Download Domestic Growth and Expansion Abroad

Setting the Scenes
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Domestic Growth and Expansion Abroad
Population and Economics
 Colonialism
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Centralization of Power
The New Statecraft
 England, France, Spain, and the Holy Roman
Empire
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Population and Economics
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1600s 80% of the European Population was Agrarian
Soil was not keeping up with population
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4 or 5 bushels of wheat were yielded for every bushel sown
Modern farmers yield 40
During times when the soil was stingy people had to seek
alternatives- “famine foods”
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Chestnuts, Stripped Bark, Dandelions, Grass, Community in Norway
was forced to collect manure piles to wash the hay out of them to
make bread
Rumors of cannibalism
Smallpox, influenza, dysentery and other intestinal ailments
wiped out up to 1/3 of the population in some towns
Open Field System
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Open land was divided up among the peasants into narrow strips
without fences or hedges to be farmed
By farming the same piece of land over and over it was stripped
of its nutrients
A year of fallow was required but it wasted a season of harvest
and still required work to keep the weeds down
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Year one- wheat or rye
Year two- oats or beans
Year three- fallow
Sometimes peasants were forced into “gleaning the grain” after
the harvest was done
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See Jean Francois Millet’s The Gleaners
Agricultural Revolution
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Peasants were restless to take land from those who
owned strips of it and did not farm it
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Nobles and Clergy
Powerful forces stood in the way
Fallow had to be eliminated
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They needed to replace the fallow with nitrogen-storing crops
Some of these were peas, beans, and root crops like:
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Turnips
Potatoes
Grass and Clovers
These were rotated, soil nutrients were preserved and
farming was economized
The Revolution Begins
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Eventually more sophisticated methods were developed
to suit different soils
New crops brought better feed for animals
More animals meant more meat and better diets
More animals also meant more manure which meant
even more produce and eventually more animals
Common lands for grazing became increasingly
important for the peasants who needed space for their
animals and wood from the lord’s forests for fuel
Later Improvements
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By the turn of the 18th century engineers and
scientists began working with agriculturalists to
develop new strategies
Dutch Engineer Cornelius Vermuyden worked on a
massive drainage project in Yorkshire
 Viscount Charles “Turnip” Townsend learned about
and began using turnips and clover in the sandy soil
in Norfolk
 Jethro Tull began to use horses for plowing and
drilling equipment to sow seeds
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Effect on Population
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Population grows and shrinks in cycles
Black Death caused a sharp decline in the 14th century
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Labor shortage
Lords had to reinforce serfdom
Reaction failed but food prices dropped while wages
rose creating a better standard of living for peasants
This higher standard caused a population upsurge in
the 16th century that was finding less and less food per
person and a surplus of labor
By 1600- widespread poverty
The Cottage Industry
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Rural dwellers with little or no land became part of the urban
economy to supplement their income.
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The “Putting Out” System emerged
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They worked in their own homes for less money than their counterparts
in the city were willing to work for
City merchants would loan raw material to the rural cottage worker
The worker would craft a finished product and the merchant would then
purchase it from them and sell it in the city or abroad
In 1500 ½ of England’s textiles were produces in the
countryside
By 1700 English industry relied heavily on the “putting out”
system
Colonialism
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What factors contributed to the need for colonization?
How might the new colonies have affected the local
peasant?
How did it affect the nobility?
Did population play a role in European colonization?
Can you make comparisons to ancient Rome or
Greece?
Who were the biggest players in the game of world
monopoly?
What do you predict will happen?
European Expansion
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By the 16th century trade increased and
populations grew steadily
Partly because of rising confidence as assertive
regimes restored order
 Plague was gone
 Warming weather and agrarian reforms allowed for
better harvests
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Enclosure of common land once again became
an issue
Economics
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Banking- financiers who invested n trade made fortunes
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Business- guilds incorporated new trades and gave the merchant
class new structure
Silver- huge quantities were imported from the new world making
money more readily available
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Johannes Fugger of Augsburg
Italian and German Bankers controlled all of Europe's finances
Most of the silver passed from the Spanish to the Italians and Germans who
financed the Spanish wars and controlled American trade
Commercial revolution- new methods of bookkeeping, letters of
credit, corporate partnerships, venture capital, etc.
Capitalism- both a product of and an agent of economic growth
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The Merchant of Venice attacks the values that capitalism represented
Powers on the Seas
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Portuguese- began exploring in the 1410s-realized
the value of firepower and traveled in squadrons
Henry the Navigator
 Bartholomew Dias
 Vasco Da Gama
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The Portuguese empire relied on many small
trading ports with warehouses and arsenals
Developed a more sophisticated culture because of
contact with the east
Sold maps to the rest of Europe
Re-established the slave trade
The Spaniards
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Second tier of exploration
Focused more on the American continent
Founded their empire on conquest and
colonization
Financed (through the Medici Bank) the voyage
of Cristofero Colombo
Part 2: The New Statecraft
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International relations
Resident ambassadors
 Representatives in every major court
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Diplomatic immunities
Machiavelli
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The Prince
Gucciardini
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The History of Italy
The Prince
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One of the few radical books in history
Wrote about the method of power
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Tells what a ruler needs to do and how he needs
to maintain it
Religion and law as tactics in government
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First attempt at political science
Unity and contentment
Fear and respect are the basis of a ruler’s power
New Monarchs
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England
France
Spain
The Holy Roman Empire
Tudor England
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England contained around fifty out of 2.5 million families
that were noble
Gentry class begins to emerge
Parliament gained power as the only organization that
could give the ruler’s actions a stamp of approval
Henry VII- 1st concern was finance- paid off debt of the
crown with fees and fines and assigned managers to
handle finances
Henry VIII- arrogant and opposite of his father
Removed a longstanding thread in the north by defeating
the Scots
In breaking with the church he strengthened his rule and
the role of parliament
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House of commons and house of lords
Edward VI, Mary, Elizabeth
Elizabeth
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Ascended the throne in 1558 and during her reign England
became leader of the protestant nation of Europe
She laid the foundation for a world empire
Inherited a religious problem from her half sister Mary
She remained moderate but repealed Mary's catholic laws
Act of Supremacy made her the only governor of church and
state
Her Church of England was basically Protestant but was
moderate enough to make it somewhat acceptable to Catholics
She was also cautious about her foreign policy; war would be
disastrous
Trouble on the Rise
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Liz sent secret aid to the French Huguenots and
to Dutch Calvinists in order to weaken France
and Spain
She is eventually drawn into war with Philip II
of Spain who had been toying with her for years
In 1588 he sent over the Spanish Armada
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They underestimated England and thought that God
would be on their side
The Armada was battered in battle and then got
nailed by a major storm
Valois France
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Lacked cohesiveness- Aristocrats had too much
authority
Size of the kingdom was a barrier
Roman law dominated (England had common
law)
Estates limited the power of the throne
Army was the biggest advantage
Francis I and the pope become allies and France
gains some control over the church in France
War Torn France
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16th century was one of war and religion was at the center of it
Calvinism was spreading and the Huguenots were putting up a
fight against the government (with Liz’ support)
Possibly 40-50% of Nobles became Huguenots, including the
house of Bourbon which stood next to the Valois in line fro
succession and ruled the southern French kingdom of Navarre
The Catholic Majority still heavily outweighed the Calvinists
The Catholics supported strict oppression of the Huguenots
There was also a political agenda
In 1589 Henry of Navarre, a Bourbon Huguenot, took over the
throne
He knew that the Catholics wouldn’t put up with monkey
business so he Issued the Edict of Nantes- Catholicism was the
official religion but Huguenots could practice freely
Spain
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Castile and Aragon united under Ferdinand (Sicily and
Aragon) and Isabella (castile)
Reduced the number of nobles in the council
Gave positions based on ability rather than status
Charles I gains complete control over the church
Continued to rely on roman law
Received permission for the inquisition to out out
conversos and moriscos
The Holy Roman Empire
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Charles V- Ferdinand and Isabella’s grandson becomes
heir to Spain and the Hapsburg dukedom
Elected emperor
Kept n entirely Spanish administration in Spain
Ruled almost all of continental Europe
Away from Spain for almost 2/3 of his 40 yr reign
Constant war hurt the treasury and the size and
inefficiency of institutions led to powerful princes
breaking down the unity of the empire
Act 1, Scene 1
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SALANIO Believe me, sir, had I such
venture forth, the better part of my
affections would Be with my hopes
abroad. I should be still Plucking the
grass, to know where sits the wind,
Peering in maps for ports and piers
and roads; and every object that might
make me fear Misfortune to my
ventures, out of doubt Would make
me sad.
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SALARINO My wind cooling my
broth Would blow me to an ague,
when I thought What harm a wind
too great at sea might do. I should not
see the sandy hour-glass run, But I
should think of shallows and of flats,
And see my wealthy Andrew dock'd in
sand, Vailing her high-top lower than
her ribs to kiss her burial. Should I go
to church
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And see the holy edifice of stone,
And not bethink me straight of
dangerous rocks, which touching but
my gentle vessel's side, Would scatter all
her spices on the stream, Enrobe the
roaring waters with my silks, and, in a
word, but even now worth this, And
now worth nothing? Shall I have the
thought
To think on this, and shall I lack the
thought That such a thing bechanced
would make me sad? But tell not me; I
know, Antonio is sad to think upon his
merchandise.
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ANTONIO Believe me, no: I thank
my fortune for it, My ventures are not
in one bottom trusted, Nor to one
place; nor is my whole estate Upon the
fortune of this present year: Therefore
my merchandise makes me not sad.
Millet’s The Gleaners