European Expansion: 1450-1750

Causes of European Expansion

• European expansion during 1450-1750 was driven by technological, political, and economic factors.
• European states were motivated to find sea-based routes to Asia to bypass land-based empires that controlled and increased the price of spices.

Technological Advancements

• Europeans adopted maritime technologies from various cultures including the magnetic compass from China.
• The astrolabe from ancient Greece and the Arab world aided sailors in determining latitude.
• The lateen sail, adopted from Arab merchants, allowed ships to sail against the wind.
• Portuguese caravel was smaller and faster than many merchant ships, enabling navigation in shallow waters and rivers.

Political Factors

• European monarchs centralized power, diminishing the influence of the nobility and the church.
• Monarchs started to play a greater role in economic decisions and interregional trade.

Economic Factors: Mercantilism

• Mercantilism drove states to expand empires, obtain colonies, and control more resources.
• Mercantilism viewed wealth as finite (measured in gold and silver), motivating states to export more than they import.
• Colonies were established to provide closed markets for the imperial country's exports.

Economic Factors: Joint Stock Companies

• Joint stock companies facilitated state and merchant cooperation in expanding influence.
• Joint stock companies are limited liability businesses funded by private investors.
• The Dutch East India Company (VOC) was chartered in 1602 with a monopoly on Indian Ocean trade.
• Joint stock companies led to rivalries among European states for dominance in the Indian Ocean sphere.

Key Players in Maritime Expansion: Portugal

• Portugal was the first European state to rise due to Prince Henry the Navigator, who advanced sailing and shipbuilding.
• Focused initially on the gold trade in West Africa, Portugal aimed to enter the Indian Ocean trade by the 1440s.
• Established a trading post empire by creating "factories" (trading posts) to control trade routes.

Key Players in Maritime Expansion: Spain

• As Portugal controlled the Indian Ocean the Spanish Crown sponsored Columbus's voyage to find a western route to Asia.
• Columbus's voyages led to the discovery of vast continents and the opening of transatlantic trade.
• Spain established a colonial presence in the Philippines instead of trading posts, using methods of tribute and coerced labor.

Key Players in Maritime Expansion: France, England, and the Dutch

• France explored westward for a North Atlantic sea route to Asia but established a presence in Canada instead to enable the fur trade.
• England established its first colony, Jamestown, in Virginia in 1607, and was interested in the Indian Ocean trade.
• The Dutch gained independence from Spain and dominated strategic locations in the Indian Ocean through the Dutch East India Company.

The Columbian Exchange

• The Columbian Exchange refers to the transfer of diseases, food, plants, and animals between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.
• European diseases like smallpox, measles, and malaria devastated indigenous populations in the Americas due to their isolation and lack of immunity.
• The transfer of staple foods and crops between the Old and New Worlds improved diets and contributed to population growth.

Columbian Exchange: Impact of Animals and Cash Crops

• Introduction of cash crops led to the establishment of sprawling plantations that focused on growing crops primarily for export
• Europeans introduced animals like pigs, sheep, cattle, and especially horses to the Americas, transforming indigenous life.
• Horses enabled Plains peoples to hunt buffalo more effectively.

Resistance to European Expansion

• Asian states like Tokugawa Japan resisted Western powers, as they isolated itself from European commerce due to fear of Christianity's spread.
• The French nobility led peasant rebellions against increased taxation, but this resistance was ultimately crushed.

Resistance to European Expansion: Maroon Societies

• Enslaved Africans formed maroon societies in the Caribbean and Brazil to resist colonial power.
• Queen Nanny led Jamaican maroons in successful rebellions, leading to a treaty recognizing their freedom.

Growth of African States

• Asante Empire in West Africa grew wealthy by providing goods like gold, ivory, and enslaved people to European traders.
• The Asante expanded their military and consolidated political power over the region as a result.
• The Kingdom of the Congo made diplomatic ties with the Portuguese to participate in trade, with the king converting to Christianity.

Change and Continuity in Networks of Exchange

• Indian Ocean Network: Despite European entrance, Middle Eastern, South Asian, East Asian, and Southeast Asian merchants still used the network and profited.
• Overland routes like the Silk Roads remained under the control of Asian land-based powers.
• Increased trade connections led to intensified peasant and artisan labor in many regions.

Change and Continuity in the Atlantic System

• Unlike the Indian Ocean trade, the Atlantic system was completely new, mainly driven by the opening of the Americas.
• The movement of goods, wealth, and laborers made European states exceedingly wealthy and powerful.
• The mass plantations specialized in crops such as sugarcane.
• Coiced labor via means of forced indigenous labor indentured servitude or African slavery was the main workforce in the Americas.

Labor Systems in the Americas

• Europeans initially continued existing labor systems like the Mita system (Inca Empire), but introduced new forms of labor.
• Chattel slavery: Enslaved people were considered property with no rights, where the status was race-based and hereditary.
• Demand for male slaves led to gender imbalances and societal changes in African states.

Indentured Servitude

• Indentured laborers signed contracts for a fixed period, common in British North America to finance passage to the New World.

Encomienda and Hacienda Systems

• The Encomienda system divided indigenous people among Spanish settlers, who extracted forced labor in exchange for food and protection.
• Hacienda were large plantations where indigenous laborers were forced to work on land controlled by Spaniards.

Change of Belief Systems: Christianity in the Americas

• European states aimed to spread Christianity to the New World through Catholic missionaries like the Jesuits.
• Over time missionaries sought to convert the American population by many means
• Religious syncretism occurred as indigenous and African beliefs mixed with Christian doctrines, leading to new forms of worship.

Changing Social Hierarchies

• States responded differently to ethnic and religious diversity, with Spain and Portugal expelling Jews.
• The Ottoman Empire welcomed displaced Jews, who rose to prominence in the court and contributed to the economy.
• In the Americas, the Spanish imposed the casta system to organize colonial society based on race and ancestry.
• Elites struggled to maintain power as monarchs gained more influence, such as in Russia with Peter the Great abolishing the rank of boar.