Spice Trade, Columbian Exchange & European Transformations

Spice Trade

• The spice trade involved gold, resources, labor, and economic opportunities.
• Religion and glory, claiming lands, were also key motivations.
• "Volta de mar" refers to wind patterns utilized for sailing.
• Ferdinand Magellan did not sail around the world; he died in the Caribbean but is still credited with the voyage.

Technological Advancements and Trade

• Before 1840, China was more technologically advanced than the West.
• Trading post empires like the East India Company (EIC) and its Dutch version, VOC, were safer for trade and facilitated exploitation.

Columbian Exchange

• Involved cross-cultural exchanges between the East and West.
• Transferred plants, food, animals, and diseases.
• Included the movement of human populations.
• Smallpox significantly affected the populations, especially the young and old.
• Most of the food consumed today resulted from cross-cultural interactions.

Transformations in Europe pt 1

• Witchcraft involved both white magic (Benadanti) and black magic (Maladanti).
• Parents taught their children about magic.
• The two groups fought four times a year with different implements.
• Inquisition targeted around 60,000 women, accusing them of witchcraft.
• Witchfinders became a profession because women were seen as "weak-minded and weak-willed."
• Old, unmarried, less attractive women (spinsters) were often labeled as witches.
• Fragmentation of the Christian religion caused splits within the church.
• Jesuits spread the word of the lord and the new policies of the church during the catholic reformation.

Transformations in Europe pt 2

• Absolutism in France was based on the "Divine right of kings."
• King Louis XIV, known as "Le roi solei", built Versailles, which caused massive debt and contributed to the French Revolution.
• King Henry VIII's marriages aimed at producing an heir.
• Elizabeth I, Henry's daughter, left no heir and James 1st (Stewart family) took the throne
• Charles I went to war with parliament and was executed in 1649.
• Oliver Cromwell led parliament armies in the intenegrum.
• Protoindustrialization involved the putting-out system.
• The Enclosure Movement began in the 12th century to prevent overfarming and add sheep.
• Levelers and diggers were communists and farmers, aiming for equality and wealth redistribution.

The Glorious Revolution of 1688

• Charles II was invited back to rule and loved dogs which he allowed in parliament.
• James II had similar issues to his predecessors.
• Prince William of Orange and Mary kept England protestant and destroyed absolutism.
• John Locke believed in the right to overthrow the government.

Transformations in Europe III

• The Renaissance (rebirth) (13th-16th century)
• Brought upon a new mindset
• Valued Individualism, secularism, and humanism
• Focus was on living for the day and individual happiness
• There was nothing to do with god or the church

The Scientific Revolution

• Involved proving beliefs that contradicted ancient Greeks.
• Nicholas Copernicus introduced the Heliocentric theory, challenging previous beliefs.
• Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) stated that the oribts were elliptical.
• Galileo Galilei's discoveries about imperfect heavenly spheres led to his trial by the Church.
• Sir Isaac Newton introduced the laws of gravity.
• The philosophers did not like the church, most were religious, but againist organized religion
• The Encyclopedia took 25 years, writing in a different country and having 17 total volumes.

The Insane

• There was a community sense to care for the "weird," "insane," and unemployed.
• In 1500, the "ship of fools" transported the insane down the river.
• In the 1700s, a general hospital in Paris started tours of the "insane" to raise funds.
• Distinctions were created; criminals to jail, strange to instituations, and the lazy to workhouses
• Adam Smith introduced the concepts of supply and demand.

Colliding Worlds in the Americas

• The Treaty of Tordesillas aimed to resolve disputes between Spain and Portugal by dividing the Americas.
• The Encomienda system was a precursor to slavery.

Africa and the Atlantic World

• Europeans found Africa to be an unknown place because borders were not drawn or explored.
• Ghana (5th-13th centuries): Traded Gold, Ivory, and Slaves for debt or prisons of war.
• Mali Empire (13th-15th century): A mix of both Islamic and African traditions where many converted to Islam but still believed in evil spirits, witches, and demons
• The Songhay Empire (1350-1600) grew to trade within Islam and Urbanism
• Kingdom of Kongo became a devout follower of Christianity while trading with the Portuguese
• The leader of Angola Queen Nzinga (1623-1663): Dressed as a male warrior, which meant gender norms switched and fought to resist Portuguese influence
• The Black Atlantic (15th-19th century): Slavery became a cash crop for Europeans in exchange for sugar, cotton, and indigo.
• Triangular Trade: Involved riches to Africa from Europe, labor to the Americas from Africa, and crops to Europe from the Americas
• The Middle Passage had a 25% mortality rate, with 16 million deaths due to cramped condition.
• African Diaspora: Created resistance to slavery and voodoo/hoodoo

China as the "Middle Kingdom"

• Population growth in China
• Due to connection with europeans Maize, sweet potatoes, peanuts spread through trade
• Europeans sent to trade in Opium against the Conton Trading System.
• The tribute system (koutou-bowing system) in Annan, laos, burma, tibet, korea: Countries had to pay the emporer

Imperial Islamic Societies (15th-17th Century)

• Ottoman Empire: Tolerant to millet Christian communities to pay taxes and have own countries.
• Safavid Empire: Led by King Shah Ismail who' made Shiism the official religion of his empire
• Mungal Empire: Led by Babur, descended from gehngis khan, was very toelrant and vegan.

Russian Empire

• Ivan III of Russia who ended Mongol tribute.
• Ivan "the terrible" creates the oprichnina, Ivan's private army when the Boyars negotatiates with him
• Petere "the Great"
• Named for his tall stature and ebraced everything western

The Revolution

• American Revolution
• The emancipation proclamation was created by Lord Dunmore in 1775
• Frees all slaves as long as they fight for the British in the revoltion
• French Revolution
• July 14th, a parisian crowd storms the pastile
• Marie antoinette and louis 16th were the first victims of the guillotine
• Haitian Revolution
• Led by Toussaint louverture (1744-1803) and let a successful black revolution
• "Leave nothing white behind you"

Overview of the spice trade involving economic opportunities and motivations like religion and glory. Focus on technological advancements, the Columbian Exchange's cross-cultural exchanges, and initial European transformations including witchcraft.