Global Commerce 1450 1750 Economic Globalization Then and

Global Commerce 1450 -1750 Economic Globalization - Then and Now

European Commerce �Europeans wanted commercial connections with Asia - Columbus and Da. Gamma looking for spices - Europe recovered from the plague - Monarchies learning to govern more efficiently - Resented Italian city-states for monopoly on goods from Asia through the Middle East - Constant trade deficit with Asia – needed bullion

Christopher Columbus

Portuguese Commerce �Indian Ocean trade was rich and diverse �Portugal was first to come over – Vasco Da. Gamma �Portugal didn’t have anything good to trade - so they used piracy to gain control - they had smaller faster ships than India/China �Established a “trading post empire” - took several port cities by force… guns (Macao not taken by force) - didn’t control territories or population - goal was to control commerce

Portuguese Trading Post

Spain and the Philippines �Spain was the first to challenge the Portuguese - They colonized the Phillippines - It wasn’t too hard b/c they were small competing chiefdoms �Full colonial rule until 1898 - large scale conversion to Catholicism

Philippines Catholic Festival

East India Companies �Dutch and English both set up private companies to handle colonization - merchants invested, shared the risks - had power to make war and govern conquered peoples �Dutch empire was focused on Indonesia �English empire focused on India’s ports - both gradually evolved into typical colonial domination

Dutch East India Company �Controlled both shipping and production of cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, and mace �Seized small spice-producing islands and forced people to sell only to the Dutch �Destroyed the local economy of the Spice Islands; made the Dutch rich with Dutch planters and slaves

Dutch East India Company

British East India Company �Not as well financed or as commercially sophisticated as the Dutch; couldn’t break into the Spice Islands �Major ports in India – Bombay, Calcutta, Madras �Could not compete with the Mughal Empire on land - negotiated with local rulers �Britons traded pepper and other spices, but cotton textiles became more important

Japan �Portuguese reached Japan in the mid 1500’s �Japan at the time was divided by constant conflict among feudal lords (daimyo) supported by samurai �At first, Europeans were welcome - 300, 000 convert to Christianity �Then Japan is unified under the Tokugawa Shogunate - increasingly regarded Europeans as a threat to unity - expulsion of missionaries - massive persecution of Christians - Japanese were barred from travel abroad - Europeans were banned, except the Dutch at a single site �Why do you suppose the Dutch could stay but not Spain? ? ?

Samurai

Silver and Global Commerce �Silver was even more important than the spice trade �Spanish America produced around 85 percent of the world’s silver �China’s economy - huge / growing demand for silver � 1570 s: all Chinese taxes were to be paid in silver �Foreigners with silver could purchase more Chinese products than before

Silver - Central to World Trade �“silver drain” to Asia - why do you suppose most silver wound up here? �The Spanish “piece of eight” was widely used for international exchange �Potosí, Bolivia - largest city in the Americas because it was at the world’s largest silver mine - the city’s wealthy European elite lived in luxury - Native American miners lived in horrid conditions

Effects of Silver Trade �Spain – caused inflation, no real economic growth �Spain lost its dominance when the value of silver fell ca. 1600 �Japanese government profited from silver - Tokugawa shoguns used silver revenues to defeat rivals and unify the country - worked with the merchant class to develop a market -based economy - heavy investment in agriculture and industry

Effects of the Silver Trade �In China, silver further commercialized the country’s economy. - people needed to sell something to obtain silver to pay their taxes - economy became more regionally specialized - deforestation was a growing problem; wasn’t addressed as it was in Japan �Europeans were essentially middlemen in world trade. - funneled American silver to Asia - Asian commodities took market share from European products

“Silver Drain” Map

Fur in Global Commerce �Europe’s is in demand of fur by 1500 (little ice age) �Intense competition for the furs of North America - became very profitable for Indians in N. America - they received iron tools, guns, textiles, liquor - unfortunately fell victim to diseases �Russian fur trade - Fur – chief motive for Russian expansion - Similar toll on native Siberians as it had on Indians - Russia – no competition like in Americas - forced Siberians to provide fur, no negotiations

A Beautiful Summer Day in Siberia

The Atlantic Slave Trade �From 1650’s – 1850’s about 11 million slaves brought to Americas from Africa. - millions more died on the journey - vast human tragedy - diaspora created racially mixed societies in the Americas

Slave Trade Map

The Slave Trade in Context �Most human societies have had slaves �Africans had practiced slavery and sold slaves for centuries - trans-Saharan - took slaves to Mediterranean world - East African slave trade �Slavery differed, depending on where and when - slaves were often assimilated into their owners’ households - children of slaves were sometimes free, sometimes slaves - Islamic world preferred female slaves - Atlantic slave trade favored males - In the Islamic world, slaves often had military and political status

Slavery in the Americas �The scale and importance was enormous �Plantation agriculture – denied all rights “property”’ - most slaves prior worked in domestic capacity or worked in shops �Slave status was inherited - little possibility of manumission �Slavery was wholly identified with Africa and with “blackness” �Slave – from the word “slav” – sugar plantations in Mediterranean - Ottoman conquest of Constantinople cut off supply

Plantation Slavery

Why Africans? ? �Slavs weren’t available �Indians died of European diseases �Europeans were a bad alternative: Christians from marginal lands couldn’t be enslaved; indentured servants were expensive �Africans were farmers, had some immunity to diseases, were not Christian, and were readily available �Long debate on how much racism was involved - Muslims had some racism in regard to sub-Saharan Africans - English had developed anti-Irish racism, may have transferred it to Africans

The Slave Trade in Practice �Europeans traded freely with African elites for slaves - from capture to sale on the coast, trade was in African hands �Destabilization of African societies - smaller societies were completely disrupted by slave raids from their neighbors �Who was enslaved? - people from West Africa: criminals, POW’s, debtors �Africans generally did not sell their own peoples - there was no sense of being “African” � 80 percent of slaves ended up in Brazil and the Caribbean - about 15% died on the middle passage

Slave Ship

The Impact in Africa �Slowed Africa’s growth while population expanded in Europe/China - Sub-Saharan Africa: 1600 -18% 1900 -6% of worlds pop - stagnation and political disruption in Africa �Very few breakthroughs in agriculture or industry - very little demand for African products only its’ people

Political Effects �some kingdoms (Kongo, Oyo) gradually disintegrated �some took advantage of the slave trade �Benin – one of the largest states (west Africa) - monarchy - avoided the slave trade - diversified exports �Aja-speaking peoples to the west of Benin - slave trade disrupted several small, weak states - involved in slave trade, controlled by the monarchy - annual slave raids by the army - government depended on slave trade for revenue

Kingdom of Benin

Reflections - Globalization �What is globalization? �Who is Fukuyama? �Globalization Back Then - communication between India and England in 1700’s took 18 months. IPA - empire building and slavery - western civilizations were not the center �Compare Globalization Now

Globalization