Maritime Empires 1450-1750

Maritime Empires

• European nations established maritime empires in Asia, Africa, and the Americas between 1450-1750, driven by political, religious, and economic rivalries.
• Asian trade involved exchanging silver and gold for luxury items like silk and spices.
• Colonial economies in the Americas relied heavily on agriculture, using existing and new labor systems.
• Indentured servitude: Servants contracted for a set period of years in exchange for passage.
• Chattel slavery: Individuals were treated as property, bought and sold.
• The growth of plantation economies increased demand for slaves in the Americas, causing significant demographic, social, and cultural changes.

State-Building and Empire Expansion

• European state explorations formed the basis of maritime empires, claiming lands and establishing an empire.

Trading Posts in Africa and Asia

• Portuguese explorers and traders established trading posts in Africa and Asia to engage in the lucrative trade with local rulers.
• Some African states grew wealthy by selling enslaved people to Europeans.
• African artisans incorporated European images into their carvings.
• The Portuguese invaded Swahili city-states, causing significant decline.
• Japan sharply restricted its trading networks, later isolating itself from the outside world.
• The Ming Dynasty in China limited outside influence and restricted trade.

European Rivalries on Five Continents

• European rivalries, driven by political, economic, and religious motives, shaped empire expansions.
• The British East India Company had commercial relationships with the Mughal Empire in the 17th century.
• Portugal controlled trading posts and territories.
• France controlled Pondicherry.
• Britain's victory in the Seven Years' War (1763) drove France out of India.
• British trading posts in India were originally focused on trade, but later expanded its political power.

Europeans in the Americas

• The Aztec and Inca Empires, boasting large populations, collapsed following European arrival due to disease and conquest by Spanish forces.
• Cortés conquered the Aztec Empire and established the colony of New Spain.
• Pizarro conquered the Inca Empire.
• The Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) divided the Americas between Spain and Portugal.
• Spain claimed most of the Americas, while Portugal claimed Brazil.

Continuity and Change in Economic Systems

• European trade disruptions, while impacting the Indian Ocean trading networks, generally coexisted with existing networks.
• Mercantilism: Economic practices emphasized government control and maximization of exports.
• The Portuguese, through military strength, controlled Indian Ocean trade routes including parts of the Arabian Sea and the east coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean.
• Spain established the encomienda system forcing indigenous peoples into labor in exchange for food.
• Spanish conquistadors gained land in both Mesoamerica and South America due to the existing power structures in those native societies.
• The silver trade from Mexico and Peru propelled the Spanish economy but caused significant population decline in those regions.

Continuity and Change in Labor Systems

• Europe relied on multiple labor systems, each suited to specific circumstances and regional requirements.
• Laborers included enslaved people, indentured servants, serfs, and free peasants.

Why Africans?

• Europeans turned to enslaved Africans for labor in the Americas due to disease decimating the indigenous populations.
• The Atlantic slave trade devastated African societies.
• Enslaved Africans were traded for European goods.

The Horrors of the Journey

• The "Middle Passage" was the perilous journey across the Atlantic by enslaved Africans.
• Enslaved people experienced horrific conditions.
• Millions of people died during the journey, or immediately after arrival in the Americas.

Demographic, Social, and Cultural Changes

• Large-scale importation of enslaved Africans caused profound demographic, social, and cultural changes in the Americas and various European regions.
• This exchange led to new social classes and mixed-race populations.
• Slave trade significantly impacted family structures and relations.