Deck 15: B: Economic Transformations Commerce and Consequence 1450-1750

Question 1

In what ways did Spain's involvement in Asia differ from that of Portugal?

Answer 1

•Portugal set up a trading post empire in which the objective was to control commerce rather than conquer territories.For instance,the Portuguese required merchant ships to purchase a pass and pay duties on their cargoes.They established fortified bases in Mombasa,Hormuz,Goa,Malacca,and Macao.
•Spain,on the other hand,established colonial rule in the Philippine Islands.Missionary zeal was much stronger,and reliance on Chinese and Japanese merchants was more pronounced.

Question 2

What factors drove the European demand for furs from North America and Siberia during the early modern era?

Answer 2

•Population growth and agricultural expansion in Europe had sharply diminished the supply of fur-bearing animals in the region.
•A period of cooling temperatures known as the Little Ice Age may well have increased the demand for furs during the early modern era.
•Rising prices for furs provided strong incentives for the exploitation of the immense wealth of fur-bearing animals in North America and Siberia.

Question 3

What features did the British and Dutch East India companies share?

Answer 3

•Both were private trading companies involving merchant investors who raised money and shared risks and profits.
•Both received charters from the government,which gave them trading monopolies and the power to wage war and govern conquered peoples.
•Each established their own trading post empires,with the Dutch in the islands of what is now Indonesia and the British in Mughal India.

Question 4

What role did women play in the global commerce of the early modern era?

Question 5

What factors contributed to the predominance of African slaves in the Atlantic slave trade?

Question 6

How did the Atlantic slave trade affect African states and society?

Question 7

What impact did the global silver trade have on world history?

Question 8

In what ways did Asian countries and merchants have the upper hand in Asian commerce during the period from 1450 to 1750?

Question 9

What features of the Atlantic slave trade distinguished it from slavery in the premodern world?