Chapter 22

Transoceanic Encounters and Global Connections

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Martin Waldseemüller, Universalis Cosmographia, 1507

Why Portugal?

Portugal: a relatively resource- and land-poor country.

Beginning in the 1300s, Portuguese begin sailing into the open Atlantic, mainly for fishing, whaling, and land

Claimed Madeira Islands (settled ca. 1420) and Azores (settled 1433) in the Atlantic

Acquisition of islands to plant profitable sugarcane

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Portuguese flagin the 1400s

Why Portugal?

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The Lure of Trade

Asian Luxury Items: spices, silk, porcelain Overland silk roads more dangerous since spread of

bubonic plague outbreak began in 1346 Prices and profits on Asian goods increase in the

1400s with Ottoman dominance (conquest of Constantinople in 1453); Venice a trading leader

Indian pepper, Chinese ginger increasingly essential to diet of European wealthy classes

Sub-Saharan African Trade: gold, ivory, slaves

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Missionary Efforts

Franciscan, Dominican missionaries to India, central Asia and China

Violent efforts with crusades, reconquista – leant a religious element to encounter with native peoples across the globe

When Vasco da Gama reached Calicut in 1498, he told authorities he was looking for “Christians and spices” (Indian Christians had existed since the first century A.D. due to the overland trek of St. Thomas the Apostle)

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The Technology of Exploration

Chinese rudder introduced in twelfth century Square sails replaced by triangular lateen sails

Work better with cross winds Navigational instruments

Astrolabe (from Arabs) measures latitude Magnetic compass (from China) to find north

Knowledge of winds, currents The volta do mar

“Return through the sea”

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1500s brass astrolabe

Wind and Current Patterns in the World’s Oceans

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Portuguese Breakthroughs

Prince Henry of Portugal (1394-1460) Promoted exploration of west African coast Established fortified trading posts

1488, Bartolomeu Dias rounds Cape of Good Hope, enters Indian Ocean basin Storms and restless crew force return

Vasco da Gama reaches India by this route, 1497 By 1500, Portuguese establish a trading post at Calicut

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Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) Believed Earth was smaller

Estimated Japan approximately 2,500 miles west of Canaries (actually 10,000 miles)

John II of Portugal refuses to fund the proposed westward trip since his experts thought Columbus’s calculations were way off

Fernando and Isabel of Spain sponsor voyage, but Italian bankers underwrite it

Five weeks from the Canaries he lands in the Bahamas; also lands on Cuba and Hispaniola

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Hemispheric Links

Columbus tries three times, never reaches Asia But by early sixteenth century, several powers

follow his westerly route English, Spanish, French, Dutch

Europeans quickly realize the value of newly discovered continents

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European Exploration in the Atlantic Ocean, 1486-1498

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Circumnavigation of the Globe

Vasco Nuñez de Balboa finds Pacific Ocean while searching for gold in Panama, 1513 Distance to Asia still only a guess

Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521) not supported by Portuguese, sails in service of Spain Sails through Strait of Magellan at southern tip of South America Magellan killed in local political dispute in Philippines in April

1521 Crew assailed by scurvy, only 18 of 250 sailors return to Spain

from journey in Sept. 1522, and only one of the original five ships made it

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Exploration of the Pacific Spanish build Philippines-Mexico trade route English, Russians look for northwest passage to Asia

Most of route clogged by ice in Arctic circle Norwegian Roald Amundsen completes route only in

twentieth century Sir Frances Drake (England) explores west coast of

North America in 1579 (around what is now the San Francisco), calling it Nova Albion

Vitus Bering (Russia) sails through Bering Strait in the 1720s

James Cook (England) explores the southern Pacific in the 1770s

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European Exploration, Cook’s Voyages in the Pacific Ocean, 1519-1780, and Magellan’s Voyages

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Establishment of Trading-Post Empires Portuguese first to set up trading posts

Fifty by mid-sixteenth century Not to establish trade monopolies, but to make merchants pay

duties Afonso d’Alboquerque (1453-1515) was the naval commander

who brought the Indian Ocean under Portuguese control Architect of trade duties policy; violators would have hands

amputated Yet Arab traders continue to evade him and operate Portuguese control declines by end of 16th century; the small

country can’t sustain the manpower necessary to do so

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English and Dutch Trading Posts

In the 1600s and 1700s, rival, parallel trading networks develop mainly in India and the East Indies, and on a smaller scale in North America

English seize “New Amsterdam” from the Dutch in 1664 and rename it “New York”

English mainly focus on Indian trade, setting up posts in Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta

Dutch in Cape Town, Colombo, and Batavia (now Jakarta on the Indonesian island of Java)

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European Trading Posts in Africa and Asia, about 1700

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The Trading Companies

Advantage of Dutch and English over Portuguese English East India Company, established 1600 Dutch United East India Company (VOC, which

stands for Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie), established 1602

Privately owned ships, government support Empowered with right to engage in trade, build

posts, even make war Exceptionally profitable

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The Trading Companies

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VOC ship Mauritius ca. 1618 painted by Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom

European Conquests in Southeast Asia

Spanish conquer Philippines in 1565 under conquistador López de Legazpi (1502-1572), name them after King Philip II

Manila proclaimed capital in 1571 and becomes major port city Influx of Chinese traders, highly resented by Spanish, Filipinos Frequent massacres throughout seventeenth, up to nineteenth

century Significant missionary activity

Dutch concentrate on spice trade in Indonesia Establish Batavia, trading post in Java Less missionary activity

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Russian Expansion in Asia Russians begin to take over Mongol khanates in

Central Asia in mid-sixteenth century Astrakhan becomes major trading city Caucasus absorbed into Russian Empire in the

eighteenth century Expansion into Siberia from the sixteenth to

seventeenth century Trade with indigenous Siberian peoples

Little success with missionary efforts Some local rebellions

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Russian Occupation of Siberia

As early as the 1590s, criminals and prisoners of war were exiled to Siberia

Beginning in the 1600s, many fugitive peasants fled east to escape harsh conditions of serfdom

Trading posts develop Russian population expands dramatically

In 1763: 420,000 Russians in Siberia, outnumber indigenous peoples 2:1

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The Seven Years’ War (1756-1763)

Commercial rivalries between empires at sea Global conflict erupts: multiple theatres in

Europe, India, Caribbean, North America North America: merges with French and Indian War,

1754-1763 British emerge victorious, establish primacy in

India, Canada

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The Seven Years’ War (1756-1763)

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Blue: Great Britain, Prussia, Portugal, with alliesGreen: France, Spain, Austria, Russia, Sweden with allies

The Columbian Exchange

Named for Christopher Columbus Global diffusion:

Plants and crops Animals Human populations Disease pathogens

Links between previously

independent biological zones Permanently alters human geography, natural

environment

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1563 German illustration of a tomato plant

Epidemic Diseases & Population Decline

Smallpox Also bubonic plague, chicken pox, cholera, common cold,

diphtheria, influenza, leprosy, malaria, typhoid, whooping cough, yellow fever

No prior exposure to these diseases in western hemisphere or Oceania No inherited, acquired immunities (in part due to lack of

domesticated animals) 1519 smallpox outbreak hits the Aztec empire

Population declines 90 percent within 100 years (17 million to 1.3 million)

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Food Crops and Animals Columbian exchange also increases overall food

supply Introduction of European animals to Americas

Horses, cattle, pigs, chickens, rats, etc. Introduction of American foods and crops to

Europe, Asia, Africa Maize, potatoes, beans, cocoa, etc. The tomato was only slowly accepted in Europe

because it was thought to be poisonous Spanish introduced tobacco to Europe by 1520

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World Population Growth, 1500-1800 C.E.

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

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1500 1600 1700 1800

Millions

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Migrations

Enslaved Africans To South America, Caribbean, and North America Curiously, only five percent of enslaved Africans go to

North America—the vast majority of the more than twelve million who made the voyage went to South America and the Caribbean (a little less than 600,000)

European colonizers

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Origins of Global Trade

Transoceanic trade in Atlantic Ocean basin Manufactured goods from Europe Raw goods from Americas

The Manila galleons 1565-1815, Spanish galleons dominate Pacific Ocean

trade Chinese luxury goods for American raw materials,

especially silver

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Environmental Effects of Global Trade Fur-bearing animals hunted to extinction or

near-extinction in North America and Siberia Also whales, codfish, other animals with early industrial

uses Relentless human exploitation of the natural

environment, especially through logging and mining By 1750, nearly all populated parts of the world

except Australia were integrated into some global trade networks

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