The second part of this chapter mainly deals with the Atlantic slave trade. Between 1500 and 1866, the trade in human beings took an estimated 12.5 people from African societies, shipped them across the Atlantic in the infamous Middle Passage, and deposited some 10.7 million of them into the Americas, where they lived out their often-brief lives as slaves, with the other 1.8 million dying on the trip. Beyond the individual tragedies that it spawned, the Atlantic slave trade transformed all of its participants. Within Africa itself, the slave trade thoroughly disrupted several societies, strengthened others, and corrupted many, as elites often enriched themselves while the slaves were victimized almost beyond imagination.
In the Americas, meanwhile, the slave trade added a substantial African presence to the mix of European and Native American peoples, which also introduced into these new societies issues of race which still endure to this day, as well as adding elements of African culture into the making of American cultures. Certainly the profits from the slave trade and force labor of African slaves enriched European and Euro-American societies, even as the practice contributed much to the racial stereotypes of European peoples.
However, this was only the most recent large-scale expression of what was a very widespread human practice, as slavery had been present in the world as far back as the early hunting-gathering societies, but was especially prevalent in civilizations where it was generally accepted as an enterprise and closely linked to war. That being said, the slavery that emerged in the Americas was distinctive in several ways. The most obvious distinct quality was simply the scale of slave trafficking and the central role it played to the economy of the Americas. In addition, this New World slavery was based on plantation agriculture, treating slaves as a form of dehumanized property lacking any rights in the society of their owners, with slave status being inherited across generations. Most significantly, Atlantic slavery came to be associated wholly with Africa and with "blackness."
The origins of Atlantic slavery largely came about due to the Europeans' introduction to sugar in the Mediterranean, where they first set up plantations. Initially, they used Slavic-speaking peoples from the Black Sea to work on these plantations, which is where the term "slave" comes from. However, when the Ottoman Turks seized Constantinople, this source of labor was cut off, at the same time that Portuguese mariners came across an alternative source of slaves in West Africa, which established links to this supply source. Therefore, when the native peoples of the Americas were decimated by disease, Africans became the primary source of slave labor in the plantations largely through a process of elimination.
Within Africa itself, African rulers generally controlled the trade through negotiations and agreements with Europeans not unlike other forms of international trade at the time. For the slaves themselves, it was anything but a commercial interaction, and some decided to commit suicide by jumping off the ships and drowning in the ocean rather than make the painful journey to the New World. The vast majority of them ended up in Brazil and the Caribbean, where the labor demands were most intense.
Tuesday, January 28, 2020
Thursday, January 23, 2020
Chapter 14, Part 1
This chapter is split into two sections. The first section mainly talks about the role that Europeans played in Asian commerce.
As most schoolchildren are taught, Columbus landed in the Americas by accident - he was actually trying to find a "shortcut" to East Asia by sailing there from the west. The end result was the development of colonial societies and new commercial connections to the west. In Asia, however, it was a very different story. Vasco da Gama's voyage to India, the first ever by Europeans, was the result of a deliberate Portuguese effort to find a sea route to East Asia, going around the western part of Africa, past the tip of South Africa, up the eastern coast, and finally to the Indian Ocean, where the most prestigious trade markets were at the time. The Europeans had many motivations for this massive effort to gain access to this trading network, chief among them tropical spices which were widely used as condiments and preservatives. However, they saw major problems with the pattern of trade with Asia they had used previously. First, the source of supply for the desired goods was solidly in Muslim hands, particularly Egypt, which was the primary point of transfer into the Mediterranean. In addition, the Italian city of Venice held a monopoly on the European trade in Eastern goods. Other European powers increasingly disliked having to rely on Venice and Muslims, providing another impetus for Portugal to attempt a sea route to India that bypassed both intermediaries. Another problem Europeans had was that few of their products were attractive enough for Eastern buyers, so they were required to pay gold or silver for the Asian goods, a persistent trade deficit that further spurred the desire for precious metals.
In succeeding in finding a sea route to India, the Portuguese paved the way for other European countries, such as the Spanish, British, Dutch, and French, to make their way into the Indian Ocean commercial network. In doing so, they established three main patterns of behavior and control in that region. The Portuguese came to build an empire of sorts based on the establishment of trading ports, as they had relatively little interest in controlling huge amounts of land in these regions, but rather in controlling the commerce there. However, they were only able to control around half of the spice trade to Europeans. Their neighbors, the Spanish, meanwhile, established themselves on what they named the Philippine Islands, after their king, Philip II. Unlike the Portuguese, they were encouraged to establish outright colonial rule on the islands, for a variety of reasons, including their proximity to China. Meanwhile, the British, Dutch, and later the French, established their presence in East Asia mainly through the establishment of privately chartered companies that enabled them to establish trading post empires of their own, with little direct involvement from their respective governments. That being said, the involvement of Europeans overall was much more limited than it was in Africa and the Americas during this time period.
As most schoolchildren are taught, Columbus landed in the Americas by accident - he was actually trying to find a "shortcut" to East Asia by sailing there from the west. The end result was the development of colonial societies and new commercial connections to the west. In Asia, however, it was a very different story. Vasco da Gama's voyage to India, the first ever by Europeans, was the result of a deliberate Portuguese effort to find a sea route to East Asia, going around the western part of Africa, past the tip of South Africa, up the eastern coast, and finally to the Indian Ocean, where the most prestigious trade markets were at the time. The Europeans had many motivations for this massive effort to gain access to this trading network, chief among them tropical spices which were widely used as condiments and preservatives. However, they saw major problems with the pattern of trade with Asia they had used previously. First, the source of supply for the desired goods was solidly in Muslim hands, particularly Egypt, which was the primary point of transfer into the Mediterranean. In addition, the Italian city of Venice held a monopoly on the European trade in Eastern goods. Other European powers increasingly disliked having to rely on Venice and Muslims, providing another impetus for Portugal to attempt a sea route to India that bypassed both intermediaries. Another problem Europeans had was that few of their products were attractive enough for Eastern buyers, so they were required to pay gold or silver for the Asian goods, a persistent trade deficit that further spurred the desire for precious metals.
In succeeding in finding a sea route to India, the Portuguese paved the way for other European countries, such as the Spanish, British, Dutch, and French, to make their way into the Indian Ocean commercial network. In doing so, they established three main patterns of behavior and control in that region. The Portuguese came to build an empire of sorts based on the establishment of trading ports, as they had relatively little interest in controlling huge amounts of land in these regions, but rather in controlling the commerce there. However, they were only able to control around half of the spice trade to Europeans. Their neighbors, the Spanish, meanwhile, established themselves on what they named the Philippine Islands, after their king, Philip II. Unlike the Portuguese, they were encouraged to establish outright colonial rule on the islands, for a variety of reasons, including their proximity to China. Meanwhile, the British, Dutch, and later the French, established their presence in East Asia mainly through the establishment of privately chartered companies that enabled them to establish trading post empires of their own, with little direct involvement from their respective governments. That being said, the involvement of Europeans overall was much more limited than it was in Africa and the Americas during this time period.
Tuesday, January 21, 2020
Chapter 13: Political Transformations: Empires and Encounters, 1450-1750
Why was it so easy for Europeans to conquer the Americas? As is often the case, there is no single answer for why this was the case. For starters, the Europeans had a relative geographical advantage in that countries such as Portugal, Spain, Britain, and France were and are simply closer to the Americas than any potential Asian competitors were. In addition, European innovations in mapmaking, navigation, sailing techniques, and ship designs enabled Europeans to penetrate into the Atlantic . Another factor behind the European domination was that the rich markets along the Indian Ocean provided little incentive for Chinese, Indians, or Muslims to explore beyond their own waters. On the other hand, Europeans had strong incentives for doing so, as they held a rather marginal position within the Eurasian trade world and hoped to gain more access to that system. The discovery of the Americas eventually provided the means to do so, thanks to the windfall of natural resources there that proceeded to drive even further expansion that would ultimately underpin the long-term growth of the European economy. In addition to this, the rulers of European countries were also driven by the enduring rivalries among competing states. As far as their military victories, they were often helped by divisions within the local societies of the areas they conquered. Perhaps most significantly of all, however, was the germs and diseases which the Europeans, likely unknowingly, carried with them. While they were safe from these diseases due to having built up immunity over the years from exposure to animals, the Native Americans had no such biological resistance, and the diseases soon decimated up to 90% of the native population, which led to the collapse of Native American societies, in what is referred to as the Great Dying. Regardless of the reasons for their domination of the Americas, the European acquisition of empires had a profound global significance. In sharply diminishing the population of the Americas, the Great Dying created a massive labor shortage, which helped make room for new immigrants, including both European colonists and African slaves. The end result was that various combinations of indigenous, European, and African peoples created entirely new societies in the Americas.
However, the Europeans weren't the only people to carve out empires in the early modern era. Russia, for example, established the world's largest territorial empire by conquering adjacent territories, including Siberia, which, while a vast barren wasteland, provided a link to Asian trading networks through its animal pelts, which were in great demand on the world market. Meanwhile, the Chinese expanded their own empire by pushing deep into Central Eurasia. Turko-Mongol invaders from Central Asia established the Mughal Empire, bringing most of Hindu South Asia, including India, under a single Muslim-ruled political system. In addition, the Ottoman Empire brought Muslim rule to a largely Christian population in southeastern Europe and Turkish rule to largely Arab populations in North Africa and the Middle East. While none of these empires had the global reach or impact of Europe's American colonies, they still gave rise to profoundly important cross-cultural encounters, with legacies that echoed for many centuries.
Why was it so easy for Europeans to conquer the Americas? As is often the case, there is no single answer for why this was the case. For starters, the Europeans had a relative geographical advantage in that countries such as Portugal, Spain, Britain, and France were and are simply closer to the Americas than any potential Asian competitors were. In addition, European innovations in mapmaking, navigation, sailing techniques, and ship designs enabled Europeans to penetrate into the Atlantic . Another factor behind the European domination was that the rich markets along the Indian Ocean provided little incentive for Chinese, Indians, or Muslims to explore beyond their own waters. On the other hand, Europeans had strong incentives for doing so, as they held a rather marginal position within the Eurasian trade world and hoped to gain more access to that system. The discovery of the Americas eventually provided the means to do so, thanks to the windfall of natural resources there that proceeded to drive even further expansion that would ultimately underpin the long-term growth of the European economy. In addition to this, the rulers of European countries were also driven by the enduring rivalries among competing states. As far as their military victories, they were often helped by divisions within the local societies of the areas they conquered. Perhaps most significantly of all, however, was the germs and diseases which the Europeans, likely unknowingly, carried with them. While they were safe from these diseases due to having built up immunity over the years from exposure to animals, the Native Americans had no such biological resistance, and the diseases soon decimated up to 90% of the native population, which led to the collapse of Native American societies, in what is referred to as the Great Dying. Regardless of the reasons for their domination of the Americas, the European acquisition of empires had a profound global significance. In sharply diminishing the population of the Americas, the Great Dying created a massive labor shortage, which helped make room for new immigrants, including both European colonists and African slaves. The end result was that various combinations of indigenous, European, and African peoples created entirely new societies in the Americas.
However, the Europeans weren't the only people to carve out empires in the early modern era. Russia, for example, established the world's largest territorial empire by conquering adjacent territories, including Siberia, which, while a vast barren wasteland, provided a link to Asian trading networks through its animal pelts, which were in great demand on the world market. Meanwhile, the Chinese expanded their own empire by pushing deep into Central Eurasia. Turko-Mongol invaders from Central Asia established the Mughal Empire, bringing most of Hindu South Asia, including India, under a single Muslim-ruled political system. In addition, the Ottoman Empire brought Muslim rule to a largely Christian population in southeastern Europe and Turkish rule to largely Arab populations in North Africa and the Middle East. While none of these empires had the global reach or impact of Europe's American colonies, they still gave rise to profoundly important cross-cultural encounters, with legacies that echoed for many centuries.
Thursday, January 16, 2020
Intro to Part 4: 1450-1750
In his introduction to this part of the book, Strayer notes how historians often describe this time period as representing the beginning of the Modern Era, seeing as it was during this period that Europeans began what would be a long period of domination over world affairs, which led to genuine globalization for the first time. Certainly, the most obvious expression of this was the oceanic journeys of European explorers and the resulting conquest and colonial settlement of the Americas by Europeans. In addition, the Atlantic slave trade also created a permanent link between Africa and the Western Hemisphere. It should be noted, however, that while Europeans were the beneficiaries of this slave trade, African rulers also had a large amount of control over how the trade occurred. Meanwhile, a global silver trade allowed Europeans to use metals found in the "New World," the Americas, to buy their way into old Asian trade routes. The massive transfer of plants, animals, diseases, and people, known as the Columbian exchange, enabled the creation of completely new networks of interaction across both the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. This increase in globalization also allowed missionaries to spread Christianity far beyond Europe, which allowed for it to truly become a major world religion.
During this time period, small-scale signs of what would become known as modernity began to appear. The most obvious of these took place in Europe, where the Scientific Revolution transformed people's view of the world, their approach to knowledge, and their understanding of Christianity. In terms of demographics, China, Japan, India, and Europe experienced the beginnings of the modern population growth. In various parts of Eurasia and the Americas, more highly commercialized economies centered around large cities began to develop. Another developing global pattern during this time period was the emergence of strong and more cohesive states incorporating various local societies into larger units while actively promoting trade, manufacturing, and a common culture within their borders.
However, the whole story is much more than that, as European world domination and more fully modern societies were far from a sure thing at the time. For example, even though Europe fully controlled the Americas and the world's sea routes, their influence was much more limited in Asia and Africa at this time. Also, Christianity wasn't the most rapidly spreading faith during this time, but rather Islam, especially in Asia and Africa. In terms of manufacturing output, Europe was about equal with China and India in 1750, so it was not obvious that Europeans would come to dominate the planet, nor that the population growth would be a lasting thing.
There also wasn't much evidence that anything like modern industrial society was on the horizon. Electricity and machines were still far from being introduced, and wealthy elites still provided leadership, while rural peasants were the primary lower social group. In addition, countries were still governed by kings and nobles, and females were subordinate almost everywhere. In short, modern society hardly seemed fast approaching, and most people still lived in long-established traditional ways.
Overall, this era was as much a late agrarian era as it was an early modern era. It can best be described as a time of transition, much as most time periods can be seen as.
During this time period, small-scale signs of what would become known as modernity began to appear. The most obvious of these took place in Europe, where the Scientific Revolution transformed people's view of the world, their approach to knowledge, and their understanding of Christianity. In terms of demographics, China, Japan, India, and Europe experienced the beginnings of the modern population growth. In various parts of Eurasia and the Americas, more highly commercialized economies centered around large cities began to develop. Another developing global pattern during this time period was the emergence of strong and more cohesive states incorporating various local societies into larger units while actively promoting trade, manufacturing, and a common culture within their borders.
However, the whole story is much more than that, as European world domination and more fully modern societies were far from a sure thing at the time. For example, even though Europe fully controlled the Americas and the world's sea routes, their influence was much more limited in Asia and Africa at this time. Also, Christianity wasn't the most rapidly spreading faith during this time, but rather Islam, especially in Asia and Africa. In terms of manufacturing output, Europe was about equal with China and India in 1750, so it was not obvious that Europeans would come to dominate the planet, nor that the population growth would be a lasting thing.
There also wasn't much evidence that anything like modern industrial society was on the horizon. Electricity and machines were still far from being introduced, and wealthy elites still provided leadership, while rural peasants were the primary lower social group. In addition, countries were still governed by kings and nobles, and females were subordinate almost everywhere. In short, modern society hardly seemed fast approaching, and most people still lived in long-established traditional ways.
Overall, this era was as much a late agrarian era as it was an early modern era. It can best be described as a time of transition, much as most time periods can be seen as.
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