Europe and the New World: New Encounters

Europe and the World: New Encounters, 1500-1800 On the Brink of a New World ? By the 16th century, the Atlantic seaboard had become the center of a commercial activity that raised Portugal and Spain and later the Dutch Republic, England, and France to prominence ? the age of expansion was a crucial factor in the European transition from the agrarian economy of the MA to a commercial and industrial capitalistic system. The Motives ? Contact w/non-Europeans remained limited until the end of the 15th century Fantastic Lands ?

Europeans had always been curious about lands outside of Europe Economic Motives Although Muslim control of Central Asia cut Europe off from the countries farther east, the Mongol conquests in the 13thc reopened the doors ? Marco Polo went to the court of Kublai Kahn in 1271 ? His account of his experiences, the Travels was the most informative of all descriptions of Asia by ME travelers ? In the 14th, the conquests of the Ottoman Turks and then the breakup of the Mongol Empire reduced Western traffic to the East ? A number of people became interested in reaching Asia by sea ? Merchants, adventurers, and government officials had high hopes of finding precious metals and new areas of trade Religious zeal A crusading mentality was strong in Portugal and Spain The Mean ?

The expansion of Europe was connected to the growth of centralized monarchies during the Ren. ? Ren. Expansion was a state enterprise ? By the 2nd ? of the 15th century, European monarchies had increased both their authority and their resources and were in a position to look beyond their borders Maps ? Europeans had achieved a level of wealth and technology that enabled them to make a regular series of voyages beyond Europe. ? Potlolani - charts made by medieval navigators and mathematicians in the 13th and 14th which were more useful than their predecessors.

Order custom essay Europe and the New World: New Encounters with free plagiarism report

450+ experts on 30 subjects Starting from 3 hours delivery

Get Essay Help

They took no account for the curvature of the earth so were of little use for oversea voyages ? By the end of the 15thcentury, cartography had developed to the point that Europeans had accurate maps of the rest of the known world ? One of the most important world maps available was that of Ptolemy, who wrote Geography. It was available from 1477 on. It drastically underestimated the circumference of the earth, leading explorers such as Columbus to believe that he could sail to Asia Ships and sailing ? Europeans developed seaworthy ships as well as new navigational techniques ?

They mastered the axial rudder and learned to combine lateen sails with a square rig. They could then construct ships mobile enough to sail against the wind and engage in naval warfare and heavy enough to carry goods over long distances ? Only w/the assistance of the compass and the astrolabe they were able to sail w/confidence ? They gained knowledge of the wind patterns of the Atlantic Ocean New Horizons: Portuguese and Spanish Empires ? Portugal took the lead in the European AOE when it began to explore the coastof Africa under the sponsorship of Henry the Navigator. ? His motivations were a blend of seeking a Ch.

Kingdom as an ally for against the Muslims, acquiring trade opportunities, and extending chr. The Development of a Portuguese Maritime Empire ? In 1419, p. Henry founded a school for navigation. Shortly after, P. fleets probed southward along the west coast of Africa looking for gold ? In 1441, p. ships reached the Senegal River and brought back slaves ? they gradually went down the coast and in 1471 they discovered a new source of gold along the southern coast of the hump of West Africa—the Gold Coast ? They leased land from local rulers and built stone forts along the coast

The Portuguese in India In 1488, Bartholomeu Dias was the 1st to round the Cape of Good Hope ? 10 years later, Vasco da Gama rounded the cape then stopped at several ports controlled by Muslim merchants. They then crossed the Arabian Sea and reached the port of Calicut in India ? p. fleets returned regularly, seeking to destroy Arabic shipping and establish a monopoly in the spice trade ? in 1509, a p. armada defeated a combined fleet of Turkish and Indian ships and began to impose a blockade on the entrance to the Red Sea to cut off the flow of spices to Egypt and the Ottoman Empire ?

Goa became the headquarters for p. operations throughout the entire region ? The p. conducted raids against Arab shippers In Search of Spices ? In 1511, Albuquerque sailed into the harbor of Malacca on the Malay peninsula ? He thought it would help destroy the Arab spice trade and provide the pw/a way station on the route to the Moluccas, aka the Spice Islands ? Their attempted takeover of the area resulted in a struggle b/w the p and ms ? From Malacca, the p launched expeditions further east, to China and the SI ? there they signed a treaty w/local rulers for trade Within a few years, the p seized control of the spice trade from ms and got profits for the p monarchy ?

The p empire remained limited b/c they lacked the power, population, and desire to colonize Asian regions ? Their success was mainly due to guns and seamanship Voyages to the New World ? the sp attempted to reach the same destination by sailing across the Atlantic. Their resources enabled them to establish a bigger empire than the p The Voyages of Columbus ? He felt that Asia could be reached by sailing west instead of east New Voyages John Cabot explored the New England coastline under a license from Henry VIII. Pedro Cabral found South America on accident in 1500. Amerigo Vespucci wrote letters describing the NW ? The 1st 2 decades of the 16thc witnessed oversea voyages that explored the eastern coasts of NA and SA ?

Vasco Nunez be Balboa led an expedition across the Isthmus of Panama and reached the PO in 1513 ? Ferdinand Magellan went around the world in 1519 ? The sp were interested in the NW b/c the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas had divided the NW into separate p and sp spheres of influence and most of SA fell into the sp sphere. The route east around the COGH was p while the route across the Atlantic belonged to s The Spanish Empire in the New World ? Conquistadors - individuals motivated by a blend of glory, greed, and religious crusading zeal. Although authorized by the Castilian crown the groups were financed and outfitted privately. Their superior weapons, organizational skills, and determination brought them incredible success. They also benefited from conflicts b/w the native people and diseases. Spanish Conquest of the Aztec Empire ? In 1519, a S expedition under the command of Hernan Cortes landed at Veracruz on the Gulf of Mexico.

He marched to the city of Tenochtitlan, making alliances w/city states that had tired of Aztec rule. ? Especially important was Tlaxcala, a state that the Aztecs had been unable to conquer. ? When Cortes arrived at T he received a friendly welcome from Moctezuma who believed that he represented the god Quetzalcoatl ? They took M hostage and pillaged the city ? in the fall of 1520 the local population revolted against C and drove the invaders from their city ? Shortly afterward the Aztecs suffered from many E diseases from which they had no immunity. The S then destroyed pyramids, temples, and palaces. B/w 1531 and1550, the S gained control of northern Mexico Spanish Conquest of the Inca Empire ? In 1530, Francisco Pizarro landed on the PC of SA w/steel, gunpowder, and horses ?

Soon, smallpox was devastating villages, killing the Incan emperor and leaving a disagreement over who would take his place, leading to civil war ? P and his soldiers marched on Cuzco and captured the Incan capital. By1535, P established a capital at Lima for a new colony Administration of the Spanish Empire Whereas the conquistadors made decisions based on expediency and their own interests, Queen Isabella declared the natives subjects of Castile and instituted the S encomienda, a system that permitted the conquering s to collect tribute from the natives and use them as laborers. In return, they were supposed to protect the I, pay them wages, and supervise their spiritual needs. ? S settlers brutally used the I to pursue their own economic interests. They worked on plantations and in mines ? the I suffered from many European diseases ? Dominican friars protested against the harsh I treatment ?

In 1510 Anton Montecino spoke against it. In 1542, largely in response to the publications of Bartolome de las Casas, the government abolished the encomienda system and provided more protection for the I ? In the NW, the S developed an administrative system based on viceroys. ? S possessions were divided into 2 major units: New Spain (Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean) w/a center in Mexico city, and Peru(western South America) governed by a viceroy in Lima ? Each viceroy served as the king’s chief civil and military officer and was aided by advisory groups called audiencias, which also functioned as judicial bodies.

By papal agreement, the Catholic monarchs of S were given extensive rights over ecclesiastical affairs in the NW. They could appoint bishops and clergy, build churches, collect fees, and supervise religious orders ? Missionaries fanned out across the SE where they converted hundreds of thousands ? The mass conversions brought the institutions of the CC to the NW New Rivals on the World Stage ? In the 17th century, northern E countries—1st the Dutch and then the French and British—moved to replace the P and S and create their own colonial empires ?

The new rivalry soon had an impact on the rest of the world. Africa: The Slave Trade ? The P built forts the east and west coasts of Africa and tried to dominate the trade in gold. However, during the mid 17thc the D seized and number of P forts along the WA coast and took control over much of the P trade across the Indian Ocean ? The Dutch East India Company, a trading company established under government sponsorship, also set up in Africa at the COGH which soon became a permanent colony ?

European explorations of the A coastline did not affect most people on the interior Growth of the Slave Trade Over the next 2c, the slave trade grew drastically and became part of the triangular trade connecting E, A, and Am ? The journey of slaves from A to Am became known as the Middle Passage ? At 1st, local slave traders obtained their supply from regions nearby, but as demand increased, they had to move further inland ? In a few cases, local rulers became concerned about the impact of the slave trade on their societies ? Protests from A were generally ignored by everyone ? As a rule, local rulers viewed the slave trade as a source of income and some sent raiders to unsuspecting villages

Effects of the Slave Trade ? The importation of cheap manufactured goods from E undermined local cottage industry and forced families into poverty ? Led to depletion in some areas and deprived many African communities of their youngest and strongest ? the need to maintain a constant supply of slaves led to increased warfare and violence as A chiefs increased their raids on neighboring people The West in Southeast Asia ? P efforts to dominate trade in SEA were never totally successful. P lacked the numbers and wealth to overcome local resistance and colonize local regions.

P empire was too large and P too small to maintain it ? S established itself in SEA when Mag landed in the PHL, enabling the S to gain control there and it became a base of trade for luxury goods ? The biggest threat to P came w/the arrival of the D and E, who were better financed ? the shift in power began in the early 17thc when the D seized a P fort in the Moluccas and then gradually pushed the P out of the spice trade, then the E later ? The D also began to consolidate their political and military control over the area.

By the end of the 18thc, the D had succeeded in bringing almost the entire Indonesian archipelago under their control ? The arrival of the E had less impact on mainland SEA, where strong monarchies in Burma, Thailand, and Vietnam resisted foreign encroachment. ? To obtain economic advantages, the E became involved in factional disputes, though in general the states united and drove the E out ? In Vietnam, the arrival of Western merchants coincided w/a period of internal conflict among ruling groups in the country. Expansion had brought a civil war that temporarily divided the country into 2 separate states.

The E powers began to take sides in local politics, w/the P and D supporting rival factions. ? the mainland states in Burma, Thailand, and Vietnam had begun to define themselves as distinct political entities. The Malay states had less cohesion and were victims of their own resources. The French and British in India The Mughal Empire ? Babur’s grandson brought Mughal rule to most of India, creating the greatestIndian empire since the Mauryan dynasty The Impact of the Western Powers ? At 1st , P dominated regional trade in the Indian Ocean, but at the end of the16thc, the B and D arrived on the scene.

Soon both powers were competing w/Pand w/each other ? During the 1st ? of the 17th century, the B presence in India steadily increased. By1650, B trading posts had been established at Surat, Fort William, near the Bay of Bengal, and Madras on the southern coast. ? B success attracted rivals, including the D and F, but the B were saved by Sir. Robert Clive, who eventually became the chief representative of the East India Company in India. They were also aided by the refusal of the F government to provide finances to their people in India ?

After defeating a Mughal army in 1757 at the Battle of Plassey, the BEIC received the authority to collect taxes from lands surrounding Calcutta. During the seven years’ war, the B forced the F to withdraw completely from India ? This marks a major step in the gradual transfer of the entire Indian subcontinent to the BEIC and later to the B as a colony China Western Inroads ? Although China was at the height of its power and glory in the mid 18thc, the 1st signs of internal decay in the Manchu dynasty were beginning to appear.

Qing military campaigns along the frontier cost money and placed heavy demands on the treasury. At the same time, growing pressure on the land b/c of population growth led to economic hardship and rebellion. ? the decline in the QD occurred just as E was increasing pressure for more trade. The 1st conflict came from the north, where Russian traders sought skins and furs ? To limit contacts b/w E and C, the Q government confined all E traders to a small island outside the city walls of Canton and allowed them to stay only part of the year ?

In 1793, a B mission led by Lord Macartney visited Beijing to press for liberalization from trade restrictions, but emperor Qianlong expressed no interest in B products Japan Opening to the West ? P traders had landed on the islands of J in 1543, and began stopping there on a regular basis to take part in trade b/w J, C, and SEAII. They were initially welcomed, the success of Cath missionaries however, created a strong reaction against the presence of Westerners ? When the missionaries interfered w/local politics, Tokugawa Ieyasu expelled all missionaries and J Chris were now prosecuted.

The E merchants were next to go, the government closed 2 major trading post sand only a small D community was allowed to remain The Americas ? In the 16thc, S and P had established large colonial empires in the As. P continued to profit from Brazil and S had a SA empire, but S importance as a commercial power declined rapidly in the 17thc b/c of a drop in the output of the silver mines and poverty of the S monarchy ? By the beginning of the 17thc, P and S found themselves w/new challenges to their A empires from the D, B, and F West Indies The B held Barbados, Jamaica, and Bermuda, and the F had Saint Domingue, Martinique, and Guadeloupe. Both developed plantation economies worked by slaves which made cotton, tobacco, coffee, and sugar British North America ? The D were among the 1st to establish settlements on the NA continent after Henry Hudson discovered in 1609 the Hudson river. A. W/I a few years the D had established the mainland colony of New Netherland B. In the 2nd ? of the 17th century, competition from the E and F and years of warfare w/those rivals led to the decline of the D commercial empire. C.

In 1664, the E seized the colony of NN and renamed it NY, shortly afterward the DWIC went bankrupt ? The E had begun to establish their own colonies in NA. The desire to practice religion, combined w/economic interests, led to colonization ? Both the NA and WI colonies of B were assigned roles in keeping w/mercantilist theory. They provided raw materials for their mother country while buying good from the latter. Navigation acts regulated what could be taken from and sold to colonies French North America ? In 1534 Jacques Cartier discovered the Saint Lawrence River and laid claim to Canada as a F possession ?

It wasn’t until Samuel de Champlain established a settlement at Quebecin 1608 that F began to take interest in Canada as a colony ? In 1663 Canada was made the property of the F crown and administered by a F governor like a F province ? It was run like a vast trading area. The F state could not its people to emigrate there so the population stayed small. They also allowed their Continental wars to take precedence over the conquest of the NA continent. ? In 1713 in the Treaty of Utrecht, the F began to cede some of their A possessions to the E ?

The decline of S and P led those 2 states to depend even more on their colonies, and they imposed strict mercantilist rules to keep others out. ? S tried to limit trade w/its colonies to S ships Toward A World Economy ? During the High Middle Ages, E had engaged in a commercial revolution that created new opportunities for townspeople in a basically agrarian economy ? The beginning of E discovery of the world outside in the 15thc led to an even greater burst of commercial activity and the inception of a world market Economic Conditions in the 16th Century Inflation was a major problem in the 16th and early 17th century ? This price revolution was a E wide phenomenon, although different areas were affected at different times ? Food was most subject to price increases, especially evident in the price of wheat ? Wages failed to keep up with price increases. Wage earners, especially agricultural laborers and salaried workers in urban areas saw their standard of living drop ? Commercial and industrial entrepreneurs also benefited from the price revolution because of rising prices, expanding markets, and cheap labor costs ?

Governments borrows heavily from bankers and imposed new tax burdens on their subjects, often stirring additional discontent The Growth of Commercial Capitalism ? The E trade of the 16thc revolved around the Med in the south, the Low Countries and the Baltic region in the north, and central E, whose inland trade depended on the Rhine and Danube rivers ? As overseas trade expanded, the Atlantic seaboard began to play a more important role, linking the Med, Baltic, and CE trading areas together and making E a more integrated market that was more vulnerable to price shifts ?

W/cheaper and faster ships, the D came to monopolize both E and world trade, although they were challenged by the E and F in the 16thc ? The commercial expansion of the 16th and 17th century was made easier by new forms of commercial organization, especially the joint-stock company ? Individuals bought shares in a company and received dividends on their investment while a board of directors ran the company and made business decisions ? Made it easier to raise large amounts of capital for world trading ventures ?

Enormous profits were also being made in shipbuilding and in mining and metal lurgy, where technological innovations, such as the use of pumps and new methods of extracting metals from ores proved highly successful ? The mining industry was closely tied to family banking firms. In exchange for arranging large loans for Charles V, Jacob Fugger was given a monopoly over silver, copper, and mercury mines in the Habsburg possessions of CE ? These close relationships b/w governments and entrepreneurs could lead to success but also be precarious[pic][pic] ?

The House of Fugger went bankrupt at the end of the 16thc when the Habsburg defaulted on their loans ? By the 17thc, the traditional family banking firms were no longer able to supply the numerous services needed for the commercial capitalism of the 17thc ? the city of Amsterdam created the Bank of Amsterdam in 1609 as both a deposit and a transfer institution and the Amsterdam Bourse, where the trading of stocks replaced the exchange of goods ? Most of the E economy still depended on an agricultural system that had changed little since the 13th century ?

In eastern E, the peasants’ position even worsened as they were increasingly tied to the land in a new serfdom enforced by powerful land owners Mercantilism ? Mercantilism - the name historians use to identify a set of economic tendencies that came to dominate economic practices in the 17th century ? one of its fundamentals was a belief that the total volume of trade was unchangeable. Since one nation could expand its trade only at the expense of others, to mercantilists economic activity was war carried on by peaceful means ?

According to mercantilists, the prosperity of a nation depended on a plentiful supply of bullion (gold and silver). For this reason, it was desirable to achieve a favorable balance of trade in which goods exported were of greater value than those imported, promoting an influx of gold and silver payments that would increase the currency of bullion ? They believed that governments should stimulate and protect export industries and trade by granting trade monopolies, encouraging investment in new industries through subsidies, importing foreign artisans, and improving transportation systems.

By placing high tariffs on foreign goods, they could be kept out of the country and prevented from competing w/domestic industry ? colonies were deemed valuable sources of raw materials and markets for finished goods ? Mercantilism focused on the role of the state, believing that state intervention in some aspects of the economy were desirable for national good. Government regulations to ensure the superiority of export goods, the construction of roads and canals, and the granting of subsidies to create trade companies were all predicated to government involvement in economic affairs

Overseas Trade and Colonies: Movement toward Globalization ? W/the development of colonies and trading posts in the Am and the East, Embarked on an adventure in international commerce of the 17th century ? What made transoceanic trade rewarding was not the volume but the value of its goods ? Trade w/i E remained strong throughout the 18thc as wheat, timber, and naval stores from the Baltic, wines from F, wool and fruit from S, and silk from Italy were exchanged ? [pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic]However, this trade increased only slightly as overseas trade boomed.

From 1716 to 1789, total F exports quadrupled The Impact of European Expansion ? By the end of the 18thc, it appeared that GB would become the great E imperial power The Conquered ? The NA civilizations were virtually destroyed. Ancient social and political structures were ripped up and replaced by E institutions, religion, language, and culture ? In Africa, E involvement in the slave trade led to devastating effects, especially in coastal areas ? P trading posts in the east had little impact on native Asian civilizations, although D control of the Indonesian archipelago was more pervasive ?

In C and SA, a ew civilization arose called Latin Am ? It was a multiracial society—Africans, natives, and E. It had less rigid attitudes about race ? E brought horses and cattle to the Americas. Horses revolutionized the life of the Plains Indians. The two civilizations also exchanged plants Catholic Missionaries ? S and P rulers were determined to Chr the native people ? this policy gave the CC and important role to play in the NW, one that added to church power ? Chr missionaries also went to China, the Jesuits were the most active ? they tried to point out the similarities b/w Chr and Confucian ethics ?

Several hundred C officials became Catholics, but the Chr effort was ultimately undermined by squabbling w/i religious orders ? Soon Chinese authorities began to suppress Chr ideas throughout China ? They also went to Japan, where they converted some nobles ? the Jesuit practice of destroying idols and shrines and turning temples into Chr schools or churches caused a severe reaction ? The government ordered the execution of nine missionaries and a number of J converts. They were all eventually persecuted. The Conquerors ? Many E women found new opportunities for marriage in the NW b/c of the lack of women.

A number of women also found themselves rich after their husbands were killed unexpectedly. ? When the mines at Potosi in Peru were opened in 1545, the value of precious metals imported into E quadrupled ? The 185,000 pounds of gold that entered the port of Seville set off a price revolution that affected the S economy ? Columbian Exchange- the reciprocal importation and exportation of plant sand animals b/w E and the Am ? E expansion, which was in part a product of E rivalries, deepened those rivalries and increased tension among E states ? Bitter conflicts arose over the cargoes coming from the NW and Asia.

The Anglo-D trade wars and the B-F rivalry over India and Nam became part of a new pattern of worldwide warfare in the 18thc. Rivalry also led to state-sponsored piracy ? E came to have a new view of the world. They created better maps and new techniques, one of which was the Mercator projection, which tried to show the true shapes of landmasses, but only in a limited area ? E were initially startled by the discovery of new people. There were differing opinions, but most felt that the natives should be converted. Their relatively easy success in dominating native people enforced their feelings of superiority Top of Form

Don't let plagiarism ruin your grade

Run a free check or have your essay done for you

Check my essay Hire Writer