World History Notes - A Portuguese Empire of Commerce

Chapter 14 A Portuguese Empire of Commerce The Portuguese learned merchants on the Indian Ocean had no weapons or lacked weapons As a result, they were able to dominate the Indian Ocean They established fortified bases in Mombasa in East Africa, Hormuz by Persian Gulf, Goa on the west coast of Africa, Malacca in Southeast Asia, and Macao on the south coast of China In Mombasa, the Portuguese burned the city killing around 1500 people. It is said that the Portuguese created a "trading post empire" in the Indian Ocean Portuguese wanted to monopolize spice trade Cartaz -> a pass all merchant vessels must purchase Merchants also had to pay duties of 6 to 10 percent of their cargoes The Portuguese failed to dominate the Indian Ocean after a while As a result, they gradually assimilated themselves into their ancient patterns They became heavily involved in carrying Asian goods to Asian ports They sold their shipping services Many Portuguese married Asians, learned local languages, settle in Asian or African ports, and converted to Islam by 1600, the Portuguese trading post empire was greatly declining Europeans and Asian Commerce Vasco da Gama -> a Portuguese mariner who sailed to India for the first time One purpose for this voyage was to aquire spices Spain and the Philippines Spain was the first challenge to the Portuguese. After the Spanish encountered the Philippines, the realized there were many islands These islands had many people but no form of government Therefore, the Spanish conquered them The Spanish turned Filipino societies into Christian outposts On the Southern island of Mindanao, Islam was gaining strength People in the Philippines were all forced to relocate to a more Christian community Tribute, taxes, and unpaid labor became part of ordinary life. Women played a big role as ritual specialists, healers, and midwives until men came along Women were viewed as subordinate Manila -> the new capital of the Philippines By 1600, it has become a diverse city of more than 40,000 people The refusal to converse to Christianity caused the Spanish to punish everyone One example was in 1603 where the Spanish killed around 20,000 people, almost the entire Chinese population on the island The East India Companies The Dutch and English entered the Indian Ocean commerce in the early 17th century Together they displaced the Portuguese by force During 16th century, the Dutch became a commercialized and urbanized society Around 1600, the Dutch and English created a private trading company It was known as the British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company The Dutch focused mainly on the islands of Indonesia while the British focused mainly on India Later on, the French also established settlements in the Indian Ocean The Dutch seized control of many spice-producing islands The Dutch forced islands to sell only to them Those who refused had their crops destroyed On the Banda Islands, the Dutch killed, enslaved, and starved the entire population The Dutch established Taiwan for a short period before China took them back The Dutch wanted to produce deerskin, rice and sugar for export in Taiwan The British established 3 major trading settlements during the 17th century: Bombay (now Mumbai), on India's west coast, and Calcutta and Madras, on the east coast Although they gained control of the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf, they were no match for the Mughal Empire (they ruled the majority of the Indian subcontinent) As a result, they could not practice "trade by warfare" like the Dutch did in Indonesia They secured their trading bases (with the permission of Mughal authorities /local rulers) and had to pay a price to use the Indian market British focused mainly on cotton textiles British and Dutch were very involved within Asia Europeans did not pose as a threat to Asia (Mughal Empire, China, and Japan) During the mid-sixteenth century, Japan had conflict with many feudal lords (daimyo each with his own cadre of samurai warriors The Europeans were favored for their military technology, shipbuilding skills, geographical knowledge, commercial opportunities, and religious ideas During the second half of the sixteenth century, Japan witnessed a growth in Christian converts (around 300,000) After Japan's civil wars ended, the Shoguns viewed the Europeans as a threat They expelled Christian missionaries and violently suppressed the practice of Christianity Japanese were banned from traveling abroad and Europeans were also banned from trading with Japan Virji Vora was able to monopolize the buying and selling of particular products such as pepper or coral Silver and Global Commerce Other than the spice trade, the silver trade also opened another global exchange Silver was discovered in Bolivia and Japan (silver deposit) Spanish produced 85% of the world's silver during the early modern era Manila, Philippines was the destination in which the Spanish shipped silver to Spanish shipped to Acapulco, Mexico before Manila, Philippines In 1570, Chinese authorities created tax system where people all payed in silver The demand for silver caused its price to skyrocket The silver coin was used by merchants in North America, Europe, India, Russia, and West Africa for trade Potosi -> the site of a huge silver-mining operation in what is now Bolivia In Japan, the military rulers (the Tokugawa) used silver-generated profits to defeat rivals, and unify the country Japan allied with their merchants unlike the Spanish They developed a market-based economy and invested heavily in agricultural and industrial enterprises. Japan was practicing the renewal of the forests People had less children, practiced contraceptive, abortion, and infanticide As a result, population growth slowed down This is the reason for the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century China benefited the country's economy Southern China lost half of their forests due to land that was devoted for crops Chinese goods usually outsold those of Spain "The World Hunt" Fur in Global Commerce In the early modern period, furs joined silver, textile, and spices as the major items of trade Fur provided people warmth and conveyed status in cold regions of the world By 1500, the supply of fur-bearing animals decreased due to European's growth in population and agricultural expansion Because the Little Ice Age occurred at this time, weather was cold As a result, the demand for fur increased, along with its price After North America's Great Dying, forests regrow, thus increasing fur-bearing animals. By the 1760s, hunters in southeastern British colonies took 500,000 deers each year, diminishing its population The Hurons lived on the northern shores of Lakes Erie and Ontario in the early 17th century. They exchanged 20,000-30,000 pelts (mostly beaver) annually In return, they received copper pots, metal axes, knives, cloth, firearms, and alcohol This strengthened their relationship with neighboring peoples and also enhanced the authority of Huron chiefs. They developed diseases when encountering the European's In the 1630s and 1640s, half their population perished due to influenza, small pox, and other diseases. Many Native American wanted to take advantage of the commercial economy The Iroquois are an example. They sold new products such as ginseng roots, commonly used as medicine in China. They also rented land to the Europeans, worked for wages in European enterprises, and used currency (after the barter system ended) Native Americans depended on European goods Alcohol was another destructive European import (rum and brandy in particular) Alcohol caused many Indians to grow violent and caused addiction in young men Many Indian women married Europeans Women processed fur for sale, generated and controlled wild rice and maple syrup Russian Empire also possessed fur