Ch
18: The Expansion of Europe
Working
the Land
·
At end of 17th c., economy of Europe was agrarian
·
80% of people of all western European countries drew their livelihoods
from agriculture
·
In eastern Europe, percentage was higher
o
Tied to land
·
Output was low
·
Climatic conditions produced poor or disastrous harvests every eight or
nine years
·
Unbalanced and inadequate food in famine years made people susceptible
to illness
·
Eating material unfit for human consumption during famines (bark, dirt)
caused intestinal ailments
·
Flus and smallpox hit malnutritioned populations
·
Deaths were high during famine year
·
New developments in agricultural tech and methods brought an end to
ravages of hunger in w. Europe
The
Legacy of the Open-Field System
·
From middle ages to 17th century Europe used open field
system
o
Land cultivated was divided into several large fields which were cut up
into long, narrow strips
o
Fields were open, strips were not enclosed into small plots by fences
or hedges
o
Whole peasant village followed traditional pattern of plowing, sowing,
and harvesting
·
Soil exhaustion
o
Field will deplete nitrogen in soil
o
Supply of manure was limited, only way for land to recover was to lie
fallow for some time
o
Clover restored nutrients and was food for livestock
o
Year of fallow was alternated by a year of cropping
·
3 year rotations were introduced
o
2 years of growing, 1 year of lying fallow
o
Staggered rotation of crops, so one crop was always available
o
Cash crops could grow 2 years out of 3, instead of 1 year out of 2
·
Traditional village rights reinforced communal patterns of farming
o
Maintained open meadows for hay and natural pasture
o
Villagers pastured their animals on wheat or rye stubble
o
Pasturing followed a brief period for gleaning of grain
§ Poor women went through fields
picking up few single grains that fell to the ground
o
Firewood, building material, and nutritional roots and berries in
woodlands
·
State and landlords continued to levy heavy taxes and high rents
o
Stripped peasants of their meager earnings
o
Generally, peasants of e Europe were worst off
§ Serfs bound to lords
§ Worked w/o pay
·
Social conditions better in w Europe
o
Peasants generally free from serfdom
o
Owned land to pass onto children
o
Life was still hard and poverty was permissive
o
Owned a portion of the land they worked
o
Forced to seek wages in variety of jobs to get a living
·
Privileges of Europe’s ruling elites weighted heavily on people of the
land
The
Agricultural Revolution
·
One way for peasants to improve their conditions was to revolt and take
land from those who owned it but did no labor
o
Social and political conditions were ancient and deeply rooted
o
Powerful forces stood ready to crush protest
·
Technological progress
o
If peasants and their noble landlords could replace the fallow time
with crops, they could increase the land under cultivation
·
Agricultural revolution: Period in Europe from mid 17c to mid 19th
c where great agricultural progress was made and the fallow was gradually
eliminated
o
Great milestone in human development
·
Secret to eliminating fallow was to alternate grain with nitrogen
storing crops
o
Peas and beans
o
Root crops: turnips potatoes
o
Clovers and grasses
·
Number of crops that rotated grew
o
New patterns of organization allowed some farmers to develop
sophisticated patterns of crop rotation to suit different kinds of soils
o
Continual experimentation fueled by SCIREV led to more methodical
farming
·
Improvements in farming had multiple effects
o
New crops made ideal feed for animals à peasants and larger farmers could build up their herds of cattle and sheep
o
More animals à more meat and better diets
o
More animals à more manure for fertilizer
and more grain for bread and porridge
·
Advocates (emerging experimental scientists, government officials, big
landowners) of new crop rotation believed new methods were scarcely possible
within traditional framework of open fields and common rights
o
Farmer who wanted to experiment would have to get all landholders to
agree
o
Thought innovating agriculturalists needed to enclose and consolidate
their scattered holdings into compact, fenced in fields in order to farm more
effectively
o
Innovators needed to enclose their individual shares of a village’s
natural pastureland, the common
o
Enclosure: Movement to fence in fields in order to farm more
effectively, at the expense of poor peasants who relied on common fields for
farming and pasture
§ Revolution in village life
and organization was necessary for technological progress
·
Enclosure price was too high for many poor rural people
o
Had small, inadequate holdings or little land
o
Depended on traditional rights to use commonly held pastureland to
graze livestock, and marshlands or forest for foraged goods
o
Opposed enclosure of open fields
o
Found allies with noble landowners who were wary of enclosure because
it required large investments in purchasing and fencing
·
Old system of unenclosed open fields and new system of continuous
rotation coexisted in Europe
o
Some peasants successfully opposed efforts to introduce new techniques
o
End of 18th c, new system of enclosure was extensively
adopted only in England and Low Countries
The
Leadership of the Low Countries and England
·
New methods of agricultural revolution originated in Low Countries
·
Holland led the way
o
Was most advanced country in Europe in 17c
·
Reasons for Dutch leadership in farming
o
Area was one of most densely populated in Europe
§ In order to feed themselves
and provide employment, Dutch were forced to seek maximum yields from their
land and increase cultivated area through steady draining of marshes and swamps
o
Growth of towns and cities
§ Grew in population
§ Urban population growth
provided Dutch peasants with markets for all they could produce and allowed
each region to specialize in what it did best
§ Dutch could develop their
potential
§ Low Countries became the
mecca of foreign agricultural experts
·
English were best learners
o
They learned about drainage and water control
o
Large parts of Holland had once been sea and marsh, so Dutch became
world’s leaders in drainage
·
Dutch made huge contribution in draining extensive marshes, fens, of
wet and rainy England
o
Cornelius Vermuyden: Directed large drainage
project in Yorkshire and Cambridgeshire
§ Got some of best land that
was farmed intensely in Dutch manner
·
Improvements in agriculture techniques
·
Jehro Tull: English innovator
o
Adopted critical attitude toward accepted ideas about farming
o
Tried to develop better methods through empirical research
o
Using horses rather than slow oxen for plowing
o
Sowing seed with drilling equipment rather than scattering it by hand
§ Distributed seed in even
manner and at proper depth
·
Improvements in livestock
o
Selective breeding
·
English agriculture went through a radical transformation
o
Output increased
o
Provided food for England’s rapidly growing urban population
o
Growth in production achieved by land enclosures
o
PLMT enclosed a lot of common land
·
By eliminating common rights and greatly reducing access of poor men
and women to the land, the enclosure movement marked the completion of two
major historical developments in England
o
Rise of market oriented estate agriculture
o
Emergence of a landless rural proletariat
o
Soon, tiny minority of wealthy English and Scottish landowners held
most of the land and pursued profits aggressively, leased land to farmers who
relied on landless laborers
·
Landless laborers worked long hours
o
Few laborers were needed to work large farms, so unemployment spread
throughout the countryside
·
Proletarianization: Transformation of large numbers of small peasant
farmers into landless rural wage earners
·
English village poor found the change heavy and unjust
The
Beginning of the Population Explosion
·
18th c.: beginning of population explosion
o
Affected existing order of life and forced economic changes
Long-standing
Obstacles to Population Growth
·
Cyclical pattern of population groth until 1700
o
Ravages of Black Death caused drop in population and food prices and
labor shortage
o
Great surge of population growth outstripped growth of agriculatural
production
§ Less food per person, food
prices rose faster than wages
§ Decline in European living
standards
§ Widespread poverty
o
Population growth slowed and stopped in 17th c
§ Birth/death/fertility/mortality
·
Gigantic increases in population over time did not happen
o
Certain abnormal years and tragic periods happened, many more died than
were born
o
Total population fell sharply
o
Long time to make up for loss
o
Increases in death occurred periodically in 17th c
·
Famine, disease, war were main causes of demographic crisis
o
Famine:
§ Low yields and periodic crop
failures, accompanied by disease
§ Stunned and weakened a
population
§ Disease finished it off
o
Disease:
§ Could ravage population
o
War
§ Soldiers in camps passed
contagious diseases through countryside
§ Armies requisitioned scarce
food
§ Battles destroyed crops and
farmlands
§
The
New Pattern of the Eighteenth Century
·
18th c: population of all regions Europe began to grow
markedly
·
Reasons for explosive growth
o
Women had more babies than before because of new opportunities for
employment in rural industry allowed them to marry younger
o
Fewer deaths
·
Fewer deaths
o
Disappearance of bubonic plague
§ Plagues remained constant following
Black Death
§ Stricter measures of
quarantine in Mediterranean ports
§ Chance and good luck
o
Advances in medical knowledge did
not contribute to reducing death rate
§ Advance in preventative
medicine
·
Inoculation against smallpox only in England
o
Improvements in water supply and sewage
§ Promoted by strong
absolutist monarchies
§ Better public health
§ Reduce diseases
§ Reduced Europe’s large
insect population (who spread diseases)
·
People became better at efforts to safeguard food
o
Canal and road building
§ Lessened impact of local
crop failure and famine
§ Emergency supplies could be
brought in
§ Localized starvation became
less frequent
o
Wars became less destructive and spread less diseases
o
Nutritious new foods
§ Potato
·
Renewed population growth intensified imbalance between number of
people and economic opportunities available
o
Improvements in agricultural efficiency lessened need for rural
laborers
o
Rural poor forced to look for new ways to make a living
The
Growth of Rural Industry
·
Population growth à increased number of rural
workers with little or no land à development of industry in
rural areas
·
Poor in countryside needed to supplement their agricultural earnings
with other types of work
·
Urban workers were eager to hire them for lower than urban workers
·
Cottage industry: A stage of industrial development in which rural
workers used hand tools in their homes to manufacture goods on a large scale
for sale in a market
o
Manufacturing with hand tools in peasant cottages and work sheds
o
Became a crucial feature of 18th c European economy
·
Now peasants manufactured goods on a large scale for sale in market
·
Pressures of rural poverty led many poor villagers to seek additional
work
The
Putting-Out System
·
Cottage industry organized through putting out system: system of rural
industry in which a merchant loaned raw materials to cottage workers, who
processed them and returned the finished products to the merchant
·
Merchant capitalist and rural worker worked
o
Merchant loaned “put out”/raw materials to cottage workers
o
Cottage workers processed raw materials in their own homes and returned
finished products to merchant
·
Variations in basic merchant/rural worker relationship
o
Sometimes rural workers bought their won raw materials and worked as
independent producers before they sold to the merchant
o
Sometimes whole families were involved
o
Other times certain genders were associated with some tasks
o
Sometimes several workers worked together to finish complicated process
outside of home
·
Wages from land varied from wages made from this new system, but
industrial wages usually was more lucrative with time
·
Industries grew in scale and complexity à production was often broken down into many stages
o
For example: wool à thread à dyeing à weaving
o
People paid by the piece completed
o
Sold finished product to regional, national, or international markets
·
Putting out system grew because it had competitive advantages
o
Underemployed labor was abundant, and poor peasants and landless
laborers would work for low wages
o
Workers and merchants could change procedures and experiment if they
saw fit
o
Workers did not need to meet rigid guild standards, cottage industry
became capable of producing many kinds of goods of everyday articles
§ Except luxury goods for rich
·
Rural manufacturing did not spread across Europe at an even rate
o
Developed most successfully in England
o
Industry was generally more rural than urban
o
Most continental countries developed rural industry more slowly
The
Lives of Rural Textile Workers
·
Industry that employed most people in Europe was textiles
·
Rural worker lived in small cottage with tiny windows and little space
o
Often a single room for a workshop, kitchen, and bedroom
o
Few pieces of furniture
o
Weaver’s loom took up most space
o
John Kay improved loom, though loom
did stay the same for a long time
·
Handloom weaving was a family enterprise
o
All members of family helped in work
o
Operating loom was considered a man’s job reserved for male head of
family
o
Women and children worked at auxiliary tasks
·
Work of four or five spinners was needed to keep one weaver steadily
employed
o
Weaver’s family couldn’t produce enough thread
o
Alternate sources of labor were needed
o
Merchant turned to wives and daughters of agricultural workers were
used
o
In England, widows became “spinsters”
·
Industry expanded and merchants covered ever greater distances in
search of workers – sometimes turned to local shopkeepers to manage spinsters
·
Relations between workers and employers were often conflicted
o
Disputes over weights of materials and quality of finished work
o
Merchants accused workers of stealing raw material
o
Weavers complained merchants delivered underweight bales
o
Suspicion abounded
·
Conditions hard for female workers
o
Men could earn decent wages, women couldn’t
o
Single/widowed spinner was in a bad situation
§ Period of illness or
unemployment was disaster
·
Merchant capitalists problems
o
Problem wasn’t low wages, but control of rural labor
o
Workers were difficult to supervise and direct
o
Pace of their work depended on agricultural calendar
§ Occupied people
o
Bitterly resented lack of control over rural labor
o
Accused workers of laziness, drunkenness, immorality
o
If workers failed to make enough thread, it was because their wages
were too high, and they had little incentive to work
·
Merchants insisted on maintaining lowest possible wages to force “idle”
poor to productive labor
·
Got new powers over workers
o
Imprisonment and public whipping for stealing yarn/cloth
·
Right to hold onto extra product was akin to peasant right to glean in
common lands
·
With progress came loss of traditional safeguards for poor
The
Industrious Revolution
·
Industrious Revolution summarizes social and economic changes taking
place in Europe in late 17th to early 18th century
o
The shift that occurred as families focused on earning wages instead of
producing goods for household consumption… this reduced their economic
self-sufficiency but increased their ability to purchase consumer goods
o
Reduced leisure, faster pace of work, redirected labor of women and
children away from production of goods for household consumption and toward
wage work
·
Spread of cottage industry could be seen as one manifestation of
industrious revolution
·
Rise in female city employment outside home
·
Rural and urban households could purchase more goods even at failing
wages by working harder and increasing number of wageworkers
·
Effect of changes
o
Lament encroachment of longer work hours and stricter discipline
o
Poor families made decisions based on self interest
o
More finished goods available at lower prices
o
Households sought cash income to participate in an emerging consumer
economy
·
Role of women and girls
o
Women almost always worked at menial, tedious jobs for low wages
o
When they earned their own wages, they took on a greater role in
household decision making
o
Scant earnings went for household necessities they no longer produced
o
Sometimes extra shillings for extra stuff
o
Women’s surplus income helped spur rapid growth of textile industries
·
New sources and patterns of labor established important foundations for
Industrious revolution
o
Created households where all members worked for wages rather than a
united family business
o
Consumption relied on marked produced rather than homemade goods
·
New model of male “breadwinner” did not appear til later
The
Debate over Urban Guilds
·
Growth of rural industry à undermining of traditional
guild system that protected artisans
·
Guilds dominated production in towns and cities, and provided masters
economic privileges as well as a proud social identity
·
Struggled against competition from rural workers
·
Those excluded from guild membership worked on margins of urban economy
·
Later 18th c
o
Critics attacked guilds as outmoded that obstructed technical progress
and innovation
o
Resentment to guilds emphasizes peoples’ ability to adapt to changing
economic circumstances
Urban
Guilds
·
Guild system reached peak in 17th and 18th
century
o
Grew dramatically in number in cities and towns across Europe
o
Colbert revived urban guilds to encourage high quality production and
to collect taxes
·
Guild masters in Europe occupied the summit of the world of work
o
Each guild had detailed privileges given by crown
§ Exclusive rights to produce
and sell certain goods
§ Access to restricted markets
in raw materials
§ Rights to train apprentices,
hire workers, open shops
o
Any individuals who violated monopolies could be prosecuted
·
Served social and religious functions
o
Locus of sociability and group identity to middling classes of European
cities
·
Guilds jealously restricted membership
o
Good Christians, experienced, paid fees
o
Family connections
§ Masters’ sons got into
guilds easily
·
Most urban men and women worked in non guild trades as domestic
servants, manual laborers, vendors of food and more
·
Guilds’ ability to enforce their rigid barriers varied a great deal
across Europe
o
England regulated guilds
o
France took ambiguous attitude
§ Relied on guilds to make
high quality and taxes
§ Allowed non guild production
in countryside
§ Some places for
“false-workers” who’d been denounced by masters
o
German guilds had most power in Europe and were most conservative
·
New Enlightenment ideals called into question the very existence of the
guild system
o
Critics said they were outmoded and exclusionary that obstructed
technical innovation and progress
o
Reform minister Turgot’s law abolished French guild
§ Thinking of enlightened gov
officials
·
Some flexibility and adaptability of guild system and its vitality
o
Guild masters adopted new technologies
o
Found creative ways to circumvent impractical rules
o
Some masters made partnerships with non guild workers
·
Economic regulation did not hinder commerce but fostered the confidence
necessary to stimulate it
·
Guilds were trusted with good quality
·
Some guilds were accessible to women in Paris and other cities
o
Most involved needlework and textiles
§ Appropriate for women
o
Seamstresses got a new all female guild
o
Vocational training programs for poor girls
o
Male masters began to hire more female workers
·
Urban and rural women entered the paid labor market in great numbers
·
Some attempts to redress discrimination they faced
·
Turgot’s law was repealed, and new laws opened all guilds to women
·
Never saw how it turned out
Adam
Smith and Economic Liberalism
·
New patterns of labor caused comment and controversy
·
Adam Smith
o
Critic of gov regulation in trade/industry
o
Scottish Enlightenment
o
Freedom of enterprise and established basis for modern economics in Wealth of Nations
o
Criticized guilds for stifling and outmoded restriction – criticized
all gov run monopolies/privileged companies
o
Free competition was better and it would protect consumers from price
gouging and give citizens a fair and equal right to do what they did best
o
Argued gov should have only 3 duties
§ Defense against foreign
invasion
§ Maintain civil order with
courts/police
§ Sponsor certain indispensable
public works and institutions that couldn’t profit private investors
o
Pursuit of self interest would be sufficient to improve living
conditions of citizens: Economic liberalism
·
Many artisans welcomed economic liberalization
·
Some continued to uphold ideals of guilds
o
German guilds
o
Associations in France
o
Artisans across Europe adopted values of hand craftsmanship and limited
competition in contrast to proletarianization and loss of skills
·
Most European govs adopted economic deregulation
·
Smith was seen as advocate of unbridled capitalism
·
Ideas more complex
·
Smith spoke for truth, not special interests
·
Applauded modest rise in real wages of British workers
·
Realistically concluded that employers were never raising wages to fair
rate, even wanting to sink wages
·
Deplored deadening effects of division of labor
·
Called for gov intervention to raise workers’ living standards
·
Great international impact
·
Inspired domestic reform and independent merchants around globe called
for free trade
Building
the Global Economy
·
Expansion of Europe in 18th century was characterized by
increase of world trade
·
Spain and Portugal revitalized their empires and began drawing more
wealth from renewed colonial development
·
Countries of northwestern Europe (Netherlands, France, above Great
Britain) benefitted most
·
Atlantic economy proved crucial to building a global economy
·
Great Britain became leading maritime power
·
Brits played critical role in building a unified Atlantic economy with
opportunities for them and their colonists
·
Competed ruthlessly with France and Netherlands for trade and territory
in Asia
Mercantilism
and Colonial Wars
·
Britain’s commercial leadership had its origins in 17th c
mercantilism
·
European mercantilism was a system of economic regulations aimed at
increasing the power of the state
o
Colbert
o
Creating a favorable balance of foreign trade in order to increase a
country’s stock of gold
o
Country’s gold holdings served as a treasure chest that could be opened
periodically to pay for war in a violent age
·
England: desire to increase both military power and private wealth à mercantile system of Navigation Acts
o
Most goods imported from Europe into England and Scotland has to be
carried on British owned ships with British crews or on ships of the country
producing the article
o
Gave Brit merchants and ship-owners a virtual monopoly on trade with
Brit colonies
§ Colonists required to ship
products on Brit/Am ships
§ Had to buy almost all
European goods from Britain
o
Believed these economic regulations would eliminate foreign competition
and help Brit merchants and workers as well as colonial plantation owners and
farmers
o
Hoped that emerging Brit Empire would develop a shipping industry with
a large number of experienced seamen who could serve when necessary in Navy
·
Navigation Acts were a form of economic warfare
o
Initial target was Dutch: far ahead in shipping and foreign trade
o
Anglo-Dutch wars and Navigation Acts seriously damaged Dutch shipping
and commerce
o
Seized thriving Dutch colony of New Amsterdam and renamed it New York
o
Netherlands began to fall behind England in shipping, trade, and
colonies
o
France now stood as England’s most serious rival in competition for
overseas empire
§ Rich in natural resources
§ Population 3x bigger
§ Allied with Spain
§ Building a powerful fleet
and a worldwide system of rigidly monopolized colonial trade
o
Brit and France locked in a series of wars to decide which nation would
become leading maritime power and claim profits of Europe’s overseas expansion
·
Round 1: War of Spanish Succession
o
Upset continental balance of power
o
Union of France and Spain threatened to destroy Brit colonies
o
Louis XIV had to cede North Am holdings
o
(Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Hudson Bay) to England
o
Spain had to give Brit control of W. African slave trade (asiento) and
let Brit send one ship of merchandise to Spanish colonies annually
·
Conflict continued among European powers over domestic and colonial
affairs
o
War of Austrian Succession
§ Fred The Great seized
Silesia from Maria Theresa
§ World war that included
Anglo-French
§ Ended with no change in
territorial situation in N. America
o
7 Years War
§ Maria Theresa wanted Silesia
back: Almost won
§ Decisive round in
Franco-Brit competition for colonial empire
§ British victory
§ Destroyed French fleet and
choked off French commerce around the world
§ Treaty of Paris: France lost
its remaining possessions on mainland north America
·
Louisiana lost to Spain to compensate for FL taken by Brit
·
France gave up holdings in India and opened way to Brit dominance
·
Brit naval power triumphed
·
Brit monopolized a vast trading and colonial empire
Eighteenth-Century
Colonial Trade
·
18th c: London
grew to West’s largest and richest city
o
Rapidly growing and increasingly wealthy agricultural populations of
the mainland colonies provided an expanding market for Eng. Manufactured goods
o
Good because Eng was losing many of its traditional European markets
·
Eng exports of manufactured goods to Atlantic economy came to rescue
o
Sales to mainland colonies of N. Am and W. Indian sugar islands
o
Exports to England’s other colonies in Ireland and India
o
Eng exports became more balanced and diversified
o
Foreign trade became bread and butter of some industries
o
Mercantilist system achieved remarkable success for England in the 18th
c.
o
Eng. Stood on the threshold of Industrial Rev
·
French still profited enormously from colonial trade
o
Saint-Domingue and Martinique and Guadeloupe
o
Immense fortunes in plantation agriculture and slave trading
o
Wealth generated from colonial trade fostered confidence of merchant
classes in Paris, other large cities and merchants joined elite groups to
clamor for more political power
·
Third major player in Atlantic economy: Spain
o
Colonial fortunes improved in 18th c
o
Gained Louisiana
o
Influence expanded westward all the way to n. Cal through Spanish
missionaries and ranchers
o
Mercantilist goals boosted by recovery in silver production
·
Silver mining stimulated food production for mining camps
·
Wealthy Spanish landowners developed system of debt peonage to keep
indigenous workers on their estates
o
Planter or rancher would keep workers in perpetual debt bondage by
advancing them food, shelter, and a little money (like serfdom)
The
Atlantic Slave Trade
·
Four continents bordering the ocean were increasingly drawn into an integrated
economic system
·
Core: Misery and profit on Atlantic slave trade
o
Forced migration of millions of Africans was key to the Atlantic system
w. European expansion throughout 18th c
·
Rise of plantation agriculture was tremendous growth of the slave trade
o
Plantations of Portuguese Brazil received the most of slave trade
o
Others divided among Caribbean colonies
o
N. Am took little slaves
·
Intensification of slave trade à fundamental changes in its
organization
o
Brit became undisputed leader in shipping slaves across Atlantic
o
Other European governments and ship captains cut back on fighting among
themselves and concentrated on commerce
o
Generally adopted shore method of trading, which was less expensive
than maintaining fortified trading posts
§ European ship sent boast
ashore or invited African dealers to bring traders and slaves out to their
ships
§ Ships could move more easily
along coast from market to market and depart quicker
·
Some African merchants and rulers who controlled exports profited from
greater demand from slaves
o
Wealthier à Gained access to European
and colonial gods (firearms, etc.)
o
Generally such economic returns did not spread very far, and negative
consequences of expanding slave trade predominated
o
Wars among African states to obtain salable captives increased, and
leaders used slave profits to purchase more arms than textiles and consumer
goods
o
Population of Africa declined
·
Most Europeans did not personally witness the horrors of slave trade
and they considered African slave trade a legit business
·
Details of plight of slaves became known à campaign in Brit to abolish slavery
o
1780’s: Abolition grew into a mass movement of public opinion
o
Brit women enounced immorality of human bondage and stressed cruel and
sadistic treatment of female slaves and slave families
o
PLMT abolished Brit slave trade, although slavery continued in Brit
colonies and Americas for decades
Identities
and Communities of the Atlantic World
·
Free people and ideas circulated through 18th c. Atlantic
world
·
Contacts among Atlantic coasts (Americas, Africa, Europe) became more
frequent and European settlements grew into well established colonies à new identities occurred
·
Creole: People of Spanish ancestry born in the Americas
o
Wealthy Creoles and their counterparts throughout Atlantic colonies
prided in following European ways of life
o
Had lavish plantation estates and townhouses in colonial cities
o
Purchased luxury goods
o
Over time colonial elite came to feel that their circumstances gave
them diff interests and characteristics from those of their home population
o
Creole traders and planters resented regulations and taxes imposed by
colonial bureaucrats
·
Not all Europeans in colonies were rich
o
Poor or middling whites as clerks, shopkeepers, craftsmen
o
White Europeans usually made up small portion of population
o
Mostly men descended came to colonies à much of population came from unions of European men and
indigenous/African women
·
Mixed race populations sometimes rose to colonial elite
o
Spanish conquistadors often consolidated power through marriage to
daughters of local rules, their descendents were among most powerful of Spanish
America
o
Brazil: Many masters acknowledged and freed their mixed race children,
leading to sizable populations of free people of color
o
Some became wealthy and slave traders
o
Prosperity of free people of color brought backlash from white
population Saint Domingue in form of new race laws prohibiting them to adopt
distinctive attire
o
In Brit colonies, mixed children were still slaves
§ Forbade mixing of races
·
Confusing mixing of races culturally
o
Colonial elites became “Americanized” by adopting native foods, and
sought relief from tropical disease in native remedies
o
Some mixed race people sought to enter Creole society and get its
privileges by passing as white
o
Free ppl of color established their own proud social hierarchies based
on wealth, family connections, occupation, and skin color
·
Converting indigenous ppl to Christianity was a key ambition for all
European powers in New World
o
Catholics were pushed by Protestant Reformation and perceived need to protect/spread
Catholicism
o
Catholic powers sponsored missionary efforts
o
Missionaries throughout colonies
o
Conversion was a complicated task of cultural exchange
§ Catholic friars tried to
understand natives to help convert them
o
Christianity in New World had a distinct characters, not exactly like
European Christianity
·
Missionary success in New World varied over time and space
o
Central and South America: large scale conversion left a big impact
o
N. Am: Less effective, scattered settlement, lesser integration of
native ppl into colonial community
·
Protestants were less active as missionaries, thought some Quakers and
Methodists sought converts among native ppl
·
Slavery à important limitations on
efforts to spread Christianity
o
Slave owners refused to baptize slaves so the slaves wouldn’t get more
rights
o
Elements of African religious belief and practice endured
·
Jews were eager participants in new Atlantic economy though restricted
from owning land and holding occupations
o
Established network of mercantile communities along its trade routes
o
Faced discriminations in colonies
o
Jews were considered white Europeans, but did not enjoy equal status
with Christians
o
Status of Jews adds more complexity to Atlantic identities
Trade
and Empire in Asia and the Pacific
·
Europeans continued to vie for dominance in Asian trade
·
Portugal became major player in Indian Ocean trade, eliminated Venice
as Europe’s chief supplier of spices and other Asian luxury goods
·
Did not radically change age-old pattern of Indian Ocean trade
·
Dutch East India Company had taken Portuguese spice trade with port of
Batvia
o
Expelled Portuguese from Indian islands
·
Dutch transformed Indian Ocean trading world
o
Dutch established outright control and reduced them to dependents,
whereas Portuguese didn’t
·
Dutch hold in Asia faltered in 18th c due to company’s
failure to diversify to meet changing consumption patterns
o
Spices were major in shipping, though it was declining in desire in
Europe
o
Fierce competition from English East India Company undercut English
trade
·
Brit initially struggled for foothold in Asia
o
Brit returned to India, with silks, textiles, pepper
o
EEIC relied on trade concessions from powerful Mughal emperor, who
granted limited access to subcontinent
·
Mughals conceded empire wide trading privileges
·
BEEI agents intervened in local affairs or waged war to further
economic interests
·
Britain’s great rival for influence in India was France
o
War of Austrian Succession: Brit and French forces rivaled
o
Treaty of Paris gave all of France’s possessions in India to Brit
except one city
·
With elimination of French rival, Brits accelerated
·
Company forces defeated Mughal emperor, leaving him on the throne as
title only
·
Robert Clive: became first Brit governor
general of Bengal, NE India with direct authority
·
Brits had overcome vigorous Indian resistance to gain economic and
political dominance of much of subcontinent
·
India was lauded as “jewel”
·
Late 18th c: Beginning of Brit settlement in Australia
o
Captain James Cook: claimed e. coast of Australia
for England
o
First colony established with help of prisoners from Brit
o
Settlement on western portion continued after
o
First colonies struggled for survival and soon aroused hostility and
resistance of aboriginal ppl
o
Cook killed by islanders
·
Rising economic and political power of Europeans in this period drew on
connections they established between the Asian and Atlantic trade worlds
o
Trade in cowry shells
§ Seashells from Indian Ocean
§ Taken to be used as currency
in w. Africa for slaves
o
Indian textiles
§ Prized in Africa
·
Trade of Atlantic was inseparable from Asian commerce, and Europeans
were increasingly found dominating commerce in both worlds