the new political and
economic elites.

Examples of New Elites

- The Manchus in China
- Creole elites in Spanish America
- European gentry
- Urban commercial entrepreneurs in all major port cities in the world

Political and Economic Elites

The power of existing Political and Economic elites fluctuated as they confronted new
challenges to their ability to affect the policies of the increasingly powerful monarchs
and leaders.

Examples of Existing Elites

- The zamindars of the Mughal Empire
- The nobility in Europe
- The daimyo in japan

Population Growth
Demographic growth - even in areas such as the americas, where disease had ravaged
the population - was restored by the 18th century and surged in many regions,
especially with the introduction of american food crops throughout the Eastern
Hemisphere
Roles - reclassified

Gender and family restructuring occurred. New forms of coerced and semi coerced labor
emerged in Europe, Africa, and the americas affected racial classifications and gender
roles

Examples of Gender and Family Restructuring

- The smaller size of European families
- Creole elites in Spanish America