Download Mercantilism

EUROPEAN EXPLORATION
Technological influences due to the scientific revolution resulted in the following products that
heightened the exploration patterns of European nations:
1. Mapmaking- World is round; Asia and Africa are now added to Ptolemy’s maps. America was still
unknown to Europeans. Belief: sailing west is quicker trade route with Asia
2. Navigation- Compass was invented in the 1100’s; pointed iron needle toward magnetic north
3. Ship-building- Innovations by Portuguese and Spanish increased the size and shape of ships; allowed
ships to sail against the wind
Economy
European economy between the 1400’s and 1700’s changed very dramatically, and resulted in the time
period being known as the Commercial Revolution
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Fixed values were beginning to be placed on coins in Italy, Austria
International trade and banking was made easier
Banks stored money that they could lend to business or explorers
Joint-Stock company: Owners raised money by selling their stock in the company.
o Investors would purchase stock and become co-owners
o Used to finance overseas exploration
Mercantilism- A country’s government should do all it could to increase the wealth of the nation;
measured in gold and silver
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World contained a fixed amount of wealth; to increase wealth, a country must take the wealth
from another country
Mercantilism: wealth is built in 2 fashions
o Mine gold and silver at home or in colonies
o Sell more goods than it purchased- receiving more gold and silver than it pays resulted
in a strengthening of the country and a weakening of its rivals; known as a favorable
balance of trade
Favorable balances of trade were accomplished in 3 ways:
o Reduce the amount of goods imported from other countries by imposing tariffs on the
good (people won’t pay more for this product)
o Encourage manufacturing on the home-front by issuing subsidies (grants of money) to
help businessmen, manufacturers, and explorers
o Control overseas sources of materials
Colonies: essential to mercantilist notion of increasing wealth
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Colonies couldn’t trade or sell with other colonies; could only buy from mother Country
PORTUGUESE AND SPANISH EXPLORATION
Prince Henry “The Navigator”- member of the Portuguese royal family
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Portugal was in search of gold, spices, and spreading the Christian faith
1420’s Prince Henry’s navigators were exploring into the Atlantic Ocean
By 1430’s Portugal was moving along the west-African coast
Portugal traded for slaves, gold, and ivory in Africa
1488- Bartolomeu Dias sailed around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa; discovered
the route to the Indian Ocean
Vasco Da Gama- sailed across the Indian Ocean, landing in India in 1498
The explorations of Dias and Da Gama opened the trade routes from Europe to India and the East Indies
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Spices, jewels were arriving from Asia to Portugal
Christopher Columbus
Genoan navigator who believed that a shorter route to Asia was found by sailing west instead of around
the Cape of Good Hope
1492 Columbus set sail from Spain and sailed west across the Atlantic Ocean; landed at San Salvador in
October (4 month voyage)
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Columbus returned to Spain believing that he had found islands off the coast of India
Columbus had actually discovered the Americas
Columbus believed his whole life that he had sailed to Asia
Columbian Exchange- interaction and exchange of goods, plants, animals, and diseases between the
New World (Americas) and the Old World (Europe)
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Potatoes, tomatoes, beans, and corn were brought to Europe
Spanish brought horses to America, Europeans brought smallpox and other diseases
During 1400’s, Spain and Portugal often claimed the same newly discovered lands. Solution: religion?
Pope Alexander VI- issued an edict in 1493 that drew and imaginary line from north to south through
the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
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Spain: rights to all newly discovered lands west of the imaginary line
Portugal: rights to all newly discovered lands east of imaginary line
Treaty of Tordesillas- between Spain and Portugal moved the line farther west; Portugal claimed Brazil
in 1500.
OTHER EXPLORERS
Amerigo Vespucci- Italian navigator that crossed the Atlantic several times between 1497-1504 as part
of Spanish and Portuguese expeditions.
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Did not believe that the land was part of Asia; called it a “New World”
“America” named by a German mapmaker in honor of Amerigo Vespucci
Vasco Nunez de Balboa- crossed the Isthmus of Panama over land. Reached the Pacific; claimed it for
Spain
Ferdinand Magellan- Portuguese navigator who sailed for Spain.
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1519 Magellan sailed from Spain to South America, reached the “Strait of Magellan,” rounded
into the Pacific Ocean
Magellan sailed to the Philippines before dying; his crew continued and circumnavigated the
world.
Portugal in Asia
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After Dias and da Gama, Portuguese dreamed of controlling trade with Asia
By the mid 1500’s Portugal controlled Malacca, the Moluccas (Spice Islands) and Sri Lanka
Portugal also established armed trading posts on the East African coast (Mozambique)
Slave Trade
Portugal initially had friendly relations with Africa, but their economic interests were stronger than their
desire for peace
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Portuguese set up plantations off of the coast of Africa; required large numbers of slaves
Followed soon by British, Dutch, English, and French
Triangular Trade-system involving slavery and goods being exchanged between Europe, Africa, and the
Americas.
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Europeans shipped liquor, cotton, and weapons to leaders in Africa
African slaves were shipped to the Americas to work as slaves
Goods produced in America were shipped back to Europe
Spain soon annexed Portugal after its kingdom couldn’t repay the losses that it suffered financing
several explorations.
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Portugal didn’t regain its independence until the 1600’s
Colonial Spain
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During the 1500’s, Spain emerged as the most powerful nation in Europe
Spain controlled the majority of the explored lands in the Americas
Hernando de Cortez
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1519 Cortez led 600 men into the Yucatan peninsula in present-day Mexico
Cortez seized Montezuma, the ruler of the Aztec people
Tenochtitlan, the great Aztec capital, was destroyed
Francisco Pizarro
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Led 180 men from the Isthmus of Panama to the capital of the Incan Empire in Peru
1533 Pizarro claimed land from Ecuador to Chile for Spain
Spain now had control of the South American continent, as well as much of Mexico
Charles V- member of the Habsburg family that took the Spanish throne in 1516; was elected Holy
Roman Emperor in 1519.
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Charles V was torn whether or not to support a Spanish viewpoint or to support German ideals
Charles was forced to defend Christian from invasion of the Ottoman Turks (Muslim)
Wars drained Spain’s resources
Charles: Spanish and Holy Roman Empires were too large for one man to rule
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1566 son Philip II received Spain, Charles’s brother Ferdinand I was king of Hungary and
Bohemia; was now the Holy Roman Emperor and head of the Austrian Habsburgs
Philip II (1556-1598)
Philip ruled for 32 years trying to maintain Spain’s hold of the most dominant country in Europe
Philip controlled every aspect of government, and felt that as a devout Catholic he had to lead the
counter-reformation against Protestant religions in Europe
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Ordered the Spanish Inquisition, an attempt to rid heresy from Spain (many unjust murders)
Defeated the Ottoman Empire in Mediterranean Sea
Attempted to invade England by using his Spanish Armada in 1588; failed
Attempted to invade France to prevent Protestant from becoming king; failed
Philip II’s attempts to fight reformation resulted in huge financial failures. His worst error dealt with his
handling of the Netherlands
The Netherlands
The institution of Calvinism, a strict Protestant religion preaching pre-destination, was growing rapidly in
The Netherlands, which at the time were a part of the Spanish Empire
Philip II, a Catholic, largely ignored the Netherlands’ long tradition of self-rule,
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Didn’t want the nobles to hold any authority; wanted complete autonomy
Philip also taxed the Dutch trade industry to pay for Spanish involvement in wars versus the Turks,
England, etc.
Philip also persecuted the Calvinists in the Netherlands- resulting in rebellion
1568- William of Orange led revolt against Philip
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Followers of Calvinism in the Netherlands lived in a region that lied below sea level; once Philip’s
army entered the region, they opened the dikes and flooded the countryside
William sent small bands of fighters to keep the Spanish disoriented (guerilla warfare)
1579- North provinces of The Netherlands declared their independence from Spain; continued to fight
the Spanish well after William’s death until 1648
Since the Netherlands was on the southern border of the North Sea, they were prominent traders
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Dutch ruled European commerce during the 17th century (1600’s)
Amsterdam became a financial center of Europe
Calvinism was the prominent religion, but the Dutch practiced religious tolerance
Colonial Netherlands
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1602 Dutch East India Company founded; total control over trade between Netherlands and
East Indies
Founded colonies throughout the Spice Islands; traded for sugar, tea, coffee, and spices
Established colony at the Cape of Good Hope, which allowed them to protect their trade routes
Dutch established colonies in Japan, North and South America, and West Indies.
o Warmly received because they did not impose any religious or social customs on natives
Spain continued to decline because of their accumulation of debt, lack of a strong middle class, and the
trade success of England, France, and the Netherlands.
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Furthermore, Spain’s expelling of Jews and Muslims got rid of large amounts of commercial
revenue