Unit 4 Trans-Oceanic Interconnections (1450-1750) Flashcards
What Chinese dynasty succeeded the Mongol Yuan dynasty in China?
Ming
Factors for the rise of Exploration
- technological advances in the compass, astrolabe, and shipbuilding
- the Commercial Revolution in banking, investment and trade
- Prince Henry the Navigator from Portugal encouraged exploration
- REMEMBER THE 3 G’s - God, Glory, Gold!
Portugal’s trading-post Empire
- Portuguese expeditions hoped to control the African gold and slave trade and the spice trade in the Indian Ocean
- A monopoly over the African slave trade
Control over the Indian Ocean Basin
- Portuguese ships attempted to control trade; building fortresses along the coast and patrolling the ocean
- Portugal acted as the strongest military and economic power in the Indian Ocean
- Arab, Indian and Chinese merchants continued to play prominent roles in Indian Ocean commerce
Columbus in Hispaniola
- Spanish settlers led by Christopher Columbus arrived to the Island of Hispaniola; established Santo Domingo as the capital of the Spanish Caribbean in 1498
- Taino people; conquered and conscripted (forced) into physical labor
The Encomienda System
def- a system of forced labor in the Spanish colonies
- Spanish encomenderos (“settlers”) were given land and the right to compel natives (the Taino) to work in their mines or fields (growing sugar or tobacco)
- oversee their conversion to Christianity
- natives were forced into hard labor and punished severely if they did not work
- the influx of diseases such as smallpox also served to wipe out many Taino; causing encomenderos to raid and kidnap other natives for labor
Conquest of the Aztecs
- In 1519 Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes led 450 soldiers to Mexico looking for gold
- Tenochtitlan seized their emperor Motecuzoma (Montezuma) in 1520
Reasons for Spanish success
- Aztec were no match for the advanced weapons of the Spanish, including steel swords, muskets and cannons
- the Spanish allied with local tribes; Dona Marina (or Malinche), a local translator who would eventually become Cortes mistress
- smallpox helped to wipe out many od the population
Pizarro conquers the Incas
- By the time Pizarro landed on the shores of the Inca empire in the 1530s, the Inca were engaged in a long civil war, which weakened the empire
- They captured the Inca ruler Atahualpa and held him for ransom-24 tons of gold and silver
- By 1540, Spanish forces had overtaken the entire empire
The Columbian Exchange
was the global transfer of animals, plants, diseases, human populations, and culture between the old World (Europe, Asia, Africa) and the New World (Americas)
Which was a key feature of trading-post empires in Africa?
The Portuguese enjoyed a monopoly over the gold and slave trade during the sixteenth century
Treaty of Tordesillas
- Pope Alexander VI divided the territory between the two countries
- Treaty of Tordesillas (1494), giving Spain all territory to the west of the line and Portugal all the territory to the east of the line
The Portuguese in Brazil
- they began building sugar plantation which would later be copied in the Caribbean
- By the 1580s they would rely on large scale slave labor
The Spanish Colonies
-Spanish monarchy gradually extended its control over the America
Mexico- New Spain, capital of Mexico City on Tenochtitlan
Viceroyalty of Peru- capital moved from Cuzco to Lima
Administration of Colonies
- viceroys (king’s representatives in the Americas)
- unlike the French and English in North America, the Spanish attempted to import Iberian social patterns and traditions into their colonies
Social Class in the Colonies
- intermarriage between colonists and local natives led to the development of a distinct social hierarchy in both Spanish and Portuguese colonies (castas)
- society was highly patriarchal (men occupied positions of power and established/delineated of acceptable female behavior
Bartolome de las Casas
- Bartolome de las Casas was a Spanish priest who went to the colonies as a missionary
- he protested the treatment of the native Indians and spent much of his life attempting to protect them from abuse
Silver Mining in Latin America
silver mining towns developed, including Potosi in modern day Bolivia and the Zacatecas in Mexico
Colonies of North America
- French were interested in the fur trade and sought to profit from trading with Native Americans
- established the city of New Orleans in 1718-wanted to ship furs down the Mississippi River and out to France
Salutary Neglect
Salutary Neglect-encouraged the development of self-governance which would eventually lead to the American Revolution
-growing cash crops such as tobacco, they relied on indentured servants (poor servants) for labor and would eventually turn toward African slave labor
Which of the following choices places Latin America’s racial hierarchy in the proper order, from lowest to highest, in status?
Native American/African slave, mestizo/mulatto, Creole, Peninsular
History of African Slave Trade
- by the time Europeans arrived in West and sub-Saharan Africa in the 15th and 16th centuries, the slave trade was already well-established
- individuals in African societies increased their wealth and status through ownership of slaves
Features of African Slave Trade
- muslim states in Africa viewed slavery as legitimate for nonbelievers but illegal for muslims
- almost all slaves in African societies came from other tribes
African Kingdoms
-Kongo
-Asante
-Dahomey
Songhay
-Benin
Missionary Efforts
- As the Portuguese began to encounter African kingdoms such as Benin and Kongo, they attempted to convert the rulers and kingdom
- Kongo ruler Nzinga Mvemba establish Christianity as the official religion
Portuguese Slave Trade
- Portuguese established factories (trading fortresses) along the coast
- El Mina
- the forts were established with consent of local rulers, who benefitted from access to European commodities and military support in local wars
- the first slaves brought directly to Portugal from Africa arrived in 1441
- the arduous journey across the Atlantic Ocean became known as the Middle Passage
Slaves on Sugar Plantations
- the expansion of the Portuguese and Spanish in the Caribbean and development of sugar plantations created an increased need for labor
- few indentured servants would willingly sign up
Life on the Plantations
-life expectancy was 23
-most were agricultural laborers
-grew tobacco, rice and cotton
Saltwater slaves- slaves directly imported from Africa
Creole Slaves- American descendants of saltwater slaves
Growth of the Atlantic Slave Trade
- Between 1450-1850, an estimated 12 million Africans were transported across the Atlantic
- 10 or 11 million African actually arrived in the Americas
- 18th century saw the peak of the slave trade; 80% of all slaves were transported in this century
- Brazil received the majority of African slaves
Organization of Trade
- English and French began importing more slaves to Jamaica, Barbados, and St. Domingue (Haiti)
- Royal African Company (British) were charted (established) by the English, French and Dutch to compete with the Portuguese
Emergence of the Triangular Trade
Triangular Trade- network with slaves from Africa transported; sugar, tobacco and other goods transported to Europe, and European products (especially firearms) sent to the coast of Africa
Rise of Mercantilism
mercantilism-an economic policy that involved minimizing imports, selling more exports and collecting taxes from colonies to make a profit
The End of Slavery
- England officially abolished the slave trade in 1807
- Olaudah Equiano
- the full end of slavery in the Americas occurred in 1888, when it was abolished in Brazil
