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

Question 1

Historical Comparison: What made slavery in the Atlantic world different from that practiced by the First Civilizations?

Answer 1

•In the Atlantic world,slaves were an important source of agricultural labor,while slaves in the First Civilizations were not a primary agricultural labor force.
•In the Atlantic world,the children of slaves inherited their parents' status,while many children of slaves in the First Civilizations could become free.
•Slavery in the Atlantic world became wholly identified with blackness or with Africa;in the First Civilizations,slavery was not primarily associated with a single set of racial characteristics.
•The immense size of the traffic in slaves and the oceanic voyage taken by slaves were also distinctive features of the Atlantic slave trade.

Question 2

Comparative Analysis: Compare and contrast the spread of Western European Christianity with that of Islam during the early modern period.

Answer 2

An analysis of all of the major regions of the world,including the following points:
•In terms of who benefited the most,Western Europe and Russia benefited from the trade networks because of the profits they derived from the trade and the increased flow of resources and goods into those regions.
•China,whose economy was able to commercialize more rapidly (thanks in part to access to silver through European trading networks),also benefited.
•In terms of who suffered,the indigenous societies of the Americas benefited little from the trade networks because Europeans extracted,and profited the most from,the resources of the Americas.
•West African societies also suffered because their participation in the European trading network led to slow population growth,economic stagnation,and political instability.
•The indigenous peoples of the Philippines and of some of the Spice Islands also suffered at the hands of European traders and their trade networks.

Question 3

Personal Reflection: "The history of European empire building and trade in the early modern period is essentially the history of exploitation in pursuit of wealth and luxury goods." Is this statement a fair assessment of the period?

Answer 3

•There is an element of truth to the statement in terms of exploitation,as is shown in the treatment of indigenous populations of the Americas;slaves;the populations of the Philippines and the Dutch-controlled Spice Islands;and,to a certain degree,fur-trapping peoples.
•There is an element of truth in the charge of the pursuit of wealth because the pursuit of bullion did define many imperial policies of European powers and also motivated many individual merchants.
•There is also an element of truth in the focus on luxury goods because they were the primary products of long-distance trade.
•A good answer should also recognize that,however unintended,European empire building and trade did result in other,more beneficial outcomes,including the facilitation of the exchange of crops,domesticated animals,and technologies,especially between the peoples of Afro-Eurasia and the Americas.
•The increase in world trade also allowed further commercialization in regions such as China.