Maintenance and Development of Maritime Empires (1450-1750)

Overview

Key question: How were Maritime Empires maintained and developed from 1450 to 1750?
Major focus on economic systems and strategies used by these empires.

Dominant economic system in Europe during this period.
Definition: State-driven, focused on accumulating mineral wealth (gold and silver) by maintaining favorable trade balances.
Goal: Acquire the largest share of wealth ("the biggest piece of the pie").
Encouraged competition among nations for limited resources.
Emphasized more exports than imports to accumulate wealth.
Motivated the establishment and expansion of empires, as colonies provided closed markets for exports.

Definition: Limited liability businesses chartered by the state, funded by investors.
Allowed private investment instead of state funding.
Created a mutual interdependence between the state and merchants (e.g., trade monopolies, protection).
Facilitated empire expansion by enabling merchants to expand influence.

Chartered in 1602 by the Dutch state with a monopoly on Indian Ocean trade.
Helped Dutch investors become wealthy and expanded Dutch power and influence.
French and British created similar companies, leading to rivalries and wars (e.g., Anglo-Dutch War).

Emerged post-Columbus, connecting Eastern and Western hemispheres.
Key products: Sugar, silver.
- Sugar: Plantation economies in the Caribbean increased supply and demand.
- Silver: Extraction from mines in Bolivia and other colonies fueled European and Asian economies.
Labor: Coerced labor (indigenous peoples, indentured servants, enslaved Africans).
Silver flow and trade monopolies crucial for maintaining this system.

Regional markets in Afro-Eurasia continued to flourish.
Overland routes like the Silk Roads remained under Asian control (Ming, Qing dynasties).
Local labor systems (peasant, artisan) persisted, with increased production for global markets.

Gender imbalance due to a demand for male laborers.
Changing family structures, increase in polygyny.
Cultural synthesis: Creole languages developed, blending African, European, and sometimes indigenous elements.

Christianity in South America: Spanish and Portuguese aimed to spread Christianity through missionaries.
- Mixed success, occasionally led to syncretic religion blending indigenous beliefs with Christianity.
- Missionaries, such as Bartolomé de las Casas, advocated for indigenous rights, leading to limited legislative changes.
Enslaved Africans brought native religions, leading to additional cultural blending.

Study Tip: Review the role of joint stock companies and mercantilism in empire expansion, the impact of trade on social structures, and the spread of religion in colonial contexts.