Modern Economics, Strayer 14

12/22/2016

Above: A good look at the horrors of the Potosi mine.

Sorry for the delay in getting this forum up. I hope your holiday is going well.

I want you to know, I'm serious about this chapter and this assignment. I would not be doing you a service if I failed to keep this cource moving forward. I was generous about the final, but don't take that as signal that I'll be easing up. We need to get everyone in a WHAP state of mind over the next few months, and that begins now!

This economic history has all the themes and motiffs we see in the world we watch in our news feeds and in the concerns and elation spread on social media. Here is where that world began - social inequality, exploitation, amazing advances in the application of science. Zero in and get to a deep understanding of these events and trends.

45 Comments

Arielle Ollagnon

12/26/2016 04:12:50 pm

Hi all, so no one has posted yet and I think it would be helpful to get the ball rolling for this chapter so we can all nail this test first thing when we get back to school. Here's my shot at MQ 1:

What drove European involvement in the world of Asian commerce?

-desire for spices including cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, cloves and pepper
-other Asian products were in demand
-recovery of European civilization after the Black Death including military and city growth
-Europeans resented Muslim monopoly on Indian and Venetian trade
-Christian monarch drove Portuguese to crusade the Islamic enemy

Am I on the right track? Feel free to edit anything!

Ashi Porter

12/27/2016 05:50:14 pm

I agree with the statements that you provided Arielle. Could you also put that Europeans were looking for a direct access to African goldfields?

Eliza and Amy

1/3/2017 03:18:58 pm

We were thinking about the same thing, but got stuck on whether this answers the question about "Asian commerce".

This point could be added if worded, "discovery of silver and gold mines provided Europeans with a means of paying for Asian goods".

What do you think?

Amy and Eliza

1/3/2017 03:21:10 pm

We also thought that competition between the European kingdoms may have contributed to the race/desire to join the Indian Ocean trade network.

Bingham

1/3/2017 05:33:13 pm

Again, two good edits guys. This back and forth is very helpful for everyone.

Ashi Porter

12/27/2016 05:56:38 pm

MQ 2: To what extent did the Portuguese realize their own goals in the Indian Ocean?

- Realized that peaceful trade would not be accepted due to the lack of demand for European goods.
- Military advantage: Ships
- Became a trading post empire
- Made merchant vessels pay taxes
- Failed to dominate commerce so they assimilated back to the old ways of trade

Please feel free to edit, I think I might have gotten confused along the way and didn't answer the question directly, so if I'm wrong please guide me in the right direction.

Mia Wei

12/28/2016 12:09:28 pm

hi Ashi!
I'll try to help :)) but the extent part of this question threw me off as well... The way I answered this question was by first identifying the goals of the Portuguese in the Indian Ocean.

Their goal was to create a "trading post empire" that controlled Indian Ocean commerce and monopolized the spice trade.

This was only partly realized because, although they obtained key locations in the Indian Ocean world and, for about a century, monopolized the route around southernmost Africa, they failed to dominate Indian Ocean commerce, never controlled much more than half of the spice trade to Europe, and by 1600, their "trading post empire" was in steep decline.

that's what I said for this question! of course, I am open to advice!

Bingham.

12/28/2016 01:06:37 pm

Yeah, that's good Mia.

Eliza Pillsbury

1/3/2017 03:16:11 pm

What do you think about adding a sentence about their assimilation into Asian and African societies?

Maybe changing the last bit to "By 1600, their 'trading post empire' was in steep decline, and Portuguese merchants had assimilated into Asian and African societies."

Bingham.

1/3/2017 05:30:52 pm

Good edit Eliza.

Marisa Wattenbarger

1/5/2017 03:59:10 pm

Would it also be correct to say that when the Portuguese first to Asia for trade they simply wanted to be included in their lucrative market, but when they realized that they could not compete due large gape between European and Asian goods. They changed their goals to instead gain profit through the control of goods on the Indian ocean.

Taylor Scott

1/5/2017 08:02:31 pm

Yes. You could probably combine that answer with the bullet about cartaz or with the bullet about peaceful trade not being an option. I just think that it is important be aware that the Portuguese were focused on commerce.

Bingham

12/28/2016 06:31:29 pm

Here's a nugget for you.

To what extent did the British and Dutch trading companies change the societies they encountered in Asia?

The Dutch acted to control not only the shipping but also the production of cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, and mace. With much bloodshed, the Dutch seized control of a number of small spice-producing islands, forcing their people to sell only to the Dutch.

On the Banda Islands, the Dutch killed, enslaved, or left to starve virtually the entire population and then replaced them with Dutch planters, using a slave labor force to produce the nutmeg crop.

Ultimately, the local economy of the Spice Islands was shattered by Dutch policies, and the people there were impoverished.

The British established three major trading settlements in India during the seventeenth century: Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras. They secured their trading bases with the permission of Mughal authorities or local rulers.

British traders came to specialize in Indian cotton textiles, and hundreds of villages in the interior of southern India became specialized producers for the British market.

Taylor Scott

12/29/2016 01:04:42 pm

Hi. Since we are working on comparitive essays, I think it would be beneficial to me and possibly others to have a document with all of the comparison margin questions for collaboration. This google doc contains MQ3, MQ7, Summing Up So Far, and MQ8. Suggestions and edits welcome.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wIjNwk3iSEScmDBB99P2UifTAWzHNRuDBErie3JH7cY/edit?usp=sharing

Bingham

12/29/2016 02:37:23 pm

Great idea. I hope lots of people get in there, control their fear, and contribute.

Cassie Barham

12/29/2016 01:44:35 pm

BPQ: To what extent did Europeans transform earlier patterns of commerce, and in what ways did they assimilate to those older patterns?

Transform:
--Europeans started functioning globally and created new networks of trade across the Atlantic ocean and Pacific ocean
--Regions which exchanged fur were also brought into those wider networks of exchange

Assimilate:
--In some areas, Europeans simply sought to take control of already established trade routes and facilitate the exchange of many of the same products.

Cassie Barham

12/29/2016 01:56:34 pm

BPQ: Asians, Africans, and Native Americans experienced early modern European expansion in quite different ways. Based on chapters 13 and 14, how might you describe and explain those differences? In what respects were they active agents in the historical process rather than simply victims of European actions?

Americas:
--devastation of Native American populations due to disease, and technological advantages of the Europeans -->economically influenced by the Europeans and politically dominated

Africa:
--Europeans not having immunity to tropical diseases-->Europeans made no attempt to conquer large, profitable territories
--Europeans strengthened trade and created new trading posts

Asia:
--Europeans attempted to set up "trading post empires,"some with success and some without (Dutch able to dominate some of the Spice Islands, and both British and Portuguese set up trading posts on coast of Indian ocean. Larger territories were conquerable by the Europeans)

Active Agents:
--Europeans depended on the willing participation of the local African and Asian regions for trading in the coast of the Indian and Atlantic oceans
--Native Americans that participated in the fur trade were often able to interact with Europeans as equals

Arielle Ollagnon

1/1/2017 01:39:38 pm

MQ 5 What was the world historical importance of the silver trade?

First direct and sustained link between the Americas and Asia, and it initiated a web of Pacific commerce that grew steadily over the centuries.

It became a key commodity driving long-distance trade and offered the Europeans a product that they could produce that was also in demand elsewhere in the world.

Taylor Scott

1/4/2017 07:27:31 pm

These points are necessarily concerning the entire world; however these contingencies help establish the future of the world, if you will:

- generated more inflation in Spain
- flood of American silver drove prices higher in Europe, impoverished many, and stimulated uprisings across the continent
- Japan used silver to develop a market-based economy which led to an Industrial Revolution

What do you think?

Arielle Ollagnon

1/5/2017 01:02:17 pm

Yeah definitely, I just took it to be asking for more of a broad sort of like entire world kinda question rather than how did it directly influence each place.

Brook

1/5/2017 07:38:55 pm

Could you also add to this that: As Spain achieved this influx of silver the Chinese decided to make that their currency for taxation. This taxation helped propel the Spanish onto the world stage in military power due to them having enough wealth to maintain a strong military. This new demand for silver also allowed japan to unify itself through war.
First post on the forums and typing on a phone so i don't know how it looks or if the capitalization and punctuation are correct.

Arielle Ollagnon

1/1/2017 01:45:14 pm

MQ 6 Describe the impact of the fur trade on North American native societies.

-The natives traded fur for European goods
-It enhanced influence and authority for some Native American leaders who controlled the fur trade.
-It ensured the protection of Native Americans involved in the fur trade, at least for a time, from the kind of extermination, enslavement, or displacement that was the fate of some native peoples elsewhere in the Americas.
-exposed Native Americans to European diseases
-left Native Americans dependent on European goods without a corresponding ability to manufacture the goods themselves.
-It brought alcohol into Indian societies, often with destructive effects

Bingham

1/1/2017 07:53:54 pm

Nice!

Taylor Scott

1/5/2017 08:06:28 pm

Don't forget that the fur trade also generated warfare!!!

Ashi Porter

1/2/2017 03:45:37 pm

MQ 9: What explains the rise of the Atlantic slave trade?

- The Mediterranean world and its cultivation of sugar
- The immense difficulty and danger, the limitations attached to slave labor, the absence of wage workers.
- Ottoman Turks seized Constantinople the supply of Slavic slaves was cut off.
- Religious justification from the pope.

Taylor Scott

1/4/2017 03:38:55 pm

Don't forget that process of elimination was a factor! (Slavic peoples were not available; Native Americans perished easily from European diseases; "European Christians were exempt from slavery"; and European indentured servants were expensive and temporary)

Ashi Porter

1/2/2017 04:08:42 pm

MQ 11: In what different ways did the Atlantic slave trade transform African societies?

- Population decrease by 12% from 1600-1900
- Maize and manioc from Americas became a new source of calories.
- Fostered moral corruption in judicial systems
- Labor demands on women increased
- Men could have multiple wives due to the decrease in male population.
- Retaining female slaves for their personal use separated warriors and nobles from peasants.
- Small-scale kinship based societies were disrupted by raids from more powerful neighbors.

Taylor Scott

1/4/2017 03:47:20 pm

What about adding these
- Africa became a permanent part of an interacting Atlantic world
- generated economic stagnation and political disruption
- no technological breakthroughs

Amy and Eliza

1/3/2017 06:08:29 pm

MQ3: Comparison: How did the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, and British initiatives in Asia differ from one another? (8 points)

-Portuguese were the only ones to assimilate into local culture
-Portuguese were the first to enter Indian Ocean commerce.
-Spanish were the only ones to not establish a trading post empire, instead they made a colonial empire in the Philippines.
-Spanish were also the only ones to push their culture (including their religion) on those within their empire, experiencing conflict on the Islamic island of Mindanao
-Both the Dutch and the British established private trading companies
-The British were the only ones to use diplomatic relations in trade, whereas the others, especially the Dutch used violence and coercion.

Arielle Ollagnon

1/4/2017 04:08:47 pm

Could you guys possibly add this to the google doc Taylor created? The link is the one she posted above for the comparison MQ's.

Amy and Eliza

1/4/2017 07:09:04 pm

We actually drew a lot of these points from Taylor's chart and rephrased it as a list, so most of this should already be on the document. Please feel free to it over, we just thought that more people might see this if it was posted directly on the forum. :)

Amy and Eliza

1/4/2017 07:09:43 pm

*Please feel free to copy it over

Mad Chase

1/5/2017 07:56:23 pm

I would add a few of these points
-the Spanish used colonial control of their incorporated islands where they drew on their American experiences of Christian conversion, ruling the islands directly and from within the country not outside, and private Spanish land owning

Taylor Scott

1/4/2017 03:51:26 pm

MQ10: What roles did Europeans and Africans play in the unfolding of the Atlantic slave trade?

- Europeans had demand for slaves
- Europeans waited on coast to purchase save from African merchants and political elites

Anything else?

Arielle Ollagnon

1/4/2017 04:07:50 pm

Hi Taylor, I had a few more points than that for MQ 10.

-European demand for slaves was clearly the chief cause of the trade.
-From the point of sale on the African coast to the massive use of slave labor on American plantations, the entire enterprise was in European hands.
-Europeans tried to exploit African rivalries to obtain slaves at the lowest possible cost, and the firearms that they funneled into West Africa may well have increased the warfare from which so many slaves were derived.
-From the point of initial capture to sale on the coast, the slave trade was normally in African hands. Africans brought slaves to the coast for sale to Europeans waiting on ships or in fortified settlements.

So that answer incorporates your answer and a few more points. Let me know if there's anything to edit!

Taylor Scott

1/4/2017 06:15:45 pm

I think that the first point also needs to incorporate the European demand for sugar. What do you think?

Eliza Pillsbury

1/5/2017 06:33:35 pm

I'm not sure this answer needs to mention the European demand for sugar. I used that as part of my answer for MQ9, but didn't go into their motives as much for this question. What do you think?

Taylor Scott

1/5/2017 08:16:13 pm

You make a very good point; however, I think that without the Europeans demanding sugar as quickly as possible for economic purposes, there would be not nearly as massive as an engine for the Atlantic slave trade. The role of the Europeans is consumer, whereas Africans are producers. Do you think that would be a better way to include the demand that fueled this slave trade?

Arielle Ollagnon

1/5/2017 01:04:09 pm

Yeah for sure, sugar is an integral part of that first point, sorry I left that out!

Niara Pelton

1/5/2017 06:02:26 pm

MQ7: How did North American and Siberian fur trades differ from each other? What did they have in common?
Similarities:
Disease took its toll on the Native people
Natives developed a dependency on Russian goods
Many species of fur bearing mammals were depleted
Differences
No competition
Russian authorities imposed a tax in furs
Large scale presence of private hunters and trappers

Eliza Pillsbury

1/5/2017 06:31:00 pm

Maybe you could elaborate a bit more on your differences! They're all correct. By itself "no competition" doesn't explain the phenomenon, so make sure to say "Russia experienced no competition for Siberian furs, unlike the rivalries between European states in the Americas." Just something to clarify the two opposing statements. Mr. Bingham mentioned this when we were writing comparative essays, so I thought it might apply here!

Mad Chase

1/5/2017 07:53:12 pm

When you say there was "no competition" you should elaborate that there is no outside country competition, because there was competition for furs in Siberia between private Russian fur trappers and the native Siberians

Niara Pelton

1/5/2017 06:20:22 pm

MQ8: What was distinctive about the Atlantic slave trade? What did it share with other patterns of slave owning and slave trading?
Differences
Atlantic slave trade favored males
Immense size of the slave traffic
Centrality to American economies
Based on plantation agriculture
Slaves treated as dehumanized property
Slave status inherited generationally
Identified with Africa and blackness
Similarities
Closely linked to warfare and capture
Acquisition of slaves from Africa
Enslavement of outsiders

Taylor Scott

1/5/2017 08:18:43 pm

Hey, Can you explain the similarity of the acquisition of slaves from Africa? I think that I am a bit confused.

Mia Wei

1/5/2017 08:46:33 pm

I believe she is talking about how Africans were taken captive for both the Old World slave trade (destined for Mediterranean, Middle East, and Indian Ocean basin) and the Atlantic slave trade.

Bingham

Welcome class of 2019. Some years students collaborate in this space effectively, some years not so much. One thing I know, collaboration significantly enhances learning. If you want access to my thoughts, this is the collaboration space to use. Most people propose an answer to margin questions, big picture question, or anything else related to managing Strayer. Other people can then comment leading to a stronger answer. I'll keep an eye on these pages, and pop in when I think you need me.

Modern Economics, Strayer 14

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