Economic Globalization - Then and Now Global Commerce 1450-1750 Economic Globalization - Then and Now

European Commerce Europeans wanted commercial connections with Asia - Columbus and DaGamma 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 DaGamma 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 1570s: 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 11million 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