Maintenance and Development of Maritime Empires (1450-1750)

Economic Strategies

Mercantilism

• Definition: A state-driven economic system focusing on building mineral wealth through a favorable balance of trade.
• Concept: Wealth viewed as a finite pie consisting of minerals like gold and silver.
• Goal: Achieve more exports than imports to accumulate wealth and power.
• Colonial Motivation: Colonies served as closed markets for the parent country's exports, increasing mineral wealth.

Joint Stock Companies

• Definition: Limited liability businesses often chartered by the state and funded by private investors.
• Role: Enabled expansion of economic ventures and imperial influence.
• Example: Dutch East India Company (chartered in 1602) - gained trade monopoly in the Indian Ocean, enriching investors and expanding Dutch imperial reach.
• Comparison: British, French, and Dutch used joint stock companies, unlike Spain and Portugal which funded ventures through the state.

Networks of Exchange

Change: Rise of the Atlantic System

• Description: Movement of goods, wealth, and laborers between the Eastern and Western hemispheres.
• Significant Goods:
  • Sugar: Growth in demand and decreased prices due to Caribbean plantations.
  • Silver: Exploited in South America, fueling European economies and Asian trade.
• Labor: Mostly coerced labor, including indigenous labor, indentured servants, and enslaved Africans.

Continuity: Regional Markets

• Persistence: Afro-Eurasian markets continued to flourish despite European dominance.
• Merchant Activity: Continued and benefited from increased European trade.
• Overland Routes: Silk Roads remained under Asian control (e.g., Ming and Qing Dynasties).

Social Effects

African Slave Trade

• Gender Imbalance: High demand for male laborers in agriculture created gender imbalances.
• Family Structures: Increase in polygyny due to depleted male population in Africa.
• Cultural Synthesis: Development of Creole languages in the Americas from European, African, and indigenous languages.

Belief Systems

Spanish and Portuguese Christianity

• Objective: Spread Christianity through indigenous conversion and use of Catholic missionaries.
• Cultural Influence: Imposed European languages and cultures on indigenous populations.
• Resistance and Syncretism: Indigenous groups often blended Christianity with native beliefs.
• Missionary Protection: Some missionaries, like Bartolomé de las Casas, protected indigenous peoples, leading to laws limiting forced labor.

These notes provide a comprehensive review of how maritime empires were developed and maintained between 1450 and 1750, focusing on economic strategies, exchange networks, social impacts, and belief systems.