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Renaissance Economics
The Age of Discovery
Commercial Revolution
  “Price Revolution”
  Rising populations demanded more goods = higher prices
  New sources of gold & silver stimulate inflation
  Inflation stimulated production (make more money, invest in
more goods)
  Towns grow – begins the shift from rural to more urban societies
  Enclosure movements (England) to increase sheep herding &
wool production
 
Begins cottage (domestic) system as a source of income
  Bourgeoisie grows in power
  Increased standard of living = greater varieties of foods, spices
& tools especially among upper & middle classes
Commercial Revolution
  New Types of Businesses
  Banking = financed monarchies and capitalist enterprises
 
Fuggers (Germany) & Medici (Italy) become extremely powerful
  Joint Stock Companies = investors pool resources for a common
purpose
 
Emergence of stock market (Bourse in Antwerp)
 
Early examples of successful capitalism
 
Cloth production; Mining; Printing; Book Trade; Shipbuilding;
Weaponry (cannon)
  Chartered Companies = state provided monopolies
 
British East India Co.; Dutch East India Co.
 
Included ships & military power
 
Sugar**; Rice; Tea
Commercial Revolution
  Mercantilism = Creation of self-sufficient economy
where a nation exports more than it imports
  Bullionism = A country should acquire as much gold &
silver as possible
  Mercantilism helps support bullionism
  Rise of nation-states resulted in competition for empires
and trade
Motives for Exploration
  “God, Glory and Gold”
  Crusades = created interest in Asia & the Middle East
  Renaissance = search for knowledge
  Revival of ancient texts – Mathematics very popular
  Books = spread of accurate texts & maps
  Commercial Revolution = capitalist investments in
overseas exploration
  New Technology
Better Maps
[Portulan]
Hartman Astrolabe (1532)
Determines latitude by measuring
altitude of celestial bodies
Mariner’s Compass
Pointed to magnetic
north = easier to
determine direction
Sextant
Determines latitude
by measuring altitude
of celestial bodies
Innovations in Ship Design
Portuguese Caravel (1450)
  Lighter, faster ships that could
sail into the wind
  Lateen Sail = new rigging & style
that enabled sails to be more
maneuverable
  Axial Rudder (side rudder) =
improved change of direction
  Gunpowder & cannon =
provided protection and
facilitated domination of native
peoples
Prince Henry the Navigator
  Financed numerous
expeditions along Africa’s
West Coast
  Mercenary = looking for
gold & riches
  Religious = “save the souls”
of Muslims & pagans
Portugal
  Bartholomew Dias = Rounds Cape of Good
Hope (1487)
  Vasco da Gama
  Reaches India (1498)
  Brings back enough goods to finance
expedition multiple times
  Breaks Italian monopoly on trade with Asia
  “Old Imperialism” = establishing ports &
forts on coastal regions
  Focus on trade & missionary work NOT
conquest
  Alphonso d’Albuquerque = coastal regions
used as a base to control Indian Ocean
Spain
  Christopher Columbus = financed by
Spain in an attempt to compete with
Portugal
 
Searching for a western route to India
 
Reached the Bahamas (1492) believing
them to be the Indies
 
4 Expeditions charted most of the
Caribbean
 
Bartholomew de las Casas = “Black
Legend”
 
Critical of Columbus’ treatment of
the indigenous peoples
 
Used by Protestants to criticize the
Catholic missions (& Catholic Spain
in general)
American Exploration
  Amerigo Vespucci (Portugal)
  Might be the first explorer to realize
he was on a new continent
  Brazil = Portugal’s major colony in
the New World
  Vasco Nunez de Balboa (Spain) =
crossed Panama to find the Pacific
Ocean
  Ferdinand Magellan (Spain) =
charted the Pacific Ocean
  Magellan killed in the Philippines
but his ships are first to
circumnavigate the globe
American Exploration
Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)
  New World divided between
Spain & Portugal
  North-South line drawn
through the Atlantic
  West = Spain
  East = Portugal
  Portugal maintains Brazil and
control of African slave trade
  Spain protects Columbus’
discoveries
American Conquests
  “New Imperialism” = conquering & subjugating entire
regions
  Mercantilist = colonies exist for the benefit of the mother
country
  Mining = Crown got 20% of all precious metals
  Agriculture = produce food & goods for mines
  Encomienda = formal grants allowing forced servitude of
natives
  Replaced by Repartimiento = natives commit a certain number
of days to Spanish (still brutal labor resulting in many deaths)
American Conquests: Slavery
  Portugal introduces slavery in Brazil to farm sugar
plantations
  Dutch West India Co. (1621)
  England’s Royal African Co.
  Late 17th Century
  Caribbean & N. America
  By 1800 blacks = 60% of
Brazil’s population; 20% of
US population
  Est. 50 Million Africans died or became slaves in the 17th
& 18th Centuries
Columbian Exchange
From New World to Europe From Europe to New World
  Diseases: syphilis
  Plants: potato; corn; tomato;
pineapple; tobacco; vanilla,
beans; chocolate
  Began a food revolution in
Europe
  Potato became the new staple
crop of Europe
  Animals: turkey
  Gold & Silver
  Diseases: small pox; measles;
bubonic plague; influenza; typhus
  90% of American population
perished
  Plants: wheat; sugar; rice; coffee
  Animals: horses; cows; pigs; sheep;
goats; chickens
  Some natives embraced horses
  New sources of protein
American Conquest: New Rivals
  Dutch Republic
 
Began to challenge Spain
New World
 
Controlled slave trade by 1621
in the
1650
  France
 
Jacques Cartier = Search for
Northwest Passage
 
Quebec (1608) = first
settlement
  England
 
John Cabot = explored northeast coast but didn’t find any gold or silver
 
Jamestown (1607) = first permanent settlement
 
More English settlers than any other nationality