read chapter 12 which I attached. and answer the questions.
Worlds Together, Worlds Apart -- 3rd ed. Chapter 12 C O N T A C T, C O M M E R C E , A N D C O L O N I Z A T I O N , 1 4 5 0 – 1 6 0 0 447 I n 1519, five ships under the command of FerdinandMagellan set out from the Spanish mainland. Nearlythree years later a single vessel returned, having suc- cessfully circumnavigated the globe. This achievement came at a high cost: four ships had been lost, and only18 men out of 265 had staved off scurvy, starvation, and stormy seas to complete the journey. Magellan himself had died. But the survivors had be- come the first true world travelers. Unlike earlier adventurers who penetrated Eurasia and Africa, Magellan’s transoceanic passage connected these worlds with others that, from an Afro-Eurasian viewpoint, had been apart—the Americas. The voyages of Magellan and other European mariners in- tensified westerners’ contact with Asia’s vibrant commercial net- works and gave Europeans access to a region they called the New World. Although Christopher Columbus did not intend to “dis- cover” America when he went looking for Asia, his voyages con- vinced Europeans that there were still new territories to exploit and people to convert to Christianity. Moreover, in colonizing the Americas, Europeans drew on connections with West Africa. Indeed, African laborers became vital to agriculture and min- ing in the American colonies. Soon the New World’s riches were prominent participants in the commercial circuits of Afro-Eurasia. This chapter introduces the initial European conquest and colonization of the Americas. In the narrative of world history, few events surpass Columbus’s voyages of discovery, which opened up worlds about which Afro-Eurasians had no previous knowledge. For the first time since the Ice Age mi- grations, peoples again moved from Afro-Eurasian land- masses to the Americas. So did animals, plants, commercial products, and—most momentous—deadly germs. It was enormously significant that Europeans, rather than Asians or Africans, first stumbled upon the Americas and then exploited their resources. For Europeans, too, now became empire builders—but of a different nature. Their empires were overseas, far from the homeland. While the new colonies generated vast riches, they also brought unsettling changes to those who sought to make and maintain empires. Despite the significance of Europeans’ activity in the Americas, most Africans and Asians were barely aware of its importance to them. As the chapter demonstrates, Asian em- pires in Ottoman-controlled lands and in India and China continued to flourish after recovering from the Black Death. Nor was Europe’s attention exclusively on the Americas, for its national monarchies competed for sway at home. Reli- gious revolt in the form of the Protestant Reformation in- tensified these rivalries. In the wake of Columbus, the drive to build and protect empires across oceans—as well as reli- gious conflicts abroad and at home—scattered peoples, splat- tered blood, and shattered worlds. z THE OLD TRADE AND THE NEW Well before the products of the Americas entered the circuits of Afro-Eurasian trade, commerce had recovered from the destruction wrought by the Black Death. Just as political leaders had rebuilt states by mixing traditional and innovative ideas, merchant elites revived old trade patterns while estab- lishing new networks. Increasingly, traffic across seas sup- plemented, if not supplanted, the overland transportation of goods. The Indian Ocean and China Seas emerged as the focal points of Afro-Eurasia’s maritime commerce. Across these waters moved an assortment of goods, coordinated by Arab, Persian, Indian, and Chinese merchants who often set- tled in foreign lands. There they facilitated trade and mixed with locals. European mariners and traders, searching for new routes to South and East Asia, began exploring the Atlantic coast of Africa. Lured by spices, silks, and slaves, and aided by new maritime technology, Portuguese expeditions made their way around Africa and onward to India. Meanwhile, Spanish monarchs sponsored Columbus’s bid to reach Asia by sailing west across the Atlantic. Portuguese and Spanish ventures alike sought to convert “heathen” peoples to Christianity and to reap the riches abounding in Asian ports. Although Euro- � What was old and what was new in sixteenth-century world trade? 448 Chapter 12 CONTACT, COMMERCE, AND COLONIZATION, 1450–1600 A WWNORTON.COM/STUDYSPACE � What was old and what was new in sixteenth-century world trade? � How did the Portuguese attitude toward trade enable the Portuguese to exploit and dominate their trading partners? � What did European conquerors adopt and change from the New World traditions they encountered? � What military and maritime technologies advanced Portuguese exploration? � What caused the political rivalries and religious rifts that divided Europe in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries? � Why did trade expand and wealth increase in sixteenth-century Asia? 449THE OLD TRADE AND THE NEW � What was old and what was new in sixteenth-century world trade? strictures on overseas trade, coastal cities remained active harbors (see Map 12-1). Although the Chinese kept the best products for them- selves, their silks and porcelain were esteemed across Afro- Eurasia. But what did foreign buyers have to trade with the Chinese? The answer was silver, which became essential to the Ming monetary system. Whereas their predecessors had used paper money, Ming consumers and traders mistrusted anything other than silver or gold for commercial dealings. Once the rulers adopted silver as a means of tax payment in the 1430s, it became the predominant medium for larger transactions. However, China did not produce sufficient silver for its growing needs—a situation that foreigners learned to exploit. Indeed, silver and other precious metals were about the only commodities for which the Chinese would trade their pre- cious manufactures. Through most of the sixteenth century, China’s main source of silver was Japan, which one Floren- tine merchant called the “silver islands.” Chinese and Euro- pean merchants alike plied the routes from Japanese ports to the Chinese mainland. After the 1570s, however, the Philippines, now under the control of the Spanish, became a gateway for silver coming from the New World. The Ming had developed a commercial fleet, which enabled their merchants to ship goods to Manila in exchange for silver (as well as firearms, sugar, potatoes, and tobacco). Despite official attempts to control trade, China became the final repository for much of the world’s sil- ver for roughly two hundred years. According to one estimate, one-third of all silver mined in the Americas wound up in Chinese hands. This influx fueled China’s phenomenal eco- nomic expansion. New World silver also bought Europeans greater access to China’s coveted goods. THE REVIVAL OF INDIAN OCEAN TRADE China’s economic expansion occurred within the revival of Indian Ocean trade. In fact, many of the same merchants seeking trade with China developed a brisk commerce that tied the whole of the Indian Ocean together. As a result, ports in East Africa and the Red Sea again enjoyed links with coastal cities of India, South Asia, and the Malay Peninsula. Muslims dominated this trade. India was the geographic and economic center of these trade routes. With a population expanding as rapidly as China’s, its large cities (such as Agra, Delhi, and Lahore) each boasted nearly half a million residents. India’s manu- facturing center, Bengal, exported silk and cotton textiles and rice throughout South and Southeast Asia. Like China, India had a favorable trade balance (meaning they were exporting more than they were importing) with Europe and West Asia, exporting textiles and pepper (a spice that Europeans prized) in exchange for silver. peans still had little to offer would-be trading partners in Asia, their developing capability in overseas trade would lay the foundations for a new kind of global commerce. THE REVIVAL OF THE CHINESE ECONOMY China’s economic dynamism was the crucial ingredient to Afro-Eurasia’s global economic revival following the devasta- tion wrought by the Black Death. Under the Ming dynasty, commerce rebounded and the Chinese achieved impressive economic expansion. China’s vast internal economy, not external trade, was the mainspring of the country’s progress. After the Ming dynasty relocated its capital from Nanjing in the prosperous south to the northern city of Beijing, Chinese merchants, artisans, and farmers exploited the surging domestic market. Reconstruc- tion of the Grand Canal now opened a major artery that al- lowed food and riches from the economically vibrant lower Yangzi area to reach the capital region of Beijing. Urban cen- ters, such as Nanjing with a population approaching a million and Beijing at half a million, became massive and lucrative markets. Along China’s elaborate internal trading networks flowed silk and cotton textiles, rice, porcelain ceramics, paper, and many other products. The Ming’s concern about the poten- tially disruptive effects of trade did not dampen this activity, and efforts to curb overseas commerce (following Zheng He’s voyages; see Chapter 11) were largely unsuccessful. Mer- chants not only were tolerated but often thrived. And despite Chinese Porcelain Box. The shape, coloring, and texture of this Chinese porcelain writing box are a tribute to the exquisite craftsmanship that went into its production. This box was also a symbol of flourishing world trade and a typical example of what the French called “chinoiserie,” the possession of which was a hallmark of taste and cultivation among the rich and the status- conscious in Europe. In dealing with China, Indian merchants faced the same problem as Europeans and West Asians: they had to pay with silver. So they became as dependent on gaining access to sil- ver as others who were courting Chinese commerce. But un- like Chinese merchants, Indian and Islamic traders in the re- gion’s commercial hubs did not obey one overarching political authority. This gave them considerable autonomy from polit- ical affairs and allowed them to occupy strategic positions in 450 Chapter 12 CONTACT, COMMERCE, AND COLONIZATION, 1450–1600 MAP 12-1 TRADE AND PRODUCTION IN MING CHINA The Ming Empire in the early seventeenth century was the world’s most populous state and arguably its wealthiest. According to this map, what were the main items involved in China’s export-import trade, and what were some of the regions that pur- chased its exports? In what way does the activity represented on this map indicate why China was the world’s leading importer of silver at this time? Locate the major trading and shipbuilding centers, and then explain how important the export trade was to the Ming Empire’s prosperity. 0 0 250 500 Kilometers 250 500 Miles Melaka Bangkok Saigon Manila Jakarta MALDIVES Horses Horses Horses Hide Spices Gems Ivory Soya Beans Swords Copper Gold Silver Hide Silver Rice Spices Cotton (raw) Swords Timber Medicinal herbs Tea Ceramics Tea Tea Cotton Tea Sugar Silk Cannons Coins Ceramics Paper Sugar Silk (raw) Silk (cloth) Cotton (cloth) Cannons Coins Ceramics Paper M A L U K U MONGOLS MING CHINA ANNAM INDIA KOREA JAPAN PHILIPPINES TAIWAN BORNEO CELEBES CEYLON JAVA SUMATRA MALAY Bay of Bengal SOUTH CHINA SEA