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
Thanks for these notes! They are really helpful. Could you please post the Chapter 19 notes if you have them? Thanks so much.
ReplyDeleteYeh post the Ch 19 notes . Wtf is this so long
ReplyDelete